Endless Evolution: Last Star

Things were relatively stable in the first two zones, there were almost no casualties, and the Phantoms were doing as well as Adam, who was at the peak of his powers.

However... the future of the third zone was uncertain.

Bam.

Frost Beat stomped powerfully on the ground, stopping and looking at Alexia's feet and hands, covered in a solid layer of ice, with an evil smirk.

If Alexia was fighting against a fire monster or a monster with any other attribute, her opponent would be seriously wary. Her confident gaze and powerful aura showed that Alexia was going to win no matter what.

However... Her opponent was Frost Beast, a monster living in the extremely cold region of the Dead Lands. He was so well adapted to the cold that he didn't need thick fur, unlike Azure Wolves, as his tough hide and various body processes allowed him to survive even the most brutal blizzard.

However, Alexia didn't seem worried about it at all.

She got into a fighting stance, with a serious look and an excited smile on her face. Alexia hopped in one place, quickly changing the position of her feet, back and forth, like a professional boxer warming up for an important fight.

Frost Beast stuck out his wide tongue, narrowing his eyes, accepting her challenge and just as much showing his desire.

"Come on! Start first!" Alexia shouted.

It was unlikely that Frost Beast could understand her words, but the intentions were crystal clear.

Crackle.

Frost Beast bent his head to the ground, thrusting his long horns into the dense ice, breaking it and making it glow bright blue.

Alexia got goosebumps all over her body, for a second later, two blades of compressed frost headed towards her, cutting ice crystals in their path.

'Block it? No... I have to act carefully.' Alexia thought before bouncing to the side.

Then, Frost Beast, leapt forward, raising his massive tail high with a spiked sphere on the end.

Frost Beast was going to smash Alexia to the ground with one powerful attack.

However, Alexia was experienced enough to know what to do in such a situation - jump in return!

Whoooooooooooooosh.

Frost Beast's tail crashed to the ground, causing a real earthquake for a second, splitting the ground into slabs of ice and releasing cold steam from the lowlands.

However, the smirk quickly fell off Frost Beast's face, as Alexia jumped high up, right before the attack.

"Hah, you think something like that could hurt me?" Alexia smirked, bringing her fists down on Frost Beast's head.

Her physical power would have been enough to blast Prime Azure Wolf's head, considering she used two hands and attacked from top to bottom.

But... Her opponent was much stronger than a monster that wasn't even in the Top-10.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

A tremble spread through Frost Beast's body, absorbing the full kinetic power of Alexia's attack.

"Agh...?" Alexia's eyes went wide, for she was unable to achieve the intended effect.

Not only was Frost Beast not hurt, but the monster didn't even tilt its head, it seemed that Alexia's attack wasn't powerful enough.

Owen, who was watching the fight from afar, frowned heavily. He saw how Frost Beast's hide was absorbing the cold.

Frost Beast sank his claws into the ice and turned around sharply, bringing the tip of his tail down on Alexia and tossing her aside.

At the last moment, Alexia managed to put up a block, but her right arm still bled as the spikes pierced her skin.

"Fuck. I didn't expect you to be so tough." Alexia frowned, spitting out a clot of blood.

Then, she looked up only to get a new wave of shivers throughout her body.

Energy waves passed along the Frost Beast's horns, building up a compressed sphere of light between them. With every fraction of a second that passed, the sphere grew larger and larger until it exploded, releasing a bright beam of light as vivid as the sun, but as destructive as a nuclear reactor explosion.

Without hesitation, Alexia darted to the side, avoiding the deadly beam. The strike zone was quite wide, so she managed at the very last moment, losing half of her neatly arranged ponytail.

'That was dangerous, but... now, I have the opportunity to counterattack. It probably needs a short break after such a powerful ability, but... I have to pick another place to strike. Maybe the stomach or throat? Yeah, something like that.' Alexia pondered, stopping abruptly and turning towards Frost Beast.

The spiked sphere plunged like a projectile into Alexia's stomach, causing her eyes to go wide and vomit blood because of the vivid pain.

For a moment, she looked up only to see Frost Beast's tail, which had become several times longer, thanks to the bone rings that had previously been tightly pressed against each other and now had a large distance between them like a folding club.

The impact threw Alexia back dozens of meters, and Frost Beast immediately ran forward. With its size and muscles, the beast was quickly able to catch up with Alexia in a few short jumps.

'No way!' Alexia inwardly exclaimed, putting up a block in front of her.

Bam.

A heavy paw came down on Alexia, throwing her to the ground. Frost Beast didn't stop there, continuing to attack.

Alexia was in a dangerous situation, for all she could do was defend herself, constantly taking some damage due to the pressure from Frost Beast's attacks.

"ROOOAAAARRRRRR!!!"

Frost Beast roared furiously, put his paws together, and brought them down on Alexia.

Alexia's pupils narrowed, she realized that this attack was enough to finish her off, so she quickly stood up, bouncing back at the last moment.

Whooooooooooooosh.

The claws swept right in front of Alexia, as the shockwave threw her backward, causing her to lose her balance and fall onto the solid ice.

Frost Beast snorted, clearly unhappy with his failure. Then, the monster stepped forward, swinging his tail from side to side and slowly walking towards Alexia, lying on the ground.

The Phantoms began to worry, for the situation was rapidly getting close to critical. If Alexia lost her battle so easily, there would be no one left to stop Frost Beast.

At this time, Alexia slowly rose from the ground, leaving bloody marks on the ice from her fingers.

Her gaze was calm, but not because of the seriousness but because of the coldness in her eyes.

She got to her feet, looked up at the night sky nearing dawn, and sighed slightly.

"Well... You gave me quite a hard time, though... that's exactly what I was hoping for." Alexia uttered and spread her ponytail.

Then, with her bloody hands, she slicked her hair back, and her look completely changed, as well as her expression.

"This is what I need! Now I can tear you apart and fully enjoy the process!" Alexia exclaimed with a mad grin as a hard frost began to emanate from her gloves, even the sun would feel the chill.