Chapter 45: A shitty situation.

  Adam’s POV

  Ugh. This is turning into a massive headache.

  I sat slouched in the chair as Erza crept in slowly, his blue katana trained on me like he was approaching a cornered animal.

  “Maybe…” he murmured, his eyes narrowing. “…Your core allows you to evolve your armor?”

  I tilted my head slightly, keeping my face hidden behind the visor.

  “You sure you wanna swing that thing around all willy-nilly?” I said casually. “Wouldn’t wanna hurt your precious master, would you?”

  I was stalling.

  Waiting for the perfect opportunity to write a Rune of Sol on myself.

  But… this was going to be way harder this time.

  Unlike Lyra, Erza hits like a freight train, and I had zero idea what his full Nexus core abilities even were.

  Thankfully, Nove—my ever-helpful (and slightly judgmental) companion—immediately responded in my head.

  “He has the Titanbone Nexus core. It allows him to increase his defense, attack, speed, or any ability by infusing more NEP into it. The more NEP he infuses, the stronger that stat or ability becomes… with no clear limit seen so far.”

  Wait, so you’re telling me… he can just pump NEP into himself indefinitely?

  “Yes.”

  So theoretically, if he felt like it, he could turn himself into a walking nuke and level an entire city?

  “He has the ability to do so.”

  …

  Okay, WHY is it that Alper’s father can swing his sword like an explosive artillery shell, Lyra can literally predict the future, and this guy can Hulk-smash a continent—

  But Alper’s inherited Nexus core was… just an AI.

  “I take offense to that.” Nove’s voice chimed in. “Especially since you’ve repeatedly said I’m the best.”

  …Oh.

  Umm… Sorry?

  I didn’t have time to dwell on it because my instincts flared, and the armor’s combat experience kicked in.

  MOVE.

  I rolled to the side, dodging just in time as Erza’s blade sliced through the air—exactly where my head had been a second ago.

  But weirdly enough… nothing in the room was damaged.

  Oh.

  He was holding back because he still thought Alper was inside the sack.

  Good.

  Time to abuse that misunderstanding for all it’s worth.

  I quickly activated Valorous Echoes, granting myself 20% damage reduction while simultaneously scribbling the Rune of Sol onto my body.

  Rune of Sol Effect: Herculean Strength.

  Herculean Strength: Strength increased by 50 points for 30 seconds.

  …

  That’s a HUGE buff.

  An AMAZING buff.

  BUT I DON’T NEED TO BENCH PRESS A HOUSE OR ARM WRESTLE HIM—I NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.

  I exhaled sharply and drew my katana from my inventory, gripping the silver-green blade tightly.

  Thankfully, Erza hadn’t seen me wield a sword before as Alper, so he probably wouldn’t connect the dots yet.

  His eyes narrowed the second I unsheathed my weapon, his stance shifting into something more aggressive.

  “Why did you capture him?” His voice was steady but seething with anger. “Didn’t you people want to kill him?”

  I blinked.

  What?

  “What kind of sick experiments have you been doing to him?! Why does his Nexus core not respond anymore?!”

  For some reason, he seemed convinced that Alper’s pursuers didn’t want to kill him. but what’s this about some twisted experiment or something?

  Is that why he think I’m not going to kill him.

  He was practically foaming at the mouth, his words dripping with rage.

  “…Say what now?”

  I had zero clue what he was talking about, but I didn’t drop my stance.

  Erza didn’t give me time to process it, though—because the next second, he lunged.

  His katana sliced through the air, aiming right for the strings that held my not-Alper hostage.

  Smart. He wanted to cut the sack open, not hit me directly.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  But that’s why I had one of my stone shields strapped to my chest.

  The armor’s experience kicked in, guiding my movements like second nature.

  I raised my katana, shifting my grip—one hand on the hilt, the other bracing the flat of the blade.

  CLANG.

  Sparks flew as Erza’s attack bounced off, his blade deflecting with a sharp, metallic ring.

  For the first time, I saw surprise flicker across his face.

  His eyes widened, caught off guard by the sheer resistance of my block.

  But I didn’t care.

  I stepped forward, ready to slash at his hand to disarm him—but the second I did, my foot sank into the floor.

  The wooden planks beneath me turned squishy like clay.

  …

  Did he just metalweave the floor to trap me in the exact moment I attacked?

  I gritted my teeth. Curse these guys and their busted metalweaving stats.

  “I don’t know if this helps, but Erza has a metalweave mastery stat of over 70,” Nove chimed in casually.

  AND CURSE YOU, ALPER, FOR HAVING A METALWEAVE STAT IN THE SINGLE DIGITS.

  Before I could free myself, Erza metalweaved again. The floor warped to his hand, pulling in metals from nearby furniture—

  …

  AND HE JUST MADE A CROSSBOW OUT OF NOWHERE!?

  WHAT KIND OF RPG BULLSHIT IS THIS!?

  I barely had time to react as he fired.

  I swung my katana, deflecting the bolt—

  BOOM!

  -23

  It exploded on impact, blasting me backward. Now, ONE THIRD of my health was gone since I met Team Alaric.

  Okay. Cool. Great. Love that for me.

  Before I even hit the ground, I shot out my sticky webs, snagging Erza by the torso and yanking him toward me.

  It didn’t even matter.

  He sliced through the webs with ease and pulled out ANOTHER blade from nowhere—

  Bro. How many weapons do you have?!

  I activated Spectral Dash, narrowly dodging his attack and jumped in to counter.

  Right before I could land a strike, the wooden floor beneath us BURST UPWARD, morphing into a wall between us.

  This is cheating.

  Not only does this guy have an insane metalweaving stat, but he’s got a busted moveset, ridiculous abilities, and unlimited weapons.

  It’s like fighting an optional boss that’s harder than the final boss.

  YOU KNOW WHAT? SCREW YOUR STATS AND ENDGAME ABILITIES! I’M ROLLING THE DICE!

  I scribbled a Rune of Del onto the wooden wall.

  Rune of Del Effect: Stinky Fart Gas.

  Stinky Fart Gas: Releases an absolutely putrid gas all around.

  …

  You’ve gotta be shitting me.

  Almost immediately, a thick brown gas erupted across the entire room.

  Thankfully, I was safe inside my armor.

  Erza, on the other hand?

  Not so much.

  From behind the small wall he conjured something, I saw him vacuum up all the gas into a small, compact brown ball.

  Wait. What?

  “Your tricks won’t work on me a second time,” he declared confidently. “I’ve already learned how to synthesize gasses, so you won’t e—esca—”

  His words started to trail off.

  His face contorted in pure agony.

  His nose started running.

  Tears flooded his eyes.

  “P-POISON?!”

  With a horrified scream, he yeeted the brown ball of literal suffering away—where it splattered all over the poor guy’s house.

  “…Well. That family’s never going to recover from this, anyways.” Nove muttered in my head.

  “You… b-bastard!” Erza wobbled violently, barely keeping his balance as he gasped for air, his stance crumbling beneath him.

  “W-What kind of p-poison is this?! I have i-immunities! WHY AREN’T I IMMUNE TO THIS!?”

  Oh, my sweet summer child.

  There is no immunity for the foul manifestation of all that is unholy.

  I thanked the RNG gods for blessing me with such a gloriously disgusting ability.

  I lunged in, swinging my sword upward—

  At the last moment, he braced himself, barely managing to block.

  Too bad for him—I wasn’t stopping.

  Using the pommel of my katana, I slammed it into his head.

  -26

  Huh. That’s actually a decent chunk of damage—

  Oh. Right. I still have Herculean Strength buff active.

  Fantastic.

  Before he could recover, I brought my blade down on his right arm—

  Hard.

  -121

  His arm hit the ground. His blade hit the ground. His blood hit literally everything.

  That was some insane damage—

  I saw his health drop down fast… by just one third.

  His health only dropped by a third!?

  Bruh. What is this Elden Ring boss-tier HP scaling?

  "NOVE. PUT THAT KATANA INTO MY INVENTORY. NOW."

  “I’m sorry, Adam, but it will take me seven minutes to re-encrypt his blade before I can store it,” Nove responded, completely calm.

  …Seven minutes?

  SEVEN!?

  Are you kidding me!? I don’t even have seven seconds before this guy activates his second phase and solos my entire bloodline.

  With no other choice, I did the next best thing—I kicked his blade straight out the giant hole in the wall he made earlier.

  At the exact moment it flew outside, realization struck me like a divine slap from God himself.

  Wait.

  I could’ve just picked it up and used it.

  Even if I couldn’t store it.

  …

  Well, bollocks.

  But my suffering wasn’t over yet.

  Because right in front of my eyes—

  He casually placed his severed hand onto his cut limb.

  A golden glow radiated from the wound—

  AND THEN HIS HAND POPPED RIGHT BACK INTO PLACE.

  WHAT KIND OF ABSOLUTE, UNEQUIVOCAL BULLSHIT IS THIS!?

  Notice: Herculean Strength has expired.

  Oh poop.

  At that exact moment, with zero hesitation, I booked it towards the hole in the wall where I originally crash-landed.

  Shit. Shit. SHIT. SHIT!

  As I sprinted, I scribbled another Rune of Sol onto my body.

  Rune of Sol Effect: Feather Weight.

  Feather Weight: Your weight has been reduced to that of a feather for 30 seconds.

  …

  HOW THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HELP ME!?

  I CAN SAFELY FLOAT DOWN A BUILDING LIKE A GENTLE AUTUMN LEAF—

  BUT I STILL CAN’T ESCAPE!?

  GIVE ME THE FLIPPIN' INVISIBILITY ALREADY!!!

  But it was already over.

  Because the second I peered outside, I saw my doom.

  The road stretched ahead, open and exposed.

  To the right? No cover.

  To the left? Also no cover.

  To make matters worse?

  Two figures appeared in the distance, sprinting straight towards me.

  One of them was Lyra.

  The other?

  Some dude with white hair, wearing royal armor, looking like he was one missed breakfast away from committing war crimes.

  “That is Alper’s father, Lord Alaric,” Nove helpfully chimed in.

  …

  Ah.

  The mini nuke guy.

  …

  Well.

  This was a good run.

  I’m sorry, Lora.

  I failed as a big brother.

  As I mentally prepared my final words and reflected on my life choices, I turned around just in time to see Erza charging straight at me.

  His fist glowed ominously, radiating sheer power.

  “BLOCK IT! HE’S USING HIS NEXUS CORE!!”

  Nove’s voice screamed into my ear like an emergency siren.

  Reflex took over.

  With zero hesitation, I conjured up my stone shield, since its cooldown had been refreshed.

  “DIE!” Erza roared.

  OI!? WEREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE PROTECTING ALPER!?

  -232

  PAIN.

  I felt like a freight train plowed straight through my soul.

  Blood splattered inside my visor, only to be immediately absorbed by my armor—probably some weird Valkyrie tech that I’d question later if I didn’t die first.

  The damage number was horrifying.

  But thankfully, my shield took most of it.

  …Sadly?

  All the damage it couldn’t handle? Transferred directly to me.

  My health bar whittled down to a pathetic 30 points.

  I was barely clinging to life.

  But you know what the real kicker was?

  I flew.

  No, literally.

  Like an arrow shot from a longbow, I was YEETED INTO THE STRATOSPHERE.

  “AHHHHHHH—!!!” I screamed as I flew away.

  WHAT IN THE ACTUAL—!?

  THERE WAS NO WAY HE HIT ME THAT HARD.

  And then…

  I remembered.

  Feather Weight: Your weight has been reduced to that of a feather for 30 seconds.

  Oh.

  OH.

  HOLY SWEET MOTHER OF—IT ACTUALLY WORKED.

  HAHA!

  I’M ALIVE!

  I THOUGHT AS I SOARED INTO THE DISTANCE LIKE TEAM ROCKET GETTING BLASTED OFF AGAIN.

  “Hate to ruin your parade,” Nove’s voice chimed in, “…but will you survive the landing?”

  …

  Huh?

  HP: 31/150

  …

  Uh oh.