Beowulf stared into the white glowing liquid while holding on to one of the ring’s ropes. He saw ghosts swimming in the white liquid. He heard their moans of agony, which made him sick to his stomach.

“What is this?” Beowulf asked. “Look at that, Jensen. It seems that the fifth wrestler to join this match, Beowulf, has discovered the sea of suffering!” Daryl announced.

“It looks like it! For those of you who may not know, the sea of suffering is a form of torture here in hell! Souls in the sea of suffering are trapped and experience unimaginable, constant, unending anguish. Anyone who comes close to the pool is dragged down by one of the souls to join them in their never-ending torture!” Jensen announced.

“Fun Fact! Every soul trapped in the sea was a wrestler who was thrown off during a royal rumble match.”

Beowulf’s eyes widened after hearing what the demon Jensen last said, and so did the wrestlers in the ring and the wrestlers who were yet to be called into the match.

‘What did he just say?’ Beowulf thought, horrified. “You heard right! On earth, when a wrestler gets thrown off the ring, they just get disqualified, but that’s just soooo boring! So here in hell, we spice it up! Any wrestler that gets thrown in a royal rumble becomes one of those poor souls.”

Beowulf looked at the souls in the sea of suffering more intensely. He saw them swim aimlessly. He heard the nonstop groans, and he witnessed some of the souls trying to drag him down.

“If I fall from this ring, will I become one of them?” Beowulf said to himself. “Hell no! Whatever it takes, I’m going to win this match.” Beowulf looked back towards the ring and started to climb back. Only one problem—Lightning Mike. He was still there. Beowulf was now standing outside the ring. Lightning Mike quickly placed both his hands on Beowulf’s shoulders, and then Beowulf felt electricity traveling through his entire body once more.

This time Beowulf felt pain. Scorching pain. Despite the incredible pain, Beowulf held onto the ropes. The pain worsened every second, and his body screamed for Beowulf to let go of the rope. But he wouldn’t do that. He refused to become trapped in the sea of suffering. He held onto the ring’s rope for dear life.

In the midst of Beowulf’s resilience and defiance, he felt something other than the electricity that was constantly passing through his body. He wasn’t sure what it was. It felt dark and warm. He wasn’t sure what it meant to feel something dark, but he was sure it felt like the right word for whatever he was feeling.

It was some sort of energy radiating through his entire body. It made him endure the pain from the electricity, and it gave him strength. “AAAAHHHHHHH!” Beowulf screamed.

He swiped one of his hands at Lightning Mike. Suddenly Beowulf could no longer feel the electricity passing through his body. He rested on the ropes of the ring and panted heavily.

“That…… was intense.” Beowulf looked forward to where Lightning Mike was. He saw him, bleeding from his chest. Lightning had lines of wood around his chest, which he grabbed. He knelt down and winced in pain.

‘What did that to him?’ Beowulf thought. Beowulf looked at the hand he used to attack Lightning Mike and was shocked by what he found. His fingernails were elongated and turned solid black.

There was a little bit of blood dripping from them. Beowulf looked at his other hand that was on the rope. His fingers on his other hand were also elongated and turned solid black.

They were like….. “Claws,” Beowulf muttered. Lightning Mike was getting up. Beowulf saw this, squatted, and jumped over the wrestling ring.

His jump reached quite a distance before he landed in front of Lightning Mike. ‘How did I do that? How did I know how to do that?’ Beowulf thought.

Maybe he figured since the other wrestlers could do something like that, maybe he could too. That was his first theory, but it felt like it was something else.

When he swiped at Lightning Mike, he didn’t know he could bring out claws, but he did anyway. He had done it out of instinct, just like how he leaped in front of Lightning Mike. It felt like he could always do this.

Whatever the answer was, he would have to look for it later. He had a match to win.

Beowulf swiped his new claws at Lightning Mike, but Lightning countered by slapping his hand away. Beowulf swiped his claws again, and Lightning Mike countered once more.

This went on for a while. Anytime that Beowulf tried to scratch Lightning Mike with his claws, Lightning Mike would always slap them away.

It seemed that Lightning Mike was not just fast but also had great reflexes as well. Beowulf went for one swipe, but this time Lightning Mike caught Beowulf’s arm, pulled him forward, used his body to lift Beowulf, and slammed him on the canvas.

Lightning Mike stood above Beowulf. He grinned and shook his head violently. This creeped Beowulf out. ‘What is this guy on?’

Lightning Mike stomped on Beowulf’s belly. As he did, Beowulf felt electricity move from his center to his entire body, causing him to jolt. Lightning Mike stomped on Beowulf again and again. Each time causing Beowulf to jolt from the electricity Lightning Mike somehow generated from his body.

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With the amount of electricity that kept shocking Beowulf, he was surprised that he wasn’t dead. ‘Oh wait, since I’m in hell, I guess I’m already dead. So I guess I can’t die.’

Lightning Mike was about to stomp on Beowulf one more time, but when he was about to make contact, Beowulf grabbed Lightning Mike’s ankle, rolled over his back, and was now in a standing position. He then dived towards Lightning Mike in the process, slamming him into the large canvas floor. Beowulf had performed a single-leg takedown on Lightning Mike.

Beowulf’s claws dug into Lightning Mike’s legs, and Lightning Mike kept shocking Beowulf with his electricity. The two wrestlers were in pain, but Beowulf was in a lot more pain.

The strange energy within him was somehow making him endure the constant electricity passing through his body. But he couldn’t keep this up forever. He had to think of a plan, and he had to think of it fast.

Something heavy landed on both Beowulf and Lightning Mike. It was the Hippo. Beowulf felt smothered. He was already having enough trouble handling Lightning Mike, now he could hardly breathe.

It seemed that the electricity that was coming from Lightning Mike and shocking Beowulf was also shocking the Hippo. It showed as the Hippo was constantly vibrating. The Wrecker appeared in front of the three stacked wrestlers. The Wrecker prepared to charge into them. It seemed he was unaware of Lightning Mike’s electric ability.

The Wrecker charged at them and dove, landing on the three wrestlers. Now Lightning Mike’s electric ability was also shocking the wrestlers.

Leaving the four wrestlers in a tangled and unmoving state. ‘For the love of God, someone get me out of this,’ Beowulf said, groaning.

Beowulf’s prayers were answered. He was flung away, and so were the other wrestlers struck by Lightning Mike’s ability. They all lay on the ring, separated from each other.

“What happened?” Beowulf asked. Beowulf slowly got up and saw The Song with his two hands on his guitar, and he was in a swinging position.

‘He must have knocked us away with his strong guitar. It’s wood, so the electricity didn't pass through him. He’s the best person to take on Lightning Mike. I should find another wrestler to deal with. The Wrecker seemed pretty normal compared to the rest of these guys.’

Beowulf turned his head, looking for The Wrecker, and found him still lying on the canvas floor. ‘Perfect.’ Beowulf approached the wrestler, but before he could reach him, he felt a heavy blow at the back of his head.

“AHHH!” Beowulf screamed in pain. He touched the back of his head and turned around. He found The Song behind him with his guitar held out.

“Where do you think you’re going, claw boy?” The Song asked with a smirk on his face. “Listen, go after the electricity guy. With your wooden guitar, you have a better chance of beating him than the rest of us,” Beowulf said.

“That’s true, but I plan on throwing you out of the ring first. You said some things that really irritated me. I’ll make sure you’re the first wrestler to get thrown off the ring,” The Song said.

The Song swung his guitar again, aiming at Beowulf’s face. Beowulf took the swing to the head, causing him to fall a few feet away from The Song. “Is that thing really made of wood?” Beowulf asked.

The guitar on Beowulf's face felt like it came from a titanium bat, not a wooden guitar. Beowulf, on the canvas floor of the ring, tried getting up, but The Song swung his guitar at Beowulf’s ribs, causing him to skid several feet away from The Song.

Beowulf groaned. He tried getting up once more. He was on his knees. Still feeling a little numb from Lightning Mike’s electricity and the hits from The Song, he had to take a small break.

Unfortunately for him, The Song quickly approached him and swung his guitar at Beowulf again. It was an upward swing hitting Beowulf at the chin, causing him to fly upwards and close to the ring’s ropes.

“Here I am again,” Beowulf said to himself. “I can’t believe this. I knew this would be tough, but not this tough. It’s not fair. I’m fighting freaking superhumans, and it seems they already knew about their abilities. I’m just figuring it out. One guy’s got a super strong guitar, another has electric powers. What do I got?”

Beowulf looked at his two hands. “Freaking claws! Is that it?” Beowulf heard a screeching sound. He turned his head to find out where the sound was coming from.

He saw The Song slowly approaching him with a smirk on his face, dragging his guitar on the ground. It seemed that The Song was trying to be intimidating.

All this did was annoy Beowulf. “Stop whining. You’ve been in many unfavorable situations before, and always come out on top. Just add this to the list,” Beowulf said to himself.

His body felt sore and numb, but he did his best to ignore it all. He mustered his remaining strength to get up by holding on to the ring’s rope. As he did, he took one more look at the sea of suffering. Souls were erupting from the sea, trying to drag him down.

He looked back into the ring. The Song was close to reaching him. ‘Shit. How am I going to get out of this?’ Beowulf thought. Beowulf then suddenly had an idea. ‘I can only think of one thing, but I have to find the right opportunity.’

The Song had finally reached Beowulf. He was only a few inches away from him. The Song slowly brought his guitar on his shoulder. “It’s been fun, claw boy, but I said I’d make sure you were the first wrestler thrown out of the ring, and I intend to follow through,” The Song said.

The Song then grabbed his guitar with both hands and was now in a swinging position. “Have fun in the sea of suffering.”

“Jensen, we have our first elimination in this match, and it’s the Hippo!” Daryl announced. The Song turned around after hearing this. What Daryl had said was true. It seemed like the Wrecker had somehow found a way to throw the Hippo out of the ring.

The Hippo was seen swimming in the sea of suffering. He tried to swim back into the ring. But over dozens of souls rushed towards him. They all grabbed him, preventing the Hippo from re-entering the ring.

The Hippo’s skin slowly turned pale white, his eyes became lifeless, and he slowly sunk into the pool. He had become one of them.

The Hippo’s transformation into one of the souls of the sea of suffering was so haunting that the wrestlers in the ring all froze out of horror. ‘Now!’ Beowulf said to himself.

This was the moment he was waiting for. Beowulf ran to the ropes, rested his back on them, and pushed himself backward. He used the ring’s rope elasticity to launch himself forward.

The ring’s ropes in hell seemed far stronger and more elastic than the ropes on Earth. Beowulf was launched at The Song very quickly and strongly. It took both him and The Song by surprise.

In the midst of his launch, Beowulf's body tackled The Song. They both flew to the middle of the wrestling ring. The Song had his back rested on the canvas, and Beowulf knelt on top of him.

The Song attempted to use his guitar on Beowulf, but Beowulf held The Song’s head down and punched him over and over again. “AAAHHH!” Beowulf let out a scream.

He stopped punching The Song and grabbed The Song’s guitar. Beowulf got up, grabbed The Song’s guitar with both of his arms and slammed it on The Song’s face.

“My name isn’t Claw Boy. It’s Beowulf!” Beowulf declared.