As Ereba's body fell, she tried to grab Thanatos. Her skin was burned, but it moved like it was alive. A crude dark mass squirming toward Thanatos. He could hear it talking.
"M-M-M-MY BODY!" It was repulsive. The true form of a Skinchanger.
Thanatos sharpened his claws and cut the burned mass, putting an end to his painful existence. He looked behind to confirm that Lum was dead, his heart stopped from the electricity running through his body. He could see the muscles in his wounded jaw still twitching.
There was no time to celebrate. Riding the high of the battle, Thanatos’s instincts still told him of another person. He moved his eyes to the hallway where a powerful man was standing. A man with six arms who looked like he was half human, half bug.
"I saw how you killed Lum and Ereba. Your skills are impressive. I thought you were just a cocky or lucky human. But after seeing this, I acknowledge you as a warrior. I request a duel. I’m Zen, the strongest warrior of the coliseum."
Zen took a battle stance. His six arms formed a perfect attack and defense stance.
"The strongest? If I defeat you, I’ll be the number one here." He spit to the side and took a posture.
Thanatos could see that this man was strong. He had an aura like other warriors he had fought in the past. He wasn’t going to convince him, but there was something else going on.
He made it this far; he killed three powerful warriors in a row. He could feel himself getting stronger with each battle. His intuition was on point. He wanted to test it a bit more.
He had no interest in this country and he had already defeated some of their warriors. But he still wanted to see the peak. The current man holding the title at this moment. If he could win, then he would get closer to his dream of reviving his home and avenging his people.
"I can’t tell you my name, but I’ll remember yours after I win."
"Then let’s begin!" Zen moved forward and cut the distance in a second. He hit Thanatos with four fists.
The impact created an explosion of air. His fists were imbued with Ki, the power of monks. He could bend steel and cause dents in enchanted armor with his bare hands. Hated by humans and his kind alike, he found peace in mediation and martial arts. He became a prodigy and joined the coliseum with the intention of gaining power and wisdom and eventually, rise as a member of the council.
That dream was still far away. Today was another challenge, another tribulation in the form of a rebel man.
Thanatos tried to fend off the flurry of attacks; he blocked four arms, but two passed through and hit him in the chest. The two fists filled with Ki fell like stones, hitting his ribcage. If it wasn’t for his magic, Zen would have broken his ribs.
He leaped away to try to gain distance, but the insect warrior followed. Dozens of hits fell on him. He tried to dodge, but Zen was keeping up with him. Left, right, above, below, a faint and a right hook at the same time. He felt his jaw break and a tooth flew away from his mouth.
He didn’t have time to rest. He grabbed two hands and kicked two more away, but he got hit in the gut and the face. The powerful blows sent him straight into the wall.
Zen stopped for a moment and looked as the human stood back up, ready to continue fighting.
"You have my praise. I’ll remember you, human."
"Eh, don’t give me that crap." He spat some blood on the side and smiled. "This is just the beginning. [Heal]" he healed his wounds and jumped back into the fray.
Thanatos hasn’t been wasting time by being on the defensive for so long. He had observed Zen attacks and his chitinous body.
Breaking your body is going to be nearly impossible, but I only need to break some specific parts.
The hands attack again. He had already learned his usual style of attacks; he dodged two hands by ducking, and then blocked two more with his arms and kicked one more. The last fist punched him in the side. He had already gotten used to his punches. He twisted his body and wrapped his legs around the arm.
Using all his strength, Thanatos twisted his legs along with the arm until it was broken.
"…!" Zen was surprised, the human managed to twist his arm so much it broke. He attacked with the rest of his limbs, but Thanatos dove to the side.
He could see the green blood from his broken arm dripping into the ground. "Now I’ll definitely remember you."
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Zen leaped forward and attacked. The exchange of blows began, but this time with one fewer limb. Thanatos managed to keep up with blocking the attacks or dodging, but he couldn’t find an opening. Zen was cautious not to let him break another limb. His claws were ineffective against the Ki defense of Zen.
Uh, I think this is the first time I faced someone I couldn't rip through his defense. Then I’ll have to break him from the outside or maybe use magic.
During the battle, a shadow came from above. Thanatos and Zen looked upward and dodged the flames that cut the air. It was the attack of a man with a thin sword imbued with flames.
"Tch, I missed my chance for a surprise attack." It was Cerbares.
"What are you doing, Cerbares? This is our duel!" Zen yelled. He was an honorable warrior. Having another interrupt, made him furious.
"Oh, don’t give me that Zen. Look around you, this bastard killed everyone else. This is not a fight for the stupid Rashaka or the bet I proposed. This is my responsibility as the next champion of this place." He shook his blade, and the flames flew against Thanatos and Zen.
"You scum!" Zen dodged the fire and went forward.
Thanatos dodged, but Cerbares was already in front of him. Several slashes of fire cut across the room. Cerbares didn’t care about collateral damage; he was destroying the floor and walls while burning the dead bodies of the guards.
Thanatos saw a ball of fire appear in the hand of Cerbares. He could tell he wasn’t using mana. This was a natural ability he had.
"[Ice wall]". He blocked the explosion by raisining a wall, but in the middle of the steam, something punched him in the back and then in the face.
Zen was already at his side. He passed through the flames and came to fight. Cerbares raised his sword and blocked the punches, even burning Zen a little.
"Barely any damage. It's all right; I can say that the human killed you."
The fight turned into a brawl. The fire covered the whole room, and the punches and kicks flew from one side to the other. During this chaos, the one at the greatest disadvantage was Thanatos. He was low on mana after fighting the previous battles and was getting burned, cut, and repeatedly punched.
CRASH... A punch to the side ended up breaking three ribs. This was a bad sign that his spell was wearing off. He had to deal with these two powerful warriors soon or the reinforcements would come.
"Fire Wave!" A curtain of fire went flying toward him, and he managed to dodge it by jumping above it, but another punch sent him straight into the ground. His face ended up smashed into the bricks. A small pool of blood formed around him. His nose was broken.
"Uh..." he dodged the blade by pure instinct and the flames burned his brows. No time to rest in this battle.
As his mind was dizzy from the pain, he thought about the current situation. He disliked the two warriors because they were trying to kill him, but he couldn’t help but feel admiration for their power.
Crap. I can't deny it anymore. I think I’m getting addicted to this feeling... Focus, idiot! You can’t die here. You still have a lot of work to do.
Yes, he still has to kill a lot of people and restore Underworld. Thanatos stopped holding back his secret. After all, if the bodies are burned, he could use them.
Thanatos jumped to the side, and his expression changed to a devilish grin. He moved between the flames and away from the monk's attacks.
His targets were the bodies of Lum and Ereba. He touched them and uttered a few words that echoed throughout the inferno.
"[Summon Death Knight]" dark energy covered the bodies and two Death Knights were created in their place.
[Level obtained: Necromancer 4]
"The hell?"
"Is that necromancy?"
His opponents were astonished, but they kept their composure. Nothing less from experienced fighters.
The Death Knight faced its respective opponent. Thanatos focused on his mana. He had just enough for one more spell, but it was key for him to wait for the right moment.
Cerbares was fighting the Death Knight, the giant shield blocked his flames, but he managed to slash the undead a couple of times. But that only lasted a moment because the Death Knight's sword was covered in necrotic energy, and every time he blocked some of it, he lost strength.
The same was happening with Zen. His punches were beginning to lose power and were getting slower. In fact, since he punched so many times, he was getting weaker faster than Cerbares.
This bastard is planning something, but is he going for me or Zen first?
Thanatos saw doubt on their faces. This was the moment he opened his palm and used his last spell [Necrotic wave]. The two felt their strength disappearing in just a second and watched as the Death Knights were about to cut them in half.
"[Pure body]!"
"[Boost] [Critical hit]!"
Zen used his ability as a monk to cleanse the necrotic energy from his body and grab the sword with two hands.
On the other hand, Cerbares used two special abilities to increase his speed and power and deal a devasting blow to the Death Knight. He cut the shield and slashed him in half. He managed to escape death, or so he thought.
Thanatos was behind the Death Knight. Cerbares fell into the trap. Thanatos was waiting for one of them to panic and overextend against the Death Knights. Zen did well. He only used the necessary to hold the attack, but Cerbares played right into his opponent's hand.
Thanatos cut the hand holding the sword and then stabbed him in the heart.
"NO!" He tried to unleash his flames to repel the attack, but Thanatos pushed past the fire and crushed his heart into a pulp.
The flames stopped coming out and only a corpse remained.
Zen watched from the side and finished Death Knight with a punch, turning the dark skull into dust. Thanatos was already at his side.
Zen looked at the right side of Thanatos’s face, which was completely burned. This was the moment to end it. He concentrated his Ki and...
"[Point sight]" his eyes began to glow. He could see the points of pressure inside Thanatos’s body. The head, throat, abdomen, and solar plexus. If he struck those four points, he would kill him instantly.
He attacked with four hands and left one to defend. But his hands were slower than before, and he was still affected by necrotic energy since he killed the undead with his bare fists. That delay turned victory into defeat.
Zen watched as Thanatos cut his arms.
"Ereba and Cebares swords!" Both were enchanted, and Thanatos tested their sharpness with his own flesh.
Zen used his last hand to punch him in the gut, breaking Thanatos’s stomach, but he raised the swords and brought them down. The coliseum had a new Champion.