“Friends!” Isushi bellowed to the refilled stands of Uchmute, the horde of apes shrieking and hooting. “I thank you for returning! Now, let us feast on the strength of these humans as we witness their demise and the final fall of our hated enemies, the dokkalfar of the Shadow Court! Now, let the First Round of the Feast of Strengths commence!”

At Isushi's declaration, the arena gates slammed open and three more raptors like the one from the previous day charged onto the sand, screeching and clawing.

“Oh goodie,” Chase drawled, rolling and cracking his neck.

Instantly, his shield was up, one of the raptors crashing into it, fangs and talons scrabbling. It hissed and spat, its tail lashing back and forth. As it tried to carve its way through the hardened bone shell, puncture marks and gouges began to appear across its body, the raptor shrieking in surprised pain.

“Finally,” he muttered as he brought his pick around and buried it into the raptor’s side.

He had gained the Mirror skill what felt like ages ago, but nearly all of his foes since that time hadn’t been physical fighters, instead relying on some form of magic. The raptor, however, apparently had no magic attack, or if it did it wasn’t inclined to use it as a first response.

With a heave, Chase flung the raptor to the side, turning his attention towards the remaining raptors. The reanimated corpse of Skeld had one in a bear hug, while its foot talons disemboweled it. Meanwhile, Thorir and Errsai were engaging the last one, the lead scout dodging the raptor's claws and bites with a surprising amount of agility, and Thorir firing shots from his longarm from a distance.

As he started to move towards the dokkalfar, the raptor he'd injured leapt onto his back, digging its claws into his hide armor, and sinking its teeth into his shoulder. Chase let out a yelp, and threw himself backwards, slamming the dinosaur into the ground. But even before his back hit the ground, he felt the raptor's grip loosening, and as he fell on top of it, he felt its bones snapping and breaking.

Rolling off the raptor, Chase glanced at it, confirmed its death, before dashing to aid his remaining teammates. Skeld's draug was already done with his, its corpse twitching in the sand, its torso visibly crushed from the crushing grip. Thorir was standing on the corpse of the last raptor, reloading his weapon.

“That was too easy,” Errsai muttered.

“Don’t give the gods ideas,” Thorir shot back, his voice equally quiet.

Chase didn’t join in the banter, instead keeping his focus on Isushi, who stood from his throne and raised his arms high into the air, to the roar of the crowd.

“A quick First Round, as to be expected!” the warlord cried, his voice carrying throughout the arena.

Chase was expecting a reprieve, a chance to rest, eat, and prepare for the second round, but he was not so lucky. At the same moment Isushi's words ended, the gate on the other side of the arena slid open, and two raptors stalked out, followed by four apes armed with spears and bucklers.

Chase and his two remaining companions exchanged glances, and then turned their attention to their opponents.

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“Let the Second Round begin!” Isushi shouted, and the fight was on.

Chase and Skeld's draug ran straight at the two raptors, while Errsai and Thorir moved to engage the ape warriors with their longarms. The lead raptor rushed him, jaws agape and its tail whipping behind it. He raised his shield, and braced for the impact.

When the raptor crashed into him, he was ready. Its talons raked against his armor, while its jaws snapped shut around the edge of his shield. It shook its head, trying to dislodge the barrier, but he kept his arm steady, the bone shield resisting the dinosaur's efforts, all while Mirror caused wounds to appear across its body. This time, Chase's pick found its throat instead of its body, tearing out a large, bloody chunk of flesh, its severed windpipe dangling from the two sides of the gaping wound.

As the raptor staggered back, Chase glanced to his side. The other raptor had latched onto Skeld's draug's forearm, and was savagely worrying the limb, its teeth shredding the already-ruined flesh and the reanimated corpse showing no signs of distress. The four ape warriors, however, were giving the two dokkalfar no time to rest, surrounding them with a combination of spears, bucklers, and their superior numbers.

Chase turned his attention back to his own foe, the raptor, having regained its balance, was charging at him again, blood pouring from the fatal wound. He sidestepped the dinosaur's charge, his pick slashing across its face, causing its eye to pop and spray him with blood and viscera. The raptor howled in pain and rage, but was silenced as Chase drove his pick through its eye socket, his weapon spearing its brain and causing the creature to collapse to the ground, dead.

Glancing at Skeld's draug, he decided it could manage for a time, and then dashed towards the Uchmute surrounding Errsai and Thorir. The two dokkalfar had their backs against the wall, and were being pressed hard. As Chase got closer, one of the ape warriors spotted him and charged, a spear aimed at his heart. Chase raised his shield, but as the warrior's spear snapped against his shield, the ape stumbled, a hole in his chest, blood spraying out.

Glancing back, Chase saw Thorir with his longarm at the ready, before turning his attention back to the other three warriors, who were backing away from him. He grinned, and hefted his pick, his shield held forward as the three ape warriors circled around him, their spears at the ready.

A spear darted in, stabbing towards him, and Chase's shield blocked the attack. Immediately after, another spear lashed out, scoring a glancing blow to his arm, causing him to let out a pained hiss. As with the raptors and the first ape, injuries appeared on their bodies, but they were nicks and cuts in comparison.

Once again, a spear stabbed at his side, and he twisted away, but not fast enough, the spear scoring a shallow gash across his hip. Another spear darted out, aiming for his chest, but a shot rang out and the spear's wielder crumpled, his head a ruined mess.

“Thanks,” Chase grunted to the dokkalfar, turning his attention back to the remaining two ape warriors.

They backed off, their gazes darting between Chase and the draug that was tearing apart their remaining raptor. He followed, his shield and pick held ready. Before they could back themselves into a corner, a shot rang out, the lead ape warrior staggering as his leg gave out beneath him. The other ape looked back, and Chase lunged forward, burying his pick into the ape's gut.

The ape warrior howled in pain, dropping his spear and clutching his stomach. With a snarl, Chase brought his shield around, backhanding the chimp with such force that he heard its skull crack and splinter.

Panting heavily, Chase turned to see the draug, covered in blood and gore, its one remaining hand now gripping the head of a raptor, having torn its lower jaw off. Errsai and Thorir were also breathing heavily, leaning against each other.

“You two okay?” Chase asked.

“Yes,” Errsai answered.

“Well, as much as we can be,” Thorir added, his tone dark.

“And I guess that means round two is over?” Chase asked rhetorically as he glanced up in Isushi’s direction. But the warlord didn’t rise, instead looking down at the arena with a smug expression on his face.

“I don’t like that look on his face,” Thorir said quietly.

“Be ready for him to try something,” Chase said to Errsai and Thorir. “I wouldn’t be surprised if…”

Chase paused, a tingling on the back of his neck making him turn to the first dead ape. The skin of its back was squirming, like there was something underneath it trying to get out. He was about to say something when he heard a loud tearing noise. The skin of the ape split open and a large, brown-furred, demonic looking monkey leapt out of its back. The monkey was covered in blood and viscera, its red eyes wild and feral.

More tearing sounds caught his attention, and Chase watched as the other corpses began to split and tear, and more monkeys burst from the bodies, the ape-like creatures letting out shrill shrieks. All six monkeys began to beat their chests, their shrieks forming a wordless cry that sent shivers down his spine.

Chase raised his shield and gripped his pick, the weapon feeling small in his hands. There was no way that the monkeys had been hiding in the ape corpses the whole time, they were much too big. Which meant the monkeys were either a magical ability of the apes or some kind of magical parasite of some kind.

Of course, it didn’t stop there. As the demon monkey closest to Chase reached down behind it, and promptly flung a brown mass at him that ignited on fire as soon as it left the monkey’s paw.