Playing a game with the screen turned off… It was the most unfair way to go about playing a game.
However, Adam didn't want to lose just due to that.
So what if his 'screen' was broken?
He closed his lightless eyes and concentrated on the opponent, creating an image of her instead.
*Pang!*
She stepped towards him heavily, which gave him a greater cure of where the target was coming from.
He set down his Median and Movement Zone.
Mk1 GGUW appeared in his hand, and his free arm was put forward to judge the distance of his fists.
But because he couldn't gauge the opponent's reach, he had no choice but to let her attack first.
Clara took that opportunity.
Revealing her strength in all its glory
[War Style- Killer Stance!]
The demoness held the Sword Cane in an Iaido stance, while four more blades appeared in the leftover arms. They awaited for her to initiate the demonic swordsmanship taught by their Father.
[Fiend Form- Berserker Might!]
Her killing intent overloaded her body and infused into her blades, causing him to instinctively feel the threat of death. Her muscles reacted and churned upon being infused with the malicious intent to kill.
She was about to end this in one attack.
[Wrath Trait- Hellish Hate of Harmful Hysteria]
That technique she used was bolstered by the fifth of her five Magic Traits. The power of burning fury.
Her eyes glowed when they focused on one individual, and the instincts of a 'Wrath Demon' altered her body further. The Asuri possessing her became violent, causing her six arms to thicken.
Dense muscles wrapped in flames…
[Pride Trait- Arch Armour of Astral Access]
The 'Sakhr' possessing her also materialised a thick suit of armour to defend her from attacks.
Turning her body into an invincible tank…!
The blades in her hands also sharpened once the two Magic Traits were released. The fight was over.
Fate had already been decided…
…for Clara!
As despite powering herself up, the worst action she could've taken was boldly show killing intent.
The moment Adam's unsurpassed and sensitive survival instincts caught onto her, his closed eyes opened. His 'Hit Box' Skill activated, and his own Battle Zone transformed to fit the current situation.
'Target Zone' was active.
Two marking appeared in his grey eyes, which now had pupils glowing with his light cyan Pure Mana.
[Style Switch- Shelled Turtle]
He crossed his arms in front of him.
*CLANG*
[You have 'Blocked' at the perfect timing. 'Hit Box' recognises technique and has created a new Skill.]
['Block' has been recorded. You can now completely negate damage if used perfectly.]
Because she attacked all at once, all of Clara's attacks were recognised as once 'attack' to block.
Thus, one transparent shield that temporarily appeared in front him was enough to neutralise it.
It was a good thing his room was big and had auto repair spell circles on it, because he was about to make this place a mess. His glock clicked while his dreamworld self pressed some controller buttons.
[Sub Genre- Hack N' Slash]
'Character Action' had some really important games to him, especially if this sub-genre added.
To be honest with himself, Adam found this genre to be much harder to handle than Character Action.
It was because the fighting methods of Hack N' Slash differed from Fighting Games just like it.
There was no rules on how one should fight.
One had the tools, and a true gamer could only creatively utilise what they had to do combos.
Racking up hits using nothing but style.
['Stylish Ranking' has been added to 'Combo Counter'. It is suggested to use Taunts as a Skill to lengthen timeframe of the Combo Counter. You are advised to fight with as much finesse as possible.]
Quite a hard order to give a blind wolf, but he was willing to accept. He style shifted once again.
[Style Shift- True Rioting Stampede Kung Fu]
The name was quite long, but this was the origin and nexus point of where all his styles intersected.
It held the nature of Kung Fu layered into it.
Some might say that eastern arts only had useless styles, but there was nothing 'useless' in games.
In fact, Kung Fu was much more stylish in them.
Adam proved this by spinning the extended magazine pistol in his hand, then used it as a tonfa.
A weapon familiar to any eastern martial artist.
He used 'Sprint' to close the distance between them. His hands administered a number of strikes.
Normal Hit, Light Strike, Heavy Strike, and Magic Strike was used interchangeably, but using them together rarely created any special moves. They were all instead used to keep her from attacking.
Using attacks as a perfect form of defence…
Clara found herself having to exchange moves with a monster that went toe to toe with the Goddess of the Sword. Understandably, her six arms weren't really a match despite how weakened he was.
Every hit put her more and more at a disadvantage in momentum, but her armour blocked damage.
It'd take more than that to take her down…
And Adam obligated himself to give her more.
[You have reached 10 Hits.]
[Combo Counter: 10/ Stylish Ranking: E]
[Your Magic Tier has risen to E Rank, and your Stylish Ranking has increased your Mana Control.]
The second effect was much more useful when combined with the first one. Although Adam was still unaccustomed to using E Rank magic, his attacks became much more varied and fluid.
Using 'Dark Ice' at close range to freeze her legs down, which allowed him greater freedom to fight.
Clara felt like she was hit by a creative storm.
A maelstrom that combined every animal style of martial art he'd ever used, and other styles too.
The combos were racking up.
He rained down strikes in every direction and angle. Leaving no part of his opponent unharmed.
However, she was like a tough stain in clothing.
He 'rubbed' a bit harder. Using more Pure Mana efficiently to administer strikes, only to self-heal.
It felt like everything he was doing was useless.
But that didn't stop him.
Many would feel intimidated after their attacks failed, but Adam pushed on even if it failed.
Because there will be one success in a hundred failures. His efforts wouldn't be made in vain.
*Shk!*
By the time he reached SSS Rank of Stylish Ranking, the silver armour had already broke apart.
Turning into metal pieces.
It was truly a one-sided slaughter…
The moment Adam was done, he let Clara's body bend backwards while still anchored to the floor.
He fixed his hair…
['Taunt' has been recorded by your Job.]
[You have gained a full 10 extra seconds on the Stylish Ranking and Combo Counter countdown.]
Since this method couldn't be used repeatedly, the miracle gamer went back into a familiar stance.
The 'Chintamani Dragon' stance…
An filled with S Rank Magical Energy was formed in his hand, and became as real as a material object.
His eyes 'looked' at the creature before him.
It was a wonder how such a thing had found it's way into his room, but he wouldn't let it leave.
Death was the only exit.
The creature had injured Eva Graham, the girl he had put under his protection. It NEEDED to die.
Thus, he made a request to the wishing stone…
The light cyan stone hovered in front of him and swallowed the figure in an implosive manner.
Quietly… like a black hole.
The target in his senses had vanished. No longer could he sense the existence of the evil figure.
But what he didn't know…
…was that she was still standing in front of him.
After seeing that winning was impossible, she let go of her killing intent and 'erased' her presence.
Along with any other traces he could use to find her existence. Leaving behind a clone of energy.
That was what got destroyed by his magical orb.
Clara turned to see Eva breaking out of her restraints and ripping the tape off of her face.
Her eyes heart dropping when she saw the demoness still fine after taking so many hits.
Adam was now vulnerable to any lethal attacks.
At least, that's how it looked on the surface.
There was no way to tell if he'd once again find Clara's location and curb-stomp her into mush.
Just like he'd already done a minute ago.
Clara had no intention of finding out. She just turned to Eva and mouth the last words of advice:
{I am the only person who can understand you. If you call me, I'll always be open give any answers.}
Eva read on the lips of the young duchess, who vanished from existence after leaving those words.
Her tracks were untraceable…
Adam tried to approach Eva, but it was that kind of kindness that she couldn't accept right now.
"Stop!" She shouted, unable to control her voice.
"E-Eva…?" The gamer couldn't understand what was going on, wasn't he the hero in this situation?
So why did her voice sound so terrifying?
The blind wolf boy was unable to see the disastrous position the elf girl put herself in.
'Why did I do that?' She couldn't comprehend why she couldn't control herself with Clara around.
Knowing what she did was… a betrayal!
Her hand reached down to try to pull out the cork sealing up her precious spot, but it was stuck.
Unable to come out.
Her eyes started to become even more panicked when she remembered the words of her original.
She hated that the thought of getting pregnant was stroking on her masochistic emotions as a demon.
Shifting between excitement and despair.
'What have I done?!' Tear started falling from her eyes, which made Adam try to get a bit closer.
"Are you really alrigh-"
"Stay away from me!" She roared, causing Adam to reflexively retreat. He felt the fury in her voice.
But why…?
Overusing his Mana had made him tired enough that his calculations regarding her was a little off.
Unable to 'see' her true appearance correctly.
The only thing he could do was feel the emotions being conveyed through her voice. Rejection.
She was keeping her distance…
"Why…?" Adam looked a little pained. He'd no idea why he felt so hurt when she pushed him away.
His hands were extended, but held onto nothing.
And the elf girl avoided his warm embrace.
"I… I'm not feeling well. Sorry… I'm… Sorry…" She spoke while moving towards the door and leaving.
She headed to the room where Hyuk had stayed.
Leaving Adam by himself, who was still trying to hold out his arms and trying to hug someone.
'Why…? But I saved her?' He thought, but then found himself to be pathetic after realising it.
'Did I want her to like me?' He mocked his own naivety. Did he think everyone would like him?
The doors of his heart started to close…
'Looks like I still think to highly of myself. What a delusional bastard, right?' He looked at the door hung open. His back hitting one of the legs of the bed while sliding down. Thinking he was an idiot.
'What should I do?' He initially thought saving her life was a shortcut to a close relationship, but he realised he was doing it again. Wanting attachment from others without daring to trust others himself.
He needed to change this.
'There is THAT idea…' The gamer quickly thought of a way to get close to her on an emotional level.
Something he'd initially avoided.
It was a pity he couldn't properly analyse the scenario since Clara's energy was too polluted.
Adam was unable to sense Evil Mana.
After all, 'Demon Essence' had no scent. Even if he managed to sense the white stuff, it looked like poison to him instead. He had no idea why Eva didn't confide in him when she was poisoned.
But it wasn't like his Dao Heart was breaking.
The demonic nature of his Dao actually made benefit from this suffering rather than happiness.
From reflecting on reality.
He didn't regret saving her, so the Heart Demon inside him had no reason to revive for any reason.
The only thing he despised was having nothing.
Eva, who was outside the room, stuck to the walls until she saw Hyuk walking past and seeing her.
The ragged appearance of the woman who easily put on her clothes was erotic, but he felt calm.
Sadness was in her eyes…
"I sense a story." Once he said that, Hyuk found the woman clinging to his leg and begging in tears.
"Please help…!" She cried. It made him act fast.
He brought her over to his room.
There was a lot of things he wanted to ask, but he'd get her to speak about it slowly and clearly.
The guilty look on her face didn't bode well though.