Chapter 589: The Broken Hammer

The last thing Adam saw was Fromund’s entire body shuddering, then he disappeared leaving a cloud of hot steam in his place.

Although Fromund’s weapon was heavy even for a K2-Phantom, thanks to the near-maximal effect of his artifact, Fromund could move so fast that every action sent a vivid pain through his body.

His muscles and bones weren’t capable of withstanding such strain for even a few minutes, but Fromund didn’t have that much time. It was an unaffordable luxury for him.

Zzaaap.

As if electrified Fromund appeared behind Adam, who was still standing with his back to him.

’Right, I have the advantage. It’s unlikely he can defeat me with a single punch or swing of a needle, but if I hit him with my hammer with all my might, he won’t be able to recover from that!’

With all his strength, clutching the hilt of his trembling, hammer tightly, Fromund came down on Adam’s from top to bottom.

Reluctantly, Adam’s torso turned to the right, as if he somehow knew exactly where Fromund was.

’What...?’

Shock covered Fromund’s face, he stared in disbelief at Adam who already turned in his direction.

Adam’s neck and part of his face were covered in strong silver threads, ending at his right eye, the amber grid was deep as if trying to convey one simple thought to Fromund’s mind: ’I can see everything.’

Clutch.

Adam’s hand grabbed Fromund by the collar.

"Agh...?"

Before Fromund could do anything, the world in front of him flipped, the morning sky was no longer overhead, it was actively spinning as the arena and spectators around him.

Gush.

Streams of dust blocked his field of vision, sweeping before his eyes.

Then, a deafening pain reverberated in Fromund’s back as he crashed into the ground many meters away from Adam.

"How fast..."

It was the only thing Fromund had time to mutter before quickly rising, assuming a fighting stance.

The electrical discharges were in no hurry to leave Adam, giving him the speed he used for his next attack.

Whoooooooosh.

The right gauntlet, filled with snow-white energy appeared in front of Fromund, aiming straight at his chest, not the most vulnerable but easily accessible place to attack.

It was obvious to Fromund that there was no way he could dodge and counterattack back.

His only option was to block Adam’s attack, but if Fromund used his hand for it, he would be a fool.

The energy-rich gauntlet would simply destroy his hand.

The artifact made him faster and stronger, but it did not affect Fromund’s defense.

Thus, Fromund was left with only one thing that could protect him.

Crackle.

Adam’s fist slammed into the massive hammer with all its force.

With a shudder, several glowing droplets flew out of the lava streams, whizzing close to Adam’s face as well as large stone shards.

The recoil went all over Fromund’s body, but something like that couldn’t stop him.

’Fuck it. If he wants to fight in close combat then I can give it to him! I don’t have to make powerful and heavy attacks, I can be fast too!’

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Not intending to give up under the onslaught of the unarmed opponent, Fromund began to bring his hammer down on Adam time after time.

With each attack, Adam ducked, turning into a lightning bolt in an attempt to injure Fromund, but instead of hitting his target, his fists constantly hit only the hammer.

With each bright blue-red flash igniting the arena, Fromund’s hammer became smaller and smaller, seeming to be no stronger than Adam’s needle despite its intimidating size and sheer power.

Clots of lava flew aside, following the same fate as the rocks with each of Adam’s punches.

If his needle was fragile, then even scratching his gauntlets was an impossible task for Fromund, at least not with such a weapon.

Enjoying this sight, watching Adam gradually push Fromund to the wall, a satisfied smirk appeared on Osana’s face.

After all, though she and Zarot with Nirosh were different people, they now shared something in common - they all wanted their fighter to win.

Something inside Osana wanted to be sure of her conclusions and she had a reliable way to do it, there was one person in Kogen’s box who knew exactly when Fromund was losing and when he was winning.

Osana’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

’What the hell...? Why is that bitch so calm!’

Her indignation was aroused by Arayna’s calmly smiling face. Moreover, Elva, Liv, and Tilda, none of them were worried, as if Fromund was fine and his situation in no way brought him closer to defeat.

Silvana frowned. She, like Osana, had noticed their reactions were inconsistent with reality.

’It’s unlikely they’re just hoping for the best, in which case they know something none of us know about. Or almost none...?’

Following her musings, Silvana slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder at the one who arranged all of this - Gladius.

Instead of his usual sly smile, a devilish, devious smirk covered his face, he was clearly enjoying the confusion of the others since there were no secrets for him here.

’Shit...’

Silvana turned back towards the arena.

’What is Fromund hiding then? Will he use his Second Order and completely turn the situation in his favor or does he have some other trump card?’

Bam.

Adam’s right fist, his strongest punch this round, smashed into what little was left of Fromund’s hammer’s stone layer.

The impact threw Fromund to the other end of the arena, his back slamming into the wall slowly sliding to the ground.

Whoooooooosh.

Without waiting for Fromund to recover, Adam rushed towards his opponent, aiming to finish him off with another high-speed attack.

Burst.

Suddenly, Fromund’s hammer burst forth a torrent of powerful flame, as bright as the sun and as aggressive as fire from hell.

’It’s hot!’ Adam inwardly exclaimed.

In less than a second his skin began to catch fire, a little more and his entire body would turn into one horrible burn.

Tap.

As soon as Adam’s foot touched the ground his body trembled as he disappeared, finding himself ten meters away in the distance.

Streams of flame from Fromund’s hammer burned for a while, preventing Adam from getting close to him.

Then, as the flames weakened disappearing in a final particle, Fromund slowly rose from the ground leaning on his weapon.

But... what was the weapon in his hand?

A massive black blade, thick and sharp on both sides, descended from an equally large guard, while Fromund’s hands clutched the hilt of a long greatsword capable of slicing a huge monster in two with a single swing.