Endless Evolution: Last Star

Considering the powers possessed by truly powerful beings, in theory, it was possible to heal almost any wound as long as the being had not reached the absolute threshold.

Thus, there were many beings capable of saving Adam from a fatal wound, since he was a K4-Phantom, but the number of those capable of healing Damien's deep wound was much smaller.

The stronger the being, the more resources were needed to save them, which meant that those who possessed the necessary resources became fewer and fewer with each new level.

This was not a serious problem that a K2-Phantom or a Purple Threat Monster needed to worry about, but perhaps this was what would determine whether Ureyn would die right now or continue to live.

When Norax appeared next to Ureyn, Adam breathed a sigh of relief deep inside. He was sure that Norax would now do something to heal Ureyn or at least help him hold on until another monster rushed to his aid.

But...

Instead, Norax inflicted an even more severe wound on Ureyn than all of Adam's attacks combined, including the last one.

He just ripped the heart out of Ureyn's chest. He didn't even do it neatly or precisely like an experienced surgeon would, his movements were aggressive and rough like a wild beast.

As a result, Ureyn's wound only got worse. Now there was no thin cut in his chest, but a wide, ragged hole from which blood flowed in multiple streams.

None of this bothered Norax, who was carefully examining Ureyn's heart, or rather the wounds in it, with his purple eyes.

"Not bad, Adam Vinter, not bad at all. With your last attack, you pierced Ureyn's heart completely, leaving him no chance but to drown in his own blood. Hahaha, just look at that!"

Adam, shocked and confused, struggled to regain his composure.

"You... Why did you do that? Didn't you want Ureyn to win? He was supposed to survive!"

Norax shrugged, almost dropping Ureyn's heart due to his carelessness.

"Well, I didn't have a favorite. You know, I always want to see a good fight, and who wins isn't that important. But, you're right about one thing, Ureyn should survive, and that's the least of his problems."

"Agh...?" Adam gasped in disbelief.

He often behaved quite carelessly, which greatly annoyed Silvana, but Norax showed him a whole new level.

Crack.

Norax squeezed Ureyn's heart harder, causing blood to gush out under his calm gaze.

"Just watch. When you're strong enough, you can simply make the world do what you want."

Before Adam could say anything, the whole world turned deep purple, bringing back memories of Gladius's power.

"No, this is something else... What's going on?" Adam thought. He hadn't yet realized that he couldn't breathe because of the pressure coming from Norax's aura.

Norax's aura affected everyone else without exception. Even Draug could not ignore his power. Nollura and the weaker monsters collapsed to the ground, some managed to remain on their knees, and some struggled to stay conscious.

Dark streams of energy, as if coming from the underworld, headed towards Norax, touching his long coat and moving along his outstretched arm, straight to Ureyn's heart.

Adam's eyes darted to the ground in horror, seeing only a thick layer of darkness covering the wind plain. He could not see any grass, stones, or even the cuts left behind after their battle.

Dark hands and skulls of strange creatures peered out from the darkness, wanting to reach Ureyn's heart—the closest thing to life in Norax's aura.

'What the hell…? What the fuck is this?' Adam muttered internally in a trembling voice.

It had been a long time since he had experienced this, a real fear coming from the depths of his being.

"Hmm..." Norax hummed while his energy swirled around Ureyn's heart. "I think that will be enough. He can handle it."

The next moment, Norax clutched Ureyn's heart tightly as his entire aura, along with his energy, rushed toward Ureyn's heart in one sharp stream.

What Ureyn was doing was not like healing, because it wasn't. He had no healing abilities, unlike Gareyna, who could easily reattach a severed arm to her body with her threads.

He filled Ureyn's heart with energy and was going to keep doing so until the energy became dense enough to fill the gap. Once that happened, his energy would be completely absorbed by Ureyn's heart and, because of its volume, become a real part of it.

This method was complicated and extremely impractical. However, Norax didn't care. He couldn't let Ureyn die, and he had enough power to bring Ureyn back from the dead if he wanted to.

If Gladius or Wilfred had been here, they could have done the same for Adam.

Sure, this method had a side effect—Ureyn had to be able to accept Norax's energy, but Norax was sure that this would not be a problem given Ureyn's talent.

After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, nothing remained of Norax's energy and aura. It had all gone into Ureyn's heart.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Suddenly, Ureyn's heart began to beat, using only Norax's energy, the purple flame burning around it, trembling with every heartbeat.

"Good, now all that's left is the final touch."

Norax plunged his hand into Ureyn's chest once more, roughly putting his heart back in place.

With the next heartbeat, the purple flame spread throughout Ureyn's body, covering every drop of blood, whether on him or on the ground. All the blood became streams that returned to the heart, filling all the major wounds.

Silence.

For a while, no one said anything, and even Norax waited in silence for the result of his work.

"GHA!"

Suddenly, Ureyn shuddered, taking a deep, air-hungry breath as his eyes ceased to be empty.

Clap.

Norax clapped his hands together, shaking off the dust.

"Good, now, it's time for the winner to get his reward, right?"

Adam's eyes widened as streams of light burst from their bodies, as they had at the beginning of the battle, and a golden halo soared above the wind plain.

The bright flash in the center lured him in.

He was ready to receive the essence, the Connected Heart, and take the next step.