The fragrance entering his nostrils, the softness and warmth against his face — Adam realized the person he had collided with was alive.
She emanated an unnatural alluring quality. Yet compared to the Beauty Goddess Freya, she was far inferior and had no effect on him.
Still, Adam felt alarmed. This nun possessed a powerful aura, much stronger than his own!
Her next action left him stunned.
The nun naturally opened her arms and wrapped them around his neck, clinging like an octopus. She pressed her face against his, their noses touching.
What was happening?!
Adam instinctively tried to break free but couldn't escape. Her strength exceeded his own!
He desperately patted her arms. Though the embrace felt pleasant, it was too tight, making it difficult to breathe. A moment longer and he would suffocate.
His patting seemed to have an effect as the nun finally opened her eyes.
"?"
She blinked her ink-colored eyes, their vacant, confused appearance telling Adam she had only just awakened.
Then she looked down at him, smothered in her embrace.
Delight and apology — these contradictory expressions appeared simultaneously on her face, making her pure, beautiful features look somewhat comical.
Her expression was timid like Wiz's, gentle and exuding tenderness.
But the terrifyingly enormous magical power within her body made Adam cautious. He could only look up at her stiffly, afraid to make any sudden moves.
The nun seemed to realize her actions were abrupt. She released his neck but immediately grabbed his hands instead.
"?" Adam looked at her in confusion.
He had so many questions racing through his mind.
When he saw the nun open her mouth without producing any sound, he realized they couldn't communicate through language.
The nun began to gesture anxiously, her movements large and forceful, causing her body to sway with each motion.
Though her gestures were abstract and incomprehensible, Adam could tell from her expression and open mouth that she was apologizing to him.
Apologizing?
Adam grew even more confused. Why would this mysterious nun who appeared out of nowhere be apologizing to him?
Seeing that he still didn't understand, the nun sighed, lowered her head, and abandoned her attempts to communicate.
Then, without warning, she hugged him!
"?!"
Just as Adam registered the sudden warmth and softness against him, the nun exerted force and threw him away!
"?!!!!"
Words couldn't express Adam's shock.
What was happening? Had she felt he took advantage of her and was now angry? Was she punishing him by throwing him away?!
Yet even as he was being hurled away at high speed, he could still see the apologetic expression on the nun's face.
Adam realized the nun didn't hold a grudge against him.
'What exactly is happening?'
With this question in mind, he plunged into the mist and was thrown out through another passage.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
The sun hung high, emitting a terrifying heat.
"So hot, it's killing me."
Having just come from the winter of the Parallel World, Adam found this drastic change from cold to hot difficult to bear.
He instinctively complained about the high temperature as he opened his eyes and rose from the ground.
No, to be precise, not from the ground, but from sand — an endless desert.
Golden sand stretched as far as he could see, with no visible boundaries.
Adam stood alone in the middle of this vast desert, facing the yellow earth with his back to the sky, like a solitary traveler lost in the wasteland.
"Where is this..."
He began to search for clues.
There were no buildings in sight — only an endless desert with a massive sun overhead emitting scorching heat. The sand beneath his feet contained not a trace of moisture.
He noticed something reflecting sunlight mixed in the sand: glass shards. Adam recognized these as sand that had melted due to the extreme temperature.
Stubbornly digging deeper, he found not a hint of moisture no matter how far down he went.
He tried to activate his skill to return to the Parallel World, but there was no response — the skill didn't work.
Next, he attempted to summon Beatrice, but again met with silence.
Adam raised an eyebrow. Something wasn't right.
Rather than acting rashly, he crawled into the deep hole he had just dug.
It was common sense not to exert oneself in such extreme heat. He decided to wait for sunset, when temperatures would drop enough for safe travel.
To sustain himself, he controlled the Mana within his body, converting it into Water Element to stay hydrated and prevent fainting.
Then he settled in to wait for nightfall.
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
But sunset never came.
Though he couldn't measure time precisely, Adam knew at least five hours had passed.
Five hours!
The temperature should have decreased by now. Instead, it had grown even more intense.
The sun's position remained fixed, unmoving in the sky.
"Damn it!"
Even a fool would realize something was wrong. Adam couldn't help but wonder if the nun was responsible for his current predicament.
Was she deliberately punishing him? Or was there another reason?
Regardless, he decided not to continue hiding in the hole.
Though he still had enough Mana to endure the extreme temperature for at least another day, staying put would only waste his reserves — essentially a slow form of suicide.
Adam prepared to venture out and search for an escape.
As he climbed out, he found the temperature had intensified further. The sun cast its merciless rays upon the earth, and the air visibly distorted from the extreme heat.
He fastened his cloak to shield himself from the sunlight while converting his internal Mana to regulate his body temperature.
With the sun directly overhead, Adam couldn't determine direction, so he chose a random path forward.
He began jogging at a steady pace — neither too fast nor too slow.
Adam preferred sacrificing speed over readiness, wanting to maintain his strength and combat awareness for any unexpected situations.
Yet it felt like battling the air itself. He continued running with no sense of distance covered. The three bottles of Holy Water he carried had been completely consumed two hours ago.
Running under the scorching sun would challenge anyone, and even a fighter of Adam's caliber couldn't withstand the relentless heat indefinitely.
His Mana gradually depleted, and his physical strength waned.
Finally, he collapsed.
✧✧✧
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