Chapter 1101 Battlegrounds
Gael had amazing swordsmanship skills, so his instincts told him that this attack might be successful and, in that case, he would win their battle. However, Gael didn't have time to think about what Ereg was capable of, as he didn't know, all of his opponent's skills.
The fact that claws could turn back into phantoms was a complete surprise to him, as were Ereg's fangs, which were strong enough to hold back Gael's sword. All in all, Gael completely lost in this round, he wasn't prepared for the fact that his opponent had gone through such a strong development since their last battle.
"Hahaha! Gael, you should be more serious! Have you really forgotten? You gave your word!" Ereg exclaimed with an excited expression before abruptly turning around.
Because the phantoms had sunk their sharp teeth into Gael's flesh, he was unable to hold the sword tightly in his hands, so Ereg was able to step back without risk or damage to himself.
Then, before Gael came to his senses, Ereg attacked, filling his fist with the energy of darkness. He had no claws now, but that didn't mean his weapon was completely gone. After all, combat gauntlets were also part of a weapon and could do serious damage if used properly.
"I win this round!" Ereg exclaimed, taking a step forward and raising his fist to attack.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Darkness gathered in Ereg's fist as if it were the center of the universe. The pressure was immense making space shake, struggling to withstand such power as cracks appeared in the fabric of reality, revealing a portion of open space.
Gael's pupils narrowed at the last moment before Ereg's fist was about to reach him.
He had disastrously little time, so all he had time to do was swing his sword and create a thin barrier of ash, light and unstable.
Clearly, it wasn't enough to stop Ereg. His blow could crumple the dragon's scales like a mere skin and tear the Fifth Chronicle monster apart with its sheer power.
So, Gael had to experience the full consequences of his failure. He had taken a risk and made a mistake, now there was no way to retreat.
Crackle. Crackle. Crack.historical
With a loud crunch, Ereg's fist plunged into Gael's stomach, causing him to feel a hell of a lot of pain. Bright agony, waves spread through Gael's body, his eyes wide open as well as his mouth with bloody clots flying out.
The impact caused a shockwave that released a ring of wind and threw Gael dozens of meters away.
The impulse was powerful enough that the phantoms couldn't keep their jaws on Gael's body, since the shockwave simply threw him away.
The phantoms looked at each other puzzled, they didn't know what to do: pursue Gael or stay put, so soon they looked at Ereg, their master.
"Come to me. You have already accomplished your task, so it is time for you to return to your original position." Ereg said calmly, extending his arms as if showing the phantoms what was to be done.
Whoooooooooooosh.
The phantoms reacted immediately, nodding and heading towards Ereg's hands at the same time. Without delay, they transformed into six long claws, easily capable of damaging Gael's body.
At the same moment, Gael's back collided with the colosseum wall, experiencing a deafening pain due to the sturdy stones with brightly glowing runes.
All the while, the colosseum was absorbing the energy trying to escape outside the arena, as during the attacks, Gael and Ereg couldn't fully control their abnormally huge energy. Moreover, the energy was constantly emanating from their bodies, so the colosseum was working at maximum power every second.
"Agh... That wasn't bad, but honestly, I expected more from you." Gael muttered, slowly rising from the ground.
Whooooooooooooooooosh.
His body erupted in white flames, burning away all the blood and making the phantom wounds disappear, without a trace. Such wounds were not worthy of leaving scars on Gael's body, not even the tiniest of scars, more serious attacks were needed for that. Obviously, Ereg was capable of them, but for that, he needed to act with his claws and not phantoms.
"What? Did my punch seem weak to you?" Ereg asked with a confident smirk.
Gael nodded, "You were gathering so much energy, but that punch was nothing special. If you had only used physical power, you could have easily done the same damage, but you did it much faster. Practically at lightning speed."
Liang, Nitra, and Alucard who were watching the fight smirked, as did Ereg. It seemed like they saw something the others didn't, but that wasn't entirely true.
Only Gael did not see one detail that everyone, including the hundreds of spectators in the colosseum, was looking at.
Ereg smiled amicably and pointed at Gael, just a little lower, at his torso.
Gael blinked puzzledly a few times before looking down. At the spot where his fist had struck, floating a tiny black sphere, calm but dense like a black hole.
The sphere didn't move or do anything, just waiting for its moment, which was right now.
Crackle. Crackle. Crack.
The sphere cracked, as all the energy hidden inside it burst out in an instant.
Gael's eyes went wide. He realized that this attack would be the most serious of their entire battle since Ereg had shaped his darkness so that Gael wouldn't be prepared for it.
Streams of ash appeared beside Gael, intending to protect him, but these attempts were doomed to failure. He had too little time, or rather, he had no time at all as the darkness had already burst forth.
Whooooooooooooooosh.
A devastating blast of darkness covered the entire arena, shaking the space and sending out chaotic streams of wind, sharp as blades and wild as beasts. They fled from the site of the explosion, in the epicenter of which it was impossible to survive. For any living thing, it would definitely be death.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Space shook as the colosseum shook. The stone blocks could hardly withstand such pressure, and some of them began to crack.
There was no telling what had happened to Gael, but as strange as it was, that wasn't the most important thing right now. If the colosseum fell, Beastfolk World would face significant destruction, as Gael and Ereg wouldn't be able to control themselves during the brutal battle.
Everyone realized that, but only a few people could fix it.
Tap.
Alucard, with a calm look, bent down and placed his palm on the stone block. His energy traveled toward the colosseum, infusing every part of it, of which there were several thousand.
In a way, the Colosseum was an artifact, a very large one, the size of a huge building, but it was. Each part of the colosseum, could absorb energy and use it to provide security to the spectators and the barrier.
So, if the colosseum had enough energy, it could withstand any damage.
Alucard realized this, so before the dark smoke cleared and the dust settled to reveal Gael's silhouette, he was hastily reinforcing the colosseum.
Thin bloody threads appeared around each of the hundreds of stone blocks, curling around them and making them stronger.
Liang noticed this, shrugged his shoulders slightly, and placed his palm in the same way.
"Hey, do you really think I can't handle this?" Alucard asked as a smirk appeared on his face.
"No, just thought I'd contribute to this fight. It would be a big mistake to lose such an amazing structure like this colosseum." Liang said with a slight sadness in his eyes.
Krana curiously stared at him. She was trying to find out why he suddenly felt this way, it was a real mystery to her.
"We, as the strongest have only two choices during battles between others like us. Either we fight in open space, which feels completely fake since there's no earth, no air, no gravity... just nothing..." Liang muttered while streams of wind swirled around him.
The wind was heading towards the colosseum, creating white threads next to the bloody ones, making each part of the colosseum much stronger. Given that they both used their energy, the colosseum would now be able to withstand almost any damage.
"The second option is to fight in a world of some sort, specifically a world and not a void. Regardless of how big the void is, the Progenitors will simply destroy such a space in a few attacks. However, even the real world would be severely damaged. To be honest, I don't like either option." Liang uttered, staring intently at the thick darkness slowly descending towards the ground.
"However, it turns out we have a third option - this colosseum. If we use enough energy, even Nameless King and Dragon Progenitor can fight here. We shouldn't miss such an opportunity." Liang's gaze became more serious. It was obvious that this was important to him. He wanted to fight like everyone else, he wanted to know how much better he had become.
At the same moment, the darkness almost reached the ground, as well as the dust, revealing Gael's silhouette that struggled to stand on its feet.