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“Smart one, aren’t ya, Mura… Guess I’ll just have to switch to Plan B…” Behemoth said, smoke emitting from his body. He was beginning to transform into his Primal Release form.

Mura tossed the hammer aside. He grabbed Lilith, pulling her back as they also resorted to the next step in their battle strategy.

“It looks like Behemoth is going for the kill, ladies and gentlemen. I’ve never seen a match like this before! What will Mura do when confronted with Behemoth in his monstrous demonic form?” said Dagon, wiping sweat off his brow.

Behemoth stood in all his might, even more menacing in front of the duo. He was much larger now that he transformed, which in turn meant he could easily cover more ground.

—This is it. I trust you, Lilith.

Mura rushed in towards Behemoth, swallowing his fear and burying it deep within the recesses of his mind. Mura huddled around the back of Behemoth’s leg before jumping up and grabbing onto the metal plates around his knee.

“What the hell is Mura doing?! He’s giving Behemoth’s leg a tight bear hug and refuses to let go!”

Behemoth roared angrily, his massive size preventing him from picking the much smaller Mura off easily.

“Let go of me, you puny bastard! Just accept your demise already!”

Mura hugged the limb even tighter as Behemoth shook it viciously. With as much of a sneer as his face could muster, he tossed himself backwards in an attempt to crush Mura.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit—“ Mura swore.

The curvature of Behemoth’s leg kept Mura from being crushed flat, but still wasn’t enough to keep the force from slamming him into the ground. Mura felt a sharp spasm shoot throughout his chest and back. One of his ribs had been broken.

“D-Do it now, Lilith!”

From his blind side, Lilith leapt onto Behemoth’s chest and scurried up to his face. She quickly pulled out the other hidden weapon Mura had given her earlier — a razor sharp dagger.

“Die, you son of a bitch!” She screamed out, plunging the dagger directly into one of the six eyes on his spider-esque head.

The blade sunk deep into the socket, becoming embedded like a carving knife stuck in a pumpkin. Black fluid pooled out from the wound as Lilith twisted the dagger, causing Behemoth to scream so loudly she thought her eardrums would rupture.

Lilith quickly became more frantic, struggling to pull the blade out to stab him again.

“Mura, he’s not dead! It isn’t working!”

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Frantic thoughts of panic flashed through Mura’s mind in an instant.

—Shit, his skull is too big in this form! The blade isn’t deep enough to puncture his brain!

Lilith abandoned the dagger and used her thumbs to desperately gouge out the two remaining eyes on Behemoth’s left side. Her fingers sunk deep, making a horrifically grotesque squelching noise as audience members in the front row recoiled.

Behemoth’s pain grew into wrath and he quickly swatted his hand in front of his face, back-handing Lilith several meters across the field.

“No!” Mura screamed out.

Everything was going wrong, this was the last of their plans. They were out of options. Mura scrambled to get free from underneath Behemoth’s leg. He scraped at the dirt in a desperate attempt to wiggle out, causing a fiery pain to spread through his chest. His broken rib was getting worse, splintering as it rubbed up against the broken fragments.

Pushing through the pain and clenching his teeth, he squirmed free as Behemoth clutched his face in pain. Between a maddened combination of both a sprint and a stumble, Mura made his way over to Lilith. He could see her body was bloodied and bruised as she laid unconscious. Before he could do anything to help her, he felt the breath forcefully expelled from his lungs as something solid collided with his back.

“You think you could do this… to me? That little bitch blinded me!” Behemoth roared in a rage.

He had gotten up as Mura escaped and swept his gargantuan fist straight into Mura’s back, causing him to fly across the arena like a ragdoll and slam into the wall.

Mura’s mind was fuzzy. His vision was slipping as adrenaline kept the pain from becoming unbearable. He felt a steady flow of warmth flowing down his abdomen. Looking down at his chest he could see a white, bloodied spear protruding from his shirt as blood progressively saturated it.

—Goddammit… The rib punctured through the skin. I can’t even heal myself without Lilith.

Behemoth rushed over like a bear having tasted the blood of prey. He picked Mura off the wall he was slightly embedded in; peeling him from the stone like gum off his boot.

“I’m going to crush you into paste, Mura. After that, your girl… Her head will pop like a grape once I step on it.”

Mura writhed like a fish caught on a hook, his energy diminishing as his eyelids fluttered.

—Am I dying?

“I’ll make sure you both are nothing more than a pulpy smear in the mud! Time for me to take your glory… and savor your last moments.”

Behemoth slowly began tightening his grip, crushing Mura’s ribs as he coughed up blood. Mura couldn’t even scream out or register the pain he felt, it was simply inconceivable.

—I’m going to die here… I’m sorry, Lilith…

Behemoth chuckled as the audience gasped and some shouted to spare Mura’s life. He simply ignored their pleas and increased his grip.

Blood dripped from Mura’s lips as his eyes closed, his black hair covering his face. Voices faded away into a distant reverberation as did the remainder of Mura’s senses. Then, Mura’s mind slipped away.

Behemoth snorted proudly, then began to feel a rush of nausea come over him. He looked down at Mura, who was emitting an aura that resembled a flickering black flame.

“I… Urrrrk, w-what’s—“ Behemoth sputtered before a massive burst of energy exploded from Mura’s body.

The wave of energy rippled throughout the entire stadium in an instant, causing the air to grow frigid in seconds. Every person in the first four rows were knocked unconscious immediately, as the wave had penetrated the seemingly impregnable magic shield protecting them. Everyone else in the upper rows became either tremendously dizzy or vomited up their breakfast.

“L-Ladies and gentlemen, p-please remain calm!” Dagon said, barely able to form coherent sentences. He whispered into his headset, talking to producers behind the scenes before retching. “I don’t know what happened! What the hell was that?!”

Behemoth had dropped Mura after the energy wave explosion. The enigmatic energy had distorted the flesh from his palm and fingers, disfiguring them until they resembled a melted wax candle. He lay sprawled out on the dirt, barely clinging to consciousness.

“W-We’re not quite sure what that was, folks… But the results are now clear! Both Mura and Lilith are unconscious and thus unable to fight! Behemoth and Suzu are the Zoroaster Tournament champions!”