Endless Evolution: Last Star

Crackle.

The needle shattered into many silver fragments from another strike from the heavy spear, now Adam's last degree of defense was lost.

Nothing else stopped Fromund from picking up his victory, Adam was unarmed and unconscious, no matter how strong his instincts were, he couldn't block the massive spear with his bare hands.

"Gha..."

Hot steam came out at Fromund's heavy sigh, sweeping over his shoulders. He took an uncertain step back, catching his breath.

It was simple for Fromund - he destroyed Adam's needle and that meant the fight was already over. All he had to do was deliver one final strike after which Adam's body would no longer be able to fight in any way.

That would be his ultimate non-fatal victory, which would be accepted by the audience and the judges if there were any.

"Fuck... You hung in there until the very end, didn't you?"

A wide, satisfied smile appeared on Fromund's face, he couldn't hide his emotions since his victory was already obvious to everyone.

Crackle.

Osana's knees crashed into the cold stone as she fell down in despair. She hoped that in a second Adam would rise and win, that he would save her at the very last moment, but... nothing happened.

His lone left eye was still open, but it had no light, and his body, without mind control, could not put up a full fight - only block attacks.

Suddenly, an excited voice came from one particular spectator seat.

"Come on! Finish him!"

Nirosh jumped up from his chair, with a broad sweep of his arm issuing his call to action. His eyes burned with flame, only one hit separated him from getting Osana, completely possessing her as his lower-status wife!

Slick.

In response, Fromund ran a hand through his hair slicked back, a bitter smile on his face.

"Sure, there's no need to shout like that. Though you don't deserve it, but I must win, not for you, but for them..." Fromund muttered, thinking of Elva, Liv, and Tilda.

Then, without further ado, Fromund stepped forward sharply turning his torso to make one last attack.

He realized that Adam could wake up at any moment due to the natural regeneration and recovery his body was now actively engaged in, so... he would talk later.

Whoooooooosh.

Whizzing through the wind currents, the spear tip neared Adam, about to pierce his chest. Fromund wasn't aiming for his heart or lungs, he didn't want to lethally wound Adam, his goal was to start Adam bleeding violently.

Heavy bleeding and an open wound would cause Adam to die in the next minute, so the fight would end with Fromund's victory so that the doctors could help Adam.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

A fleeting shiver ran down Fromund's skin as a stream of energy thick as wrath from crimson hell flowed out of Adam's body.

Fromund's reflexes wanted him to bounce aside, but he realized that this was his best opportunity to end the fight.

True, he didn't know what was going on or why this creepy energy abruptly began emanating from Adam's, but he must keep on!

'No, Adam. I don't know what you did, or maybe it's your body's reaction, but I won't let you take the victory away from me!'

Step.

Taking a confident step forward, the end of the spear advanced further almost touching Adam's chest, the hot blade stabbed into his skin, releasing a dark trickle of blood.

A blast of dark energy engulfed the entire arena like a cruel star, tossing Fromund aside moments before he was supposed to win.

"NO!"

Fromund's desperate scream echoed throughout the area, rolling over the ground in an attempt to stop. He wanted to attack again but realized it was pointless.

He lost his chance.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

After hitting the surface a few more times, the momentum finally faded and Fromund managed to rise to his feet.

"Tsk. This is total shit..."

A heavy grimace covered Fromund's face as he spat out a clot of blood. He didn't continue his attack, all he could do was watch for changes that didn't bode well for him. He realized that the initiative was not on his side now.

The spectators were in the same situation as he was, all their eyes fixed on the massive crimson stream of energy that sought to reach the heavens.

For two people, that was enough for them to switch places entirely.

Despair vanished from Osana's eyes, the color returning to her pink eyes along with hope, while the exact opposite happened to Nirosh.

His face turned pale, shivers ran in waves throughout his body and his mouth was wide open in disbelief.

"Grh!" Zarot only grumbled unhappily, "Looks like it's not over yet..."
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Gradually, the energy pillar thickened, gathering at a single point - around Adam, quickly absorbing into his body while hiding his silhouette.

Then, as if at the sweep of a hand, the crimson energy took its form, just as it had with Fromund and his flame armor.

Silvana's eyes widened, looking at something no one had ever seen before, not even she - Adam's Operator.

A long crimson cape of dense energy fluttered in the wind, reaching Adam's knees and traveling to his neck, to two heavy shoulder pads of overlapping layers of sharp steel.

On his head was a helmet covering his eyes and face but not his mouth, a bright scarlet glow was visible through the three gaps grating like a star in the place of his left eye.

From his right shoulder was a lone gauntlet merging with his shoulder pad and reaching to the tips of his fingers, covering every part of his arm with exquisite, intricate, and frightening armor.

A thick chain ran along his arm, winding like a vine - unusually long as if his arm wasn't the main target of the chain.

Before anyone could realize anything, Adam extended his right arm forward, then streams of crimson energy flowed out of his palm towards the pieces of his shattered silver needle.

The Desecrated Knight needed a matching weapon which he was going to create from the fragments of the past.