"What… who was that?!"

Even with the battle, the Blue creeps had the leisure of taking their eyes away. After all, even the Red creeps were wondering what happened.

They were sure of it, the one who was rolling down with Gardo was Adam. But… how?

They watched as Gardo stood up quickly, brushing sand from his armor, but Adam grabbed him by the ankles, causing him to trip and fall again.

And then, everyone there started seeing something crazy. Something impossible. Adam was holding the Hero back. No—he was even pulling him backward, preventing him from reaching their position.

And quickly, the creeps realized something that made their blood run cold.

Adam had a weapon completely pierced through his stomach. Those from the Red team recognized the blade instantly—it was Adam's own weapon.

The Shion's blade protruded from his back, dark blood streaming down the metal and pooling in the sand beneath him. Every time he moved, spurts of blood showered from the wound… yet he didn't release his grip on Gardo's ankle.

Blood bubbled from Adam's mouth as he struggled, painting his lips and chin red. The wound was massive, the blade had torn through muscle, organs, everything, and still he held on with both hands.

"What… what is that?"

Immediately, the blue creeps' confidence slowly started to crumble again, and the tide of their battle became equal.

Meanwhile, from where Adam and Gardo were fighting, Gardo was screaming in frustration.

"Let go of me! Putang ina?! Ano 'to?!"

No. It was frustration slowly becoming confusion. He glanced back at Adam—he was sure he'd blitzed him with that strike minutes ago. But for a long while now, Adam had been clinging to his leg like some kind of rabid animal.

Gardo had also stabbed him. He wasn't confused about that—the evidence was literally pierced through Adam's stomach. And yet Adam was moving like nothing was happening.

"Fucking shit!" Gardo faced Adam and kicked him right in the face. His grip loosened—but only for less than a single second before he grabbed him again. And this time…

…Adam crawled on top of him until he was directly on his stomach.

"Get off me!" Gardo shouted, trying to push Adam away. "Ano ka, bakla?!"

And then, he watched Adam pull out the long weapon from his stomach, using both hands interchangeably since it was too long—all this without even stopping to gasp in pain.

"Huh…?" Gardo whispered, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You should be dead. You should be—"

And then, Adam swung the Shion at him. Gardo was able to catch the sword, of course, pinning it between his palms. Adam gritted his teeth, and Gardo could see the almost desperate but also empty look in Adam's eyes. It was quite confusing.

But most importantly, Gardo was experiencing something he shouldn't have. A creep's attack should easily be deflectable—he could just swat it away. But right now, he was having a hard time pushing back.

Granted, he was only a D-tier Hero, and he wasn't in the most ideal of positions, but their strength shouldn't even be comparable. Who even was this creep? Was he a Hero who could disguise himself as a—

Before Gardo could finish all of his thoughts, Adam did something.

He slammed his own head against the back of the blade as hard as he could and managed to free the Shion. The blade went straight to Gardo's nose and managed to slice it apart—it stopped on his bone, however.

But due to shock and the unexpected pain from a weaker opponent, Gardo was frozen. Adam took this chance to slam his head again, pushing the Shion further. And this time, it was able to crack Gardo's skull every-so-slightly.

That small crack he heard, however, meant everything for Adam. He didn't stop there.

He stood up, and then stomped on the blade…

…successfully cracking and slicing a Hero's skull open.

[The Administrator, Mikhail, is watching you even closer now.]

[For doing the impossible, more Administrators are watching you now.]

[More Administrators are curious about you. Administrators are curious about why you don't have a name. Administrators…]

[The Administrators…]

[Mikhail is annoyed by the other Administrators.]

[Zyhael, who was replaced by Mikhail, is very disappointed with Mikhail's deception.]

The voices of the Administrators echoed—no. They practically screamed through his ears, to the point he had to cover them. He listened to them attentively, however, trying to catch whatever information he could.

But aside from learning that the Administrators interacted with each other, they said no other things with substance… or perhaps this alone was a big deal?

It meant that Adam could possibly talk with them… if he grows stronger and gets even more of their attention.

Maybe you should have really accepted that gift, Adam.

He quickly stood up at the thought, shaking his head before his eyes gazing down at the Hero he'd just defeated.

Even with Gardo's face cracked, it was obvious how shocked he was by how he died. Adam… was quite shocked, too. He didn't think he could actually do it… but he did.

Unfortunately for Gardo, he was a Hero—and as far as Adam knew, they were the same as him while in the Game… undying. Adam didn't have to hold back at all, no. He even stretched through his limits, taking advantage of everything he learned, of everything he was.

And soon, Gardo's corpse lit up, turning into bubbles of light as the Game took them away.

Adam's eyes then naturally turned to the giant clock above the Dome—since the Game was just approaching the average middle duration, Gardo should be reviving in less than an hour or so.

That… should be enough time to destroy the enemy's Middle Crystal without alerting their other Heroes. He then quickly glanced at the battle that was happening not far from where he was, and with a sigh, he picked up his blade from the sand.

Before he could take a single step toward the battle, however, another message popped up in front of him.

[2 Status Points granted!]

And just like that, Adam was sure of it—after this Game, he would already be a Hero.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.