The dragon's harem

At this moment, the referee was already tired and feeling like going home, but the day was still long, and from what she heard, Soi Mi was dropping out, throwing all of the tournament’s balance and matches out of sync. All just more work to deal with, making the poor girl hope she is getting a bonus.

“Those some insane fights. Even with how entertaining they were, I hope we at least get one normal fight that doesn’t endanger anyone… is what I want to say, but the next two contestants are ones we’re very much familiar with!” She shouted, lifted one arm, and then pointed at the blue gate.

“The one with the most kills on this arena! The one man who had reaped the most souls, and the cold killer with the face of an innocent girl. All, welcome her once more to this arena, Chi the Reaper!” From the shadows, a short woman wearing a dark cloak stepped out, clad in tenebrious mist.

Barely five feet and a half in height, with messy short black hair, abyssal dark eyes, and skin as pale as the snow. She took one step in, dripping her boots into the dirt, and the shadows literally moved, flowing toward her back like a raging wave, and then formed into a sharp Dao blade.

Lifting the blade horizontally, she stood still for a second as the shadows grew darker, and then, she pointed the tip to the ground and glared forward with a grin.

Arad who was inside the hallway of the red gate looked at Chi’s eyes, and lifted an eyebrow. “Well, that’s a surprise. That no human or mortal.”

The man standing beside Arad looked at Chi as well, “What do you see?”

“That’s a shadow, the shadow belonging to whoever she was before. Death, the concept itself, is deeply intertwined with shadows as that goddess is a master of shadows, as well.” Arad looked at the man, “So, probably, she sank a bit too deep into her own darkness.”

“Goddess? The concept of death? You talk about a lot of things that don’t make sense. I never heard of those being related to the World Tree.” The man sighed and then shrugged. “But… I won’t question a monster like you. So, what do you think can be done?”

“Kill her…” Arad then pointed at Chi’s shadow, not her body. “The real Chi should be imprisoned in there, so drag her out. For how to do that, it is both simple and hard.”

Arad moved to the side, and his shadow moved to the opposite side. “Shadows are cast by things when light hits them; they are supposed to mimic what casts them, no matter what, because it is how they worked. But… when magic is involved, impossible situations like this are possible.”

The man’s eyes opened wide, “Your shadow is moving on its own. You were a master of shadows like Chi?!”

“I’m not. For now, the focus is on this. You must force her to move differently from the shadow she casts. I know it might look perfect now, but that body you see is made of shadows and magic, it is actively mimicking a corporeal thing. It takes a lot of effort to sync that fake body with a fake shadow, so overwhelm it.”

The man smiled, “So, if the body and shadow move differently for just a moment, I can save Chi?”

“No, calm down a bit. That would only open her shadow, allowing you to jump in and go wherever the real Chi is being held captive. You have to find, free, and get her out of the shadows.” Arad then lifted a finger, “And keep in mind, in there, you might as well be unarmed and naked. The shadow would fully engulf you, so armor and weapons don’t mean anything, just find Chi and drag her out, ignore all wounds.”

“So, it’s like shoving a fist into a tiger’s maw to save a little rat, but in this case, I’m throwing my whole body into a shadow to save a whole woman? Now… that’s going to be fun.”

The man walked toward the gate as the referee shouted again.

“He is the man, the myth, the legend, the false phoenix of Mount Mar, Feu Mar!” She shouted, swung one arm, and pointed at the gate as Feu Mar walked with a long flaming spear in hand. He was tall, almost six feet and a half, decently built, had olive skin, and both his eyes and hair burned like flames.

Feu Mar was a distant relative of Peara, Tina’s friend, and the daughter of the family who tried to get him. As expected, flames ran in the entire family, and Feu Mar was especially powerful.

As Feu Mar stepped into the arena, half of it was set ablaze, and the referee had to jump out into the seats to avoid getting roasted alive. Unlike past years, Feu Mar seemed excited this time, and the color of his flames made it clear.

The fire that had once burned dark crimson was bright blue today, on the verge of turning pure white from the sheer heat.

The referee didn’t need anyone to tell her that this fight would be just as dangerous as the ones before it. The tenebrious shadows and incandescent flames swirled around each other, and when they clashed, the arena’s edges cracked as the ear-shattering cacophony of the clash was heard all the way from the base of the World Tree. A contentious detonation, followed by the groaning and moaning of bending steel and crying souls from the depths of hell.

The spectators were only safe thanks to Liana reinforcing her barrier at the last moment, but even then, almost no one could look directly at the arena due to how bright the flames were and how the dark shadows consumed all of the light.

“Look at that! Is this what the clash of two Grandmasters looks like?” Isabella leaned out of the window and stared at the fight directly with both eyes wide open.

“You can look at that?” Liana growled and then sighed, “Not always, Feu Mar and Chi are different. But I’ve never seen Feu going this hard in a fight.”

Eris leaned back, “Arad probably told him something. That girl Chi somewhat dead, right?”

“You can say that, she is a master of death after all.” Liana sighed, “But… what does Arad have to do with that?”

“I don’t know either, but this is what Arad does. I’m pretty sure this fight would be a turning point in their lives.” Eris looked at the fight, and Kali smiled. “Yeah, he probably told him how to save that poor girl.”