Adam's burning crimson eyes took in the scene in a single, devastating instant. Ignis, on one knee with dark energy festering in her wounds. Lilith, already moving to her side, her hands glowing with a stabilizing psychic weave. And Elise, held captive but with relief flooding her features at his arrival.

The relief was immediately crushed under a wave of cold fury.

The Lich, still wearing the disintegrating assassin, snarled. "This time, I will erase you!" The stolen body began to glow with a dangerous, overloaded green light, even as the flesh cracked and blackened.

Adam didn't speak. His rage, a cold and focused thing, did the talking for him. He didn't activate a skill, didn't summon his will. The sheer intensity of his anger, the sovereign draconic essence within him, and the haunting power of the Crown on his brow reacted. The air in the chamber didn't just grow heavy; it became solid with oppressive authority. It was the pressure of a mountain, of deep ocean depths—a physical, crushing weight that had nothing to do with psychic dominance and everything to do with the raw, unveiled presence of a Progenitor.

The assassin holding Elise gasped, his strength vanishing under the sudden, soul-deep dread. His hands went limp, and Elise stumbled free, scrambling away from him towards Seraphina.

Adam moved.

There was no flashy skill name, no war cry. One moment he was standing near the entrance, the next he was a blurred series of afterimages—Mirage Cascade closing the distance instantly. His fist, wreathed not in light or dark energy, but in pure, concentrated kinetic force born of transcendent Strength and Draconic Might, drove straight into the Lich's center of mass.

The Lich, constrained by the failing body's reflexes, couldn't even raise a proper shield. The punch landed.

KBOOM!

The sound was not of breaking bone, but of a sack of wet gravel being hit by a siege weapon. The assassin's body did not simply fly back; it exploded backwards in a grotesque plume of disintegrating flesh, shattered bone, and tattered cloth. It smashed into the far stone wall with such force that the ancient rock cracked in a web-like pattern, and the pulverized remains slid down to form a shapeless, bloody heap.

For a moment, silence reigned, broken only by the drip of debris and Ignis's pained breathing.

Adam lowered his fist, his expression one of utter, cold disdain. He finally spoke, his voice cutting through the silence like a blade.

"Rotting carcasses should know their place. They should not speak."

The pulverized body against the wall twitched. With a sickening sound of grinding bone and tearing flesh, the ruined form managed to push itself partially upright. One arm was gone, the torso was caved in, but the green light in its eyes still burned with malevolent intelligence. A wet, rattling laugh echoed through the chamber.

"Heh... heh heh... I see it now," the Lich's voice gurgled through ruined lungs, his gaze fixed on Adam's brow. "The crown... you wear it. So that artifact has found a new host... No wonder my curse's hold on the girl weakens in your presence. A fascinating discovery indeed."

Adam's predatory focus shifted into confusion. He took a step forward, his voice a low growl. "Hey. What are you talking about? What does this crown have to do with anything?"

The Lich's shattered face attempted a grotesque smile. "Oh? You formed a pact with such power... without even knowing its true nature? How delightfully... reckless." He coughed, a spray of black ichor. "To think a tool of such... profound consumption... is wielded in ignorance."

"Answer me!" Adam demanded, closing the distance in a flash, his hand shooting out to grab the Lich by what remained of his collar.

But the stolen flesh had reached its absolute limit. The body began to crumble like ash, disintegrating from within. The Lich looked at Adam's furious, confused face and the green light in his eyes flared with perverse satisfaction.

"This... this is what I wanted to see," the voice whispered, growing faint as the body turned to dust. "Your frustration... your ignorance. Protect her well, Serpent. Nurture that defiance. I will relish crushing it—and you—when we next meet. Do not let your own artifact consume you first..."

The last word faded into nothingness. The assassin's body collapsed into a pile of grey ash and bone fragments, leaving no trace of the possessing spirit.

But the room was not empty. A lingering, cold pressure remained—the psychic afterimage of the Lich's malice, a promise etched into the very air.

Adam stood over the pile of dust, his fist still clenched. The Lich's final words echoed in his mind. 'A tool of profound consumption…' '…do not let your own artifact consume you first.' He raised a hand, almost involuntarily, to touch the cold, unseen weight of the Crown of the Hollow Glutton on his brow. What had he bound himself to?

"Adam!"

Elise's voice, strained but clear, broke his reverie. He turned to see her kneeling by Seraphina, who had finally collapsed now that the immediate threat was gone, and Ignis, where Lilith was carefully extracting the necrotic bone shards with threads of psychic energy. Ignis hissed in pain but didn't cry out.

He was at their side in an instant. "How bad?"

"The necrosis has been halted," Lilith reported calmly, though a fine sheen of sweat on her brow betrayed the effort. "Her draconic vitality is already purging the residual energy. She will be sore, but functional. The knight is worse—physical exhaustion, mana depletion, and spiritual strain from forcibly awakening her oath. She needs proper rest and healing."

Seraphina tried to protest, to stand, but her body refused. "The… Princess…"

"Is safe, Sera," Elise said firmly, her hands glowing with the faint, soothing light of a basic healing cantrip as she pressed them to her knight's shoulder. "Thanks to you. Thanks to all of you. Now, be still."

Adam's eyes met Elise's. The relief in her gaze was profound, but it was quickly overshadowed by the same worry he felt. "He said the Crown was interfering with your curse," Adam stated, not a question.

Elise nodded slowly, her fingers pausing their healing motions. "I've… seen references to an artifact matching that description in the Royal Archives. Treatises on legendary cursed objects. The Crown of the Hollow Glutton," she said, the name sounding heavy on her tongue. "It's said to passively suppress or consume certain types of magical bindings and energy vampirisms… like a parasitic curse. It would make sense it dampens the effect of mine simply by being near."

Adam's crimson eyes were intent. "What else did those books say?"

Elise took a steadying breath, her scholarly mind organizing the fragmented lore. "It is believed to be one of the Seven Artefacts of Deadly Sin. Legendary relics, each embodying and amplifying a fundamental aspect of mortal… and immortal… transgression. They are powers of immense potential, but with histories drenched in catastrophe. Their nature is not inherently evil, but they are… transformative. They reflect and magnify the wielder's own nature, for good or ruin."

Lilith, having finished her ministrations on Ignis, tilted her head, a keen interest in her eyes. "So our Adam possesses a relic of legendary stature. How… valuable."

"It's not that simple," Elise countered, a slight frown on her face. "While the Seven Deadly Sins are among the most famous potent artifacts, they are not the pinnacle. There are rumored to be relics of higher orders, though their traces in history are like whispers—the Divine Virtues, the World Axis Relics… But make no mistake," she looked at Adam, her gaze serious, "the power of a Sin artifact is formidable. It is a power that has shaped empires and ended dynasties. Its strength, and its danger, depend entirely on the will and wisdom of the one who bears it."

She glanced away, a shadow crossing her face. "In my own kingdom… there is a high-ranking noble who is rumored to be the bearer of the Artefact of Sloth. It is not spoken of openly, but the signs… are there." She left it at that, respecting the user's request not to elaborate.

Elise's words sent a ripple of cold realization through Adam. A legendary artifact... one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The weight on his brow felt infinitely heavier, the whispers of the 52 souls within it seeming to grow more distinct in his mind.

"By the way," Elise added softly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at him. "Your horns are showing."

Adam blinked, then mentally cursed. In the heat of the battle and the following tension, he'd let his control slip. The spectral crown and the jet-black horns that were its physical anchors had become visible. "Oh. Right," he muttered, forcing himself to relax, to pull the monstrous aspects of his form back beneath the human-like surface. The oppressive, sovereign aura faded, and the horns and crown vanished from sight. "I got carried away."

He let out a slow breath, glancing around the ruined, empty chamber. "Lucky we're in a place like this. No one else saw." The last thing they needed was more attention drawn to his non-human nature, especially now with Duke Arkwright's men likely scouring the town for them after the disturbance at the inn.

He walked over to Ignis, who was now sitting up, though her face was pale and she clutched her injured shoulder. "Can you move?" he asked, his voice low.

Ignis nodded, a flicker of her usual fire returning to her eyes, though dimmed by pain. "Yeah. Just... stings like a nest of Hell-wasps. That bony bastard knew right where to hit." She tried to stand, wavering slightly. Adam offered a hand, which she took, pulling herself up with a grunt.

Lilith had moved to Seraphina's side, helping the barely-conscious knight to her feet. Seraphina's weight leaned heavily on the arachnid sovereign, but her gaze sought out Elise, ensuring her charge was safe before allowing herself to be supported.

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