Inter-kingdom Tournament (2) Scarlet Beast

During his five years of dominance in the tournament, Evagoras had made a name for himself. Though everyone knew of him, it was not necessarily in a good way. His notoriety did not stem from how many times he won but the brutal and inhumane methods he used to win those matches. This earned him the infamous nickname, Scarlet Beast.

As a five-time champion, everyone was well aware of his strength and powers. Now that they heard the word 'truce' coming out from his mouth, they could only imagine the worst. They had hoped, like last year, that Evagoras would step to one side and let the match unfold. But for some reason, this time he had stepped forth and not only did he have the intention to join the battle, a truce was also brought up.

The confused combatants stood on one side, they knew that if Eric were to accept the truce, it will most certainly spell doom for them.

"Truce? Why do i need that for?" Eric asked.

"I can't wait to fight you, so I want to clear this match as fast as possible. I feel like this stage is too small, we need a grander and more fitting stage for us. Don't you think so?" Evagoras extended his arms and gestured around. "These worms, they're just a waste of time."

The combatants felt angered by those words, they were the strongest of their age, and their pride were through the roof. They wanted to lash out and fight back, but they knew they could do nothing about it. The stories that they heard of the Scarlet Beast while preparing for the tournament was seared into their minds by their instructors, and seeing him in person magnified their fears. Seeing the Scarlet Beast offering a truce to someone they were just chasing, they all wondered if the mysterious guy was as powerful as him.

"You do raise a good point, but what makes you think i don't want you out first?" Eric smirked at him.

"Ho? Are you sure about that?" Vampiric bloodlust emanated from his body, the atmosphere grew heavier every second.

The combatants that were dreading the situation earlier felt a small glimmer of hope in their heart as the chances of the Scarlet Beast and the mysterious combatant fighting would be a godsend to them.

Eric weighted the pros and cons of fighting with Evagoras now, but decided that it was not wise to do so. The many variables surrounding him made it too risky as anyone of them could sneak a blow in their fight and disrupt the outcome of the match.

"I'm just joking, so don't get so fired up will ya," Eric laughed.

~Anastasia, get as far away from here as possible, i'm afraid there'll be a bloodbath soon.~

Spotting her in the midst of a fight, she gave a silent nod of affirmation and tactically moved away from her opponents.

Next, Eric looked for the high elves and he found them standing in the backlines. They did not seem to have any reactions to the truce being made, but their hands were hovering over their weapons. Eric really did not want to fight them at this stage, considering the strength that they have shown previously.

"Don't touch those high elves, it'll take too long to take them down," Eric warned Evagoras.

"Hmfp, suit yourself," Evagoras turned away and lifted up his weapon onto his shoulder. As light rays gleamed off his weapon, everyone who knew it flinched and stepped back.

"...Hope's End." They muttered under their breaths, the fear evident in their eyes. The weapon that Evagoras wielded was a great war axe with a one-sided blade. The length of the blade itself was almost half the length of his body, and the entire weapon was pulsating with red energy giving it an unearthly glow.

Curious as to why the weapon was glowing, Eric took a look with his Eyes of Truth.

**

[War Axe] (Enchanted)

[High-grade]

Remarks:

[A war axe that had seen and fought many bloody battles. In the hands of humans, it may bring out its ferocious might, but in the hands of a vampire, it would cause untold destruction. With a bloodstone embedded into the weapon, it had assumed vampiric qualities. As the blade seeps on the blood of its foe, it will heal the user and grant a temporary power boost. A terrifying weapon to use in the right hands, but at what cost?]

**

"That's a pretty fraudulent weapon i must say." Eric wondered what would happen if it ended up in the hands of a dragon.

Evagoras saw him standing still and asked, "are you not gonna use a weapon?"

"Who knows? Maybe I don't use one, my knuckles are enough" Eric shrugged his shoulders.

"What bullshit are you sprouting ...Nevermind," he turned away, then walked menacingly towards the combatants.

One moment he was in front of Eric, the next he was already in front of the elves bringing his war axe down. Evagoras's speed was commendable that even he almost missed him. The war axe must have weighted a ton, but he was swinging it as if it was a feather. His casual swings of the axe might seem like it lacked power, but behind every attack was the strength of a true vampire.

As Eric momentarily lost focus on the match while watching Evagoras, the combatants had split into two groups, one to deal with the vampire and one for him.

"I guess it's my turn now, Gravity Pull." Since Eric had already shown one of his magic, he might as well use it to its fullest extent.

The seven combatants who approached him immediately smashed their weapons into the ground to counteract the pull.

"Ha! You think we are not prepared for it this time? It might work once, but not twice!" One of them shouted.

"Well i applaud you for your quick reaction, but you should already know that any accomplished mage would be able to cast at least two spells at once." Eric said with a smirk.

"Gravity times 5."

"Reverse Gravity"

"Gravity Pull."

Applying gravity on the rest of the combatants just enough to keep them down, Eric lifted up the loud-mouthed one and pulled him even faster than before. Realizing his mistake too late, the panic had settled into his mind and he had lost grip of his weapon. Pulling in his weapon faster than he could arrive, Eric positioned it in a way that he would impale himself through the head as he reached it.

Watching his own impending doom, he had lost all thoughts of resisting and his mind had become a blank slate. The audience watched with baited breathe to see if he would go through with his actions. Eric stared back at the audience and gave them the middle finger. He might be extreme in his methods, but he was not going to break the tournament rules in the very first match.

Stopping him millimeters away from his weapon, Eric tapped him on the head to remind him that he was still alive. Sometimes the fear of death made one realize just how much more precious life is. The power to keep living is a strong thing indeed, and no one wants to give it up.

His pants was drenched and soiled, which was very un-elf like, but he did not care, as he was given a second chance at life. As his whole body trembled with adrenaline and fright, Eric was reminded that he was actually fighting with twenty-year-old teens and not ancient beings who had forgotten the concept of death.

"It's nothing personal kid, but you came at the wrong year and met me." Eric settled him down onto the ground and walked away.

"T-t-thank yo-u-u, t-thank you, thank y-you...." He kept on repeating the same words over and over again like a broken machine. Suffice to say, he will not be getting up anytime soon.

One down, six to go and one step closer to his goal.