The first beasts to be released against Sel were big tiger-like animals with two heads and ridged spines. There was a large pack of them, running out of their confinement and circling around the greyskin. The wanted to hunt down their prey together, hoping to not sustain any injuries and to tear into the tasty flesh of a tasty looking human.
The announcer shouted something about the animals, but Sel didn't pay him any mind, simply waiting for the beasts to come. With Sachs economist, his powers were getting restored further, making him regain his strength.
Within the pack a larger beast with longer fur and twin tails. His gaze was heavy and his presence dominant. A leader of the pack looked at the small opponent before his mighty pack and let out a growl, saying ’You will be our food’.
After a minute of them circling around Sel, the leader let out a roar, marking the start of the hunt.
The beasts were stronger than demons and way more agile. They also had impeccable instincts and team work, leaping at Sel with three or four at the same time, hoping to claw out his face. He didn't stand still though, instead diving under a single beast and trying to slash the exposed stomach. He however was hit by another beast, making him miss and only leave a shallow cut, while he now had four gashes across his back.
Not wanting to get too exposed near the animals, he quickly jumps away, while trying to cut the annoying cats. His strikes didn't reach them once, them being too agile and swift. Sel couldn't reach them in midair.
Over a couple of minutes Sel made a number of attempts to gut one of the beasts, but each time he fell short, with another beast making him falter. His own torso now had a number of cuts, blood flowing down, painting his grey skin black.
After a few futile attacks, Sel decided to change his tactics. He was annoyed that some simple beasts posed such a threat, but the fact that they didn't rely on weapons, but instead their own power and instinct made them superiors to most demons. So, Sel sheathed his weapons and instead let out a bit of magic.
Around his hands appear black tendrils, like two whips ready to dish out some punishment. They didn't just drop down, they were moving around as if they were alive. When Sel spun them around, they followed his will and moved around the way he wanted them to.
The demon lord expected the greyskin to be able to do magic after his display of power with huntress, but seeing such mastery over the scourge, making it condense into such a powerful form was a surprise. The crowd also let out excited yells, amazed at the great swordsmen who can also wield magic.
With the noise around him getting louder, Sel began to spin around his new weapons. He used these tendrils previously with his slaves, but for a different purpose from fighting.
Extending the black whip, he threw it towards one of the cats, he entangled it and dragged it closer to him. It tried thrashing around, but it was incapable of ripping the immaterial weapon, struggling to no avail. When it was within striking range, Sel solidified miasma around his other hand and pierced the beast suing a solid black blade, extending from his hand.
The beast let out a shriek of pain, before being devoured by the black substance. The demon didn't want to make his mastery over the fel power too obvious, he didn't simply rip whatever little power was inside, not wanting to expose his unique ability.
This was the first blow to the pack, making the leader growl menacingly. Put was rare for him to loose a member of their pack, which made this a first serious loss in a while. He roared loudly, making his pack retreat slightly to change their tactics. They needed to avoid the fearsome weapons. It seemed to be more capable than the blades the greyskin used before.
The pack leaders pondered for a moment, thinking about how to approach the demon. In his bestial mind he understood that there will be losses. If they would go one after another, they would be cut down quickly. What they needed was a quick rush to tear into his flesh and rip him apart. If he is dead, he can't kill them. He won' the able to overpower the all for sure.
With a loud roar, he announced his advance. Together with him, how whole pack charged forward, wanting to cut down the demon. They were ready to get hurt and die.
Sel didn't expect a sudden attack of such scale, having seventeen lions charge at him at once. They would surely be a hindrance to one another, but they weren't, running at proper distance from one another in an almost military-like fashion. Their pack was a single whole organism, ready for tear into the new threat before them.
The greyskin didn't let just give up and die though. He altered his tendrils, turning them into many thin wires. They spun around him quickly, making whirring sounds and cutting through the air. The pack leader didn't understand what happened, the weapon seemed to disappear.
The first four cats that leapt forward were cut into pieces by the whirling thin black tendrils. It looked like they just fell apart, their bodies just turning into minced meat. It was a fear inducing display of power.
The next three beasts that were meant to jump were already putting their strength into their legs, they couldn't stop, but they tried. With their leaps weakened slightly, they didn't leap right towards the fearsome weapons, instead landing just right at the border where the weapons reached. Three of them lost their limbs but remained alive, while one of them had his face cut into tiny bits. The rest stopped in their tracks, not moving closer.
The pack leader felt scared. This was a first time that his pack was hurt this badly. He had never lost more than two members, yet here his pack was now down to twelve members and some of which were gravely injured. He felt that he needed to get out and to run. He turned his pack and tried finding the exit, running around the arena, looking for a way out. They tried leaping towards the audience, but were stopped by protective barriers. The tried run into back to where the entered the arena from, but it was closed.
Seeing them retreat, Sel decided it was a time for him to attack. He charged forwards, changing his tendrils back into whips, adding a solid bit at the end to make hacking his enemies easier. Running towards the closest animal, he cut it down without remorse.
At that point it was decided. The fight was practically over, Sel just walked around and killed the remaining beasts one after another. Even when they were cornered, they didn't put much resistance, only trying to get away from the hellspawn that killed their kin.
After killing the cats, Sel didn't switch back to the blades. Using his tentacles against animals was way too good. It allowed him to grab the beasts and simply devour them, not having to care to hit their vital spots or avoiding their own attacks. It was very powerful.
The announcer was excited to talk about the win in the first round against the beasts. There should be five more, each one having a different kind of opponent. The loud man talked on, describing the fight with different words and how it was magnificent to look at.
Sel stood around, waiting for the next fight. He was wounded before, but the scourge worked on mending his body. It was really a cheat, how Sel could use the energy from the atmosphere to fuel himself. But the greyskin didn't care, he was ready to use any means necessary to further his ambition.
Next rounds weren't much of a challenge. The very next monster was a big white gorilla, three meters tall and just as wide. It had huge bulging muscles and was very agile for its size. Sel didn't waste much time, attacking the creature with his black tendrils. Against a single opponent he was very efficient.
The beats didn't get much leeway, getting cut up and then entangled with the miasma, it soon fell, incapable of fighting against incorporeal weapon. It tried grabbing it to throw the greyskin away, but it was futile. The ape fell within ten minutes.
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After the ape came a giant centipede. It had a thick carapace, making it hard for Sel to hurt it. He tried attacking with his tendrils or covering it with black smoke, but the natural armor seemed resistant to the scourge and very hard to cut.
So, Sel gave up on cutting attacks and went dor blunt trauma. Concentrating his energy around his right fist, Sel took a run up and jumped up, before coming down at the top of the giant multi-legged creature. While a single hit didn't do any visible damage, the carapace bent, leaving a mark. So, Sel would dodge the monster, while gaining momentum and attacking the same spot.
It was just a drawn out fight, nothing too difficult, but time consuming and annoying. The greyskin poured all his annoyance into hurting that thing. After another twenty minutes, he finally broke the armor and was able to pour some miasma in there to devour it from inside. He was joyous to see the creature thrashing around in agony of its body being turned into black ash.
The next fight consisted of a magical kind of monster. A gaseous being with a solid core, which was nonetheless very dangerous. Grey smoke swirled around Sel and tried choking him. He couldn't find the core, no matter how much he swung his hands around, while the monster applied more and more pressure to him.
Eventually the demon decided to make his own smoke. He let out the black miasma and let it cover the creature, creating a black sphere. Then, he compressed his energy trying to crush the creature. He applied more and more force, making the monster move around inside, ps icing and trying to break out. Slowly, the sphere became as small as the football, then smaller and smaller until it was the size of the fist. The monster was out of energy and almost entirely crushed, so when the edges of the sphere came in contact with the core of the creature, it let out a weird sound, like hissing of a deflated balloon. Once the core was cracked, the life of the creature ended and it disappeared, leaving behind some shattered gem.
The announces was talking excitedly about the brutal way to kill a monster and talking about its characteristics and how hard it is to fight normally.
The next opponent was a salamander. A giant lizard clad in fire, trying to immolate anything it comes from. They usually live inside volcanoes, so such an opponent would be a fearsome one to face. However, Sel had plenty of fire of his own, making him very resistant to the flames. Getting hungry, Sel decided to eat the lizard.
He dismissed his fel energy and charged at it with his are hands. Ignoring the flames, he plunged his hands into the massive eyeballs, scooping them out. The monster shuddered from pain, shrieking and trying to break free of the sadistic maniac that attacked it. The demon just took the eyeballs and sucked them dry, leaving only the shell of what used to be a large gelatinous orb.
Blind, the creature was helpless, not knowing what happened around it. With all the dire raging around it, it couldn't use its hearing to try and locate the threat. It didn't feel it when Sel came close and readily reached into its empty eye sockets, trying to get to the brain. Only when the hands reached the bloody pinkish mess inside the skull, did the salamander felt that some thing was wrong.
Sel was reaching in, scooping out chunks of the brain matter and eating it raw, letting the hot blood drip down. He took his time, eating slowly, savory get the taste. The lizard was rather tasty for a monster.
The worst part about it was the fact that it didn't feel its brain being scooped out. There are no nerves in the brain that could feel pain, so it did not know what happened until the very end. It just slowly lost control of the body, abandoned fear and anger and then lost any memories and instincts. In the end, the hollow husk of the body stood, with the heart still pumping blood, but the monster not reacting to anything.
After that, Sel engulfed the salamander with his black flame and devoured it. Having eaten the fire lizard, Sel absorbed whatever power the lizard had. He tinkered around with his body and set himself on fire. He was now immune to it completely, being able to consume and make it just like the lizard could.
Demon lord didn't really worry about the safety of the grey elf, he seemed capable enough to defeat the little beasties that the arena owner had. The owner was a little sad to let them die, as they had previously made a fortune for him by killing many gladiators, but now the demon was making a lot more, his show being gruesome and bloody, the audience was ecstatic. They were glad to give away some money, throwing it into the arena or leaving it in special containers prepared in advance.
For the last beast, the floor in the middle of the arena opened, leaving a giant hole of ten meters. The announcer proclaimed that now a most fearsome monster of the last year would come out, something they nicknames ’Webbed Horror’. It was captured at the edge of the demon territories and brought into the arena then. Ever since, it grew into a fearsome being, now being five meters tall, with its giant legs and black web that was extremely durable. It was a strong monster. Sel heard a portion of what was said and prepared for the fight.
From the middle of the arena, from within the whole, giant legs came out, trying to grab onto something to pull the monster up. After ten seconds, a giant body followed the legs, revealing a horrendous monster. It was a giant grey spider, with black venomous lines through the body. It was covered in giant spines, its fangs seeped black venom, the big dark eyes looked around. It was playing to the public, creeping out deliberately slowly, making everyone scared but also wanting to see it in full view.
When it was out of the whole, it made a theatrical stroll around the arena, looking into the eyes of the audience. It seemed way too smart for a simple monster. Once it made a proper impression, it slowly turned towards the opponent it was about to face. Making a loud skittering noise, it was prepared to lash out at whomever challenged it.
However, it faced a grey demon. A grey abomination, that the spider remembers clearly. The two-leg who slaughtered its entire family. It remembered how it consumed the arm of the creature and changed, becoming greater. But even with the new power, it was too weak for the demon.
Remembering all the horrors of the past, the spider began to whine and retreated towards the hole in the ground, shutting the metal gates, breaking the mechanism in the process and adding black web to reinforce the cage. It ran away, scared of the grey monster that took its family.
“Well, demons and demonesses, nobody expected this turn of events. The ’Webbed Horror’ got scared of the grey elf and ran away. He must truly be a terrifying opponent, to send out most fearsome monster away. Well, now the monster rounds is complete, we should be starting the main event, however, seeing as the lone grey elf is still alive and standing, we will offer him a choice. Does he want to take the prize money, or will he risk it for a chance to take the demon lords daughter's hand?”
Sel looked at the announcer, paused for dramatic effect and then drew his blades.
“Ho-ho, seems like our hero wants to risk it all. He will be facing opponents, who are from different noble family and he will have to beat them all to take our great Zagierra. The exquisite flower of our nation deserves the best of the best, so that is exactly what the grey elf will have to prove. Contestants, please come to the arena, it is time to see who will prevail. Let the main event begin!”