Chapter 193 - Beast Tamer vs. Corpse Manipulator
Once Song Yazhu proclaimed him the winner, Wani Garrett released his bite on Irene Davidson's leg. His teeth and even part of his face had turned blood red from the blood dripping from the young woman's leg. It was a somewhat disturbing sight, but there was no doubt that it was also a demonstration of the young martial artist's strength.
The audience cheered again at the end of the fight. Even though they were sorry that such a young girl had been injured like that, it wasn't as if it were an irreversible wound. With the right care and a little rest, she wouldn't take long to recover.
Wani Garrett came down from the stage to return to the place assigned to the fighters, while some supporting martial artists took away Irene to get her cured. The next fight had to continue.
"The first of our fighters for the third match is a beast tamer, Pablo Cortés." Song Yazhu announced.
Screech!
A cry suddenly rose in the stadium, and a shadowy figure fell from the sky at full speed toward the stage. When there was little left before crashing against the ground, the dark figure stopped, revealing itself in front of the public. Incredibly, it was the figure of a tall 3 meters bird that was carrying on its head a young man. The man was none other than the beast tamer of the spirit beast bird, Pablo Cortés.
"A Condor?" Hei was surprised.
Condors were a type of vulture that was found mainly in places with high altitudes; the higher the height, the better it was. They stand out from most birds for their absurdly wide wingspan. With their size, it wasn't uncommon to see them hunt prey as big as a buffalo or lion, although condors were more of a scavenger species, preying on carcasses already killed by other spirit beasts.
As for the condor on the stage, its wingspan was approaching 7-8 meters. The coloring of the plumage was rather dark, tending to black, with a collar of white feathers at the base of the neck and large white spots on the wings. The head was instead naked and had a dull red color capable of changing intensity according to the creature's emotions. On the head, there was also a large dark red crest while on the neck, there was a wattle of the same color. The condor also had a pale brown iris, indicating that it was a male. The condor females possessed a reddish iris.
By seeing the arrival of this spirit beast, the younger spectators were impressed by this scene. The condor had a proud and majestic attitude about it, like a sovereign among birds. Its beak and its sharp claws made them shudder. One could only imagine what sort of pain it was to be cut by the condor.
"Next fighter is Hyong Yong-Sook, from the Hyong Family." Song Yazhu announced the next contender.
Unlike Pablo Cortés, Yong Hyong-Sook made a standard entrance, although he couldn't be defined like that. Hyong Yong-Sook was a rather tall young man, but what entered the eye most was his pale complexion. This coloring gave the impression of having to do with a walking dead rather than a human being. Not to mention the fact that his face was colored with white skull-shaped paint to make him even more disturbing.
When the two were on stage, Song Yazhu didn't immediately start the fight. Instead, he proceeded to explain some things, "According to the rules imposed by the academy, beast tamers can fight together with their spirit beasts, but there are conditions in this regard. One, they can only use one spirit beast per time; two, they can fight in pairs only for half of the matches; in this case, only two.
However, in the particular case that the challenger is another beast tamer, it is possible to fight using an equal number of spirit beasts on both sides. And the match won't be counted between the two matches available since it isn't a one vs. two but of a collision with an equal number of fighters.
Hyong Yong-Sook is not a beast tamer but a corpse manipulator. As you know, corpses modified by the Ghost Law can be called pseudo spirit beasts. Therefore, Hyong Yong-Sook will be considered on par with a beast tamer.
Now, Pablo Cortés, Hyong Yong-Sook. You can choose how many spirit beasts and corpses to send out. Remember that should be the same number, so choose carefully."
Upon hearing this, the audience became curious. It was unusual to find such a match, and they wanted to see what kind of spirit beasts and corpses the two would bring out for the clash. If they owned two to three spirit beasts or corpses each, the struggle could become a great group challenge.
"I have four main bodies," said Yong Hyong-Sook. As a body manipulator, he owned dozens of corpses; after all, the tactic of mass attack was a specialty for this type of martial artist. However, in this situation, it was useless to pull out mass-produced corpses, which were like garbage in front of the condor. Therefore, Yong Hyong-Sook decided he would use only the strongest corpses at his disposal.
"I too have four spirit beasts," replied Pablo Cortés in a calm voice. He didn't seem quite concerned about having a corpse manipulator against him.
Song Yazhu then asked the two challengers, "Since you both have four on each side, do you want to send them all of them?"
Hyong Yong-Sook and Pablo Cortés looked at each other. They could see confidence in their opponent's eyes, a sign that neither of them thought of losing as they had total confidence in the spirit beasts and corpses they had trained.
"Yes, there are no problems." the two answered in unison.
Pablo Cortés then took out three bags for spirit beasts. Because it would have been cumbersome going around with four spirit beasts together, he puts the others in his bags for spirit beasts to have them always available if he needed them.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Three circles of light appeared on the stage as the silhouettes of three spirit beasts emerged from them. The first spirit beast was a massive five-meters high tree; its trunk was larger than an adult man and had sturdy branches covered with luminescent leaves. The second spirit beast was instead a creature more like an anteater of about two and a half meters, but its body was surrounded by scales that formed a sort of plate armor. The third spirit beast was the smallest, with only a meter and a half long, however, regarding its outward appearance, it was the most terrifying; it looked like a finless eel but had a mouth that could inspire the worst of nightmares.
"Luciferase Tree, Giant Pangolin, Sea Lamprey," Hei said, amazed at the sight of those spirit beasts. Each of those spirit beasts was species difficult to find in nature, enough to give the impression that they were extinct. Indeed, it was the first time that Hei had seen such spirit beasts in person. If it weren't for his mother's teachings, he would hardly have recognized what kind of spirit beasts they were.
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"A giant pangolin? I remember once having challenged such a specimen. It was a long time ago." Hu Luoyang commented.
"The plant-type spirit beast is a Luciferase Tree. Do you remember? There was some discussion as to whether to plant some specimens in the cities for their luminescence ability at night." Qing Feng added.
"Ah, yes, right. I remember something like that. What kind of spirit beast is the smaller one?" Hu Luoyang asked.
"It is an aquatic spirit beast called the Sea Lamprey. From what the teachers told me, the young Pablo Cortés asked for a special permission to leave for a month just to capture this kind of spirit beast in view of the tournament. It is certainly not to be underestimated. But the young Hyong Yong-Sook also has good chances." Principal Long Jing said.
"I am honored by your words. I am sure that Yong-Sook will surprise you." a man sitting in the skybox spoke. His appearance was unusual and eye-catching because he was completely covered in gray ash bandages. There was just a small opening at his eyes' height. He was Hyong Yong-Sook's father, Hyong Sunghyon, and as his son, he too was a corpse manipulator.
Meanwhile, on stage, Hyong Yong-Sook pulled out some scrolls with some signs engraved on them. A cloud of black smoke began to escape from these scrolls until four corpses mysteriously appeared.
Three were about two and a half meters tall and had long arms that touched the ground. Their skin was rotten and squashy as if they had been immersed in water for a long time. Their eyes were white and lifeless as if they didn't contain life, yet there was still something moving that gave people the feeling of being watched.
The fourth corpse was smaller. It was barely twenty centimeters tall, and its body was adorned by strange black, red, and white symbols. It stood, with its arms folded, over the head of one of the three bodies evoked alongside it. Rather than a corpse, it looked more like a puppet for children, but something was terrifying in its eyes. Its eyes were, in fact, as lively as those of a human being and contained mysterious malice. In any case, since it had explicitly been summoned for this battle, it shouldn't be underestimated at all.
"Come, there's a guy to sacrifice," said Yong Hyong-Sook to the puppet corpse. The latter smirked and began to screech while covering its mouth with its small hands. Effortlessly, it jumped from the head of the corpse to land on that of his master.
"Let's go. You guys destroy his corpses. Don't spare yourselves." Pablo Cortés said to his spirit beasts while his Condor took the flight. Since Hyong Yong-Sook had decided to bring a corpse with him, he would keep his Condor close to him.
Meanwhile, the three spirit beasts, the Luciferase Tree, the Giant Pangolin, and the Sea Lamprey charged towards the three tall corpses which were still motionless awaiting an order from their master.
"Wake up and tear apart the enemies in front of you. You are free to unleash your power as you see fit."
RAAAUUUGHHH!
The three corpses opened their mouths, making grotesque hair-raising sounds. Their dull eyes tinged with blood-red as they gained shine. Large bony spikes emerged from the arms as two black horns came out of their foreheads.
When seeing this, the audience became stunned. These weren't human corpses but belonged to demons. The horns on the forehead were more than enough proof of that claim.
The three corpses, in turn, charged against the approaching three spirit beasts. The Luciferase Tree began to move its roots to try to trap enemies. Unfortunately, the battlefield this time was a stage made of materials so resistant that the fighters' techniques couldn't destroy it. As a result, the Luciferase Tree couldn't put its roots into the soil and use the element of surprise. In any case, its attack was still sufficiently dangerous.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
The roots hit the stage's section where the three corpses were. These, however, dodged the attack with incredible agility for lifeless bodies, dangerously approaching the Luciferase Tree.
Boom! Crack!
It was at that point that the Giant Pangolin came into play. With scales covering its body, this spirit beast wasn't afraid of receiving attacks. Running at full speed, he crashed against the three bodies. The latter were overwhelmed and were made to fly several meters. However, they got up shortly afterward as if nothing had happened.
Whoosh!
A mysterious figure rose behind them. It was the Sea Lamprey. Taking advantage of that moment of distraction, it climbed onto the body of a corpse and bit the neck of the lifeless creature. The Sea Lamprey aimed to chop the dead meat and dig until it reached the other side. At that point, it would devour the lifeless demon body from inside. But the corpses of a corpse manipulator had been modified to be resistant. Therefore the Sea Lamprey failed in its intent and was captured by the corpse's large hands, capable of strangling an ox.
While the three spirit beasts and the three corpses were fighting, Hyong Yong-Sook and Pablo Cortés had moved the battle to the sky. As a result, the match between the two had turned into a double fronts battle. And the result of one front would also determine the other.
"Go, Shaman Little Soldier!" Hyong Yong-Sook shouted.
The corpse-puppet heartily laughed and hurled itself from Hyong Yong-Sook's head towards the approaching Condor. The majestic bird screamed with indignation to this human who dared to challenge it with a miserable little puppet. The spirit power of the Condor condensed on its sharp claws and tore the Shaman Little Soldier to pieces.
Slash!
The Shaman Little Soldier was destroyed, and its remnants flew into the air while the Condor continued its advance. There was still an enemy to shoot down.
"Go, Pasa! Destroy the enemy!"
Screech!
The Condor let out another cry and charged more vigorously towards Hyong Yong-Sook. The young corpse manipulator wasn't intimidated by the approach of that creature but instead smiled as never before. It was as if he lost his mind, or maybe did he really lose it?
Hyong Yong-Sook reduced his defensive layer of spirit power and let the Condor's beak pierce his stomach. At this sight, the spectators became confused because they didn't know what was going on. Why would anyone ever want to receive such an injury on purpose? Although it wasn't fatal, it was a severe injury, and indeed Hyong Yong-Sook's chances of victory were now at a minimum. Another blow was more than enough, and Pablo Cortés would have won.
Hyong Yong-Sook tried to remain conscious and pushed out the Condor's beak with his hands to free himself. His body began to fall precipitously to the ground; it was evident that his injury made it difficult for him to fly. Fortunately, one of his other three corpses on the ground caught him as he was falling and safely brought him back to the ground.
'I don't understand. Is he crazy or what? Yet why do I continue to have this feeling of danger? 'Pablo Cortés wondered as he felt a cramped sense as if the threat was just around the corner.
The young beast tamer decided to forget about it. Even if it was true, his opponent had received a serious, almost fatal injury, one could say. Another hit and he could have won. Besides, he could also protract the fight, leaving his enemy to bleed. At that point, even if Yong Hyong-Sook didn't want to surrender, Song Yazhu would declare the end of the fight, giving Pablo the victory.
Thinking about this, Pablo Cortés, therefore, decided to think first about the three corpses that were still standing. Now that he had eliminated one of the corpses and seriously injured Hyong Yong-Sook, the balance hung in his favor.
"Pasa, dive down. Let's end the fight," ordered Pablo Cortés.
His Condor, Pasa, nodded its head and dived at full speed. By taking advantage of its immense wingspan, it could generate a lot of power in the downward movement. However, it was at that point that something unexpected happened.
The corpse-puppet that should have been destroyed mysteriously reappeared in Hyong Yong-Sook's hands. The black signs were gone, although the red and white signs remained.
"It's time for the sacrifice. Shaman Little Soldier, Stake Through Heart!" Hyong Yong-Sook shouted with wild joy. His white skull painting made just looking at him terrifying.
The Shaman Little Soldier laughed out loud as it pulled out a metal stake. Then it stuck the stake straight into its heart, tearing its own body apart.
Stab!
The Shaman Little Soldier continued to laugh, regardless of the stake stuck in its heart. Its eyes and those of his master were fixed on the scene before them. It wasn't just them; all the spectators were looking in the same direction.
Suddenly, the Condor let out a sharp cry of pain as it lost control and crashed on the ground. Splashes of blood could be seen on its body that was tainted by black signs - the same black signs that had been on the Shaman Little Soldier.
Pablo Cortés and the rest of the inexperienced viewers watched in amazement at this scene, not knowing what had happened. An instant earlier, the Condor was fine, but the next instant it had crashed to the ground and was spitting blood. Only a part of the spectators knew what had actually happened.