Chapter 99: Back Against the Wall

The gong's deep vibrations still rippled through the heavy air, impregnating every dust particle suspended beneath the harsh torchlight. It was no longer just a sound it was the pulse of a monstrous, relentless heart, resonating down to the marrow of every fighter's bones.

A deafening beat, immense, that seemed to liquefy the sand underfoot with every reverberation. The crowd, held in a suffocating silence, collectively held its breath a single, voracious entity hungry for horror and blood.

Mordred narrowed his eyes under his blue-plumed helmet, the cold steel pressing against his damp temples. In a fraction of a second, his gaze swept the arena, calculating, assessing. Death had entered the stage.

The Vhulks of R'daz...