Surviving These Unfair Scenarios [LITRPG - DIMENSION HOPPING]

The Undead Empress, in Adam's body, had launched herself toward the group of users with a terrifying shriek and a brutal display of cursed energy. So great was her rage that she had failed to notice a crucial detail… Unlike the previous scenario, her power was not as immense because the conditions were not the same. In the first place, although the Empress had not thought of it, the special circumstances of the previous scenario had allowed her to manifest almost her full power through Adam, and not only that, the cursed spear the boy had at the time of being possessed had also increased her power, something she did not have now, not to mention the help of Malzaphir, who had not said anything for the moment.

Because of this, the Empress's expression was one of extreme bewilderment when, instead of passing over them like an unstoppable force, her advance was halted solely and exclusively by Drake, who was not even using his Personal Skill as he had before.

The blond had simply used his [Medium Soul Sword Manifestation]—an improved version of his previous skill that had evolved thanks to his training—to summon a spiritual sword. This, combined with his [Holy Wings Manifestation] to summon wings of divine energy and propel himself, caused both of them to collide head-on and stop each other, creating an expansive shockwave around them. During that moment of struggle, Drake could not help but let out a small, choked laugh and say to her, in a mocking tone but with a very kind smile.

"Did your majesty get weaker than the last time?"

The Empress's face, reflected in Adam's, contorted in extreme fury, but she could not deny that something was wrong. She could feel her connection to her lich's body, but the overwhelming sense of power she had wielded before was absent. It was as if she had been granted a bucket of water to put out a bonfire when she was used to a tidal wave… She finally realized that she did not have her full power; at most, she could say it was maybe even less than half of what she once had.

The collision finally made both of them fly backward, putting some distance between them, but the one who was clearly more affected, at least emotionally, was the Empress. The rest of the group, however, did not attack immediately. They simply surrounded her and waited, a calm, unified front that infuriated her even more.

"Were they mocking me?"

She thought with fury in her face.

"The Undead Empress who had plunged the world into a ghost apocalypse and turned the planet into a kingdom of undead?"

She could not stand it, but she knew that without her power at its maximum, there was little she could do, as it seemed that just one of them was capable of keeping her at bay. The Empress was very frustrated, so she had no choice but to concentrate her mind and try to contact the entity with which Adam had a pact: the Archdevil Malzaphir.

She desperately screamed in her mind, begging him to give her power just like the last time. However, he did not answer... She tried again, thinking and shouting internally with more force, but nothing happened, until she finally heard a clear yawn coming from her head.

Finally, Malzaphir's voice was heard, a low, resonant sound speaking directly into the mind of Adam that the Empress now controlled.

"I won't do it."

He said, sounding utterly bored, as if the request was an immense inconvenience.

"I have no intention of helping you in the slightest."

The Empress shrieked, her thoughts overflowing with a torrent of rage and frustration.

"Why not?!"

Malzaphir sighed, a sound that seemed to echo from the deepest abyss.

"Because it will be boring."

He replied simply, almost yawning again.

"The last time I did it was because it was clear it would make things more fun, and that was certainly the case. But now... Not really."

The Archdevil's voice took on a disappointed, almost condescending tone.

"It's obvious that even if I lent you some power, you're too weak to make it worthwhile. It's not fun to do something when I already know the result in advance. So don't bother me again until the 'boy' returns."

The communication was cut off after that, leaving the Empress alone in the maddening silence of Adam's mind, which made her scream in frustration.

"What else could I do?"

Her mind immediately went to the Parasite Adam had in his head. Just like last time, she could use it to seal his [Resist Hunger] skill and force an aggressive mutation to increase her physical power. It was not the most elegant way of doing things, but she had no other option for now.

The Empress began to do so, but for some reason, before she could, Drake shouted.

"Now!"

And immediately after, something like a rope of energy emerged from Adam's body, taking a strange, glowing bubble from him and delivering it to the waiting hands of none other than Chloe, who stood with an enormous smile on her face. A system screen then appeared in front of the Empress.

The Empress did not understand what was happening until she finally noticed the problem: she could not use the borrowed skill, and therefore could not seal [Resist Hunger]. Meanwhile, Chloe seemed to be jumping for joy, celebrating finally being able to do something useful.

"It was just as we thought! I needed Adam's acceptance for the skill loan, and it worked within his spiritual world. Since he's possessed but still himself and technically physically conscious, he was able to confirm it from within!"

The Empress did not think any more about it and jumped toward Chloe with all the speed she could muster, with the clear intention of attacking her, while releasing a great amount of cursed energy. Drake launched himself toward her, intending to stop her, but that was something the Empress had already foreseen, so she immediately summoned a sea of phantoms.

A lot of Ghoul-types, which were phantoms in the form of legless human skeletons that crawled, and Feral-types, which were rabid ghosts in the form of huge, faceless wolves with a great mouth for a head, appeared and went directly to the blond. They would not be able to stop him, but they could delay him for the second or two needed for the Empress to reach her target.

Chloe seemed to be in shock and unable to move, so she would be an easy prey. Or she would have been if, before the Empress could reach her, Adam's face had not received a blow so strong to the cheek that it completely changed her direction and sent her flying to the side like a projectile.

The Empress got up instantly, and although she felt no pain, she realized that Adam's jaw was broken and part of his cheek was completely destroyed. The regeneration was not as potent as before, but it would repair Adam's body completely in a matter of minutes, so the Empress looked up and saw that the one who had given her that blow was none other than Gregor, who had stopped in front of Chloe with a hand-to-hand combat stance, like the soldier he was.

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The Empress could not understand… Even in that situation, Adam's body should have been stronger than the hardest metals thanks to the layer of cursed energy that protected him, and yet this individual had been able not only to throw him far with one blow but also to hurt him to that extent.

It was at that moment that the Empress realized, as she looked at Gregor, something that was not visible at first glance. It was not just him that was looking at her; behind the man, she could see a true army of stares, hundreds even, almost as if they were ghosts without actually being real spirits. All of them had their metaphysical eyes fixed on the Empress, and the worst part was that she felt no cursed energy coming from the man, which meant that he had caused her so much damage using only physical strength, something illogical under normal circumstances.

The Empress screamed in a blind rage, seeing how the ghosts she had summoned were easily dispersed by Drake, Kazue, and Li. She had only one option left, one that she hoped would work.

She concentrated with all her might and tried to call on Arianka, the undead goddess who had come to her call in the previous scenario. This time, however, she did not seem to have the ability to control her at will, something the Empress seemed to understand, but her new goal was not to summon the goddess herself, but rather to use the goddess's mask by utilizing her essence. With this, she hoped to increase her power tens, if not hundreds, of times, just like before, and incredibly, her desperate gamble seemed to work.

The air around Adam's face began to shimmer, vibrating with unseen corrupted energy. The Goddess Arianka did not respond to the Empress's orders, but she did manifest enough residual power in the scenario for a white mask, with two black eyes and a huge pointed nose, to appear on Adam's face, its surface smooth and unsettlingly blank. The mask seemed to solidify from pure light, glowing faintly as it fused with the cursed energy around the boy's head.

Following this, the Empress's cursed energy exploded like a torrent, a tidal wave of malevolent power that threatened to engulf the entire field. The wounds on Adam's face healed immediately, the broken jaw snapping back into place, and the torn flesh mending itself with a sickening sound.

"This is it!"

She shrieked, her voice a triumphant chorus of two.

"It's all over for you now! I'll kill you all and you won't be able to do any more of your strange tricks!"

However, that torrent of energy did not last long and in fact disappeared from one moment to another, just like the mask.

"What?!"

The Empress screamed in confusion while looking around, her eyes widening in disbelief, only to see that Katya was behind her, holding her [Miracle Fusion] card.

The mask that had previously been on Adam's face was now disintegrating into a kind of dust, which then gathered on Katya's face, taking the form of a white mask with horns instead of a long nose. The blonde girl spoke, exploding in cursed energy herself this time, which rivaled the power of the Empress just a second ago.

"How convenient that my fusion cards have no potential requirement to fuse my own summons or those of my allies."

She said with a malicious grin.

"Good thing that, even when possessed, the system recognizes Adam as a member of our team."

The Empress was frozen, her mind reeling with shock, not knowing what to do. Katya, on the other hand, was quick to act. She materialized her living scythe formed by one of her Tulpas, its obsidian blade humming with dark power, and with a single, devastating movement, so fast and powerful that the Empress could not even react, Katya used the blunt side of her blade to hit the Empress.

Immediately after, Katya pinned Adam's body to the ground, restraining him so that he could not move. The sheer, overwhelming power of the mask radiated through her, making her heart pound with an exhilarating, dangerous thrill.

"This feels intoxicatingly great…"

She said with a malicious grin, her voice now a low, chilling purr.

Unable to move, the Empress began to hurl a torrent of insults at them, trying desperately to free herself, but it was useless. Slowly, the rest of the group began to approach her, their faces grim but resolute.

"It doesn't matter what you do!"

The Empress screamed, her voice a cracked, raw sound.

"I will never stop trying to kill you all!"

A sudden flood of emotion twisted her face. Tears welled up in Adam's eyes as she continued.

"You're just like 'them'! All humans are the same! I will curse you for all eternity, even if it's the last thing I do!"

However, in the middle of her words, Emir slowly approached her, with a quiet determination on his face. He took out one of his [Interdimensional Containment Cube] and, without a word, lightly touched her on the head. Before the Empress could even process what had happened, Adam's possessed body was absorbed into the cube and sealed there.

The place fell silent for a moment. Everyone sighed, the tension in the air dissipating instantly… It had been easier than they had thought. Kazue even crossed her arms and pouted.

"But I didn't get to do anything important!"

She whined, looking at the others. Chloe, on the other hand, was beaming.

"I'm just happy I got to help!"

She said, jumping a little.

"This was awesome!"

Li gave a dry chuckle.

"It was for the best."

He said, adjusting his straw hat.

"The strategy we planned behind Adam's back paid off. We had to make sure the Empress didn't have access to his memories and know what we were planning."

After a moment of silence, Chloe finally asked.

"So… Now what?"

Drake sighed with a final sense of relief before starting to talk.

"Now Phase 2 begins."

He said before looking at Emir and nodding. Knowing what his partner meant, the kid raised the cube where the Empress was imprisoned and said.

"Adam, partial release."

The cube expelled a burst of red energy, and Adam's still-possessed body was spit back onto the ground. This time, however, much less cursed energy could be felt coming from him, and the Empress, who had fallen to her knees, was gasping for air, her movements sluggish and exhausted.

"What did you do?!"

She shrieked, looking up at them with a look of pure hatred.

"Undo it! Now!"

Drake, however, simply smiled patiently.

"We will if you give us back Adam's body."

He said calmly; however, the Empress's eyes flashed with rage.

"Never!"

She snarled, trying to get to her feet, but she was still too weak.

"I'll kill you a…!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Emir, with a calm expression, put her back into the cube. The scene repeated itself again. And again. And again… Each time she was released, she would try to fight back, screaming threats and insults, only to be effortlessly contained by Emir and the cube, which seemed to drain her of energy with each use. After what felt like an eternity, she lay on the ground, panting, her cursed energy barely a flicker.

Drake leaned over her, his expression a perfect mix of patience and pity.

"Please, just give us back our friend."

He said gently. The Empress hesitated, her eyes, now a dull red, darting between the determined faces of the team. She finally gave a shaky sigh, a sign of her surrender.

"I won't… But I also won't try to attack you. Just... please don't put me back in that damned cube again."

She muttered heavily, clearly with little to no energy left.

"Good enough, for now."

Drake said with a nod, and he got up. Li, however, was not entirely convinced by the plan, and his brow remained furrowed with concern.

"Are you sure about this? She's a ticking time bomb."

He asked, his voice low. Drake sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I know, but in this state, she's not a danger to us. Only a part of her power is manifested, and if we can keep her under control, we can dedicate ourselves to searching the scenario for the key to what 'Adam needed' to solve his problem, since that was why we were sent here."

A few more thoughts were voiced, but everyone eventually accepted the plan, their faces a mixture of relief and trepidation. Kazue, however, still had a concern.

"But what about the collab? Why didn't they show us the other team?"

She asked, her voice full of concern. Drake looked around, his gaze sweeping over the horizon.

"You are right…"

He said, with a serious tone in his voice for once.

"For some reason, this scenario is a collab, so we'll have to be on the lookout for the appearance of another team about whom we have no information; they can very well be hostile like 'Dragon Utopia'."

Chloe, who had been listening quietly, shivered.

"And don't forget the evil dragons!"

She added, her eyes wide with fear.

"Yeah, we have a lot to do."

Drake agreed, looking at the Empress's defeated form on the ground and offering a hand for her to get up. He then looked at the rest of his team with a new determination shining in his eyes.

"We need to get going."

He then looked around the open field again, a question suddenly on his face.

"But seriously, though…"

He said, turning back to the group.

"Where is Sebastian?"