SO! To preface, although I personally believe in FTL high mid tiers, that isn't the topic I'm arguing for as I'll have to wait for later cannon content to prove that. Right now, I want to make a point about why I think that the only things Adam has over AL are AP and dura. Everything from versatility to BiQ, and the topic of my discussion, SPEED goes to AL.
The first thing I'm going to do is debunk the idea that Adam only started getting serious at the "radio is ****** DEAD" section, cuz...its blatantly wrong for 2 reasons.
Point 1.
Why are we saying THATS when he gets serious when
this whole battle he's been struggling with/
AT MOST been on par with Alastor's speed,
AL even dodging an overhead strike AS it was coming down, WHICH ON REVIEW, ADAM DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE HE DODGED TILL AFTER THE HIT, which his facial expression is VERY much one of "how is that even possible"(the dust wasn't until the strike landed and not enough light to blind himself and his eyes didn't squint as much as it was just a "gotcha" face don't make excuses).
LOOK HOW SHOCKED HE IS
Even if you want to say that he didn't go full speed there and that was just general shock from seeing any sinner dodge him (cope), anything AFTER that sure as hell IS due to his personality (see reason 2). We ALSO know for a fact that while still inferior, Alastors magic CAN make Adam actually
cough from exertion, meaning this is the first time in a WHILE he ever had to go that hard (
among other things), so not only does AL actually have the capacity to downscale via magic on AP, but also acts as support that while still inferior, AL isn't without his own advantages.
And that's before
THIS. There are literally NO good reasons you can make that he was still holding back on speed. Which leads me to...
Point 2.
Adams personality causes his already sub-par combat capabilities to SUCK EVEN MORE MAJOR LEAGUE BALLS.
People here for SOME reason are giving Adam WAYYYYY to much credit on the whole "he's just holding back because he wouldn't waste-" Imma keep it a buck, yes the hell he would. Adam is an immature, wasted potential nut job who DEFINITLY would immediately ramp up speed out of rage to try his best to hit Alastor, that isn't a question as
IT'S ACTUALY WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FIGHT,
ESPECIALLY HERE. Each swing he misses makes him more and more angry, and considering how little self-control he has, I HIGHLY doubt that he has the capability to hold back on speed and not instinctually go faster.
Also him actually struggling to dodge these little guys which, sure could be chalked up to mobbing...if the gap in speed between the two wasn't as ENORMOUS as it was, on top of the first and second ones being alone and still had him pull an obviously exerted effort Neo from the Matrix.
Secret 3rd thing no one takes into account
Even if he was really holding back somehow, unless very specific conditions state so, ADAM CAN'T JUST LOWER HIS OWN REACTION SPEEDS, some verses make that a thing, but not the Hellaverse, reminder that
Alastor managed to press Adam on multiple occasions, so his combat/reactions should upscale anyway as, him "losing" to Vox 7 years ago means that Vox could keep up with him and his attacks, so Alastor scales directly to his attack speed anyway.
And as for the final strike that beat Alastor.
1.
He was genuinely shocked that Adam broke his staff, this literally screaming at us that he wouldn't have tanked it if he'd known
2. Why does bigger axe = fester and more dmg and not just more dmg, why does it HAVE to increase speed, it didn't look particularly faster
And 3. Trying to use
this scene as more evidence that Adam is faster is just bad man..., AL thought himself invincible and that he would easily fight and beat Adam, only to have all his views on both himself and his actual power completely trampled on, he wasn't in the right headspace and lost focus for a second and that gave Adam an opening, MIND YOU, Alastor snapped back in too late and STILL saw him coming and managed to start dodging, but just like Stolas and the end of Mastermind, Alastors power comes from something, his staff being broken literally FORCED him out of his demon mode, so he was probably physically out of whack as well.
I don't think I have to tell y'all that this concoction of events CAN'T do much good for you when fighting for your (previously thought to be invulnerable) afterlife.
TLDR
In short, people give WAY too much credit to Adams fighting abilities and this whole battle PAINFULLY shows that outright power is the literal ONLY thing Adam has on Alastor, who in turn has the versatility, the friggin combat prowess in spite of being younger, and of course, the speed.