Endless Evolution: Last Star

Silvana saw the fight between the member of the Dark Order and the commander of the military squad, it seemed like it should be a tense confrontation, especially when both sides were in agreement, but... her expectations were shattered against the cold wall of reality.

The fight had been going on for several minutes now, the commander's stamina was commendable, as he was a heavyweight, yet managed to deliver fast and powerful attacks for so long.

However, this hardly made any sense as none of his attacks were able to reach the guardian.

The military and the commander had high hopes for his last, most powerful strike, but the result was not what they had hoped for.

Whoooooosh.

A stream of wind blew near the guardian, who carefully covered the red flame from the lighter with his palm, trying to light a cigarette.

The commander not believing what happened slowly raised his eyes, looking at the towering man who stood calmly on his fists.

True, it was impossible to dodge or block the commander's attack, but there were always other ways.

In this case, all the force of the blow was accumulated in one point and tended to the ground, so if one was a level above or had no contact with the ground, the attack could be avoided.

Hardly a normal military or even a Phantom would make such thoughts in a calm situation, where there was no danger and no need for quick action.

But, for the guardian there was no such problem, moreover, he didn't just jump up, but did it on the commander's fists in the safest place, as if in the center of a tornado where there was only peace while chaos raged outside.

And... he didn't take this opportunity to attack, instead, he chose to smoke a cigarette.

Why did he do that?

Well, because it was nothing special to him.

"Grh! Get away from me!" The commander angrily exclaimed raising his hands in an attempt to throw the man aside.

Whoooooooosh.

The guardian's silhouette shuddered when in the blink of an eye he found himself on the commander's shoulder, standing on him like on that giant, though the difference in their height wasn't that great.

After all, they were both humans, not monsters.

"Nice try, but it's not enough for me to let you through to the Gray Castle. I'm sorry, but you're not strong enough."

Without waiting for the commander's reaction, the man jumped off his shoulder and finally launched his first attack.

His foot swiftly and accurately smashed into the commander's right knee, he seemed to be holding back as the commander only felt pain and lost his balance, but his knee was not broken or dislocated.

Then, before the commander could do anything, the guardian kicked his leg again, at a particular point to make the commander's muscles spasm.

Bam.

So, unable to stay on his feet any longer, the commander fell to the ground.

The next thing he saw was a black boot that with a powerful momentum crashed right into his face. This time the man didn't hold back and attacked with full force.

The commander's nose was broken, his lips cracked and a stream of blood came out of his mouth along with several knocked-out teeth.

The guardian achieved his goal, and as this attack was enough to make the commander unconscious, his eyes went blank.

The military men looked at this scene with shocked expressions, then realized what had happened, their grimaces filled with irritation and anger.

No matter what the situation was, no matter who was right or wrong, no one had the right to treat their commander like this!

"That bastard..." One of the martial officers muttered through gritted teeth, his fists clenched tightly, "This can't even be called a decent fight!"

"Hm?"

The guardian tilted his head in confusion.

"What are you talking about? Didn't you hear me? I told you his last strike wasn't bad, his stamina is decent as well as his attack power."

The second commander stepped forward with a broad sweep of his arm.

"Then why did he lose if you said he was so good?! Answer me!"

The man shrugged his shoulders, took a puff of his cigarette, and exhaled the thick smoke slowly dissipating in front of his calm eyes.

"Isn't it obvious? Because he's weak."

Then, the guardian turned around and headed for his seat next to the gate.

He waved his hand and said:

"When the training hall becomes vacant come back. Maybe next time you'll have better luck and your reservation won't be canceled."

The second commander didn't reply, but the third commander wasn't going to put up with such a humiliating situation.

"Hey! Fellas, are we really going to let this go on like this? He humiliated our commander and won't let us in! We have to show him what we're capable of when we work together as a squad!"

The third commander let out a battle cry raising his hand with a clenched fist.

"Yes!"

The warriors from the squad simultaneously responded, with a full desire to show that they were strong and avenged their commander.

The guardian turned around, taking another puff of his cigarette.

"Well, well, looks like I got some pretty hotheaded guys this time. This job can be unnecessarily routine sometimes."
Experience tales at empire

...

The smoke from the cigarette quickly wafted away, but a random wind current sent it straight towards Silvana who was standing off to the side, her eyes wide open and goosebumps running down her body.

True, she saw many times someone fighting, especially Phantoms, but it was always on her monitor or phone screen, not in front of her eyes in the real world.

The exception was when Adam drove her to the Dead Lands, but then he had a different purpose than showing her how he fought in live-action.

'How... how is that possible...?'

Silvana inwardly muttered staring at the dozen men lying on the ground. Among them only the guardian was on his feet, all the military men were defeated, well... except for one.

There were many opponents, so the guardian didn't hold back and attacked at full force and speed.

Some had their legs twisted, some had their arms and ribs broken, clots of thick blood and teeth were lying on the ground while the guardian continued to smoke serenely.

Step.

The man stepped forward, approaching the only military man he hadn't touched.

"Gather everyone and get out of here."

"Yes!"

A few minutes later, the engine broke the silence as the truck hurried away from this dangerous place.

Then, the guardian turned around and glared at Silvana, letting out a puff of smoke from his mouth.

"So... What about you? You want to fight too?"

Silvana's eyes went wide as her face paled at the realization of what the man was thinking.

Fight him? She didn't want to die at such a young age!

"No! No! No! Just hear me out!" Silvana waved her hands in front of her before starting to explain.

After a few minutes, she finished and the guardian slapped himself on the forehead with his palm.

"Fuck, you couldn't have said that right away?"

Silvana bit her lip.

"I just didn't have time, the military showing up was unexpected..."

The guardian shook his head heading towards the gate.

"Agh, I was told that Adam Vinter's Operator is exceptionally punctual. I didn't even think you'd be late."

Silvana didn't reply anything, she only lowered her gaze to the ground.

"Fine, follow me, I'm sure Tron has already thought of a hundred ways to punish you for being late."

Silvana blinked a few times.

'What...? Punishment?'