Nameless King

Any space, any zone, any void had to be protected by a spatial barrier so that the open space would not swallow and destroy it. It was the basis for the voids themselves to exist as well as the creatures within them, like shells and reefs amidst a vast ocean of darkness.

However, this did not mean that the mere appearance of open space and its darkness could destroy any void. After all, the World of Darkness was not evil or good, it was an opportunity for other entities to exist, to be inhabited by living beings.

Beastfolk World and the worlds of the other Pillars were no exceptions, however, it was obvious that these worlds were the largest and strongest comparable to which only Arkan World and Dragon World could compare, nothing more.

One or even a few gaps in the spatial barrier couldn’t seriously harm spaces of this level, especially considering their regeneration. Even a wide gap the size of a rock or thousands of thin cuts would regenerate in such worlds in a matter of seconds or minutes.

It was simply impossible to completely break a barrier of this level – to do so would require destroying one or more worlds of the same level to use as bombs. Obviously, no one could or would ever do something like that.

In Beastfolk World there was one place where there was a permanent gap leading into open space. This place was known only to the strongest as its purpose was to allow those at the top of this world to fight.

The Ancient Colosseum was an ancient artifact, and its special protective properties had long ago made a massive hole in Beastfolk World – leading to open space.

Gael even took advantage of this to throw Ereg outside and put him through a lot of hardship before they could continue fighting onward.

Round after round, they increased their power, and very soon Alucard and Liang had to use their strength to defend the Colosseum. However, this was hardly possible now as when Gael activated his medium-sized scars, his power grew stronger than the others had anticipated.

His final attack before he had nothing else left in his arsenal was something no one expected.

“Holy shit…” Nitra muttered in disbelief, looking at the receding white spark, the only thing left of the white-hot energy ray. 𝙗𝒆𝒅𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝙚𝙩

The flash was gone, and now everyone was looking at a wide hole in the blue sky with only darkness behind it – endless and lonely.

The edges of the hole were sharp and random like a broken mirror, while hundreds of shards fell down reflecting the sunlight.

Then, everyone’s eyes drifted down to Ereg, who now had a wide through hole in his chest. Streams of blood flowed downward, filling the ground, crimson clots enough to fill an entire sea.

Ereg’s gaze tried to remain a full flame of life, but gradually it grew paler slowly extinguishing like a lone fire.

“Argh… That was unexpected…” Ereg whispered while blood dripped from the corners of his mouth. It was difficult for him to say even a few words, as no one in this world other than Alucard could sustain such damage without serious consequences.

Gael smiled bitterly, “What a pity… Judging from your aura, you still have a full minute left, though it’s more like fifty seconds…”

Gael sighed, “However, you didn’t make it in time. Admit defeat in this round and reveal more of your power so we can move on. Otherwise, in less than twenty seconds, your life will come to an end.”

He spoke softly, but everyone clearly heard every word he said, since everyone realized that Gael was completely right.

Liang frowned, “Damn… He’s won too many rounds already… Ereg did a great job, but it seems it wasn’t enough. That attack was astonishingly powerful… If I were in Ereg’s shoes, the same thing would have happened to me.”

Alucard, oddly enough, remained silent, watching Ereg’s reaction intently. Krana was doing the same, though she had her own goals, different from Alucard’s ones.

For Nila, what she saw was a real nightmare as well as all the Beastfolks watching the battle.

Beastfolks, like Demons, liked to fight more than any other race – it was their way of life and part of their millennia-old culture.

However, none of them wanted their friend or battlemate to die in friendly combat. When it happened, it was a tragedy for a village, a town, or even the whole world, depending on how powerful the warrior was.

The Beastfolks warmly welcomed Gael, as they realized that he was a long-time rival of their King and after so many years they had become friends. Now the situation became – really serious as there was a risk that their King would die.

Perhaps many of them wanted to intervene or say something as Nila had, but none of them were going to do so. It would be the greatest disrespect to their Progenitor and King on their part.

“Hey… Did you hear me? You only have ten seconds left. Come on, you haven’t lost the battle yet, just a round, nothing serious.” Gael said with a slight smile, hoping that Ereg would listen to him.

Wain watching this scene took a deep breath, “Damn, for Gael this will actually be a serious lesson and a painful experience.”

Osvald raised an eyebrow, “Wait… Do you think Ereg is going to die? That’s impossible… or am I wrong?”

Marlis shook her head, “Well… For the last five hundred years nothing has happened, I as well as the rest of us had no reason to wonder what was going on with the other races… so… maybe?”

Sven remained silent.

“Oh, you misunderstand me.” Wain smirked, showing his predatory grin, “Gael’s mistake wasn’t that he would let his friend die, it was that his arrogance ruined him.”

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same moment, all the crimson aura covering Ereg’s massive body began to tremble. The energy quickly traveled towards Ereg’s wound, rapidly repairing the terrible damage.

However, very soon, the crimson energy moved elsewhere to Ereg’s fist. The purpose of the energy was simply to stop the bleeding and repair the flesh so that Ereg wouldn’t die, or rather it was all part of his plan.

“What the hell…?” Gael muttered as his eyes went wide.

In fact, Ereg didn’t have to wait for the crimson energy to dissipate, he could return to his previous level at any time. All he needed to do was to channel all the energy into one point or for one attack, this was a trump card he had saved for a long time.

“Gael, that attack surprised me, but I was originally one step ahead of you, so… now the victory is mine. Do me a favor, try not to die.” Ereg smiled sincerely before attacking.

Gael shuddered as goosebumps went down his body. He realized that the power hidden in Ereg’s fist surpassed any attack that had come before in this arena.

Even when Alucard had opened the Third Gate to escape the sphere of the Chains of the World Darkness, or when Ereg had blasted the orb of darkness to defeat Gael in one of the rounds, it had all been nothing before that single blow.

Crimson energy was spread throughout Ereg’s body, amplifying every aspect of his body from defense and speed to strength, but now all of that power was concentrated in a single point.

However, Gael had no time to dodge as everything happened in an instant, faster than he could even blink.

Then, everyone saw a bright flash that blinded everyone in the colosseum. Wain, Marlis, Osvald, and Sven were no exception – they had to cover their eyes with their hands to avoid being blinded.

A huge explosion followed, shaking both space and the ground. Crimson energy together with Ereg’s incredible physical power and his darkness – caused a devastating torrent that destroyed everything in its path.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

The Crimson energy ray mixed with darkness swept through Gael as well as through the colosseum, effortlessly making a wide hole in this ancient structure. There were only a few attacks that could damage the threads, but nothing that could destroy the stones that made up the Colosseum.

Alucard unlike the others was not shocked, he just smirked as if he knew that this was what was going to happen.

“Hey, you wanted to know if I was lying or not, so… then I told the truth.” Alucard uttered as he glanced at Nila, who stood still with wide-open eyes filled with disbelief at what was happening.

“Ereg won this round, that’s for sure, and my friend lost, mostly because of his arrogance, because he was sure that Ereg was initially weaker.” Alucard smiled madly, “Hahaha, I can’t see the look on his face. This will be a masterpiece!”

Gradually, the dust cloud settled, approaching the ground and revealing Gael’s silhouette behind which was a hole opening up a view of the distant snow-capped mountains of the Beastfolk World.

Nitra bit her lip as her gaze filled with fear, watching the drops of blood dripping from Gael’s shoulder as his left arm was completely destroyed.