Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1743 1743: Strange Helmet (Part 1)

Zin possessed an ability that wasn't exactly popular. In fact, he was the first monster Adam had encountered whose power revolved almost entirely around sound.

Not only did Zin gain impressive speed from his sounds, but these sounds and sound waves were practically the only weapons in his arsenal.

However, each of his attacks had many variations, and given his overall strength, Zin was a formidable opponent for any foe at his level. Most monsters wouldn't even be able to force him to use his apple, which amplified every one of his attacks and gave him control over the sounds around him.

But Zin had something else that set him apart from other monsters: his ears.

He could hear much better than others, which gave him an advantage on the battlefield. He could hear where his opponent was, their breathing, and their heartbeat. He had far more information, allowing him to attack faster and more accurately.

Thus, his ears were perhaps the most crucial component of his power, without them, he wouldn't have been able to demonstrate even 30% of what he was capable of.

And… When Zin used his Hollow Mark and his actual weapon appeared in place of the strange apple, the first thing he did was pierce his own ears right through.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The crimson drops fell from the sharp golden tip to the ground, while Zin's head was tilted and his gaze was vacant.

A shiver ran through Adam's body as his face paled.

"What the hell was that?" Adam gulped, staring at Zin. "Even if he needed to injure his ears for some reason, why did he do it that way? Is he even alive?"

Adam was genuinely worried because Zin had actually pierced his head with a lethal weapon. Not only were his ears injured by the metal rod that had passed through them, but so were his head, brain, and spinal cord, along with his neck. In such a vulnerable spot, everything vital had been struck.

Clearly, Adam wasn't the only one shocked.

Only a tiny fraction of the spectators saw Zin use his Hollow Mark weapon. For most, it was an unexpected turn of events.

"Wait…" someone muttered. "Is he dead...?"

His friend nodded, fear in his eyes. "I can't sense his aura at all. This is so strange. Maybe something went wrong?"

Doubts and rumors began to spread rapidly, leaving Adam with a difficult choice.

Nothing was stopping him from attacking Zin right now and possibly even killing him.

But was that the victory Adam wanted? The blood of Queen Elisa within his inner space certainly wouldn't answer that.

Crunch!

Suddenly, there was a loud crunch as Zin's neck snapped back into place.

His eyes were still empty, but his aura began to grow, and the golden rod began to tremble violently.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

An active tremor, like an earthquake, spread throughout the arena, caused by Zin's golden rod, which was right in his head.

Amid the wild vibrations, the golden rod began to transform, changing its shape. The bloodstained tips grew longer, curling into a spiral of three rings, each smaller than the one before. This happened on both his right and left ears.

Then, from the golden cones covering his ears, two golden rods extended upward, passing through the top of his head and connecting to the opposite cone. Thus, creating a double arc above his head that completed this strange structure.

For most monsters, it was difficult to understand what was now on Zin's head. The structure on his head resembled a strange helmet that, instead of protecting his entire head and face, covered only his ears. No ordinary monster here had ever seen such unusual helmets.

But for Adam, a resident of the Citadel where smartphones and sophisticated computers had long ceased to be anything innovative, understanding this was quite simple, though unexpected.

'Is... Is that a pair of headphones?'

Without realizing it, Adam smirked.

The whole situation seemed absurd to him, but at the same time, he couldn't see a better outcome.

'Hahaha!' He laughed inwardly with all his might. 'All this time, his weapon was these creepy headphones? A monster that uses sound to attack? Tsk, I'd be even more surprised if he also had a microphone.'

A few moments later, Adam sighed as his expression turned serious.

'Alright, this isn't the time for jokes. Given his abilities, those golden headphones definitely made him stronger, and considering how bloody their activation was... This is definitely not something simple.'

Along with Zin's aura, light finally returned to his amethyst eyes.

Soon, he smiled and looked around, as if he had found himself in a completely different world, full of new, unique things.

Adam surmised that for the full set, Zin was still missing a microphone. Well, to some extent, Zin already had one.

With a slight smile on his face, Zin cast his gaze toward the spectator stands as his mouth slowly opened:

"KNEEL!"

In a deafening rumble, his voice thundered across the arena, affecting everyone who heard it.

It wasn't just his wish, but an order that was difficult to resist unless one possessed sufficient strength.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

One after another, a multitude of monsters collapsed to their knees. Their eyes were wide with shock, none of them wanted to do this, but they had simply lost control of their bodies.

A single word from Zin was enough to make roughly 50% of the weakest monsters in the arena kneel before their seats.

Sure, most of them were Black Threat Level monsters and common unranked ones, but there were a few Fangs who tried to resist, yet could do nothing about it.

"GRH!!!" Sarka dug her nails into the stone handles of her seat as her face contorted into a grimace.

With great effort, she managed to ignore Zin's order, but a little more and the veins on her face would have burst from the strain.

Kaerno, who was sitting next to her, merely smirked as he watched Adam, whose legs twitched only once, even though he was closer to Zin than the rest.

'Go on, Adam. Zin has nothing left to sacrifice. Either you awaken the blood of Queen Elisa now, or you lose in disgrace. There is no other outcome for you.'