622 DCXXII. The Flying Sword

The hammer stone head impacted in the center of the arena and the ground around it exploded into a thousand pieces, lifting in the air the scales of ground cut just before by the divine sword.

Taking advantage of the dust that prevented Freyr from locating his opponent, Dag vigorously threw the still electrified hammer at him, trying to hit him by surprise.

Freyr, once again bending back, dodged the blow and called back his sword, which shrank and flew towards its master, pierced the dense cloud.

When Dag's electric weapon brushed up against the God's face, he noticed that the final part of the hammer was wrapped in a strange dark liquid, which elastically extended to the arm of his young and promising opponent, now visible in the middle of the dust.

Dag suddenly moved his right arm in the opposite direction to Freyr's and his hammer, as if tied to an elastic band, splashed back at great speed retracing the same trajectory.

Unable to predict that strange move, Freyr leaned so low that he fell to the ground, and Magni's hammer, missing his target, hit the floating sword that was still flying towards his master's open hand, causing its trajectory to deviate and making it skewer the ground meters away.

Not satisfied with what had just happened, Dag firmly grabbed the hammer that came back into his hand and jumped back towards Freyr, repeating the same attack as before, as if it was a tireless machine.

Unlike his last attempt, this time his right arm absorbed the dark matter and went totally black, boosting the lightning strike.

"Aaaargh!" 

Emitting a scream and trying to hit Freyr with all his power, showing him what he was capable of, Dag fell in dive-bombing on him.

A loud explosion followed that scene and purple flashes from the weapon were released around it.

Freya, nervous that she could not see anything from the dust, moved a hand forward, emitting a shockwave that immediately dispersed the cloud, showing her and the people who had gathered in the stands, the result of Dag's attack.

To everyone's surprise, Skjold's young warrior's hammer was stationary on the blade of Freyr's sword, which, as fast as an arrow, had managed to fly back and save its master, as if it had its own will.

Dag's face, although he was still expressing all the tension arising from that attack, remained pointed at his opponent's eyes, while the veins of his neck and forehead continued to swell for effort.

Freyr's sword trembled like a leaf under the weight of the hammer, which he kept pushing down, even though he had run out of electricity available.

The divine strength of the God of the sun and beauty contrasted with the dark force of Dag's right arm, which had superhuman physical stamina.

When both opponents grabbed their weapons with both hands, the ground under Freyr's back cracked and the body of the God lowered further and further below the ground, slowly disappearing at the sight of his sister, incredulous of what she was seeing.

"Urrgh... you're... you're strong!" Freyr exclaimed, looking Dag in the eye and stunned that he was managing to hold up to the physical strength of a powerful being like him.

"You haven't seen anything yet! Aaaargh!" Dag yelled, who let the dark liquid flow over his other arm and legs as well, increasing the pressure on his opponent's sword by more than twice as much.

Freya, who imagined Dag to be incredibly strong, was incredulous to discover that after less than five minutes, his brother, one of the strongest warriors serving the divine crown, had been practically defeated.

"That black substance that wraps around his body... it is the source of his superhuman energy... all this is incredible" the Goddess said in a low voice, letting the people behind her hear her words.

In a short time, the Arena stands filled with all those who, intrigued by the presence of Freyr, Freya, and an unknown warrior, intended to watch the fight with interest.

With a kidney hit and using the divine power deriving from his sword, Freyr managed to get down on his knees and, little by little, his thrust on Dag's hammer increased, until Skjold's young warrior let go of his grip and took two steps back, continuing to keep his weapons in his hands.

"He managed to counter my body almost completely shrouded in dark power! His strength is on another level... and he also said Freya is much stronger than him! Fuck, it's kinda bad here!" Dag thought.

Across the center of the Arena, Freyr, who had just got rid of his young opponent's body above him, adjusted his hair and moved his hands on his clothes, wiping them from the soil.

His sword continued to float in the air, remaining beside him, without even a scratch.

"I want this guy to get stronger than me... I have to do it for Odin and for all of us, our future depends on him, but... a lot of people are coming into the Arena, I can't look that bad! My hair got dirty and my clothes are no longer of their original color!" Freyr thought, who, as Dag contrived what his next attack should be, thought about the way he appeared in front of the audience, being obsessed with his good looks.

"So? I don't know what training you were talking about! I'm not even remotely committed!" Dag exclaimed, who had noticed the way his opponent was focused on looking at the people behind him, fearing their judgment.

"You don't want to be a jerk, kid. You just got lucky. My sword managed to predict your attack and block it with ease, I just needed to warm up a little bit" Freyr replied, continuing to touch his blonde hair and moving it backward.

"Perfect! That means that now your muscles are warm enough to give your best!" Dag replied, who immediately after finishing speaking, snapped at his opponent, summoning other dark matter that began to float behind his shoulders.

Freyr's gaze returned serious and his sword increased its size once again, ready to defend its master and counterattack Dag.

He jumped forward and struck first with the Giantbane, then with the hammer, hitting the surface of the blade repeatedly. 

Turning on himself and trying to coordinate in the best way, Dag hit Freyr's weapon so quickly that God was forced to retreat, fearing that the young warrior would reach him.

One shot after another, the sound of the metal echoed inside the Arena, attracting the gaze of all the spectators, who had passed thirty units and continued to increase. 

A long dark arm took shape from Dag's back and was quickly fired forward, attempting to evade the giant sword.

The divine weapon, however, somehow realized that something else beyond the two weapons was trying to reach Freyr and positioned itself diagonally, immediately after the passage of dark matter.

That blade so large and sharp that it would have severed even the most resistant of the tree trunks clearly hit the dark arm.

For a moment, even Dag, in addition to all the others, remained impassive to watch, curious about what would have the better: when the sword struck the dark arm, its blade passed through it as if it was made of water and its trajectory was not changed in the slightest, reaching in a few tenths of a second Freyr, convinced he was safe.

Unlike his many past fights, this time Dag had turned the tip of his arm into a large hand and in an instant grabbed Freyr's torso, lifting him into the air and then slamming him violently to the ground.

The sword continued to sway and repeatedly hit the dark arm, passing through it like a few seconds before.

Extracting a second arm from his back, Dag stretched him towards his prey, as if he was an infallible predator, and tightened his grip on Freyr's torso, which had his arms immobilized.

"He can't counter the dark matter! So what Odin said is true! Only I am worthy of saving Asgard, only I can counter the dark power of the Xis! Now everything returns! When Freyr's sword tried to hit the extent of my body it went through it! It's unbelievable!" Dag thought, who didn't believe he could immobilize a God twice in a row, despite having already had a similar experience against Weland.

Realizing that the fight would not end until his opponent was knocked out, Dag dashed to him, activating the hammer's electrical power.

Although the Giantbane's firepower was not activated, because no one had lost blood, Dag approached it to the hammer and attempted to hit Freyr, who was on the ground, knowing that his attack, if it would hit the target, would do him much damage.