The spectators outside of the cage went wild, they loved seeing unusual turns and twists in their fights. Most of them were chanting the monster’s name in excitement. The black hand that grasped Leo’s neck was cold and strong, there was no resisting it. He tried his best to do something but his left shoulder refused to move properly with the wounds it had received. Blood was still flowing out of Leo non-stop, making him weaker by the second. The boy looked around him trying to find something that could save him but the cage was empty, there was nothing within reach he could hang on to.
“I’ll get my revenge! You humans have to die!”, the demonoid shouted while strangling his opponent. In pain, Leo had to watch the beast while helplessly gasping for breath. All the blood like fluid had re-entered the demonoid’s body and most of his wounds were healed. Only the missing arm and the split eyeball showed any signs of having been in combat. How is that possible? The steel collar the beast had worn now cracked and fell to the ground. With a loud sound of metal hitting stone the monster’s restraints were gone. Leo didn’t know the collar’s purpose but he knew something was wrong as the four guards covered in golden armor grabbed their swords and blocked the doorway to make sure the beast wouldn’t try to escape.
What’s this? How is this possible? How did this bastard manage to recover this much? Can I even win anymore? In a few seconds my neck will be squashed. I can’t die, not yet! How could I possibly face my family if I die here? With a swing of its arm the demonoid threw Leo away with full force towards the nearest cage bars. The child wrapped his arms around his head and made his body as small as possible to minimalize the impact. He closed his eyes and prepared for the pain.
As the rusted metal bars hit him, he could feel half of his ribs break. Some of his bones shattered to pieces piercing his muscles from inside in. His entire body flinched because of the shock making him spit out blood and fall down. His blood was forming pools beneath him. After falling on the stones beneath him, lying there helpless, he managed to twist his neck and look at his enemy. Almost every muscle in his body refused to work on command. How pathetic I am. The yellow eye gleamed in the shadows, filled with malicious intend.
“How the roles have switched”, the demonoid said with its deep crackling voice. “As you said, there is no need for mercy in a cage fight. Now die!”, the taunt left Leo smiling. My own words used against me, how ironic. While still several meters away the beast stretched out his arm. Little orange particles the color as his blood began to gather in his hand palm.
It can’t be… His magic should’ve been sealed. This… This isn’t fair, I don’t have that… More and more of the little orange orbs gathered forming a ball of fire the size of a head. Heat was sensible from all the way at the other side of the little arena. “Ignis!”, the demonoid shouted. With a burst of power the spell left its hand. The projectile flew towards Leo with a haunting speed, aimed right between his two eyes. Time seemed to slow down a bit as the boy’s mind began to race.
Why me? Is this my end? Will I really die this pathetic? Being saved from death to get revenge only to die not even a month later? I was foolish thinking I was safe for a while. If only I was awakened already, if only I had magic like that thing… suddenly he remembered what happened last time when he had tried to use magic to save Akino. I can only try. He closed his eyes and began to recall the feeling. For the first time Leo tried to find that thick sickening energy, how it ate away on his mind and tried to go rampant. He could feel it, the source of energy that was stored in every cell in his body. Leo gathered it and channeled it towards his right hand like he had done before.
Come on, work faster! I can’t die to this fucking bastard! He could see that the fireball came in closer and closer with great speed, the spell was aimed perfectly between his two eyelids. Because of the insane dose of adrenaline the fight had given him time seemed to slow down. His brains performed at twice their normal speed but his wounded body couldn’t keep up with his intentions. At last he could feel that the energy reached his hand palm. The boy lost the control over his limps and watched through his own eyes as a piece of his soul was eaten away. The world turned into a mist of purple and black smoke as his consciousness left to wonder in a place not meant for the living.
The host stared in shock as Leo was grasped by the throat. The demonoid showed strength which should be impossible to have given his state. “What? H-how? How did it get up after being wounded so severely?”, he murmured to himself. The man had witnessed countless amounts of fights, some on a battlefield but most in arenas or cages like this. Never had he seen a monster get up after being on the verge of death like that. He had been cheering internally the entire time for the child, being amazed by the skills and tactics he showed. Leo was picked up from the ground without being able to resist and held high in the air.
How cruel, utilizing the size of your opponent to make him vulnerable. The man watched through the holes in his blank mask how the leaked fluids flowed back into the demonoid’s body. T-that’s a demonoid’s regeneration genetic. It uses mana to work so shouldn’t it be sealed off? This isn’t fair! He was about to shout a complaint at the guards before the magic-sealing collar around the beast’s neck broke off. What? Those are strong enough to seal high elves, how did a mid level demonoid break it? It must’ve been damaged… Don’t tell me this entire thing was planned by him. The host looked at the door opening where the guards and demonoid had came in through and stared right at his boss.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Those two red eyes, I have never seen more than that. He’s always covered in a shadow or mask. As the man got out of his thoughts he saw how the boy was thrown away against the cage’s walls with an incredible force. The metal bars he was thrown against bent. He had to watch how Leo coughed up blood and laid helpless on the ground. It’s over, how sad. I had really hoped he would’ve gotten a chance at freedom. The demonoid gathered fire energy and fused it into a simple tier one spell. Although the spell was simple, there was a great amount of force behind it. He was clearly set on cremating his opponent. The ball of fire drifted through the cold air, leaving behind a trail of sparks along the way. It was quite a spectacular sight as the dimly lit cage was filled with light. The host turned his head away, not needing to see how a mere child was about to be eaten by flames.
He knew exactly how things like these went; one of the parties dies and the crowd goes wild. All of them were like beasts while watching these kind of things. Truly a survival of the fittest. What a cruel world we live in. All of a sudden the chants from the spectators stopped around the moment the fireball was supposed to hit. Noticing the difference the man twisted his head back to look. Before he could completely turn back around a man-eating pressure started to pound in waves through the air. Every wave of pressure that hit him was stronger than the previous one.
What’s going on? What is this demonic pressure, is it the boss? No, his aura is refined, not like this. The little bits of moss in the dungeon turned black and rotted while people fell to the ground. After mere seconds half of the people that were watching from outside of the cage fell to their knees. Some of them were gasping for air while others were banging on the ground in pain. “What in the devil’s name is this bloodlust?!”, a man who was still standing shouted. Insects who were crawling over the ground before faded into black ashes. Their remains drifted through the surroundings. The host looked at the cage and felt the primal desire to run. What was inside of there was not something that was supposed to be alive. He had to run away from this thing, he would be killed otherwise. Every nerve in him could feel it, this thing wanted to kill everything in sight, it was pure destruction.
What was once the boy he had treasured and had been watching over these past few days had turned into a terrifying creature who was nothing different from the devil himself. The human skin had received a thick layer of purple and black smoke while his hands had morphed into claws sharper and longer than those of his demonoid opponent. Leo’s body had turned into some kind of substance in between smoke and fluid. The creature what used to be Leo slowly stood up from the ground with its head facing the floor, there were no traces from the wound on its shoulder. The pools on the ground which used to be Leo’s blood were boiling and fuming resulting in a thick mist inside of the cage.
It slowly walked towards the demonoid who was shaking and unable to move. It was unimaginable how much fear the demonoid felt, receiving all of the bloodlust which was aimed at him. With every clumsy step the creature made a shock wave of terror which was sent throughout the dungeon. The smoke it emitted filled the cage like mist. One by one the remaining spectators fell to the ground. The outside floor was filled with blood and vomit from those who had failed to resist the bloodlust. What once was an exited group of viewers who shouted in excitement the entire time had now turned into a bunch of people screaming for help. The host who still managed to stand up stood there with his mouth full of teeth.
W-what is this thing? The four guards in golden armor grasped their swords with a tighter grip, ready to go into battle at any moment if necessary. Two of them were heavily shaking on their legs. Leo’s head went up and revealed his new face. The boy’s entire head was also covered in the thick smoke like skin. His two purple irises gave off a dim light while his pupil split into circles and began circling inside of each other like a tornado. The thing simply raised its finger making four human-sized tentacles of a sticky purple liquid come out of the ground and bind the demonoid. Each tentacle grasped one of its limbs and pulled it in different directions leaving it floating helplessly in the air.
The one armed demonoid couldn’t even resist, fear had stolen its soul. As the boy reached his opponent he raised his right arm and aimed it at the demonoid’s throat. The arm extended several fold with purple smoke and grasped the demonoid’s neck with an inhuman force and speed. The host only saw him move his fingers for less than a centimeter before the neck exploded and the demonoid’s head fell on the ground. The orange liquid inside of the demonoid splattered all over the cage and its body crumbled into stones. The creature shrunk its arm back to the usual size and looked at the guards before him.
“This one time I’ll hold back boy”, the words echoed through the room as if people weren’t screaming everywhere. they came from the creature as if he was talking to itself. They could be heard perfectly without the thing having to raise its voice. The masked host watched how all of the pure energy returned back to its host body. Slowly the pressure in the air faded away and people were able to get up again. A purple ball flew up from the dead opponent’s head and seeped into the creature’s skin. A few seconds later all of the smoke was gone and Leo was back on the ground. He was sitting on his knees while looking up. tears rolled down his cheeks and he began to snob.