Endless Evolution: Last Star

"Damn, that took a lot longer than I expected..." Adam muttered, looking at the mountain of grated cheese in front of him.

If this amount of work was done by a normal person in such a short amount of time, his hands would have gone numb. Adam was much stronger than the average person, yet he felt a slight burning sensation in his wrists.

"Hah, it would have taken me an hour to do that. You did it in less than ten minutes." Leona spoke up, removing the pan of meat from the stove since it was already cooked as well as the white sauce.

Then, Leona pulled out a large glass baking dish and pulled out the lasagna sheets, without which lasagna would be impossible to make.

"It's time to put everything together!" Leona said cheerfully before smearing white sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.

Adam nodded and picked up the lasagna sheets, placing them on top of the white sauce as the first layer. The white sauce had to be on the bottom so the lasagna sheets wouldn't burn or dry out.

Then, Leona laid out the red sauce, cheese, and white sauce before covering it with a second layer of lasagna sheets.

This continued until the number of layers reached five. They used all of the white and red sauce, but they still left about a third of the cheese for which there was a clear use.

Whoooooooosh.

Adam and Leona covered the lasagna with cheese so that a delicious layer would create a delicious crust on top and the upper sheets wouldn't burn from the intense heat of the oven.

"Well, it turned out just like you wanted it to. I've never seen so much cheese in one dish." Leona muttered with a slight smile on her face.

Adam nodded.

"I probably went a little overboard, but... I'm sure it'll be delicious. Especially since it's the way I wanted it."

Leona shrugged, she had nothing against it and was content as long as Adam was fine with it. After all, they were cooking for themselves, their family, not for customers in a restaurant where a strict recipe needed to be followed.

There was an obvious advantage to cooking for yourself rather than ordering or buying ready-made food. Sure, it took time and skill, but for many, cooking was a hobby that helped not only with hunger but also with stress.

It was a meditative activity, calm and relaxed while requiring attention and concentration to prevent the mind from being distracted by various thoughts.

"Hah, of course, this is going to be delicious! It just can't be any other way!" Leona said confidently before taking the lasagna and carefully pushing it into the oven.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Shaking her palms apart a few times as a sign of finished work, Leona smiled contentedly.

"In twenty minutes it will be ready. When the time is up we should call Trici and Gary, I think they must be hungry by now."

"Yeah, there's still a bit left." Adam nodded slightly.

...

It wasn't just Adam and Leona who had a short time to wait, but Glara as well. No matter what happens, in four minutes her fate will be decided. She must defeat Redcore Wolf and become a Phantom, or Code D would simply kill her.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

She could clearly feel that an emptiness already appeared inside her, her body was rapidly dying. She could have lived for decades, maybe Glara might have become one of those people who could reach the hundred-year mark before falling into the embrace of death.

But, now, all these years later, all her life energy was being burned away by Code D.

In some way, Code D wasn't an injection of death, it was just an exchange card.

The person using Code D was changing their human life for the real possibility of getting a new life - becoming a Phantom.

"Rgh..."

Redcore Wolf let out a low growl when a dangerous glint passed across his claws.

Despite his formidable appearance, Redcore Wolf was still just a White Threat Monster. He was stronger than other White Threat monsters since he could control energy, but he didn't possess any abilities. This was very rare among White Threat Monsters.

However... thanks to his core, the round red crystal in his chest, Redcore Wolf could win even the most difficult battles. This was his opportunity to unleash a single powerful attack.

For some reason, Redcore Wolf did not use his trump card. Perhaps it was still too early, or maybe it was part of the plan?

After all, Gladius considered the Redcore Wolf to be a smart monster, and... his words definitely meant something.

Whooooosh.

The Redcore Wolf rushed forward, swiftly bearing right at Glara, staring at her intently. His jaw opened slightly, revealing two long front fangs that were his powerful weapons.

Glara nodded slightly, putting her left arm out in front of her.

She wasn't an experienced fighter, but given the weapon she chose, she didn't need to think of anything. The tactics she should follow were obvious.

'Defend and attack...' Glara muttered internally as Redcore Wolf appeared before her.

A paw with three red claws descended upon Glara, quickly aiming for her.

Glara's eyes went wide, and a shiver went down her entire body. She wanted to run away, and if it wasn't for Code D she would do so.

In her normal state, the mind completely ruled the body, as it should be, but Code D raised the importance of instincts to the limit.

Even if Glara's young girl's mind wanted to run away and was against it, her body moved on its own doing what was necessary.

Whooooosh.

Glara's left arm came up, blocking Redcore Wolf's paw. A shiver ran through her body, but thanks to the shield absorbing most of the impact, Glara wasn't seriously injured.

But... Redcore Wolf was well aware that Glara would block his attack, so it wasn't a main strike.

Glara's green eyes reflected the monster's second paw, moving at her from the right side while her shield was occupied. She couldn't block this attack, or dodge it.

Well, she didn't need to do either of those things.

Crackle.

Glara raised her arm, pulling her shotgun forward, aiming it directly at Redcore Wolf's paw.

Then, she fired a shot, releasing a powerful plasma charge outward.