[ADAM] Chapter 23: Sweet Victory

“Adam!”

Adam barely felt Grace’s shove before his boots scraped against the dirt, sliding back. But Samantha was still in his arms. He gritted his teeth and stomped down hard, his foot digging deep, stopping him cold.

He set Samantha on her feet and spun around—his eyes widening at the blur streaking toward the spot where he had just been standing.

Helsinki.

The Little Wolf Man slammed into the ground, claws carving deep furrows in the dirt as if it were nothing. If that had hit him—even with his Strength now six times what it was before—he would’ve been cleaved in half.

Helsinki snapped his head up, saliva whipping from his fangs as he snarled at Adam. His glowing yellow eyes burned with something unnatural, muscles bulging beneath his matted fur.

A heartbeat passed.

Then Helsinki turned toward Grace.

She barely had time to raise her steel pipe before he lunged, claws and fangs locked onto her throat. Well, almost.

A breath, deep and sharp, seared through Adam’s lungs. And it was as if time stretched thin.

Like Grace, he moved without thinking.

Legs coiling like a spring, he threw himself forward with all his newfound strength, colliding with Helsinki in the air.

“No!” Adam roared, fingers digging deep into the werewolf’s thick fur as they violently rolled on the ground.

Helsinki reacted fast. His head snapped around, jaws clamping onto Adam’s shoulder.

Pain. Searing, instant—teeth shredding muscle, crunching bone.

“Grahh!” Adam howled as blood sprayed down his arm and neck. But he didn’t let go.

No. He tightened his grip even stronger, locking his arms under Helsinki’s armpits and neck.

Helsinki thrashed, snarling, claws raking at Adam, but Adam’s grip was iron—his nails ripping free from his own fingers, torn against the werewolf’s hide. But he didn’t care.

“Adam!” Grace rushed to help him, and even Bjorn paused.

But Adam let out a roar that caused everyone stuck in the chaos to wake up.

“Go!” His body trembled, but he held on. “Take Samantha! Destroy it! Just run! Bjorn—win! WIN!”

Bjorn met his eyes for only a second before turning—his feet blasting off toward the Spawn Crystal.

Grace hesitated. Then she clenched her jaw, grabbed Samantha, and ran. Even Samantha knew what was at stake. Her small feet pounded against the grass, desperate.

They all were.

“We… we’re going to destroy the crystal, mister!” Samantha cried out, her voice carrying over the battlefield, shaking the very air—shaking the Red creeps running with them.

Adam exhaled hard, then locked his focus back onto Helsinki.

The werewolf snarled and was able to wrench his head free, ripping out a chunk of Adam’s shoulder.

Bone fragments flew. Flesh. Blood poured. Endlessly. Wildly.

Adam’s grip slipped, and Helsinki tore away, scrambling toward Bjorn. But he barely made it a step before Adam’s fingers clamped around his ankle. The werewolf staggered, tripping over his own limbs, rolling across the dirt.

He didn’t even look at Adam. His eyes were locked on the Spawn Crystal, its light flickering, pulsing—Bjorn and the Red creeps were slowly breaking it.

Helsinki snarled, pushing himself up—only for Adam to slam him back down.

The Little Wolf Man twisted beneath him, snapping around to sink his fangs into Adam’s throat. But then—he stopped as he smelled something.

A scent. Different. Primal.

His pupils shrank, and instincts surged. Something deep and ancient was boiling in his blood.

For a moment, the two locked eyes.

And for a moment, it was impossible to tell which of them was prey…and which one was predator.

Adam bled freely, his arm limp at his side. But his eyes—his eyes were alive. More than they had been since the Game started.

His lip curled. A low, guttural snarl rumbled in his throat.

Then—

Almost as if mimicking Helsinki, he growled.

And then—He roared.

No—he wailed. A raw, unhinged scream, shaking his entire body, blood and spit spraying across Helsinki’s face.

The werewolf froze.

And in the silence, something human whispered from within him—

"Hiisi?"

Adam lunged.

His teeth clamped onto Helsinki’s neck. The werewolf yelped, a sharp, startled sound—but then, he realized.

Adam’s bite barely broke his skin. Adam bit down hard enough to crack his own teeth, hard enough to dislocate his jaw—but all he could do was a drop of blood from the werewolf’s neck.

The fire returned to Helsinki’s eyes.

His arms locked around Adam’s back, claws driving deep.

Then, with a deep, guttural howl—

He ripped Adam’s torso in half.

Grace saw it. Even as she struck the Spawn Crystal and her hands bled, she glanced at Adam from time to time.

She winced and sucked in a deep breath when she saw what happened to Adam. But her hands didn't stop—her palms bled, but it was nothing with what Adam was going through.

Samantha also helped; she was holding some sort of metal piece that was given to her by one of the other creeps. Her palms also started to bleed, but Grace did not say anything.

She just gritted her teeth, screaming with each hit.

She didn't even look back as Helsinki rushed toward them.

She didn't need to, as the Little Wolf Man's eyes were only set on Bjorn.

Bjorn glanced back at Helsinki. He roared in frustration, getting one final hit at the Spawn Crystal before turning around to meet him.

The Silent Brawler moved, grabbing Helsinki by the scruff of his neck while he was in the air. He spun around, yanking the Little Wolf Man in the air before throwing him into the sky.

His feet exploded, but instead of following after Helsinki, he shot back toward the Spawn Crystal and slammed his entire body against it.

And then, the Administrator's voice whispered into their ears:

[Your team's Inner Crystal has been destroyed! What are you doing!? You're in the final struggle now, fight!]

But the words were an unwelcome one. Bjorn quickly glanced back at the ceiling of the Dome, only to see a red pillar of light vanish in the air.

"Hrnngh!" A raw, desperate sound tore from Bjorn’s throat.

His fists crackled with energy as he spun back to the Spawn Crystal, slamming them wildly against it. A tiny crack formed across its smooth surface. He pulled his arm back for another strike—

But Helsinki latched onto his wrist, and his fangs sank deep.

Bjorn snarled, jerking his arm, slamming the werewolf into the crystal. Helsinki’s body bounced off it, and Bjorn seized him by the neck, hurling him away.

This time, however, Helsinki didn’t let go.

His claws raked across Bjorn’s chest, digging in, anchoring himself. With a snarl, he swung onto Bjorn’s shoulder and bit into his neck.

Bjorn roared in pain. His fingers locked around Helsinki’s body, and with a final, furious heave, he flung him away.

Bjorn turned back to the crystal—but hesitated.

Helsinki was already rising.

Bjorn’s fists slammed together, frustration flaring through him as he chose to charge at Helsinki instead.

If Bjorn died here, the Game was lost.

And Helsinki wasn’t going to stop until he sent Bjorn back to his Spawn Crystal.

The Silent Brawler moved like a juggernaut. Each step exploded against the ground, his sheer weight and force shaking the earth.

Helsinki turned to run—

Too late.

Bjorn caught him, slamming a fist down on his skull. A shockwave tore through the air, flattening the grass in all directions.

The sound cracked like thunder.

Helsinki still moved, eyes fierce, breath ragged.

Bjorn grabbed him by the head and slammed him down.

The ground caved in.

Dirt and shards of grass exploded into the air as Helsinki yelped, his body rattling from the force. But even as his limbs twitched, he refused to let go.

His claws dug into Bjorn’s arm.

Bjorn slammed him again.

Helsinki’s body shuddered, but his resolve was like iron. His frame was small, but his will refused to break.

Yet willpower could only take him so far.

Helsinki’s face wriggled, then withered. His fur receded, his body trembling, shifting—his monstrous form collapsing into something human.

His beastly eyes, however, never wavered.

They locked onto Bjorn’s, burning, pleading.

Then, a whisper—weak, hoarse.

"My wife and daughter… They’re here. Please."

Helsinki’s voice cracked.

"Please, let me win."

Bjorn’s grip faltered, but his eyebrows quickly lowered again, and he gritted his teeth as he once again raised Helsinki in the air.

But as he was about to slam him, Bjorn's eyes turned wide as he saw something. Helsinki had no idea why he stopped, but he took this chance to wriggle away from him, but Bjorn crushed his now-human neck without even looking at him.

Meanwhile, Adam now stood before the crystal—his entire body drenched in blood, his flesh knitting itself back together as he moved.

“A… Adam!?” Grace’s breath trembled. But she only spared him a glance before slamming her weapon against the crystal again, this time with even more force.

Adam didn’t respond. He couldn’t.

His breath came in ragged, wheezing gasps—but still, he raised his fists and struck the crystal.

He wasn’t the only one.

No one cared that their skin split open, that their bones cracked under the relentless impact. They hit it together.

Fists. Bricks. Steel pipes. Shovels.

Anything they could find.

As long as the crystal hummed and pulsed under the force of their blows, they didn’t stop.

“Together!” Grace shouted, her voice raw.

Her face was streaked with dirt, sweat, and blood, but her eyes burned with determination. Theirs did too.

Their attacks barely scratched the crystal’s surface—but they didn’t care. They didn’t hesitate.

Adam’s fists slammed down again. And again. And again. His hands were mangled, crushed, destroyed—but he didn’t wait for them to heal. Each strike was stronger than the last.

And then—Bang!

Bjorn’s fist suddenly came, cracking the surface of the crystal.

“B… Bjorn!”

A wave of relief and energy surged through the Red creeps. They cheered. Their attacks grew wilder, faster. Every ounce of their strength focused on the shattering crystal.

Grace also gasped in relief as Bjorn stepped beside them.

She turned to him—she was about to focus back on hitting the crystal, but she noticed something.

Bjorn’s hands were moving.

He was signing something to Adam.

Adam was confused. He glanced at Bjorn, sweat and blood dripping from his chin.

The Silent Brawler's hands moved slowly—he met Adam's eyes, then pressed a fist onto his own chest and rubbed it in circles.

Adam had no idea what he wanted, and so he turned to Grace.

“What… what’s he trying to say?”

Grace’s exhausted arms trembled. The steel pipe now hung at her side. The dim light of the stadium cast shifting shadows across her face as she whispered—

"I'm—"

But before Adam could hear Grace's words, everything turned black.

***

“Huh!?”

Adam was woken up by his own gasp, his body snapping upright.

His fists clenched. Instinct took over. He spun around, ready to strike—

But there was nothing.

The crystal was gone.

All that remained was an empty field.

His breath came heavy, uneven. His head whipped around, scanning his surroundings—until he saw her.

Grace sat on the grass, cradling Samantha.

She wasn’t the only one.

The Red creeps were scattered across the field, some lying down, some sitting, their heads lowered.

Silent.

Adam’s hands shook.

“Adam…” Grace’s voice was soft as she reached for him, her fingers curling around his trembling hand. “…It’s over.”

Adam swallowed hard.

“What do you—did…?” He choked on his own words. His chest heaved.

“…Did we do it? Did… we win?”

Grace looked at him.

For a moment, her lips twitched—then curved into a smile.

“We lost.”

***

[PREVIOUS CHAPTER] <--> [NEXT CHAPTER]