It seemed only a few battles had begun to show on the multiple screens depicting the fifty and some contenders participating in the Royale.
Some of the screens displayed a few contenders battling against each other, some displayed others still wondering around or investigating things they found. There were some though, that displayed battles against the resident Cluster beasts which the Game Master had mentioned before.
Some of them were thrilling, and all had a dash of flashy flare that caused gasps of excitement to echo around the stadium.
One battle in particular that had witnesses noisily jostling in their seats, was a battle between a familiar, auburn haired young man, and one of the large six legged Cluster beasts.
A variety of dialogues could be heard as the battle ensued, like:
"Oh my word! Look at his body! How is he still even alive?!
"Dear Listafelle! He healed completely... and he isn't even naked!"
Or:
"Goodness! He had his throat cut out this time! How will he—"
"Woow! He doesn't even seem fazed! He healed himself again! But...he's still not naked."
Generally, what surprised the general, uncultured audience was how this man was alive despite being so gruesomely injured. It was unnatural.
Now, as they all watched, with the glass screens making sure to make the rapid action more digestible for unpowered spectators, the resilient man whom some were beginning to call 'Die Hard' or 'Dead-Not' despite his name clearly being displayed on the screen, was struck down by an attack so terrible and so bright that the screen had to go dim so as to not irritate the eyes.
The sound that came from it was also lulled.
When the images became clear once again though, the audience marvelled for different reasons; others perturbed, others sadistically pleased.
Yet, one man in the audience with a thick moustache of caramel hair below his nose chuckled to himself while gazing at this same result post refulgence.
*
The Beckoned Retriever growled.
It now stood alone in a decimated, dry plain that hissed of steam with patches of weak flame devouring the remnants of dark tree stumps.
The flames mostly gathered around the point of impact from the last attack, hiding whatever was there – if there was anything at all – in its scorching fury, along with dwindling sparks of lightning.
Soon, the view became clearer, and a pitiable figure emerged from the flames; barely a skeleton with a shattered ribcage, and other brittle bones that were somehow still being licked fondly by flames.
Bits of a brain also squelched in the heat, exposed by a broken skull that seemed to be moments away from crumbling. There were no eyeballs in its sockets, and a hollow darkness could the seen as the skeleton staggered ahead, a broken green sword in its one remaining hand.
The Retriever growled in delight, so pleased with this sight that it almost seemed to don a vicious smile. Before properly celebrating though, the creature dashed to finish off its prey. This human had proven to be a troublesome opponent who had potent healing abilities after all.
It aimed straight for the skull as it then clamped down with its unnaturally wide mouth full of sharp, crystal-like teeth, its momentum magnified for a cruel execution.
CHOMP!
The Beckoned Retriever bit down.
But...
But... its body skidded across the ground, past the pitiable skeleton.
A look of confusion appeared on the creature's face.
There was nothing to crush in its maw, and its body seemed to have fazed through the enemy, as if...
As if what it was seeing was not real.
As if...
A look of shock appeared on the beast, replacing its confused visage.
At that moment, the skeleton turned to the Retriever behind it, one its sockets that had a large crack through it igniting with a serene blue flame. Then it spoke.
"What? Seen a ghost?"
The Retriever trembled, even if it didn't understand the words.
That nonchalance...
Before it could act, a large, gaping hole opened right in front of it, a fierce, scalding red light dyeing its body before....
A torrent of eager flames gushed out from this gaping mass, shooting out with such a concentrated force that they spilled like a beam that reached all the way to the already suffering forest of innocent, crooked trees!
The stream of fire enveloped the Beckoned Retriever entirely, and did not stop flooding from the abstruse gap until not even a shadow of the Beckoned Retriever remained.
Such was the infamous wrath of an ungodly flame.
Only when the fire sputtered, and finally died out from its hiding space, did the skeleton with the broken sword start to vanish, disappearing from sight. At the same time, the figure of a perfectly fine Skullius appeared a distance away in the same dry plain, with a smoky veil of dark purple energy around him.
The Hybrid Luman, with Crude Vision active, looked at the black skid mark on the ground that more or less represented the Beckoned Retriever – it wasn't quite as clear with the monochromatic vision. He then looked up.
The clouds did not have a response to this one, it seemed.
Good.
And surely...
[You have killed (IX) LV99 Beckoned Retriever. 1,200 EXP awarded]
[Would you like to extract the Essence of Null Life? 58 seconds remaining]
"Finally," Skullius said triumphantly.
He was glad that he managed to nip the problem in the bud before it reanimated with new ways to kill him. Literally.
As for how the Hybrid Luman had managed to win the rather short battle...
Well, it was as simple as it was complex.
When Skullius had seen that the Retriever had seemingly awakened an ability following its second death, he had already made for an escape. After all, what he could see coming, he could evade with [Destined Warp Steps].
However, with rapid thought, he had devised a way to give the beast a false victory. That was one of the only ways to keep it still long enough for what he thought was the best to get rid of it for good.
Thankfully, for such a trick, Skullius had a skill known as the [Ghost Rending Divine Sword Art]. With it, he could create realistic illusions that branched from actions he had made, like Hobbu Bobbu did.
Currently though, there was a limitation.
Without the Bashful Abomination, which still had the affix to increase the sword art skill by 475%, Skullius couldn't create tangible illusions or ghosts capable of actual attacks like Hobbu Bobbu, or like how he had done against his most recent spar with Alaris.
The illusions he could create with his own raw use of the sword art, were intangible, even if they were realistic, and could only be seen by targets close to Skullius.
The Beckoned Retriever had fallen for it – thinking it had successfully seized, and landed the bright attack on Skullius – and when it remained stationary long enough, dazed from the shocking reveal, Skullius enacted his theorised way of killing the indefinitely reanimating beast.
With the truly astounding effects of his Temporary Storage which, unlike a storage ring, could hold mana, and all sorts of elements, compress and release them from any point Skullius wished within reasonable distance, the Hybrid Luman had unleashed flames from the skill [Ungodly Flames of Debauchery] which he had stored a day earlier, just in case.
Compressing these flames, and granting a modest opening to the Temporary Storage created a flaming beam that could eviscerate almost anything, if given enough time.
This was no ordinary flame after all.
As it turned out, the Beckoned Retriever couldn't revive if it was destroyed completely in one semi-swift, unforgiving attack.
Enacting this whole idea while covered by [Absolute Zero] – the cloak of dark purple around – had been quite an enjoyable experience for Skullius actually, and he had confirmed a lot of things about his other, beastial enemies in this game.
'So these beasts gain new abilities as they die and reanimate. It's actually scary to imagine what would have happened if it reanimated again. What's worse is that this was only a Tier 9 beast. Since this is a purple Cluster, I'm sure they will be Retrievers several Tiers higher. Maybe a Tier 20? Dim my sockets!' Skullius strained. 'Do higher Tier beasts here already have abilities then? The tails seem to tell. Four probably means the beast has a unique power.'
Remembering the ring of light over the Beckoned Retriever, Skullius frowned. It looked similar to the one the Great Mane Mountain Ape Azila had.
Coincidence?
He wasn't remembering wrong, right? No.
There was no way he would ever forget that regal beast!
But what did that ring mean exactly?
As Skullius drew the Null Life Essence from the beast, which was a whopping 70 points, Skullius checked around to make sure he was safe.
He was already down to 800 Glass Units, and if he met stronger Cluster beasts...
'I'd rather fight the other contenders? At least they stay dead.'
Suddenly, Skullius saw a beam of lightning dashing down from the intimate clouds in the distance. Then another and another in different directions.
It seemed the other contenders were beginning to meet the Retrievers too. Or maybe they had already been fighting them, and he had just been too invested in this fight to notice.
A second later...
OOOOOM!
An glorious howl of energy swept past Skullius from another direction, causing goose bumps to spring up on his skin.
This was the first time this had happened.
With Crude Vision, Skullius detected something familiar in the direction where this thrilling sensation came from. His body and soul seemed to yearn for what it was, and he kind of understood why.
He had touched on such a power before.
For the first time in the almost four months since Skullius arrived in Aigas, the Hybrid Luman saw a glimpse of a proper Majestic Territory springing forth in the distance....
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