CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF THE GAME

"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, Little Wolf Man]

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 both of them 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! Please, 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 the little girl 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 his 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. It was Adam’s turn to bite.

The werewolf yelped, a sharp, startled sound—but then, he realized.

Adam’s teeth 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. Their Inner Crystal, destroyed... that fast?