Rabid and seemingly chaotic, yet there was thought and rhythm within each strike.
Adam saw a subtle pattern in her relentless attacks.
Her attacks, even when calculated, were in the end, desperate.
She would take every opportunity given to deal a lethal blow; which had forced Adam to focus lest he accidentally gets killed when trying to capture the beauty. The difficulty magnified because Adam wasn't trying to cause her true damage; only beating her black and blue a little bit…
Blood, tainted with darkness, ran black trails on his toned body; his cloak nothing more than tatters and strips that barely did much to hide his 'majesty'.
A mere moment of contemplation passed before he hardened his features and made a decision.
Deprived of fate and luck, forced into perilous situations, standing before a challenge; truly where a devil belonged. Either puppeteering the fate of others, or defying it itself: he had already dodged fates bullet multiple times, what was one more?
As she feinted left, he gave her the opening she wanted, one too obvious to avoid. Her silver, pool-like eyes glimmered as her right hand shot forward, her fingers fusing into a blade of pure darkness that was aimed for his heart.
He was ready.
To make the opportunity truly believable, he had to make it half-true.
His positioning was awkward, while she was fast and precise. His pupils tightened and his heart raced; his adrenaline coursing madly as her hand neared. The feeling of sharpness and pain slowly increased as he saw her blade-hand slowly start tearing into his skin and flesh.
But he had expected it all.
The moment he had created the illusion of an opening, he had also sent his hand up in a clumsy-appearing state; like a pebble moving randomly within the currents, but driven by a clear path. His seemingly random, reckless, and desperate flailing had made it so his body twisted back while shifting his weight away from her attack, while also moving to kick back and move his hand to intercept.
Unexpected at first glance, but once she realized what was going on, the feeling of her hand moving into him much slower than she had initially expected and calculated, it was too late!
He caught her wrist in a vice-like grip just before her hand could get past his bone; his strong and thick muscles helped in slowing her advance as well.
Shocked and desperate, Lyra flared her demonic mana, seeking to either inject his body with her attack or destroy his hand. Yet, the dark energy around her hand only sizzled against his palm, but couldn't pierce his own coat of demonic mana.
Her eyes widened in shock for a split second.
His mana was shockingly more refined, more sturdy in a way. If her energy was gathered like a loose ramble of men launched to attack, then Adam's was like men put into a perfect phalanx formation.
While she spent her time growing, evolving, and devouring to become a more powerful devil in the wild, Adam was already refining every ounce of his energy, understanding its limitations and capabilities, and moving to understanding the true meaning of what it was to be a devil.
Before she could react, Adam's other hand shot forward. This time it wasn't an open-handed slap like before, but a perfectly placed, hard jab; his knuckles moving in a fast and short flash before connecting on the point of her jaw, just below her ear.
"Crack!"
The snap was loud.
Lyra's world dissolved into a blur and a deafening ring; the thumping pain adding a sharp pain. Her legs turned to jelly as she struggled against the ground, stumbling and moving awkwardly. The shadows she commanded around her vanished instantly; receding like a black tide. Her eyes lost focus, the liquid mercury swirling in chaos; stars danced between illusion and reality within them.
She crumpled onto the ground, her body limp, and her consciousness barely clinging by a thread.
The fight was gone, leaving only the ringing silence and the slow drip of blood at the corner of her mouth.
Defeated.
Lyra's world was a distorted, nauseating vortex of pain and ringing. Through the fog in her mind, a single thought screamed.
'Get up!'
She pushed against the ground, her arms trembling violently, her muscles refusing to obey. The world seemed to move like a ship within a stormy sea, the coarse rock beneath her shifting beneath her.
After struggling, she managed to get one knee under her, defiant and still trying to escape. Her animalistic expression and her exhausted panting filling the silence to the observers.
Adam watched her struggle, a small grin growing.
He didn't stop her; merely crouching before the beauty.
He let her almost find her balance, admiring her persistent tenacity, her barely clothed body and her caramel skin, then, with a casual, almost playful motion, he flicked his finger hard against her forehead.
It wasn't a powerful blow, but it was perfectly aimed and charged with precise and potent mana.
To Lyra, a jolt of stunning pain exploded through her already concussed skull, short-circuiting her unsteady balance. Her vision whited out again, a pathetic whimper escaping her lips as she crumpled back to the ground, clutching her head, her body convulsing with dry heaves as the dizziness overwhelmed her.
Adam, his chest and arms adorned with both shallow and deep, bleeding cuts, felt a fire roaring within him.
This wasn't anger; it was exhilaration!
The thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of the capture, the gamble that payed off, the prize struggling in his grasp... even the bleeding, simmering wounds on his body felt like accolades of a dance well done.
It was intoxicating!
He reached down, his grip like a clamp of abyssal steel, and hauled her upright. He twisted her arms behind her back, holding her tight against his chest, ignoring her weak, dizzy struggles.
He turned his head, his voice projecting through the barrier, laced with mocking finality.
"Are you still watching Kaelgor?" Adam looked at the hesitant, warlord, "Run back to your master with your tail between your legs... unless you'd like me to turn the lights on again?"
The threat of the attack rune hung in the air.
Kaelgor had watched the two young devils fight, but was immediately able to tell that Adam had the upper hand.
His century of fighting had given Kaelgor a keen and cunning eye when it came to battle; Adam's leisure and relaxed combat style had told him all he needed to know the outcome of the fight.
'Especially that fatal gamble… but he had done it perfectly!'
A young newborn had just defeated a devil who was older than him, with battle instincts that made Kaelgor raise a brow.
'His inheritance… it is strong.' He thought.
For the first time, Kaelgor turned to truly look at the female devil in Adam's grasp. His hell's eyes activated, the demonic runes in his pupils squirming as they took in the information he'd been too arrogant to notice before.
Mid-Tier Lesser Devil.
Forming Shadow Devil Traces.
Primordial Yin Intact…
His own demonic eyes closed slowly, a shudder of pure rage passing through his massive body; barely contained as his aura threatened to kill those weaker demons around him.
He hadn't just been thwarted in his attack, making his plans obsolete; he had also been robbed!
He had held a diamond in his grasp and dismissed it as a common rock. He had missed a treasure of immeasurable potential.
He trembled, barely able to reign in his emotions as a century old devil. He released a sigh that was more like a jet of steam.
With a wave of his hand, barely restraining his fury, he signaled his army to pull back.
The retreat was not a tactical withdrawal; it was a silent admission of a catastrophic failure: his failure.
Adam paid the retreating horde no more mind; having expected that Kaelgor wouldn't take the risk to try and take the barrier down while he was fighting Lyra.
There wasn't enough time!
The whole, bloody fight had only taken a minute or two!
Their supernatural strength, speed, and reflexes had been incredibly intense, but also short.
The attack runes lethality had exceeded his expectations, much less Kaelgor's; it was something that would have caused him to go mad with joy, if it were not for the soft beauty in his grasp.
Soft indeed~
He began the walk back towards his inner wall, dragging a half-conscious, stumbling Lyra with him.
Every time she showed a hint of resistance, every time she tried to dig her heels in the ground, his free hand would snap out, delivering another sharp, thundering flick to her temple or the back of her head.
Each impact, infused with a concentrated and precise amount of mana, was a bolt of pure, stunning agony that made her cry out and sent fresh waves of dizziness and nausea crashing over her.
It was a cruel, effective way to break her will without causing lasting damage, to keep her disoriented and subjugated.
The demons on the wall watched in stunned silence. They had seen their master thwart an army of thousands with a casual gesture; releasing a beam of death.
They should have been cheering.
But the sight of him returning, bleeding from wounds inflicted by the very devil he carried, sent a confusing mix of awe, fear, and jealousy through them.
If they have had hints of his lustful nature before, now they were certain.
Agri's face was full of conflicting emotions.
Her smugness at their victory warred with a bitter envy as she saw the beautiful, silver-haired devil in her master's arms.
She was supposed to be the favored one!
Blair's pride was wounded anew.
This new devil had drawn their master's blood, had fought with a ferocity she herself hadn't shown, and was now the sole focus of his attention. She was slowly realizing the vast difference in strength between devils and demons: slowly understanding that her 'closeness' to Adam, a devil, was already something that 99% of demons would never be able to replicate.
Even Roh, ever loyal, watched with a wary tension, his body coiled as if ready to intervene if the captive suddenly proved more than their master could handle: though he knew that if she were to escape, he would be completely helpless against someone so strong.
Ignoring their stares, Adam marched straight towards the cleaner stone building, the barracks and infirmary.
He bypassed the main hall and he headed for a smaller, more secluded side room.
It was the same room, with the same stone slab layered in thick hides, where he had first taken Agri and asserted his dominance...
He kicked the door open and threw Lyra inside.
She stumbled and collapsed onto the furs, her body wracked with pain and her mind disorientated.
Adam stepped in after her, closing the door and plunging the room into a dim gloom; their natural night vision the only reason they could still stare at each other.
He looked down at his bleeding cuts, at the wound that could have been the end had he been careless, then at the dazed, beautiful deviless on his 'bed'.
The fire within him burned brighter; she was truly worth of his attention!
The real conquest was just beginning...