When Nerfe attacked, Enrico retaliated, and the impact between the two blades generated enough resistance for Enrico to spin on his own axis and move away without taking the full hit.
He pushed the fire clone forward to advance in his place, and the clone ran with increased speed, stretching its arm to strike the golden helmet. Nerfe turned his head and cut the clone in half, but one second after it was destroyed, Enrico had already created another one — this time made of water.
The water clone grabbed the knight's arm from behind, trying to reduce his mobility. Nerfe's body reacted efficiently, applying force to break the water structure. Enrico used this brief distraction to approach again and punch the base of the knight's spine.
Nerfe stumbled forward a few steps. Enrico took advantage and grabbed the back of the armor, trying to use the knight's body as a rotational movement to throw him to the ground.
"Thrust… Golden:"
Nerfe planted his foot into the ground and prevented the fall, twisting his torso and moving the sword backward — it shone in gold and tried to pierce Enrico in the process. Letting go of the knight quickly, he retreated with a long leap, once again leaving vapor scattered in the air. A golden slash was launched at Enrico, cutting his arm — if he hadn't reinforced his body with magic, his arm might have been cut off.
'Possibility of loss if I continue like this is high. System, pact, convert mana to physical.'
[Talking to me finally, but I'm sorry, you're going to have to wait — someone invaded my place and I'm dealing with them right now.]
Since Enrico was in total concentration mode, he discarded that plan and left it to ask again once he returned to normal.
'New plan — I'm going to adapt.'
The space inside the golden cage was getting hotter and hotter. The edges of the barrier reflected light as if they were molten metal.
'This is bad.'
Enrico knew that staying there too long risked exhaustion from the heat, even with his fire resistance, because those pillars negated any resistance one might have. But he also knew he couldn't simply slow the pace and let Nerfe rest. He raised both hands with the sword and made a cut in the air toward Nerfe. Putting his sword in front, Nerfe reflected the attack and sent it back.
A clone appeared in front of him. When he turned his face toward it, Nerfe identified the two fire clones first — the unique skill Elemental Clone had really evolved a lot.
"Irritating…"
Both ran in opposite directions, forcing the knight to divide his attention. To Nerfe's surprise, a third clone, this time of water, appeared behind him and tried to grab the arm holding the sword. Nerfe eliminated it with a sharp twist of his torso, but by then Enrico was already above him, using improvised flame wings to propel himself downward.
'Flame wings'
This magic hadn't been created by Enrico in those two years — it was created during that fight when he realized it would be a better way to fight in that not-so-large space, but one that had enough room to perform a fast dive attack.
'Charged impulse'
He struck the upper part of the armor, generating an impact that pushed the knight slightly into the ground. Nerfe immediately raised his sword, trying to cut Enrico from bottom to top. Enrico spun in the air with the force of his flame wings, passing over the attack and landing behind him.
The fire clones attacked from both sides at once. Nerfe raised his arm and extended the sword, creating a wide arc that destroyed both clones. Enrico used the opening to strike once again with his reinforced fist at the joint slot in the shoulder. The metal creaked — a tiny crack appeared.
'That's enough.'
Enrico slid to the side and crouched to avoid the counterattack. He concentrated water in his left hand, shaping it in a denser form than before. The water became almost solid, creating a narrow blade.
'Now he has a weak point.'
He aimed at the newly created opening and pushed the water blade straight into the vulnerable spot. The blade penetrated the gap between the plates, entering a few centimeters before evaporating from the extreme heat. Nerfe turned quickly, but Enrico had already moved away.
The knight began releasing Golden Fire through his entire body. Energy escaped through the gaps in the armor, forming glowing outlines around the torso. Enrico noticed that, just like in the original story, the intensity of the fire increased as the knight took more damage.
'That's why I wanted to finish him quickly, but our level is too similar to do that.'
Enrico's eyes had returned to normal, meaning he had turned off his concentrated state — the reason being that its time would run out in a few minutes and he was starting to get a bit excited with this adaptation he was experiencing in the fight.
'Damn, what am I doing? I'm sure that in that state I would defeat him once the concentration time was about to end but…'
A smile began to grow, little by little. The concentration state had a time limit of fifteen minutes, and there were still five minutes left; his fire ring had also been improved and could now remain active for twenty minutes. But Enrico wanted something more than simply defeating Nerfe.
'But I want to defeat him before the time… I want to use him for my own evolution.'
That's right — Enrico became more excited every time he evolved, because that meant the other characters would evolve too, and he would feel satisfied with himself. Even if it was selfish, he loved that feeling.
'I'll rely more on water magic.'
With a smile slightly similar to Lira's, he created three water blades and launched them in sequence, all aiming at the same articulation points. Nerfe deflected two with the sword, and the third hit the helmet, dripping over the golden eyes. It caused no damage, but hindered visibility for a fraction of a second.
'Never thought I'd be this stupid… I actually like this.'
That fraction was enough for Enrico to approach again. He concentrated fire in his feet and water in his hands. The first strike came with his left fist, using the water as a short blade to cut between the armor plates. The second strike came with his fire-coated foot, hitting the torso and pushing Nerfe backward.
'Well, I think I got a bit addicted to adapting.'
His smile carried a confidence that said he could do it — not just confidence, but an absolute certainty that he would succeed.