Chapter 1332: One Explosion After Another

Karso’s arrival was not what Adam had expected, but at the same time, it couldn’t be said that he was surprised.

If Misty had fallen from the sky with a severed wyvern head on her shoulder, it would have raised many questions and mixed feelings in Adam, but Karso was very different and, at the same time, much more like Adam than Misty.

As Norax had said earlier, Karso was the most reckless of the three. While Adam had been on this path for just over a year, Karso constantly found himself in dangerous situations of his own accord and always managed to find a way out.

“Hey! Boss!” Karso exclaimed before raising the wyvern’s head above him. “This is a gift for you!”

Before he could respond, Karso threw the monster’s head over with one hand. That was enough to throw the head to the top of the mill, as Norax grinned.

The massive wyvern head froze in front of Norax as a barrier of his energy prevented it from reaching him and causing any harm, even in theory.

“Narica, take this head to the warehouse after the battle. It’s quite a rare specimen. Hah.” He chuckled. “Karso has found something unusual, as always.”

She nodded deeply. “Sure, sir, as you wish. I already know a suitable place for this head.”

“Great. Now let’s watch the fight.”

Sip.

Misty took a sip of coffee, staring intently at Karso. There were several bloody spots on his body, and not all of them belonged to the monsters he had fought. He was wounded, but Misty didn’t mention it.

She understood that for Karso, this was not an obstacle, but only additional motivation.

“Alright! Adam, I’m ready!” Karso exclaimed as he clenched his fists, releasing scarlet sparks. “Misty said you’ve almost rebuilt your Energy Axis, right?”

Adam nodded deeply.

“About 80%, and I’m going to finish it right now!”

“Hahahah! That’s the right fighting spirit! That’s why I came here.” Karso exclaimed as his red eyes flashed. “I think you already know that I can’t hold back, even if I try, it won’t work. So… You won’t even get the first strike!”

Whooooooosh.

Karso’s frame shook as he disappeared and reappeared to Adam’s right.

To some extent, Adam was ready for this. He sensed that Karso would do something like this, and he wasn’t going to wait for him to act like Narica and Misty did.

But he didn’t know how bad it was.

BLAST!

A fiery explosion tore the skin on Adam’s arm, throwing him aside.

“GHA!” Adam groaned in pain as his eyes widened—Karso appeared right in front of him, and he hadn’t even hit the ground yet.

“Come on! This is just the beginning, Adam!” Karso exclaimed as his two fists glowed like two stars ready to explode.

The next thing Adam saw was a flash of flame from two blasts, as the impact threw him hundreds of meters to the side—beyond Norax’s domain.

It seemed they should have come back, since Norax, Narica, and Misty had come to watch their fight, but that didn’t seem to bother Karso in the least.

He just grinned, cracked his knuckles, and lunged forward, leaving a crater in the ground behind him.

Norax’s mill was located on the very border of the Forgotten Mills, in the part where the territory fell under the influence of the Renegades, in one of their territories – the Blighted Scar.

Thus, Karso’s attacks practically threw Adam beyond the borders of the Forgotten Mills, and he did not yet understand what that meant.

Whooooooooosh.

Flying amid gusts of wind, Adam looked for a place where he could land or at least grab onto something. He was not yet able to stand freely in the air and realized that this would not work against Karso.

Karso’s more powerful aura would simply make his energy unstable, preventing him from standing in the air even if Adam could do so.

As a result, he turned around, and his eyes widened.

‘What the hell?!’

Instead of a field or plain, Adam saw countless stone peaks beneath him, thousands of pillars stretching across a large area between the Forgotten Mills and the beginning of the Blighted Scar Lands.

However, what alarmed him was something else—the pillars emerged from the crimson mist covering the dark ground. Still, Adam’s gaze could see red spikes peeking through and shadows darting between them from time to time.

He didn’t know what this place was, but one thing became clear to him right away: he shouldn’t fall there, not during the fight against Karso, otherwise it could end badly.

“Adam!” Karso’s voice rang out from the side as he quickly reached Adam with explosions at his feet.

‘Shit! He’s already here!’ Adam put up a block, but Karso’s fists already crashed down on him like a heavy hammer.

With the shock wave, Adam headed down at the speed of a cannonball, heading straight for the mysterious fog.

At the same time, Misty put the saucer aside and waved her hand.

Several clumps of darkness appeared around her, turning into unusual creatures resembling bats. They had one large eye, round bodies, and four broad wings with sharp edges.

At her gesture, they moved forward as four mirrors appeared in front of Norax, Narica, and Misty, each showing what her summoned monsters could see.

“Oh, I completely forgot you could do that,” Norax commented. “I was already going to track them through their auras.”

Misty nodded calmly. “Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve had to use them.”

“Well, that’s excellent reconnaissance, but it’s been hundreds of years since there have been battles so large and complex that monsters of our level would need such measures.”

Thanks to their size, it took the bats only a few seconds to see the crimson peaks in the mirrors, where they saw Karso hovering among the pillars.

“Hmm?” Narica tilted her head. “Where’s Adam? Wait…” Her face paled. “Did Karso throw him down? Those monsters… They might attack Adam because they don’t know what’s going on!”

However, neither Misty nor Norax reacted to her concern. They simply continued to watch, fully confident that this was not the end.

Whoooooooosh.

In the next moment, silver threads burst out of the crimson mist, wrapping themselves around the pillars. Adam flew upward using his threads as ropes.

Karso smirked and took a step back for the first time—he jumped back to land on a pillar directly opposite Adam.

“Agh… Agh… Agh…” Adam breathed heavily while streams of blood ran down his shoulder. It wasn’t his blood, but that of a monster that had attacked him as soon as he touched the crimson mist.

‘Shit, that was dangerous,’ Adam thought, remembering the two red blades and the terrifying jaws with dozens of blades. ‘Brrrh! I managed to fight it off this time, but I doubt that was the strongest monster.’

He looked down, seeing the shadows in the depths of the mist begin to move faster. The monsters of the crimson peaks sensed that something important was happening, and soon the strongest among them would pay attention to it.

“Hey, Adam, are you happy with your progress?” Karso waved his hand with a broad smile.

Adam looked up, puzzled.

‘What is he talking about?’

However, as soon as Adam entered his inner space, he immediately understood. While he was trying to defend himself from Karso’s attacks and get out of the crimson mist, his Energy Axis was rapidly rebuilding itself at a speed comparable to the first day against Narica.

“Hah… Damn, I didn’t even notice that.” Adam smiled bitterly. “85%, maybe even 86%, I’m not sure.”

In response, Karso nodded deeply.

“Good. I can feel your aura growing. I hope you understand that we won’t stop there, right?”

Adam shrugged.

“Sure, I already understand that.”

For a moment, Karso’s gaze became serious as he pointed toward the crimson mist.

“Since we’re here, I’ll give you some advice—you shouldn’t fall in there, or you might not be able to get back out.”

Adam waved his hand. “Maybe then you won’t attack me from above and deliberately throw me in there?”

Karso raised an eyebrow. “Of course not! You shouldn’t fall in there, that’s all I said. I, on the other hand, can do whatever I want!”

It wasn’t the answer Adam had hoped for, but he knew he would have said the same thing.

Adam shook his head, about to respond, when his pupils narrowed because Karso was already right in front of him.

BLAST! BLAST! BLAST!

The explosions knocked down several pillars, and Adam was only able to stay on top thanks to his threads.

Even though his strength was gradually increasing, he wasn’t getting the enjoyment he had hoped for from this fight.

‘Shit.’ Adam frowned as he hovered above the pillars. ‘I haven’t landed a single attack on him the whole time… What if I do this?’

Karso’s next strike was quick, but this time Adam didn’t even try to resist. Instead, he threw his threads forward, which Karso didn’t notice.

“Hahaha! You didn’t dodge again!” Karso laughed as he watched Adam fall, but then something stabbed him in the back.

“Agh?”

Before Karso could realize it, Adam pulled the threads toward himself and to the side, redirecting the weight and momentum onto Karso.

Like a pendulum, they switched places as Adam was now on top and Karso plunged into the depths of the crimson mist, disappearing along with the silver threads.

“Ha! Now it’s your turn to get out of the bottom!” Adam exclaimed joyfully.

At the same time, his Energy Axis was rapidly rebuilding, gradually reaching 90%.

He had only a little left.