Salem is a madwoman

"Are you sure you want to wage war against my forces with just... two of your friends?"

The woman opposite of Adam spoke to him, her voice flat, however, there was a hint of doubt that only the most skilled observers would be able to pick up on

"Tell me, Salem... Have you ever played chess before?"

The silver-haired ignored the question of the woman, asking a question of his own as his gaze was glued to the table in front of them

They have moved to another place after their town. And they have both taken precautions in order to avoid this place being exposed to other people

That barrier spell Rias taught him was quite useful in this regard. 

It is used to ward off normal people from coming in contact with places which were occupied by supernatural creatures 

Of course, it can also be used to make for when fighting occurs

"Such an obvious question...."

Salem trailed off, glancing at what was atop the table in front of them.... 

It was a chessboard

"However, for you to bring this up... What do you want to say? That even with just two of your pieces, you can still win the game?"

She questioned him, curiosity in her scarlet eyes as she observed him with intensity

"That is true...." Adam tilted his head, gaze still glued on the chessboard "But that's not what I'm trying to say"

Obviously, the silver-haired boy had the white pieces, and the Grimm queen had the black ones

Very fitting, considering the symbolic meaning of these colors

He wasn't a righteous person, and neither was he a selfless hero. And yet Adam can't be considered a villain, either

After all, what he was doing, even without it being his intention, would still benefit Remnant as a whole

No matter who wins or loses, the outcome would be considered beneficial for the Aboriginals of this planet

"My point is..." Adam shifted his gaze to Salem, his blue eyes meeting her scarlet ones "Even with more forces, I will still come out victorious"

And he had absolute confidence in that outcome

"Oh, and why is that?"

The Immortal witch narrowed her eyes at him

"It is simple" 

The silver-haired boy smiled

"In chess, it doesn't matter how many pieces you have in your possession"

He lifted his finger slowly, the white pieces of the chessboard slowly floating in the air

"What truly matters...." Adam's smile widened, flicking his finger as all his white pieces were flung in random directions "Is the value of each piece, and its personal abilities"

All his pieces dropped to the floor.... 

-Except the King and the Queen, who remained on the chessboard

"....."

Salem pursed her lips at his response

"You believe that your 'pieces' are so powerful that it doesn't matter how large my forces are?"

She frowned, an outline of a sneer forming on her face at his ridiculous thinking

"Oh, of course not"

Adam rolled his eyes at her, lips twitching at her conclusion

"Then-"

"I don't regard them as 'pieces'"

That statement instantly silenced Salem

He looked at her with conviction in his eyes, his face entirely serious

"And that's the difference between us, Salem" 

The silver-haired boy spread his arms, a mocking expression on his face

"You regard your subordinates as pieces- consumables that can be thrown away anytime, and be replaced"

He smiled 

"I, on the other hand, regard them as companions. No matter how cheesy it sounds, I believe in them, and I trust them"

Adam squinted at her. It was not with judgment, but with just a bit of disappointment

"....."

Salem remained silent, a light of complicated emotions flashing briefly in her eyes

…..

Of course, he wouldn't pick up on it if the witch didn't want to

The only reason he could tell she was feeling complicated was because his empathy was turned on

The Psionic power he got from Jean Grey works differently in each world

In Honkai Impact, under the suppression of the Imaginary Tree, Psionics are at their weakest- where even the most basic abilities such as telepathy and telekinesis are severely limited in what they can do

The same is true for Herrscher powers

The power of Corruption…. The only reason he hasn't already corrupted the whole internet and didn't take over Atlas was because he just couldn't

Using Herscher power in other worlds is normally impossible…

The only reason he could still use his Authority in other worlds is because he has devoured the Core of Corruption and made its power his own

But still… In a world without Honkai energy, the output of this ability is severely limited

And even though he could use other sources of energy like Magicules and the malleable MA energy…. 

-It is still very inefficient

The powers of Herschers are supposed to be used with Honkai energy, any other energy's efficiency and output will be far lower

Unless Adam forcefully breaks the world barrier and forcefully introduces the mechanism of honkai into this world….

 Well, he is selfish, but not a demon

Although bringing a world under the Imaginary Tree or connecting it with the Cocoon of Finality is not impossible, it is still hard

But obviously, such a drastic action isn't needed. After all, as long as he becomes powerful enough and his energy reserves increase, the efficiency of using Herrscher powers in other verses would become redundant

Even if the silver-haired boy forcefully connected a world to the Cocoon out of curiosity or as an experiment… Well, he would do that only to an irredeemable world

…..Like a hentai world, for example 

As for Remnant… Well, the world is weaker, and the suppression of foreign powers is also much weaker

He could indeed read minds and memories casually here, and he had no problem with doing that

….As for why he didn't use Psionics on Salem?

First of all, this woman not only has too much willpower and determination…. But she also has a strong mind shield 

Indeed, Adam could pick up on her surface thoughts

But when he did that-

'This man is strong'

'Ozma would indeed lose to him'

'What a pity'

'Both Lust and actual Gluttony were determined in his eyes, so he wants to eat me both literally and metaphorically'

'Great Magic'

'How surprising his name isn't a color'

'It is a pity that Cinder is 'dead''

'It is good that Lionheart is dead'

'….'

[...]

Yeah, these were the nonsense and unrelated thoughts that Adam picked up from Salem with Psionics

At first, he thought that he was onto something

-But the longer he listened to her thoughts, the more he thought that something was wrong

'To deceive other people, one must first deceive oneself'

-That was a famous quote that the silver-haired boy had heard in his previous life

And it was the best description of this situation

Because, to put it simply, Salem is deliberately thinking this way in order to guard against him, who is an outsider and could potentially have mind-reading capabilities

'What a madwoman'

He couldn't help but think so

After all, thinking in a certain and restricted way so you don't reveal important information is not something just about anyone could pull off

No, actually…. Not many people could do that. 

Because even if one has a lot of power, it wouldn't matter

To do something similar to what this witch has done, one not only needs a lot of experience and determination, but also a lot of grit and trial and error

…..

"Haah" Adam sighed, not even one second passing in the real world during the time he was sunk in his thoughts "You really are a madwoman…."

After all, without any magical self-hypnosis, he couldn't do what this witch has done

Did she also hypnotize herself with magic? That is improbable, otherwise, he would have felt it

"Is that a compliment?" 

Salem raised an eyebrow, emotions still not changing despite the potential insult

"Yes, it is"

The silver-haired boy nodded without any shame

After all, despite being his enemy…. He does have to admit that Salem is an admirable figure worthy of praise

….

…

..

.