Chapter 1267: Warning About Threads

Even Adam himself probably didn’t fully understand what he had just done in his attempts to reach the golden firefly faster than Targon.

He showed his flexibility, how effectively he could use his abilities, all in order to achieve his goal.

Sure, neither Targon, Kara, nor Toa knew all of Adam’s abilities. Only Silvana was aware of all the details as his Operator.

However, they, and especially Targon, had enough experience to understand that this was a new experience for Adam.

"Hah, I didn’t think I’d see something like this today." Targon shook his head as he threw Adam over his shoulder.

Clap.

He clapped his hands, causing a shockwave that made all the crystal beetles stop. The monsters looked at each other and, in one stream, returned to the depths of the bridge.

All the trials were over and were no longer necessary.

With a few leaps, Targon reached the bridge directly from the air, landing on the crystal surface with a crash.

"Alright, Toa, come here," Targon said and set Adam down on the ground.

"Yes!" Toa exclaimed and hurried over to them. "Do you want me to heal him?"

"Hmm..."

Targon scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Adam isn’t injured, he’s just exhausted. Your abilities won’t be able to restore his energy. It will only harm him. That’s not what I want."

In fact, Targon could have just waited for Adam to recover. All he needed was a few hours of good sleep.

Targon didn’t even need to stay on the Glass Bridge himself; he could have given the order to Kara and Toa. They would have obeyed without question, but Targon didn’t like to wait when he could do everything quickly.

"Hmm, Toa, before I arrived, you demanded payment from Adam, right?"

"Of course, Mr. Targon!" she replied immediately.

Then, she showed him a black root with amber veins full of energy.

As soon as Targon saw this root, a gleam ran through his eyes.

He grinned, carefully examining the black root before turning toward the dark forest.

"Old Garrah... Tsk, I’ve been telling him for a long time to stop being so kind and helping everyone around him. If he hadn’t been holding back for this forest and monsters, he would have reached my level long ago."

Step.

Kara stepped forward as she looked Targon straight in the eye.

"Hmm?"

Targon raised an eyebrow. He was surprised to see curiosity in Kara’s eyes, something she had never dared to show before.

"Do you want to ask something? Go ahead, don’t be afraid. You should be more open with your thoughts."

Kara gulped, her face showing how difficult it was for her to do this.

"Mr. Targon... How did this human attract your attention? No, not just yours, but Garrah’s as well. He is a strong and respected monster. As a guard of the Glass Bridge, I know this better than most."

"Hah, do you think Adam doesn’t deserve my attention?"

Kara gasped as her pupils trembled.

"No! That’s not what I meant! You misunderstood me!"

"Hahaha! I know!" Targon laughed loudly, clapping his hands on the floor. "I’m just teasing you."

For a moment, Kara frowned as she puffed out her cheeks, but she quickly regained the serious expression expected of the Glass Bridge Guard.

"Alright." Targon waved his hand. "It’s quite simple. This young man... I heard about him because he was one of the few K3-Phantoms who received an invitation from the First Star to the Dark Shore."

"The First Star...?" Kara faltered.

Targon nodded deeply. "Come here. You’re not strong enough to feel it right away. If you were fighting, you would see it, but there’s another way."

He lifted Adam’s hand, pointing it toward Kara with the palm up.

"Come on, touch him and try to direct your energy into his inner space."

"Wait!" Silvana’s voice rang out from behind. "Why can’t you just heal Adam? Won’t Kara’s energy harm Adam?"

Targon shook his head, indicating that he had no intention of abandoning the idea.

"I’ll restore Adam’s energy as soon as we finish this little business. Kara, stop wasting time. Just do it!"

"YES!"

Instinctively, she obeyed Targon’s order and did as he said.

She gently touched Adam’s fingertips, directing her energy along his arm.

Considering that Adam was asleep, Kara could actually harm Adam, so Silvana’s concern was not unfounded.

Kara’s energy could slowly seep into Adam’s body, reaching his inner space to gradually destroy him like poison.

Sure, Kara wouldn’t dare do such a thing. She knew Targon would notice, and if Targon was willing to let Adam pass, she had no reason to harm him.

But... First, her energy had to reach Adam’s inner space.

That happened right now.

Whooooooosh.

The Glass Bridge, the rift, and the two great regions on the horizon disappeared, along with Toa, Silvana, and even Targon.

"Agh...?" Kara gasped, looking at the endless void.

She saw nothing, neither Adam’s Evolution Tree nor his Path Construct, that could show her the way through the bright First Grand Star.

Kara was left alone in the darkness, and she couldn’t see its boundaries.

It wasn’t something that could scare such an experienced warrior as her, but still... her heart was beating faster and faster with every second she was here.

The reason was that Kara was not strong enough to reach the core part of Adam’s inner space.

Now she was in the outer field, and if she wanted to move forward, she had to do something. Perhaps attack or use more energy to reach Adam’s most vulnerable spot, where she could see his true look, his power.

She gulped, slowly taking a step forward.

She wanted to see what Targon was talking about.

"If the First Star really paid attention to him, then that energy must be somewhere here. Or, has it long since blended with his energy?" She muttered, looking around.

Step.

With her next step, a powerful wind from the streams of darkness appeared out of nowhere, crashing into her with unprecedented force.

The corners of Kara’s lips turned up in a confident smirk.

"Hah, is this the protection of his inner space? Why wind?" Kara covered herself with her hands, preparing to move on. "Whatever, it can’t stop me!"

Such self-confidence was a big mistake on her part.

Burst!

Before Kara could comprehend it, a splash of blood flew past her. Her eyes widened, filled with incomprehension.

As soon as she turned her head to the right, she saw several deep cuts on her arm.

THURST!

In a heartbeat, her left arm flew away from her body, something had severed her arm.

The flow of blood came with a bright, realistic pain as her eyes finally noticed the cause of it all—silver threads hidden in the darkness.

The danger was not in the wind that rushed at her in a sharp gust, but in the threads that came with it to protect Adam’s inner space from the uninvited guest.

Kara tried to defend herself.

A red stream of energy ran through her right arm. She was ready to create a shield.

But...

"W-What...?"

For some reason, she could no longer move.

She looked down only to see a multitude of silver threads wrapped around her neck.

"Wait, no!"

Crack.

With her next movement, the threads tightened and tore her head from her body with a powerful stream of blood.

At the same moment, Kara’s eyes opened wide in the real world as she crawled away from Adam in horror, not wanting to touch him anymore.

"What... What was that?!" Kara exclaimed, ancient fear reflected on her pale face.

Targon nodded. He decided not to joke this time; he could see that Kara was genuinely frightened.

"Now you see, right?"

Kara gulped, staring at the sleeping Adam for a moment.

"Yes... His energy didn’t even let me reach his core. Could it be... all because of the influence of the First Star?"

Targon shook his head. "No, it’s his aura. You should have seen it. And that’s why the First Star chose him. You know that this happens very rarely with Phantoms."

Kara nodded, but she said nothing more.

The sensations were too realistic. She touched her neck, certain she could still feel the pain, but she was completely unharmed.

Most of what she saw was an illusion.

Though... If Adam had suddenly woken up and considered her a threat, his energy could have truly harmed Kara.

Silvana bit her lip. She wanted to know what had happened there that caused Kara to react that way.

No matter what it was, she wanted to know if it had anything to do with Adam. It was in her nature.

"Alright, time to end this," Targon said and snapped the black root like a twig.

Amber energy burst out, immediately heading for Adam’s chest, spreading through his body in many golden streams.

The energy in this small root was enough to restore everything Adam had expended, naturally absorbing into his body.

His face twitched as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Hah, good morning." Targon grinned.