Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 416: End of Round One

Water essence poured over the giant wyrm as she rushed the Sea Monkey. It froze instantly to create jagged icicles along the beast’s huge body.

The monkey skated forward across the ground, leaving trails of muddy slide marks behind his feet. It weaved to the side as the wyrm barreled by. At the same time, the Sea Monkey would throw sheet after sheet of muddy water onto the wyrm, letting the muddy sludge freeze on contact and slow the wyrm.

But the behemoth body of the wyrm was already circling around the Sea Monkey. Though the wyrm had been slowed, the monkey was trapped.

However, the monkey wasn’t afraid or nervous at all. When the wyrm launched all of its icicle scales, like a porcupine shoots its quills, the Sea Monkey dove into the ground, swallowed up in a pool of mud.

The wyrm watched the ground carefully. She stayed still to best sense any movements in the dirt underneath her.

Then, Jeeta threw her head to the side, evading a huge stone spike. Other spikes began to pop up as well, and they were getting faster and faster. So the wyrm rushed to slither away. But, seconds later, the wyrm hit a spot in the ground that collapsed under Jeeta’s weight. Though it was too late to evade the trap, Jeeta realized that the spikes were merely a guide to lead her into a sunken mud pool.

Suddenly, more jagged spikes erupted out of the surrounding walls. Not all of them managed to break through the wyrm’s strong defenses, but it was impossible for Jeeta to escape uninjured.

.....

“It’s over!”

Slazza’a shout stopped the spikes from rushing out. Also, the Sea Monkey popped his head out of walls, taking a deep breath of fresh air.

“The winner is the Sea Monkey from Thunder Prefecture!” Slazza declared, poking his head over the hole’s edge. “Do either of you need help getting out?”

The Sea Monkey effortlessly swam into the dirt again, popping out back on solid ground.

Jeeta nodded but also started climbing out on her own. With Slazza lifting her body out, Jeeta used her front claws to trek out of the sinkhole. She focused on her breathing while Slazza healed her wounds and applied a couple of healing salves.

“Thank you for teaching me new things,” Jeeta commented, bowing her head to the smaller beast.

Chuckling and scratching the back of its head, the Sea Monkey replied, “Thanks! It’s rare that I fight such a massive opponent. If we were on ice, the roles would’ve been reversed, though.”

“Still, I failed to overcome your strength and abilities. But I’ve learned a lot from this. So, thank you.”

Slazza sighed and shooed the candidates away before they wasted more time in the arena. He let a small crew of gorillas come in to repair the floor while declaring, “It’s time for the eighth and final match of the tournament’s first round! After this, we’ll have a fifteen-minute break and then dive right into round quarterfinals! Contestants, come down!”

Two beasts got up, one slightly bigger than the other. But both casually glanced at the other while trying to get a good read of what to expect.

“For the final match, we have a Demon Dingo from Razor Prefecture versus a Vanishing-night Fox, who now represents Toxic-shadow Prefecture!” Murmurs and shouts filled the colosseum so Slazza explained, “Due to certain circumstances, Iron Territory, along with the entire Rhyner Region, has been returned to Toxic-shadow Prefecture, just as it was two hundred years ago!

“But now’s the time to watch these talented mortals! Are you two ready?”

“I’m ready,” Netra replied, getting a smile from her mother and master.

The Demon Dingo nodded, remarking, “Oh, I’m ready.”

“FIGHT!”

Without wasting any time, the Demon Dingo created a huge perimeter of death essence. It made sure that everywhere within three-krin of its body was covered in death essence. “Try and get me now!”

The dense perimeter of essence caught everyone’s attention, leaving the crowd on edge. With the chances of a sneak attack gone, they wanted to see if Netra would be able to still put up a good fight.

Feeling entirely different about the situation, the spectating kings and prefecture lords paid extra close attention to the fox girl. They stopped seeing her as a common mortal and inspected her more as a perennial. Then, most of them found what they were looking for.

“This match is over...” Warak sighed softly, only letting his fellow lords hear him.

Peimar agreed, “Yeah. She’s quite skilled.”

All the while, the Demon Dingo was smiling like a mad dog. It watched as Netra slowly walked circles around the death essence. “If you won’t come to me, then I’ll come to you!”

The dingo charged ahead, getting the fox to turn tail and rush toward the arena wall. When they got there the dingo laughed and dove at the fox, making sure she at least had to wade through his death essence.

“Ha! I thought you were different. What’s so special-”

“It’s over!”

“HUH?!”

“IT’S OVER! RELEASE YOUR ESSENCE!” Slazza demanded, appearing before the dingo. The dog dropped the death essence immediately to avoid getting hit by the ref, but Slazza continued to announce, “The winner is the Vanishing-night Fox from Toxic-shadow Prefecture!”

“WHAT?! That’s-”

“Look on your back, already!” Slazza scoffed, walking away. “She could’ve killed you a dozen times over by now...”

“... H-huh...” Baffled and incredulous, the Demon Dingo glanced over his shoulder to spot the smaller fox on his back with a claw a breath away from slashing into the dingo’s neck. “W-what... what-”

“Thank you for the match,” Netra commented, hopping off the dingo. She accepted a potion to completely remove the death essence from her system before walking back to her seat.

At the same time, the Demon Dingo looked back at the fox he had been chasing. That fox was still there but was now dispersing into dark essence as Netra exited the arena. “... I... I lost so badly?”

“It’s not your fault, necessarily,” Narja commented. “The gap between you two is just that large. Though your cockiness did add to your failure... Now hurry back before we call your lord to scold you.”

“Y-yes!” The dingo bowed to the referees and scurried back to his seat, unharmed yet defeated.