There was no telling how much stronger Nessa would be when she finally woke up, but honestly, Adam didn''t care much about that now.


    He made sure that she was okay and that no one realized that Nessa wasn''t a Phantom, so now it was his turn to get his share of the reward.


    "Well... It was a shame to lose my tooth, but at least I''ll have an excuse to make you tell me everything when you wake up." Adam smirked wiping the trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.


    Adam stretched, the effects of Osana''s petals were not strong, but tangible.


    Then, Adam extended his arm forward and with full determination in his gaze called out to Revolve.


    Normally, Phantoms felt a great deal of excitement at this moment, Adam was no exception, but his main feeling was curiosity since this all happened unexpectedly.


    He was going to go on the hunt for Midnight Crystal right after helping Katrin get the new Initial Gene, but... fate had very different ns for him.


    "Hah, in a way, it''s a good thing. I didn''t want to dy this moment any further, I''ve already stayed on K1 longer than I should have." Adam smirked taking a step forward.


    Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.


    Midnight Crystal shuddered vigorously, releasing energy for Adam''s Revolve.


    Adam watched curiously at the energy flow that was heading towards his palm. He wasn''t sure, but it seemed to him that this flow was a little denser andrger than for Katrin.


    Soon, thest bits of energy disappeared in a snow-white vortex, then Adam''s eyes shone brightly, immersing his mind in the inner space.


    Out of the darkness emerged a massive snow-white book that preserved all of Adam''s genes, something he hadn''t paid attention to for a long time. It was his Vault.


    To K1-Phantom, Purple Threat Level genes were valuable, but Adam had plenty of them already.


    The energy from Midnight Crystal rushed towards the Vault but did not enter it. The Vault trembled slightly as if trying to determine why the energy was here if it wasn''t headed for the Evolution Tree.


    It wasn''t long before everything fell into ce.


    Whoooooooooooooooooooosh.


    The Vault stopped shaking and the energy went into motion like a whirlwind, quickly taking shape.


    Soon enough, Adam saw Midnight Crystal hovering in the darkness, except it was a smaller copy.


    [You have received Midnight Crystal.]


    A calm voice echoed in Adam''s head, simultaneously telling him that his journey to K2 was almostplete.


    To create the First Key, there were three mainponents required:


    [1) 10,000 Neutral Genes - for the shape.


    2) Ten First-Rarity Level Artefacts - for the key. Your journey continues with empire


    3) Midnight Crystal - for a motion]


    Now, Adam had everything he needed, but... there was one problem. He couldn''t create the Key right now, because unlike the genes and Midnight Crystal, his artifacts were in apletely different ce - in the Citadel.


    Adam nodded, realizing that there was no hurry, and closed his eyes, returning to the real world.


    Looking at Midnight Crystal once more, he noticed that its glow was weaker, and dimmer, its wless snow-white color had changed to a light gray.


    Midnight Crystal had a lot of energy, but its amount was not infinite.


    Lifting Nessa in his arms and walking over to Katrin and Osana, Adam asked: "What now? What do we do with Midnight Crystal? We can''t just leave it here, right? Some monster wille and take the energy for themselves."


    Adam gently ced Nessa on the ground, being careful not to hurt her open wounds.


    Osana smiled slightly, stepping forward.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. Midnight Crystal is a majestic object, but... it''s not stable at all."


    "Hmm? What are you talking about?"


    Adam asked, tilting his head in a baffled way.


    However, instead of Osana, it was Silvana who answered him.


    ''There''s a reason why the Phantoms can''t just take Midnight Crystal from Dead Lands to the Citadel. Midnight Crystal can keep its energy for a long time, but only until someone or something disturbs it.'' Silvana said in a calm voice.


    She continued:


    ''You have already absorbed the energy, so soon, within minutes, Midnight Crystal will copse and its energy will be absorbed into the ground spreading across the Dead Lands. If Midnight Crystal is damaged or moved in any way, the same thing will happen.''


    Adam''s gaze deepened as he nodded.


    "I see... So you can only get energy from Midnight Crystal when it''s dropped right on the battlefield. Well, it sounds fair but dangerous."


    Silence.


    No one said anything, just enjoying this brief moment.


    Dead Lands wasn''t home to the Phantoms, but that didn''t mean they couldn''t have important memories with this ce.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ck Cinder Forest, Prime Thunder Demon, Essence Scarlet Pyromancer, Spatial Anomaly, Yellow Threat Monsters, Fallen Crypt, Fume Cathedral, gue Reaper, and Midnight Crystal.


    All these events will forever be etched in their minds as an integral part of their Phantom path.


    Step. Step. Step.


    Adam slowly headed forward, in the opposite direction from Midnight Crystal.


    "Agh? Where are you going?" Katrin turned around abruptly, looking at him baffled.


    "To pick up the hero and the two victims... Despite what happened, they must return to the Citadel. Not just for their own sakes, but for their families and... It''s much better than rotting here." Adam said coldly, moving towards Fume Cathedral.


    Osana and Katrin nced over, but they didn''t follow him. They were sure Adam knew what he was doing.


    They had another task: to keep an eye on Nessa while quieting their hearts.


    Soon, Adam reached Fume Cathedral calmly entering the grounds of that intimidating building.


    Midnight Crystal brought with it considerable destruction, but the Fume Statues as well as the Fume Throne remained intact like so much else.


    Fume Cathedral was a massive structure and Midnight Crystal alone was not enough topletely destroy it.


    Fume Statues nced at Adam but did not stop him.


    Stepping inside, Adam nced around before heading towards the main gate.


    Fume Armors, knights in ck armor were still lurking in the shadows. They made no move to stop Adam, much less attack him. He had every right to be here, at least as long as he didn''t break the rules.


    Adam approached a particr knight whose armor was white, with red pieces of cloth flowing like streams in different ces. It was the Fume Judge.


    Then, Adam looked down at Lero, whose face was hidden by a long slice of the gue Reaper''s coat.


    After a heavy sigh, Adam bent down, going to pick Lero up.


    Whoooooooooooooosh.


    Several Fume Armors reacted instantly. They rushed forward, drawing their swords against Adam''s neck.


    Adam wasn''t startled, he just threw the Fume Judge a bored look.


    "Hey, I realize you''re following your new lord''s orders, but... gue Reaper is dead. Whether you like it or not, you''ll have to wait for someone toe and take over Fume Throne again. So stay out of my way." Adam said calmly.


    Fume Armors looked at Fume Judge.


    Fume Judge nced at the confines of the cathedral, realizing that Adam was not lying. Then, Fume Judge waved his hand giving Fume Armors amand.


    Tap.


    Adam carefully lifted Lero, heading for the exit.


    To his surprise, he was followed by two Fume Armors. One of them was holding E in his arms, her head resting on her stomach, and the other was carrying Oskar on his back, who still had the muzzle of E''s sniper rifle in his head.


    "Shit... This is all too weird, but I''ll let myself not think about it too much today..." Adam muttered watching as a blue sh appeared in the sky, quickly approaching them.