The fierce lionmen immediately charged at Reign and the others. Their physical capabilities were great as they quickly shortened the distance of about 350 meters ( 382 yards ).
As for the big guy himself, Pentos charged for about 200 meters before jumping high in the air and slashing down with his axe at Reign and the others.
Tank was the one that took on the slash, his [ Abyss Shield ] shook from the powerful attack but was still standing, of course, that was not the end of the attack as Pentos was now falling down on Tank, his axe ready to deliver a powerful blow from above.
"Let's see who has the better axe!" Tank shouted as he put his shield away and grabbed the axe with both hands. The angels had already left the area and were fighting the other lionmen some 100 meters away from them.
Tank's four generals and Beast's tamed beasts were with them, heavily pressuring the lionmen and completely suppressing them. Still, they were unable to quickly dispose of them as the defense and offense of the lionmen were quite something.
[ Dividing the Heavens ]
Tank used a new skill he had gained from the spirit of the emperor. He had managed to unlock another part of the axe and it was now a rank S weapon, a new skill had of course been given to him after that.
Contrary to the previous skill, this one didn't have the same destructive aura, it was actually quite a soothing and calming one. That was of course simply an illusion, as Tank held the axe down on the ground, he quickly slashed upwards as a sky-blue axe light rose to meet Pentos whose eyes were wide open.
[ Pride of a King ]
Pentos slashed down with his skill and the two clashed. The golden slash from Pentos and the sky-blue light from Tank were about equal as a fierce gale blew around. Neither had managed to take advantage of the other and soon both were standing on the ground of the arena, glaring at each other with fierce expressions plastered on each of their faces.
Before the two could continue their battle, lightning flickered while flames rose high in the air before Pentos was attacked from both sides.
Shadow appeared behind him and quickly stabbed with his daggers while frost suddenly covered his legs. An arrow was launched his way, aiming at his head while a black fireball was aimed at his chest.
Greenie was falling down on Pentos with his hammer lifted in the air, an formless ball of energy covered the head of his hammer as he slammed it down on the lionman.
Everybody had attacked Pentos the second he had landed on the ground and each of the attacks was a powerful one. Even with him being a powerful boss-ranked monster, Pentos was in trouble.
Before the attacks could reach him, he roared as a golden shockwave blew everything away. The incredible power behind the shockwave managed to save him from all of the attacks and even the frost that had covered his legs was gone, but the price he needed to pay was not light.
A lot of mana was expended in order to successfully defend himself and Pentos was already panting. He knew that this battle would not end well for him, every single one of his opponents was powerful enough to fight evenly against him for a short period of time.
[ Forbidden Technique: Ancestral Recall ]
Pentos's golden mane suddenly danced wildly in the air as his aura completely changed. From the powerful presence that a king had, he was now exuding one of worship. It was as if a deity had appeared before Reign and the others as they watched Pentos's fur change from gold to milky white.
Pentos was actually a descendant of a Saint, of course, he wasn't the child of the Saint, merely one of his many 10th great-grandchildren. The blood of the White Lion Saint flowed through his body, but it was thin and Pentos could only use a forbidden technique to bring it out for a short period of time.
The technique had grave side effects, but the boost it provided was incredible. Pentos's stats had almost tripled right now and he was much more powerful than before. His axe held high in the air, he slashed down as the ground split open and the wall of the arena cracked slightly.
Right now, Pentos was almost as powerful as the weakest of Tier II monsters.
"What the hell?!" Shadow cursed as he stared at Pentos who had suddenly thrown his axe to the side as his claws were brought out. The huge lionman suddenly disappeared from the spot and Shadow felt the wind blow from the side of his face.
He quickly ducked as Pentos's claws passed above his head, cutting off a strand of his hair.
Before Pentos could attack him again, Reign appeared and slashed at Pentos, his black and white lightning being used to its fullest.
[ Severing Light and Darkness ]
Two powerful sword lights attacked Pentos, one milky white while the other pitch black. Pentos grunted as he received the attack with his claws, blocking the attack after being forced to take a step back. Even though it was one of Reign's most powerful attacks, Pentos had managed to block it without taking any damage at all.
[ Darkness Implosion ]
Shadow sent a ball of darkness to Pentos, the ball exploded right next to his right hand and his claws slowly started to bend, alas it was not enough to destroy them as Pentos quickly moved back, only taking minimal damage from the attack.
"Should we activate our marks?" Shadow suddenly asked as Reign shook his head.
"No, it's too soon, we don't know what enemies we will face after this guy." Reign's words were true, they had no idea how many battles they would have to go through before finishing the arena. Of course, what he didn't know was that Pentos was actually one of the most powerful enemies one would face in the arena as his [ Forbidden Technique: Ancestral Recall ] brought his strength to a completely new level compared to most of the other monsters that could be found in the arena.
Pentos's new form not only increased his strength and agility to a crazy high level, but his defense was much higher as well. The razor-sharp claws he now used to fight allowed him to attack much faster compared to his axe, not to mention that he could use them with higher efficiency since they were a part of his body.
As for Reign and the others, they were fiercely fighting back against him, each of them covering for the other as only Reign could match the monster in speed. Shadow was a bit below the two without using his [ Shadow Body ] and could only occasionally help out.
Tank's shield was almost useless in the battle as Pentos was simply too fast, each time the lionman attacked, he would quickly follow it up with more attacks or move behind one of them in order to catch them off guard.
Still, they preserved, barely, but they did, After a full 5 minutes of battle where they were constantly on the back foot, Pentos's white fur disappeared and he was back in his normal form. Reign and the others were battered, cuts and bruises decorated their bodies and if the battle continued for 1 or 2 more minutes, they would be forced to use their marks or they would die.
Fortunately for them, however, Pentos's form could only last for 5 minutes and he had failed to kill them in that time. The angels and Beast's tamed monsters watched the battle from afar after they had finished off the 5 lionmen, all of them worried for the team as the power that Pentos exhibited was something they had no way of dealing with.
As for Tank's four generals, they watched from the side with calm expressions, they were nervous as well, but they had full faith that their leader and the rest would pull through.
After Pentos returned to his normal form, he was much weaker compared to before, the side effect of using the skill was a 50% penalty in all stats for 1 day. With him weakened, Reign and the others were able to slaughter him in mere seconds, his golden fur turning crimson from the blood that was spilled.
"The first round is over!" Drayce shouted as he once again appeared in the air above Reign and the others.
"Well that was something, wasn't it everybody?!" The crowd responded with loud cheers as he smiled widely.
"Now, the challengers have 2 minutes to rest before the next opponent arrives, oh, by the way, there are a total of 25 fights, I hope you use this time to its fullest." Drayce winked at Reign and the others as they all cursed him under their breath.
The battle had made them very tired, having another one in 2 minutes was going to be tough, not to mention the next 23 they would need to go through.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢