The Duelist of Rose.
A hero that even a recluse like Adam knew all about, even more than the Game itself. She possessed the ability to transform her blood into weapons – one of the strongest Heroes in the entire world.
She was known for her grace, nobility, and compassion.
But right now, as Adam watched her standing coldly beside Paik's fading, headless corpse, the only thing he could think of was death.
He had contemplated death countless times. So many times that he'd lost sense of what it truly meant.
But now, meeting eyes with the Duelist of Rose, he understood it viscerally. Even the ratatusk hadn't made him feel this way.
His entire body seemed to be responding to her presence – physically, instinctively.
And as he looked into her bright hazel eyes, Adam could feel his blood almost boiling beneath his skin.
Was she doing something to him? She could control her own blood, after all—was it actually possible she could manipulate others' blood too?
As she stepped forward, her blonde hair flowed effortlessly with the wind, revealing her small face and perfectly smooth neck, unmarred despite the bloodshed surrounding them.
Adam glanced back at Grace. The sword in her hand trembled violently the closer Sylvie came. The hand gripping Samantha, however, remained as still as stone.
"Hey..." Adam whispered, gently placing his hand over Grace's shaking one, "If... anything happens, you run."
Grace returned Adam's glance, but he had already looked away, stepping forward to meet Sylvie with nothing but a dented metal pipe as his weapon.
Before he could take three steps, however, the children from the Blue team he'd protected earlier rushed forward. They positioned themselves in front of him, stretching their arms and locking fingers together, forming a living barrier to prevent Sylvie from advancing.
"We...we're not going to let you hurt him!" one of the children cried, voice cracking.
"He... helped us with those... with those scary people! Don't hurt him! You're a bad person!"
The Blue creeps who had been caring for the children rushed to retrieve them, but froze when Sylvie reached her hand toward the kids.
The children closed their eyes and looked away, whimpering and wincing in anticipation of pain.
But instead of being hurt, they felt a gentle brush against their heads. They opened their eyes again to see Sylvie crouching to their level, smiling at them. The sword in her hand collapsed, showering to the ground before instantly drying out and withering away like dead leaves.
"I know," she said softly, "I know he and they tried to protect you. They're good people, right?"
"Y...yes?" The children gasped, confusion evident in their wide eyes.
"Then, I'm not going to hurt them—I only hurt bad people, okay?" Sylvie sighed and stood up. "Why don't you return to your parents and..."
Sylvie looked at the adults who were holding the children, but noticing they looked nothing like them, she paused briefly.
"Just... go back to them, okay?"
The children glanced at each other, narrowing their eyes and seemingly communicating telepathically. After a few more exchanged looks, they nodded their heads and turned to Adam.
"T...thank you!" they all said in unison before running back to the adults caring for them, their small feet pattering against the blood-stained ground. And now, without anyone standing between them, Adam realized how tall Sylvie was.
Granted, Adam didn't boast an impressive height and was only as tall as Grace, but to have Sylvie tower over him like this emphasized her domineering presence. She stood nearly a head taller, her posture perfectly erect, making the difference even more pronounced.
Grace, watching from behind, snatched Samantha's sword from her hand and pointed it at the Duelist of Rose as she moved closer to Adam. The blade wavered slightly despite her best efforts to keep it steady.
She knew it was useless, that Sylvie could probably end them all without them even registering what happened. But still, if Adam was going to face her, then she would too.
Sylvie glanced at Grace, who didn't flinch or look away. The S-tier Hero merely sighed at this display of futile courage.
"I already said that I am not going to hurt any of you," Sylvie said, her French accent coloring her words. "There's already been too many deaths. I'd... like to avoid unnecessary bloodshed if it is not needed."
Sylvie addressed the other Red creeps behind Adam and Grace, then looked at Samantha with a gentle smile that seemed out of place amid the carnage surrounding them.
"For a single moment, let us pretend that all of us will live until tomorrow... and I'm sorry."
Sylvie then walked back to the already cracked Inner Crystal and positioned herself directly in front of it.
She stretched out her arm, and blood shot from her palm, transforming mid-air into a large, gleaming blade. The transformation happened so quickly it seemed like the weapon had always been there.
She stabbed the blade into the ground before her and stood tall, facing all the Blue creeps, and declared:
"I am sorry that I will not allow you to destroy this crystal."
Everyone already knew this. That was the inevitable conclusion as soon as she arrived, but to hear it from her in person made all the Red creeps gasp collectively, hope draining from their faces.
The Blue creeps looked at each other, some letting out sighs of relief, while most appeared too guilty and ashamed to find solace in others' imminent deaths.
The Game had a very weird dynamic.
The creeps summoned at the Outer Crystal would have already been fighting for their lives without pause for an average of six hours if they managed to reach the Inner Crystal. The Middle Crystal creeps, around three hours if they managed to survive.
As for the creeps in the Inner Crystal, they would end up meeting combatants from both outer zones, warriors who were extremely tired, desensitized, and willing to kill, while they themselves had not even shed a single drop of blood.
Their perspective remained completely different—still entirely human.
And it was made obvious by them looking at their enemies with such pity and guilt, their clean hands clutching weapons they'd barely used.
"Give us a chance," Grace pleaded, her voice cracking. "Please, we're so close."
Sylvie did not respond immediately, only staring at Grace and once again scanning everyone's faces before shaking her head slowly, almost apologetically.
"You have been given a chance," Sylvie closed her eyes in lament. "You have reached this far, despite everything. I know, it isn't fair—and I'm sorry. I truly am. But I can't let anyone pass and destroy our crystal."
"Please," Grace gritted her teeth, her lips slightly bleeding where she'd bitten them in desperation.
"I'm sorry," Sylvie repeated, shaking her head once more. Her eyes flickered toward Samantha, noting her frightened expression. "You are protecting someone. I am protecting everyone in my team. I really am sorry, but please—back away."
Sylvie bit her lip, eyes drifting away from the rest of them. As the footsteps continued to whisper in her ears, she tightened her grip on her blood sword—but when she realized the steps were actually receding, a sighing gasp of relief escaped her lips.
She looked back toward Adam, only to see him backing away and sitting on the ground with the rest of his team, shoulders slumped in defeat.
"What... are we going to do now?" Grace muttered as she pulled her daughter closer to her. Samantha seemed to want to join the other children, to play—but Grace didn't want to find out what might happen if they interacted alone.
Samantha... had already killed people, and unlike the adults, she didn't yet possess the moral intelligence to fully process what that meant.
"Are we... just going to disappear like this?" She leaned closer to Adam, resting her head on his shoulder, the gesture intimate despite their nearing end.
Adam didn't respond, his gaze fixed on Sylvie. His mind raced through possibilities.
For the first time in his life, he was actively calculating how he might use his insane regenerative ability to escape this situation.
Unfortunately, no matter how he approached the problem, his thoughts always ended the same way—with their heads separated from their bodies.
The gruesome thought was about to replay in his mind yet again when someone from the Blue team suddenly approached, standing directly in front of him.
Grace instinctively grabbed her sword before even looking up, but as soon as she saw the Blue creep's face, she quickly lowered her weapon and settled back onto the ground.
How could she not, when the woman was obviously on the verge of tears, staring at... Adam?
"Do you... know her?" Grace whispered. Adam didn't answer immediately, studying the woman's face. She looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't place where he might have seen her before.
Before Adam could ask, the woman sniffled and spoke.
"It's... you, isn't it? You're Adam?"
"You... know me?" Adam's eyes widened as he watched the woman sink to her knees. Was it possible she was the woman from his dreams and fractured memories?
"It's... it's me," the woman forced out a chuckle as she covered most of her mouth and forehead with trembling hands, revealing only her distinctive yellow eyes, "Hans."
"Hans?" Adam narrowed his eyes. He only knew one Hans...
...and that person wasn't a woman.