The Broken System Chose the Antagonist

With fists already cocked back, she charged towards Nadia like a raging bull with resounding steps.

Nadia, taken aback by the sudden shift in interaction, stepped back with wide eyes. ’Fast!’

With Roxy now upon her, Nadia gritted her teeth as she quickly leaned back to dodge, silently cursing Hilda in the back of her mind for whatever she did to offend Roxy’s group.

Swoosh.

The fist flew right over her face, the wind generated brushing against the surface of her cold visage.

Without a second to waste after her successful dodge, Nadia hurriedly fell all the way back into a roll before pushing herself back onto her feet. She then glanced towards Elias, who was scrambling to his feet, and shouted:

"Go get Ross!"

"R-right!"

Nadia then looked back at Roxy.

With a few metres now between them, the Heroine hastily tried again to defuse the situation:

"Look! I told you I’m not a part of any schemes she had put together—"

"That doesn’t matter!" Roxy shouted in retort. "All I know is that slimy woman seems to value you. So, I’m certain if pummel you enough, she’ll eventually come out!"

Roxy charged in again and quickly reached Nadia’s position. She then swung at the Heroine, who swiftly dodged out of the way again.

Nadia’s face twitched in irritation. ’What the hell’s the matter with her?!’

The woman didn’t act in this sort of way when she first laid eyes on her. Even if her first impression of the woman was rather brutish, she still thought of Roxy as a reasonable person! Not someone who would allow themselves to be taken over by their emotions to this extent!

Nadia’s eyes then flickered in realisation. ’Could it be Heart Corruption?’

Uncertain whether her theory was correct, she continued to weave through Roxy’s endless rain of blows, which were all enhanced with Vitality.

Beatrice, who was standing at the sidelines with a concerned expression, called out to Roxy:

"Roxy, is this necessary?! If we just wait here, we’ll eventually see her—"

"Stay out of it, Beatrice!" Roxy shouted.

She then commanded her group to charge in and attack everyone in the warehouse, in an attempt to use them as hostages against Hilda, in exchange for the eyes.

While some in her group felt uncertain and anxious about this decision, they ultimately gave in and went along with Roxy’s command. Thus, causing the inside of the warehouse to erupt with chaos.

Seeing how hot-tempered Roxy was and the chaos she had caused, Nadia clicked her tongue. It was obvious that simple reasoning was out of the equation in this situation.

While in the middle of a dodge, she asked:

"Alright, if we’re not going to talk about it, could you at least tell me what she did?" For a reaction as big as this, Nadia was certain that what Hilda had done was no doubt small and insignificant.

"She stole our eyes! All 30 of them!"

Nadia’s eyes shot wide open, stunned by what she heard. "She did what?!"

In the brief moment that Nadia was bewildered, Roxy took advantage of it to deliver a downward swing; that was only just barely avoided with a single step back.

BAM—CRACK.

Roxy’s knuckles hit the concrete ground and caused a small crack to form. At this, Nadia’s expression instantly hardened. The amount of Vitality and strength Roxy displayed was beyond what was needed for a simple "beating".

If Nadia didn’t know any better, she would’ve assumed that Roxy was trying to kill her!

Roxy, unaware she had cracked concrete, ignored the throbbing pain in her knuckles. "Before leaving our base, she said she was coming here to meet you and your group. That was an hour ago. So, I’m certain that she should be around here somewhere!

"And I don’t think we should stay still if the person she held in high regard is beaten black and blue!"

Seeing the woman fully set on attacking her, Nadia sneered and quickly enveloped herself in Vitality. "Let’s have it your way, then."

After nonchalantly dodging a fist aimed at her head, the Heroine rapidly whipped her own fist toward the centre of Roxy’s face.

BAM.

The force behind her blow caused the muscular woman to stumble back, disoriented, as blood quickly leaked from one of her nostrils. Roxy scowled at this.

Once she wiped away the blood, she charged back in without finesse and was immediately met with another fist to the face.

Nadia repelled Roxy once again with a cold glint in her eyes and raised her forearms in front of her head, pushing one foot back, and entering into a boxing stance.

The two then began their fight in hand-to-hand combat.

From a spectator’s perspective, Roxy, with her tall and intimidating physique, should definitely be the one with the upper hand in the fight. And in most normal cases, they would be correct in thinking that.

However, there was just one factor that most novice Vitalists tend to forget about, especially those who try to judge their opponents’ strength from appearance.

BAM.

It was Vitality.

Although Nadia didn’t know {Force} or any similar application with Vitality, she still exhibited tremendous power behind her blows. Despite how slender her figure was.

It was misleading and, at the same time—

BAM.

—Daunting...

Like an experienced martial artist, Nadia weaved in between Roxy’s punches and, at the same time, retaliated with her own — each one leaving the woman dazed and stunned.

’Such power...!’ Roxy thought. She didn’t expect Nadia to be so strong with such a slender body!

Nadia had experience dealing with people with physiques similar to Roxy’s. Be it before or after she and her mother were taken into the LCEO. Because of that experience, she had long noted down the strategies needed to take someone like Roxy down.

Even if she was holding back her strength to not seriously injure Roxy, with the martial arts training she had undergone in the past and Vitality in the mix... her victory was assured.

’And yet with all that training...’

She was still not a match for the monster that haunts her with a constant smile. Although she had already apologised for that incident, the one-sided fight still haunted her.

In comparison to Hilda...

BAM.

... She was still just a toddler.

With a nonchalant raise of her hand, Nadia caught Roxy’s fist, which felt like a full-power swing from a sledgehammer.

She had a cold, frustrated look in her eyes, which caused Roxy, who felt like an out-of-control beast, to take a step back.

Nadia noticed this and instantly yanked her back.

Then she cocked back a fist and slammed it against the centre of Roxy’s chest, causing the air from her lungs to shoot out of her mouth with saliva.

Roxy stumbled several steps back, heaving heavily, as the pain in her body began to ease, a strange sense of cloudiness in her mind. She then re-entered a stance, stubbornly.

Nadia, seeing that Roxy wasn’t going to surrender, dashed forward speedily.

Since it seemed like it was going to be nearly impossible to make Roxy surrender, it would be better if she forced the woman to surrender, even if it meant knocking her unconscious!

Now, a metre before Roxy, Nadia raised her fist and threw a heavy right hook towards the woman’s head.

And right as it was about to land, Roxy suddenly crossed her arms.

"{Power Wall}!"

DUM.

Nadia’s fist clashed with a translucent yellow barrier, causing the surface to ripple like water at the point of impact. She widened her eyes and immediately thought, ’Her Gift!’

She tried again.

DUM.

But was still unable to break through.

’Hilda managed to break through it so easily, though...’ Nadia groaned internally. As she was about to try another attack, she suddenly heard a shrill cry behind her.

"P-PREDICAMENT...!"

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