Chapter 118: Beast Fight

Chapter 118: Chapter 118: Beast Fight

Thanks RedFlame_Fireflame for the donation. Happy new months guys. ??

....

The referee raised one hand.

For a moment, the entire arena seemed to hold its breath.

Tolu tightened his grip around the handle of his hammer.

Across the battlefield, the Shadow swordswoman stood completely still.

Her sword hung loosely at her side.

No unnecessary movement.

No nervousness.

No visible excitement.

Just those calm eyes fixed on him.

The referee’s hand dropped.

"Begin!"

Tolu moved first.

His foot slammed into the ground.

Stone Grip.

The earth beneath him answered immediately.

Several fist-sized rocks tore themselves from the battlefield and shot upward.

He flicked his hand.

Stone Shoot.

The rocks flew toward her.

She moved.

Not backward.

Sideways.

A thin veil of darkness appeared around her body as she slipped past the projectiles.

Tolu’s eyes followed her.

Fast.

Faster than he expected.

She closed the distance almost instantly.

Her sword came down.

Tolu raised his hammer.

CLANG!

The impact shook his arms.

He twisted his body and swung.

She disappeared.

Darkness swallowed her.

Tolu’s hammer smashed through empty air.

She’s already using Shadow.

A cold feeling settled in his chest.

The girl appeared behind him.

He spun.

Her sword was already coming toward his side.

Tolu jumped backward.

The blade cut through the fabric of his sleeve instead of his flesh.

He landed and immediately raised both hands.

Earth Shoot.

Three stones launched toward her.

She deflected the first.

Dodged the second.

The third disappeared into a patch of darkness she created in front of herself.

Tolu frowned.

She’s not just using it offensively.

She’s using Shadow to alter the battlefield.

The girl rushed him again.

Tolu planted his hammer against the ground.

A wall of earth erupted between them.

Her sword sliced through it.

The wall broke apart.

She emerged from the dust.

Tolu swung.

She ducked.

His hammer passed over her head.

She stepped inside his range.

Her sword flashed toward his chest.

Tolu barely twisted away.

The blade grazed his armor.

He kicked the ground.

A sharp ridge of earth erupted beneath her feet.

She jumped.

Tolu fired another projectile.

She created a dark shield.

The projectile vanished into it.

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

Then he understood.

The shadow wasn’t simply blocking his attacks.

It was absorbing them.

And every time she used it, her energy dropped.

But so did his.

He couldn’t afford to fight her forever.

Neither could she.

The crowd was already roaring.

"She’s controlling the entire battlefield!"

"Tolu can’t catch her!"

"Look at his earth techniques!"

"He’s forcing her to spend energy!"

The Shadow swordswoman suddenly disappeared.

Tolu’s heart jumped.

Where?

He turned.

Nothing.

The battlefield was empty.

Then darkness appeared beneath his feet.

Tolu jumped.

A blade of black energy erupted from the ground.

He barely escaped.

Another appeared.

Then another.

He landed hard and rolled away as the battlefield erupted around him.

She’s forcing me to move.

Tolu gritted his teeth.

He needed something stronger.

Something fast enough that she couldn’t simply dodge it.

He raised his hand.

The earth around him trembled.

Earth Compression.

Several chunks of stone rose into the air.

Tolu clenched his fist.

The rocks compressed.

Their size shrank.

Their density increased.

He kept compressing.

The stones became smaller.

Denser.

Heavier.

The energy required increased sharply.

Tolu could feel the strain spreading through his arm.

The Shadow swordswoman noticed.

Her eyes narrowed.

She raised her sword.

Darkness gathered around her.

Tolu smiled faintly.

"Let’s see you block this."

He thrust his hand forward.

Earth Shoot.

The compressed projectile disappeared.

For a fraction of a second, even Tolu couldn’t see it.

Then—

BOOM!

The projectile struck her shadow barrier.

The darkness cracked.

The impact sent her sliding backward.

The crowd erupted.

"What was that?!"

"That was Earth Shoot?!"

"No! He compressed it!"

"That stone was tiny!"

The girl looked down at the broken defensive layer around her.

Her calm expression finally changed.

Tolu didn’t give her time.

He compressed another stone.

Then another.

Then another.

Earth Shoot.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Each projectile struck with frightening force.

She created one Shadow barrier after another.

Each one shattered.

The girl moved constantly, trying to avoid the attacks, but the compressed projectiles were too fast.

One struck her shoulder.

She staggered.

Another slammed into her side.

Her shadow armor absorbed part of the impact, but she was thrown several meters across the battlefield.

Tolu’s breathing became heavier.

His arm trembled.

The technique was consuming far more energy than ordinary Earth Shoot.

But it worked.

The girl wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.

Then she smiled.

Not happily.

Almost appreciatively.

"So that’s what you were hiding."

Tolu tightened his grip on his hammer.

She raised her sword.

The darkness around her began spreading again.

Tolu’s smile disappeared.

The air around the battlefield changed.

He could feel it.

She was preparing something.

Something much larger than anything she had used before.

The crowd gradually fell silent.

The darkness around the swordswoman continued to spread.

It crawled across the battlefield like spilled ink, swallowing the cracks in the stone and creeping around her feet.

Tolu watched carefully.

He could feel the enormous amount of energy she was pouring into it.

Then the darkness behind her began to rise.

At first, it looked like smoke.

Then it became something solid.

A massive silhouette emerged from the darkness.

Four legs.

Long claws.

A wide, monstrous head.

Two dark-red eyes opened.

The creature stepped forward.

The entire arena fell silent.

The Shadow Beast was enormous.

Its body seemed to be made from condensed darkness, constantly shifting at the edges as though it could dissolve back into the shadows at any moment.

A low growl rolled across the battlefield.

The sound alone made several spectators shiver.

The announcer stared.

"A... Shadow Beast."

The crowd erupted.

"She summoned it!"

"That’s her real trump card, this is about to get interesting!"

"How is Tolu supposed to fight that?!"

"That thing is at least as strong as an Advanced beast!"

"He’s finished!"

Tolu’s grip tightened around his hammer.

He had expected something like this after she used its power in the previous fight. But seeing the creature standing in front of him was different.

It was powerful.

Fast.

And the Shadow swordswoman could control it.

The beast lowered its body.

Then vanished.

Tolu’s eyes widened.

Too fast.

The Shadow Beast appeared beside him.

Its claws swung toward his chest.

Tolu raised his hammer.

BOOM!

The impact threw him backward.

His feet tore through the ground before he managed to stop himself.

Pain shot through his arms.

The beast was strong.

Very strong.

The crowd roared.

"He’s being pushed back!"

"The Shadow Beast is too much!"

"There’s no way his earth techniques can stop that!"

The Shadow Beast disappeared again.

Tolu turned.

Nothing.

Then—

BOOM!

A claw struck his hammer and knocked him sideways.

Tolu rolled across the battlefield.

He pushed himself upright.

His eyes remained fixed on the beast.

The creature stared back.

It didn’t look like something he could overpower with spells.

And the girl was still behind it.

She could attack alongside it.

Tolu exhaled slowly.

Then he reached into his connection with the dungeon.

The Dungeon Heart immediately responded.

You are certain?

Tolu didn’t answer aloud.

He simply sent the command.

The air beside him distorted.

A ripple passed through space.

The crowd noticed.

"What is he doing?"

"Is that another technique?"

Tolu extended his hand.

Something massive emerged from the distortion.

At first, only its head appeared.

Then its shoulders.

Then its thick forelegs.

The creature stepped completely into the arena.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

It was a beast built for physical power.

Around two and a half meters at the shoulder, with a heavy muscular body covered in thick brown-gray hide and naturally hardened earth plates.

Two short horns protruded from its broad head.

Its legs were thick and powerful.

Its claws dug into the battlefield.

It looked nothing like the Shadow Beast.

There was no mysterious aura.

No overwhelming supernatural presence.

Just muscle.

Weight.

And earth.

Someone in the audience whispered.

"An earth beast?"

Another person laughed nervously.

"That’s it?"

"That’s a Gravemantle, it’s young but they have an extreme defense."

The Shadow Beast was far more intimidating.

The earth beast lowered its head.

Tolu looked at it.

"Go."

The Shadow Beast moved first.

It disappeared into darkness.

The gravemantle didn’t chase.

It simply planted its feet.

Its ears twitched.

Then its head turned.

The beast had sensed something.

The Shadow Beast appeared behind it.

Its claws swung.

The gravemantle twisted.

The attack struck its shoulder.

Stone armor cracked.

But the beast barely moved.

The audience gasped.

The gravemantle turned.

And charged.

BOOM!

The collision sounded like an explosion.

The Shadow Beast was thrown backward.

It landed several meters away, claws scraping against the ground.

The arena went silent again.

The gravemantle charged once more.

The Shadow Beast vanished.

It appeared to the side.

The gravemantle turned.

Too slow.

The Shadow Beast struck its flank.

The gravemantle staggered.

But before the Shadow Beast could attack again, the earth beast slammed one enormous foot into the ground.

The battlefield trembled.

It knew where the creature was.

It charged.

The Shadow Beast tried to retreat.

Too late.

The earth beast’s shoulder crashed into its body.

BOOM!

The Shadow Beast was sent flying.

It struck the ground and rolled.

The crowd erupted.

"WHAT POWER!"

"That beast barely moved!"

"That thing is all muscle!"

The Shadow swordswoman’s expression finally changed.

She immediately commanded the Shadow Beast to attack again.

The creature rose.

Darkness surged around its body.

It rushed forward.

The earth beast met it head-on.

The two creatures collided in the center of the battlefield.

CLANG!

CLAW against STONE.

The Shadow Beast slashed.

The earth beast’s hide tore.

The earth beast bit down.

The Shadow Beast twisted away.

The Shadow Beast struck again.

The earth beast absorbed the attack and drove its head into the creature’s chest.

BOOM!

The Shadow Beast flew backward.

The earth beast didn’t give it a chance to recover.

It charged.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Then—

BOOM!

Its horns struck the Shadow Beast and drove it across the battlefield.

The Shadow Beast dug its claws into the ground.

Stone shattered beneath them.

But the earth beast kept pushing.

Its muscles bulged beneath its hide.

Its earth affinity reinforced its legs and shoulders.

The Shadow Beast was forced backward.

The crowd had gone completely wild.

"THE GRAVEMANTLE IS WINNING!"

"THE SHADOW BEAST CAN’T STOP IT!"

"It’s not even using some complicated technique!"

"It’s just overpowering it!"

Tolu watched silently.

The Shadow Beast was powerful.

Its Shadow affinity gave it abilities that made it dangerous.

But against his beast’s raw strength, durability, and physical weight, those abilities weren’t enough.

The Shadow Beast suddenly disappeared.

The gravemantle stopped.

Its head turned.

The Shadow Beast emerged above it.

Its claws descended toward the beast’s skull.

The gravemantle raised its head.

The claws struck.

The earth plates around its forehead cracked.

But the earth beast didn’t fall.

Instead, it opened its jaws.

Its massive head snapped forward.

The Shadow Beast was caught.

The earth beast slammed it into the ground.

BOOM!

Once.

Twice.

Then a third time.

The battlefield shook with every impact.

The Shadow Beast finally broke apart into a mass of darkness and rolled away.

The gravemantle stood over it.

Blood ran from several wounds across its body.

Its stone plates were cracked.

But it was still standing.

Still ready.

The crowd stared.

The Shadow swordswoman stared.

And Tolu simply tightened his grip around his hammer.

His beast had done exactly what he had brought it here to do.

....

Checked the image of a Gravemantle in the community. Link in synopsis or profile.