Although Adam didn't know why or how the three devils had appeared before him, he didn't hesitate.
His mind, honed by battle and sharpened by desperation, made the only decision that made sense at the moment: attack.
He moved into a dash, his body a blur as his demonic energy flared around him like a dark, blazing cloak. His aura, mental power, and demonic mana fused with his body to push his strength to his limits; peaks that he just only reached.
He sought to kill the devils before him swiftly, ruthlessly, before they could coordinate or mount a defense, or an escape.
He was surrounded on the outside, with multiple devils entering a war for the law fragment that was buried within Kaelgor's body.
On the inside, three powerful devils, each of whom rivaled or surpassed his strength, were now confronting him.
There was nowhere else to run.
The nexus portal was completed, but he knew he couldn't enter his original realm quite yet.
The coordinates were set, but the portal was untested, its stability unknown. Not to mention the fact that he was rejected when the portal was initially made by Lord Gorael.
He also hadn't had the time to enter Lyra's coordinates into the nexus's portal to escape. Not that he even knew if the portal even worked, if it would hold together, if it would transport him safely.
Or if entering the unstable nexus's portal would shoot him out into a dimensional rift, destined to float in obscurity until the day he faded.
Alas, he had been too busy with shock after shock.
His greatest goal, completing the dimensional portal, had unknowingly brought nothing but challenges, confusion, and even dread.
The mana wave, the law fragment, the sudden appearance of these rogue devils: it was a cascade of disasters, each one threatening to drown him.
Suffocating him until he had no space to breathe or think properly.
Now, only instinct and ruthlessness parted the dread that drowned his mind.
"Woosh!"
He dashed towards the surprised trio, his mind had already linked with the attack rune.
The forbidden power of the nexus hummed at the edge of his consciousness.
A weapon of last resort.
In his mind, the plan was simple: kill these three with the attack rune's overwhelming power, and then make a mad dash into the wilderness, opposite of where Kaelgor and the other devils were fighting.
He was completely ready to cut off this piece of flesh and escape; his only hopes that Lyra would still follow him.
'I might as well take her by force…' Adam's thoughts drifted as he was mentally prepared to fight to the death.
Unaware that as he moved, a shadowy figure mimicked his actions.
His body tensed, his muscles coiled, his mana surging to its peak.
He was a predator forced into a corner, and he would not go quietly!
"WAIT!"
The sudden shout was sharp, commanding, and cut through the tension like a blade.
The three devils, Borog, Letras, and Nyx, immediately jumped back, their arms raised in a gesture of surrender or peace; their bodies shifting into defensive postures.
The action was startling, unexpected, and it stopped Adam's pessimistic thoughts dead in their tracks.
Adam halted his attack, but his body was still ready for violence, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.
He didn't let down his guard, even if he did stop his advance.
His demonic energy still crackled around him, ready for immediate retaliation if any of them made a wrong move.
At his side, Lyra still had her eyes narrowed, her silver gaze fixed on the intruders.
Dark, demonic mana fluttered around her like a shroud, her body tense, her stance ready.
Unexpectedly, although at the mid-tier, she was ready to join Adam and fight these three high-tier devils.
Her devotion and commitment to Adam was startling: a fact that sent a flicker of joy and pride through Adam's cold, calculating heart.
It wasn't exactly love, but the lack of fear to face those stronger than her. The pride of having something that is hers, Adam, being threatened.
A feral animal that had her territory intruded upon.
Rage that didn't discriminate for one enemy, or even three!
Something in Saphira's beautiful eyes flickered at that sight.
She had been standing back, observing.
She didn't care for Adam, could not care for him, not after what he had done to her.
But the fact that he so resolutely went ahead and charged at the trio, without hesitation, without fear, made her find him slightly less repulsive.
Maybe even a bit attractive.
Strong, unwavering, domineering: these were attractive traits in devils, even if said devil was her sexual assaulter.
Though these emotions were quickly smothered by a hint of embarrassment.
Because when the three devils shot out of the ground, when they first repelled Adam, her mind's first instinct had been to think of an escape.
To flee, to hide, and to survive.
But Lyra, a weaker deviless, actually charged together with Adam, standing by his side without a moment's hesitation.
It made Saphira feel as if she was being insulted, as if her fear was a stain on her pride.
While she was afraid, a weaker deviless was not!
Snorting coldly, not wanting to be humiliated further or be outdone, Saphira moved alongside Adam and Lyra, showing her stance.
Her body, restricted and bruised, still radiated a power that could not be ignored.
Her mana, though restrained by the tail collar, still surged with the potential of a high-tier devil. Unless Adam sent a command to the collar, then she would be able to unleash her full power.
A fight of two and a half versus three: not completely unwinnable in normal circumstances.
Adam glanced at her, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes. Though he felt like now wasn't the time to commend her courage.
Then, his gaze shifted back to the three intruders, his expression hardening.
"Speak! Explain yourselves, now!" He commanded.
Seeing that Adam had stopped, the trio secretly wiped the cold sweat off their foreheads.
Their hands, still trembling slightly from the adrenaline, slowly moved from their expression of surrender and back down to their side; silent relief flooding through them.
They had been moments away from being on the receiving end of the nexus's forbidden power, and the knowledge of how close they had come to such a dread-inducing power was a cold,
sobering weight.