Chapter 86: Demon [3]

As he gazed at the demoness’s full, luscious lips, Adam clenched his teeth; he knew those kisses drained his strength, so he had to stop that from happening.

There was something deeply unnatural about them. They weren’t just lips… they were a trap.

Just as their lips were about to touch, he managed to turn his head away to prevent himself from being kissed again.

…But he had made a huge mistake in doing so. Adam looked at the demoness’s face, which lost all expression.

The change was immediate as if something inside her had been switched off.

“You just turned down a kiss from me… Hahaha~, you’re trying to act tough.”

There was no warmth in her laughter. It was light… but hollow.

Adam felt a chill run down his spine. Those words didn’t sound calm at all.

Suddenly, his face was slammed against the floor.

BOOM.

The sound reverberated through the air like muffled thunder.

The planks split as his entire face was crushed.

The wood offered no resistance. It was as if his body were a tool of destruction.

The impact shook the entire structure.

Dust and splinters rose into the air, floating slowly around.

Adam, his face bloodied, tried to react, released mana, pushed his body forward… but a tentacle grabbed his arm.

The grip was firm.

Then another one grabbed his legs, and finally the last one wrapped around his torso, preventing him from moving easily.

Each point of contact squeezed with precise force, as if it knew exactly how much to restrain him.

Little by little, the tentacles lifted him.

The demoness gently caressed his face while she licked the blood from it with her tongue.

The contrast was unsettling. Violence and gentleness are mixed without logic.

“I’m sorry, my dear; I don’t want to hurt you; it’s just that I’ve been in that realm of madness for too long.”

Her voice was almost sweet. Almost.

The demoness looked at him with genuine concern for the wounds on his face.

That was the worst part. It didn’t seem fake.

Adam didn’t know how to feel; it was the first time since he’d returned to the past. He’d come so far, and yet they were toying with him like this… He was practically at the mercy of the demoness, who was clearly completely insane.

And that madness… was what made her the most dangerous.

The next blow came from above; his body was slammed into the floor once again.

There was no time to react.

The impact left a crater in the house’s floor.

The wood and stone gave way as if they were fragile.

The structure creaked ominously.

A long, tense sound. As if everything were about to collapse.

Everything came crashing down around him.

Debris, dust, splinters of wood. The world came crashing down in an instant.

Adam gasped; his vision was blurry; his body wouldn’t respond properly. The damage he was taking was too much, and the difference in strength between him and the demoness was so great that he couldn’t do anything.

He knew it with cruel clarity.

Leaning on his hands and breathing heavily, Adam stood up, using the sword for support.

Every movement was a struggle. Every muscle ached.

The demoness looked down at him with a small smile, as if she were watching something interesting.

Adam clenched his teeth, forcing his body to move even as it screamed in pain.

He couldn’t fall here.

“…Not… yet…”

The words barely came out. But his resolve was firm.

The ground beneath him creaked, and the pressure his body exerted increased; his mana had recovered almost to its full capacity; he stood up, holding the sword before him.

The energy began to respond. Slowly… but surely.

He was going to use the Knight’s Hymn. Knowing the backlash he would suffer.

It didn’t matter… and he had no other choice anyway.

“Ho~, so you can use it every time too; you’re winning me over even more.”

Her voice was full of interest. And amusement.

The demoness tilted her head, curious to see the golden sparks that were beginning to surround Adam.

The light stood in stark contrast to everything else. Faint… yet persistent.

And then…

There was no warning.

She kicked him.

His body crashed through the wall of the house.

The wall’s resistance meant nothing.

He was hurled out onto the street.

The air was knocked out of his lungs once again.

He bounced off the cobblestone pavement, rolling several meters before coming to a stop amid debris and dust.

The world slowly stopped spinning… while the pain remained.

Adam spat out blood.

The dark red liquid splattered against the stone, forming an irregular stain that slowly spread.

The metallic taste filled his mouth as his hands trembled against the cobblestone ground. His muscles responded slowly, but they responded.

The street around him lay in ruins: overturned stalls, splintered wood, an overturned cart on one side, its wheels turning slowly as if they didn’t understand that it was all over.

That slow, out-of-place movement… made everything seem even more unreal.

A shadow fell behind him.

Without warning. Without a sound.

BOOM.

The ground exploded where he had been standing just a moment before.

The stone flew up in pieces, as if it had been torn from the ground.

Adam rolled, grabbed a broken spear from the ground, and threw it without thinking.

There was no time to aim. Just react.

The demoness tilted her face slightly.

As if it were a curious gesture, not an attack.

“You’re quite elusive, dear…”

Her voice carried an amused tone as if she were enjoying every second.

Adam didn’t answer; he was already running.

He couldn’t afford to get distracted. Not for a single moment.

He turned down a narrow street, pushing his body to the limit. His boots pounded the uneven ground as he propelled himself against a wall, climbed onto a barrel, then onto a canvas awning that tore under his weight.

He landed on a wooden balcony.

CRACK!

The structure partially gave way.

For a moment, it seemed as though everything would collapse beneath him.

He kept moving; he had to get as far away as possible from that monster that Silas, that son of a bitch, had summoned.

That thought drove him forward. He couldn’t stop.

“So you want to play hide-and-seek. If I catch you, what will my reward be~?”

The voice was closer now.

Adam didn’t look back. He jumped from the balcony onto the roof of the house next door. The tiles slid beneath his feet.

The balance was precarious. One mistake would be enough.

He ran at full speed… and a shadow fell over him.

The moonlight vanished for a moment.

He looked up; the demoness was slowly descending.

A tentacle shot down at full speed, creating friction as it descended.

Hearing the whistling of the wind and the tentacle getting closer and closer, Adam leaped to the side.

The roof exploded with a violent crash; fragments flew through the air and struck him in various parts of his body.

Without stopping, he ran to the edge and let himself fall.

He fell into an alley, and just as he was about to hit the ground, he made a quick move, rolled using that same momentum, and got back up, grimacing in pain.

The impact coursed through his body like an electric shock. His legs protested… but held firm.

I need to get as far away as possible; with my current strength, I can’t shorten the Knight’s Hymn; she won’t let me use it anyway.

The thought was clear.

It was obvious that that damned demoness wouldn’t let him rest easy; Adam knew that all too well. He hadn’t died simply because his strength and endurance were greater than those of an average mid-ranking knight.

And even so… it was barely enough.

…In short, if it weren’t for the system that had been helping him all this time, he’d be dead.

The thought wasn’t comforting.

Adam scanned the area for a suitable alley until he spotted a narrow one with high walls.

“Where is my darling~? I think he’s pretty close~.”

He heard the demoness’s voice painfully close by, and without a second thought, he leaped toward the wall, pushing off with one foot, and climbed up.

And he spun in the air.

The world spun for a moment.

Just as the demoness appeared at the entrance to the alley.

His silhouette blocked the light.

Adam threw his sword, not intending to strike but to distract her.

It was a risk. But he had no better options.

The demoness caught it effortlessly. She didn’t even have to move.

“Is that…?”

Adam was already upon her. He had used the wall to gain momentum.

He fell from above, covered in golden sparks; in that moment of distraction, he had used the Knight’s Hymn.

With both hands, he grabbed a fragment of a broken beam, propelling himself with all his weight.

Everything he had… in a single blow.

The demoness looked up, but it was already too late.

For once.

The blow landed.

CRASH!

The sound was brutal, heavy, and… satisfying.

The beam slammed into her face, pushing her against the alley floor, and the ground gave way under the force.

The impact sent dust and stone fragments flying.

Visibility vanished for a moment.

Adam landed with difficulty and stumbled back several steps. His legs nearly gave out… but he stayed on his feet.

The dust began to settle.

The darkness stirred. At first subtly… then clearly.

The demoness rose slowly.

Without haste. As if nothing had happened.

Her head tilted… her smile, wider, more dangerous, more mad. A thin black line ran down from her forehead.

The wound didn’t seem to bother her.

“…”

The silence grew heavy.

Her eyes sparkled with something deeper.

Something that hadn’t been there before.

“Now this… this is getting interesting.”

It wasn’t mockery this time.

It was genuine excitement.

Then, a status window appeared in front of him.

[Do you wish to summon the hero Asterin?]

[Yes/No]

[Note: Currently, your strength is insufficient for a full summoning. The estimated duration is ten seconds.]

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