At first, the four of them all guessed that the sound was produced by one of them. But it was not. They did not feel any spiritual fluctuations nor saw any. The sound grew louder as it seemed to approach and they managed to pick its direction. They all gazed that way while staying aware of the other three.

Then, they saw it.

It was a very weird thing. A knight on a horse was crossing the bridge Min-Su crossed to get to the arena. But he wasn't your average knight. First, he was surrounded by a dark purplish mist and wherever he passed by, it left a trail behind it. The bridge's color was changing along with his approach. Beyond that, the horse itself did not seem real. It felt like a manifestation of energy but Jin couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

Out of the four, only the dragon knew what it was. He was the only one who had crossed the boundary and reached the tenth stage after all. He recognized this as the element of death and wondered how this was possible. Death should have been blocked down the mountain... It wasn't supposed to reach them... He frowned as he coldly glared at the coming monster. This would likely be his strongest foe.

Jin continued to observe and could see that the armor of the knight seemed old and worn out. The few patches of skin he could see from this far were bloated, ugly and seemed to be... Decomposing? No, it couldn't be. As the being continued to approach, an horrible premonition made its way in his mind. He began to recall a term from his past life. A word used to describe this kind of monster...Zombie.

Was this one?

No, it couldn't be. This world was weird and many surreal things could happen here but zombies? Even for this kind of world, it seemed too much. Yet, as the knight on his horse stepped onto the arena, he couldn't help but compare him to one to the point that he unconsciously considered him to be one.

Things were already complicated enough...

The four of them stood their ground and waited. Then, the knight spoke in a rough unholy tone: "For the sake of Lady Sharonna, I shall end your lives"

Then, it unsheathed a rusty sword and the horse began to gallop towards the closest of the four. It was Min-Su. Obviously, Min-Su wouldn't let himself become the guinea pig and quickly switched position. He ended up between Jin and Dae-Jung leaving the sentient dragon to face off with that weird knight on the other side.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The dragon snorted and waved his right hand to the knight. Ice grew from nothing and a giant mound manifested. It covered all the space between his hand to even further than the end of the arena. It trapped the knight within. Or should have. But the knight could be seen moving. Or rather, his horse was still running even within the ice. As if the ice itself wasn't there.

The sentient dragon beast cursed as he hurriedly retreated while summoning a sea of fire over the ice.

The battle turned fierce from the very beginning. And Jin wasn't one to stay out of it. He used corruption to grow himself two more arms and rushed at Dae-Jung. As Min-Su saw him make a move, he followed. It was better to take out this shrewd bastard first. Also, they had no reasons to help the dragon who was also an opponent.

Dae-Jung cursed as he saw the both of them coming towards him. He cursed at them: "Can't you see that the most dangerous one is that knight?!"

Neither Jin nor Min-Su answered him as they began to hack at the barrier. Dae-Jung cursed as he continuously added more barriers but he could see it: this weird hand was breaking through every barrier, destroying them at an incredible speed, as if feeding on them.

Jin had been stuck in the crystal because it was of a high grade but those barriers? They were made by a stage 9. What couldn't he corrupt under the 10th stage? Nothing!

He placed his hand on the first barrier and it began to absorb it. Then, he continued to do so. He would breakthrough it before Min-Su and get the gourd. Talking about Min-Su, that guy was hacking wildly at the barriers. Though his stance and technique were refined, his attitude wasn't right. Since Jin was obviously easily taking care of it, it would be better for him to spare his energy... But he didn't... Jin wondered why and saw that Min-Su was eyeing the gourd too.

Could it be that Min-Su had been going at it so fervently because he knew?

It wasn't impossible. Sarina Sempress might not be the only one with the dream of escaping that place. Remnants as they were, freedom was still something to be desired. And he certainly didn't believe that he was the only one who benefitted from an ancestor's grace. It would be presumptuous and arrogant of him. Considering Min-Su's potential, it wasn't impossible. Especially considering those weird new daggers and techniques he had never seen or heard of. Min-Su did tell him about his ability to phase but not to switch positions like that...

With renewed vigor, he proceeded to break the barriers. He would break that shell and take the gourd from this tortoise.

On the other side, it was a cat-and-mouse game. The knight rode at top speed pursuing the fleeing dragon who tried his best to slow him down by sending out waves upon waves of elements at him. Though nothing seemed to truly work. Of course, he understood why. Everything died in the end. Even water and fire died. It was within his expectations. From the very start, he didn't plan to kill 'death' but to trick it. Death couldn't be killed after all.

If they had met within a cavern, he would have died with certainty but here, outside? He had a chance.