The words that alter Adam had spoken about his hidden weakness and his arrogance had a truly terrifying and profound effect on his counterpart. Adam had already used his parasite to shut off the pain receptors in his organism quite some time ago, which allowed him to maintain conscious thought despite the devastating damage to his body. However, this clinical control only allowed him to hear every word of the conversation his enemy was having with the woman on the other side of the line.

The fact that alter Adam had not only been playing with everyone all that time but had never accessed his full power from the beginning was a realization that completely crushed Adam's morale. He knew the chance of victory was minimal from the start, but he never thought that even this difficult scenario was an extremely fortuitous one... They would never again encounter alter Adam as weak and vulnerable as he was now, and yet they had failed to exploit the immense opportunity.

While Adam's mind soared, overthinking the devastating implications of the failure, deep within his consciousness, Malzaphir and the Empress were engaged in a fierce, whispered conversation.

Malzaphir had sighed, sounding genuinely frustrated by the turn of events.

"The performance was utterly pathetic."

The Empress told the Archdevil, her voice laced with sharp criticism.

"How is it possible that we were neutralized by a single skill?"

Malzaphir replied, his tone heavy with weariness.

"The skill [The Absolute Penitence] seems to derive from one belonging to the archdevil Lusphael. It is clear that 'that other human' has killed the user who had a pact with that archdevil and took it."

The Empress then insisted that Malzaphir act immediately.

"Then use your power to undo the seal! If the power comes from a being similar to you, then it should be relatively easy. I know this from experience!"

However, Malzaphir simply remained silent, the gravity of his inability hanging heavy between them. The Empress insisted again, clearly annoyed that the powerful entity would not act.

"Act at once if you do not want my Lich to end up as a lab rat!"

The archdevil, however, said nothing. It was then that the Empress's anger intensified, and her energy surged up uncontrollably. However, to her surprise, Malzaphir's energy proportionally decreased, an observation that immediately caught her attention.

"Wait a minute…"

The Empress muttered the realization, and after increasing her energy again, she confirmed that Malzaphir's own power diminished in response, as if they were two potent fires and one consumed the other to grow. The Empress was astonished by the discovery, and after instantly linking the facts together, she could not help but burst into maniacal laughter.

"I cannot believe it!"

The Empress exclaimed, her voice ringing with malicious delight.

"I felt the quality of your oh-so-mighty-archdevil's energy from the beginning and thought there was nothing wrong, but I just now realized the quantity! You are trapped here just like me with a finite energy source! You are not the powerful devil you have demonstrated in the past!"

Malzaphir did not react well to the mockery, but instead of responding aggressively, he simply sighed and admitted the unfortunate truth.

"Unfortunately, it is true. Having passed into this other dimension, or timeline, or whatever it is, has severed my connection to the Luminferna plane."

The entity explained calmly.

"So I only have the small reserve I have accumulated, which is why I cannot undo the chains that hold us prisoners now."

The Empress stopped laughing after a moment and calmed herself, her voice now concerned.

"Then what can we do? I cannot do anything with that seal either because I do not understand the nature of the skill."

Malzaphir then suggested a possible solution.

"... Perhaps there is a way…"

He said, wondering a bit.

"What way is that?"

The Empress asked abruptly, making the archdevil explain his need.

"Beings like me can recover large amounts of energy by utilizing contracts with other entities, and depending on the power of that entity, the more energy it will produce."

The Empress remained confused.

"I do not understand what you are trying to imply by that."

Malzaphir then made his proposition, using careful wording.

"I propose something simple. Since there is no other entity as powerful as you anyway, I offer you… to make a deal."

The archdevil verbally stroked the Empress's ego.

"I will undo the vile human's bonds, and in exchange, you simply do me a small favor."

The ghost was so profoundly sweetened by Malzaphir's words of praise that she did not think twice. With clear smugness in her voice, she accepted the terms.

"I accept."

The entire exchange occurred in a mental and spiritual plane, and though Malzaphir's face could not be seen, had she been able to, she would have noticed an enormous, sinister smile drawing itself across the Archdevil's form.

Meanwhile, alter Adam had approached Adam, who was still kneeling with the cruel internal spikes and the binding chains. The patched boy had not yet ended the party call, and the System window still floated visibly beside him. Placing himself directly in front of Adam, he crouched slightly to be face-to-face, still maintaining that expression of complete contempt.

"Do not worry. Just as I told the hero boy wannabe, you do not need to fear for your life for the moment."

Alter Adam reassured his counterpart with chilling words.

"I will simply take you with me to investigate a few things, after which I will let you go so you can live out the remainder of your life consumed by terror."

Adam was thankful that his passive [Half-Undead (Variant) Psyche (Innate)] was operating at full power, counteracting the profound fear that should have been gripping him, making that, despite everything, he could still think rationally. He gritted his teeth for a moment and struggled to speak, asking for the deeper meaning behind the torment.

"What is the purpose you have in doing all of this?"

Adam asked, his voice tight with difficulty. Alter Adam's gaze darkened, but he did not lose his smile.

"The details are something that are none of your concern, although I am sure you will eventually understand. After all… we are the same person, and let that be clear: even though our circumstances were different, harbor no doubt that, had you gone through the same things, you would be standing in the same place."

Stolen novel; please report.

Alter Adam seemed to laugh at his own statement and raised a hand to his face, as if he wanted to scratch his own skin.

"You know… The existence of Adam Scholar is destined for suffering, no matter what happens, so why? … Why are you different? Is it the narrative? The Author? The Patrons? Something else? I do not understand it, but I am thankful to the [4th Wall No More] skill for opening my eyes, for realizing the unfair, cruel joke that my own life was. I am slowly managing to understand more and more of the true nature of the world that surrounds me."

Adam did not fully understand his counterpart's meta-commentary, but he resolved to remember every word, certain that at some point, he would grasp the full implication. Noticing the boy's confused gaze, alter Adam laughed again. He gripped Adam's hair and lifted him violently so they were face-to-face while standing.

"Do you know that all of this has already happened? The story of Adam Scholar has already occurred, it has already ended, it has already been told."

Alter Adam spoke in terrifying insight.

"But for some reason, here we two stand, in completely different situations than how our path originally should have been."

In that moment, the woman on the other side of the line spoke, her voice audible through the floating System window.

"Is that why you insisted so much on finding a way to become human again, even though that procedure was so incredibly dangerous?"

Upon hearing this, alter Adam lost his smile at the interruption and seemed annoyed, but then he sighed with resignation.

"Katya, you are speaking too much. Please shut your mouth."

He commanded his subordinate. The girl on the other end immediately fell silent, and alter Adam continued, his eyes focused back on Adam.

"It is curious. After gaining consciousness of what the 'original timeline' had been, I did everything possible to differentiate myself from the original Adam Scholar, among those things, recovering my humanity."

He observed the protagonist critically.

"However, here I see you, the other Adam, the one favored by destiny, and yet I see him exaggeratedly similar to our original incarnation. Everything about you screams to be a villain. How is that fair? Another twist of the 'narrative' spitting in my face, surely."

At that moment, alter Katya spoke again through the voice chat, calling the patched boy by his rank.

"Leader… You are the one who is speaking too much now."

Alter Adam seemed to realize his own lapse and sighed again.

"Thank you. I think I will stop talking now."

Even with Adam held tightly by the hair, alter Adam used his free hand to raise it and create a fierce blue flame in his palm, accompanied by a System window.

[The ■■■ has selected the mutated Personal Skill [I Will Burn my Fears Lv10] for use.]

Adam tried desperately to do something, but he could not move. Alter Adam spoke to him calmly.

"Do not worry. I am actually going to do you a favor."

He said with a clear mocking tone.

"That little germ you have inside is something I hate. The same being that was the cause of my, and clearly your, downfall… The Undead Empress. I hate that entity with all my being, so, as a simple favor, I will get rid of her before taking you."

Adam's eyes widened, understanding his counterpart's intent: he wanted to erase the ghost, exactly as he had done with Teo's Empress. The boy tried to resist again, but his body remained immobile.

Suddenly, the Empress within Adam finally reacted, forcibly taking temporary control of his body and screaming her fury.

"You insolent brat!"

The Empress roared the defiance, opening her mouth to generate a [Banshee's Torment], but before she could complete the attack, alter Adam placed his hand directly over her face, starting the skill's execution.

"That was perfect. Now that the 'germ' has come out on its own, I will eliminate it quickly."

He then began to explain the execution.

"Adam, you do not need to worry about anything. The skill is designed to destroy 'evil creatures' like the Undead, so as long as you let the ghost remain in control of your body, I can purge her completely without harming you, or at least not much."

The Empress in Adam's body began to scream, feeling her very soul being burned, to the clear pleasure of alter Adam, whose face was consumed by an expression of extreme, sadistic satisfaction.

However, and to the complete surprise of everyone, Adam forcefully regained control of his body, sending the Empress's spirit back into the core of his mind. The boy was the one who continued to receive the full impact of the blue fire, and this time, turning off his pain receptors did nothing because the pain was spiritual; he could feel everything as clearly as if his living skin were being burned off.

Alter Adam did not stop his skill, but he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you think you are doing?"

He demanded to know the reason for such an illogical move. Adam, however, did not respond; he simply remained there, taking the fire's touch directly to his face and fighting with all his might against the immense pain.

"Doing that is not only stupid but also useless. If what you are trying to do is stop me from killing you to save the 'germ', then it will not work."

Alter Adam explained with a sigh.

"My skill specifically affects 'evil creatures', and to my fortune, due to the complexities of your body, you have divine characteristics mixed into your abomination of a race... You are not entirely a malignant creature, so what will happen is that the blue fire affects you, but not as much as it would the ghost. Eventually, the pain will become too much, you will lose consciousness, and the skill will reach the 'germ'. Nothing changes; you are only suffering in vain."

However, despite the cold explanation, Adam did not change his position or move. He simply remained there, clenching his teeth and resisting pain that would have made the toughest of men scream.

Throughout his entire journey in the System, Adam had suffered countless moments of extreme pain to the point where his sanity was compromised, from the mental shock inflicted by the Empress when they first met, the spectral transformations that felt like his skin and bones were breaking, the day of human experimentation he suffered at the hands of Abbess, among other things. Compared to those memories, this flame was not something that would easily bring him down.

Alter Adam could see the pure determination in his counterpart's eyes, a sight that surprised him deeply. He finally asked, genuinely annoyed.

"Why would you put yourself in this situation for a System entity? They are nothing more than simple beings created for someone else's entertainment at the cost of the users' suffering! Furthermore, that 'germ' specifically is the reason why I am sure you suffered too, isn't she?! Why protect her?"

Enduring the agonizing pain and refusing to yield, Adam simply forced his mouth open and spoke a single, defiant command.

"Shut up."

Alter Adam was momentarily taken aback, but then he returned to his sadistic smile.

"Then suit yourself."

The patched boy increased the power of the blue flame in his hand, making Adam let out a sound of pain, but he held firm. He knew his counterpart would not kill him, so if he could resist long enough without losing consciousness until his life was in real danger, the skill would be canceled... He only had to endure.

Inside his mind, the Empress, recovering from the damage and witnessing the impossible sacrifice, could only look at Adam in stunned silence, unable to understand the reason behind his actions.

The seconds dragged on, and Adam continued to endure, though muffled screams of agony occasionally escaped him. Alter Katya spoke through the voice chat, questioning her leader.

"Leader, is it sensible to continue this? Others would already have died with this much exposure to the skill."

Alter Adam clicked his tongue, but did not stop. He was not willing to grant his counterpart the victory by giving up. He was certain Adam's mind would eventually falter and succumb to the pain. But then, alter Adam felt something shift in the atmosphere.

His fixation on Adam had been so complete that it took him a full second to detect the disturbance—a power so particular and, most importantly, familiar that it instantly drew his attention. The second of delay was too much, and the moment alter Adam turned his head toward the source of the energy, a large figure was already upon him.

The mechanical body of Falk, or rather, Isaac, appeared before Adam's eyes in an instant, delivering a fierce, powerful kick directly to alter Adam's stomach. The figure was clad in the mechanical Battlerizer Suit, its entire form metallic, even its human-like face, which emitted electric sparks.

Following the impact, alter Adam spat a large amount of blood before being launched like a missile away from the area.

Adam was instantly freed from the consuming fire and slowly bowed his head, still conscious but panting heavily. Then, Falk finally spoke, standing protectively in front of him.

"Everything is a complete disaster… Fortunately, it was not difficult to figure out who the target is."

Adam slowly raised his head and saw his mechanical companion, looking exactly as he had during the first battle against Dravhark, confirming that Falk had been able to get in contact with... Falk seemed to understand Adam's thoughts and replied immediately with a big smile.

"Do not worry. Help has finally arrived!"

Adam tried to respond, but he could not articulate a single word.

Far away, alter Adam's body bounced several times before he could finally react and latch onto the ground until he stopped, marking a clear path where he had skidded. He immediately, and finally, exclaimed in pain, clutching his chest where the kick had landed. Alter Katya began to panic over the comms.

"Leader?! Are you alright?! What happened?! Leader!!"

The patched boy did not answer; he simply looked at his hand, which was still visibly trembling from the immense impact, and then raised his gaze to the newcomer. He recognized the energy, that profoundly unpleasant essence, and that was when he saw the figure in the distance… The shape of someone he knew and hated in equal measure, even though it was clearly not the same person.

The figure was an older man emerging from the palace, but he knew who it was: Sebastian Rüegg, the former leader of Team Eden, the user who had been close to killing him during the past war.

Alter Adam exploded in raw, uncontained fury, losing his smile and roaring across the plain.

"I killed you! I tore off your head and absorbed your ability! Why in the hell are you here?!"

Due to the immense distance, Sebastian couldn't hear the roar, but the scream of frustration was meant more for himself than for his enemy. Without another thought, alter Adam screamed again and launched himself forward at insane speed, his body quickly mutating in preparation for the new confrontation.

Alter Katya, meanwhile, continued screaming on the line, profoundly disturbed by her leader's words and the fact that he had stopped responding to her. But she had had enough; she had to act promptly.

"That's enough, we're going there!"

The girl commanded, and the call was abruptly cut.

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