Round 2: Battle Royale (3)

Stepping back, Steel focused his mana on his blade, before vanishing in front of the audience's eyes.

"What is going on?! One of the contestants just disappeared!"

The moderator perfectly mirrored the thoughts of the audience, looking for the mysterious cloaked person.

In the whole colosseum, there were only two people who could follow his movements. Namely, the wanderer and steel himself.

Whoosh—!

As if in an illusion, steel reappeared behind the wanderer, slashing at his back and completely tearing his body apart.

The sword sliced through the body as if it was nothing more but butter, crushing the bones and the muscles alike.

CRRSH—!

Gasps and yelling echoed through the colosseum as the sound of crushed bones resounded by the amplified magic.

Everybody had thought that the fight had ended with that hit. Everybody except the fighters in question, that is.

"Aw, you killed me."

The previously slashed body turned into purple particles, before the original body of the mage reappeared in the sky above Steel, standing on transparent purple platforms.

"Tsk." Steel clicked his tongue as he raised his head.

He pointed his sword at the wanderer before releasing a burst of his mana that created a strong pressurized wind.

"If it was that easy, then I wouldn't have fought with you in the first place. Now come down and fight like a man, you little fly."

"I would rather not." The wanderer chuckled before raising his arm. "Giving up such an advantage would be quite stupid, no?"

And with that playful answer, he descended his arm in a commanding manner, as if he was pulling down to the earth.

Simultaneously, as he did that, as if it was some kind of signal for his magic, dozens of magic circles reappeared behind his back, circling around and forming into one large magic circle.

A wave of mana spread throughout the colosseum, sending a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

Then, something unbelievable happened.

The magic circle disappeared, and with it did the clouds.

The previously cloudy blue sky gradually turned into shades of purple, as the world was coloured in a slightly pinkish tint.

Soon the world began to rumble, shaking like there was an earthquake, which spread panic among the audience.

"What the hell is going on?!"

The anxious voices of the audience and the moderator echoed through the area and calls for help were released from every direction.

Nobody would have expected to see such a sight, not even Steel, who just blankly stared at the mage with a bewildered look on his face.

Although nobody could see his face, his voice perfectly expressed his feelings, as he spoke in a trembling voice, carrying tones of disbelief.

"What the fuck are you?"

The mage didn't respond and just released a short laugh before tilting his head to the side.

"Just a wanderer."

And with those words, instead of a magic circle, the world itself ripped apart, revealing a crack of pure emptiness, as purple eyes flashed from that same emptiness.

"May I introduce one of my pets? This is the nightmare wolf. Come and say hello to him."

The world kept shaking under the enormous pressure that was emitted by the mage, and the rip, in reality, grew open even further.

Slowly but surely, more and more was revealed of the being that hid beneath that rip in reality. And just like the wanderer said, that being was a wolf.

Purple eyes that seemed to look right through you and fur that was darker than the darkest shade of black. Its eyes shone with a glimmer of curiosity, looking down on Steel and all the other contestants as if they were a bunch of toys.

Fear was struck into the bodies of almost all the participants, who had to face the wolf and some of them even wetted themselves at the sight of such a majestic being.

Even from a far distance, the audience could do nothing but silently watch in terror, as the head of the wolf looked down on all of them, its eyes shining with superiority.

"Why are you all so scared?" The wanderer spoke in an innocent voice as he gently stroked through the fur of the wolf. "He's not that bad. Come and give them a smile, sweetie."

Listening to the wanderer's command, the voice flashed a smile with its gigantic white teeth. Every single one of those teeth is more than two times larger than anyone present.

If the sight of the wolf alone wasn't enough to give one nightmare, then its smile would be guaranteed to do so. It was a being that truly deserved its name.

'Nightmare wolf'.

"Still up for a challenge?"

The wanderer asked in an amused voice, his attention still focused on the wolf, as he refused to even turn around to talk with Steel.

While Steel admittedly felt threatened by the sudden appearance of such a being, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement building up inside him, as he faced the wolf's eyes with a fierce gaze.

"Of course. Running away is for cowards."

The wanderer laughed, putting his hand in front of his mouth as he did so. Soon he stopped and took a deep breath, as he started speaking again.

"Alright then." His boyish voice had an edge to it, sounding like a sharp dagger that was pressed against one's throat. "Hunt."

Instantly reacting to the wanderer's command, the wolf's gigantic body jumped out of the rip in reality, lunging at Steel.

While everyone else cowered in fear at the sight of such an enemy, Steel wasn't like that.

With newfound determination and motivation, he grits his teeth, releasing all of his mana to strengthen his body.

Raising his sword again, Steel's body vanished in a blur, reappearing directly in front of the wolf.

"Sever."

Pumping mana into his sword, he slashed at the wolf, cutting up its nose and stopping his attack.

However, that barely did anything, as the blood of the wolf gradually turned purple and the wounds disappeared with a faint glow.

"That's not enough to incapacitate my pet." The wanderer, who now sat on one of the platforms, watched the unfolding fight with great curiosity. "You have to find its weakness!"

"Tsk! Telling your enemy your weakness isn't a very good idea!"

"That's not my weakness, though. It's the wolf's weakness."

The wanderer spoke in cryptic messages, but Steel didn't have any time to respond or even think about the meaning of them.

ROOOAAR!

The voice roared, the mere sound of its roar sending shockwaves through the arena that pushed Steel back.

However, Steel had already expected something like that, forcing his mana in front of him to create a shield that would slow down the effects of the roar.

'Fighting it is not so different from a Fenriswolf...' Steel mused, as he realized the obvious similarities.

As the wolf stopped roaring, its eyes flashed with anger as he barred his gigantic teeth rushing at Steel with its mouth.

Steel, who was still in the air, had no room to dodge, as the opened mouth of the wolf approached him, ready to swallow him whole.

However, what Steel did have was his experience and, as such, he waited until the perfect moment.

PIERCE—!

Waiting until the head of the wolf was in his range, he trusted his sword into its nose, using it as a tool to propel himself upward.

Ignoring the loss of his weapon, Steel, who was now on top of the head of the wolf, rushed forward. His goal was the neck of the wolf.

The wolf, of course, didn't want to let him reach his weak point so easily and tried to shake him off and use his claws to catch him.

Although the voices' movements were fast, almost as fast as Steel himself, its attacks didn't possess the required agility to catch Steel, and as such, Steel speeded right through all of his attempts at shaking him off, his goal now only being a hair's breadth away from him.

"Watch out!"

The voice of the wanderer shouted, carrying a tone of urgency and genuine worry.

Reacting to his warning, Steel's senses sharpened, feeling an incoming attack. Raising his head, he watched as the claws of the wolf came down to him, trying to rip him apart.

"Tch. What a bothersome fellow!"

Even without a sword, Steel went into a sheathing position, as his previously lost sword materialized in his hand again.

"Mutilate."

Charging as much mana in the sword as he could currently muster, Steel released a barrage of slashes at the Wolf's claw, cutting it to tiny pieces that could barely be seen by the backed eye.

Of course, that would also be regenerated, but Steel didn't care. Ignoring the dismembered claw, steel just kept rushing forward until he finally arrived at the neck of the wolf.

"Here it is!"

One last time, he forced mana at the tip of his sword before thrusting it into the neck of the wolf.

The nightmare wolf released a howl of pain, as its body slowly seemed to vanish in purple particles.

Thud—!

And with the wolf's body gone, Steel landed on the ground again, falling down on his knee due to the exhaustion he felt.

He had used way too much mana in such a short battle, so it wasn't looking very good for him.

"It seems like I'm getting old." The man muttered under his breath, panting.

Clap— Clap— Clap—

The wanderer, who seemed to have enjoyed the battle, clapped excitedly, as he watched the exhausted Steel catching for air on the ground.

Snap—!

Jumping down from his platform in the air, the wanderer snapped.

"While I believe that this was an excellent fight. This still isn't the end." He said in a playful voice.

Together with his snap, more and more of such black rips appeared everywhere, revealing a bunch of those nightmarish animals.

Some resembled pre-existing animals and others looked like an unimaginable mixture of different things whose original form or purpose could not be discerned.

With widened eyes, Steel watched in horror as the realization finally hit him.

He was outmatched.

Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath, preparing to admit his inferiority against his opponent and giving up.

But before he could have done that, he was suddenly interrupted by a crack that formed inside the purple sky.

Similar to a divine being, a man descended from the purple sky. He wore a black coat that was meant for combat and a kitsune mask, hiding his appearance in mystery.

However, despite him hiding his appearance, those two people inside the arena knew exactly who he was.

"Sever."

Crack—!

One word.

The space surrounding them distorted weirdly, before the mysterious man drew his sword, following up with a slash that seemed to cut into space itself.

The world around them cracked, and with it did all the nightmarish beings.

With one word and one fluid movement, he exterminated all the pets of the wanderer in an instant.

Thud—

Gracefully landing on the ground, the masked man raised his head, turning to the wanderer, as he spoke in a deep, calm voice.

"That's enough, Thauma."