The young girl's eyes gleamed as she witnessed me, stricken with relief and an admiration unbeknownst to her at the time. Ryo smiled by her side as they watched me come out unscathed.
Terek, however, after witnessing two of his stronger Ace level mechs get wrecked beyond recognition—one blown to bits and the other torn like a piece of paper—he was panic-stricken.
On top of that, had that hunk of flying metal actually hit him, he would not be standing right now.
The crowd simmered down, and was silent for a moment, unsure of how to react to what they just witnessed. But then a cheer sounded off from one end, then another, and then another, until the crowd was roaring once again in amusement.
I lost my smile when they erupted. I actually longed for the animosity, the hate. The last thing I wanted was praise from the enemy. And every single one of them... I wanted to punch them in the fucking throat.
Terek looked around as the crowd roared. His irritation built with each cheer he witnessed. When he focused back on me, he was writhing in agitation. In a rage, he bit his left hand and held it out to his side. The blood from his hand dripped and trailed on the ground around him until it formed two dark red pentagrams—one from the side and one from behind.
He closed his palms and two new mechs began emerging from those pentagrams—one slender with white armor and two white swords, and the other, large, over ten-foot in height, and with black spiked armor all over it.
He opened his palms and, just like with the four arms, he placed them within both the new mechs with controlled mana strings.
Their eyes both glowed. The white slender mech with blue eyes, and the giant one behind him with red as the gaps in its armor also began glowing that same crimson hue.
"Puppet Magic: Ruler's Carcass."
He lowered his hands, and the same strings of mana connected from two of his fingers to the two newly summoned mechs. The four arms joined back on the other side of him at this time as well.
"Never thought you'd force me to use my trump cards here... but... I cannot let you make a mockery of me! Not here of all Keeperforsaken places." He fanatically said, flashing those wild yellow spiral eyes.
"Really now? Thought you liked these lowlifes?" I replied.
"These fools are all for a higher plan. All we did was multiply your numbers to represent just how utterly trash the Black Wolves are!"
"Oh yeah? What else consists of this Hunt the Wolves plan of yours?"
Terek, twitched a brow, realizing he had said too much. And that's when he sent the two by his side at me.
They dashed, while the big one behind him stayed in place. I slowly took off the tattered jacket that draped over me as they came, leaving me only with what was left of my white tank.
Heavy shades of ink covered my arms, skulls, flowers, and finger waves were all that occupied my skin.
"Ryo, just protect the girl," I yelled, and he nodded in understanding as the two mechs closed in to flank.
The four arms attacked from above and the slender one below with a cross slash with both white blades. I ducked the first punch and placed a hand on of the blades, flipping myself upside down, spinning kicks to the four arms, and deflecting its punches so as to not place a Landmine on me.
My last kick landed on its chest, sending it backwards.
But then I felt my hand sink from on top of the white blade below me, and when it went completely through, it hardened over my wrist, trapping me in that upside down position.
The slender one flipped its other blade and swung it to my side, and I took it, shattering it upon impact.
I then repositioned my feet downward and shattered the blade that locked my wrist in place.
This was clay...
The four arms came back and pushed the slender one in its way just as it attempted to throw a punch, blowing it up upon impact.
The pieces of it splattered like dough on the ground around us as I leaped away.
I watched as the white dough pieces reformed back into the slender one, glopping itself together like some clay doll.
"I'm assuming you've never fought two Captains at once, have you?" Terek mocked, "That's the former Captain of the Snow Lily Knights. Also deceased and in my possession. User of Full body Clay magic, Captain Friera."
"Captain Friera?" Ryo repeated in disbelief. His face changed to horror after hearing this. "This can't be right. She just left on a mission a few days ago. How can she be deceased?!"
Terek laughed in amusement, proceeding to explain, "Oh, Ryoku. She simply died on her mission. Frankly, it was a good thing I was there to retrieve her corpse before it rotted away."
"You're unbelievable." I interjected. "Not only are you scheming, but you're also desecrating the dead as well. I can't believe you would go so far!"
Terek laughed amusedly, "Come on, 'Captain', You're not a saint either..."
"No, I'm not, but I don't do lowlife things like you do."
"Anyway, I think we've chatted enough. It's time for you to die," he finished hauntingly.
As the slender one finally reformed, it shot toward me again, and the four arms stayed back this time.
I readied myself as Captain Friera's vessel and I engaged in close combat. Unlike the four arms, I had to be careful with this one. As durable as I was, I couldn't do anything if I got stuck.
Along with the Snow Lily Captain's magic, this one's combat ability was also nothing to brush off. It matched, if not surpassed, the other four arms. If these two former captains were still alive, I believed this was how they might have been in combat. I could only wonder what the one behind Terek could do…
It swung its two white swords down like a cross to me, and I jumped back, stepping in with its long, slender legs. It threw down another slash from its right, and then from its left, and then again and again—a barrage of slashes from all directions, not giving me a single opening.
The blades it used were Clay Blades. And from the few exchanges I had with it so far, it seems this magic weapon was specifically made to adapt to Captain Friera's abilities. The swords were sharp enough to slice but also malleable when it needed to be.
Once again, it swung in a cross-motion with both blades, starting from below and then upward this time. I threw my head back, dodging it again until both its arms were up and its core was exposed. Finally, an opening.
As my head flew backward to dodge that last attack, I used my right leg to catch my fall and raised my left leg up, shifting my body to the side and kicking it twice in quick succession, the last kick tapping the side of its head on its right. Then from that last kick, I used the momentum to catch myself, left hand to the ground, spinning my entire body and kicked that same side with the end of my powerful right heel—splattering it as it flew off and I remained balanced with my legs apart for but a moment.
The four arms then threw its hands to the ground, and a ripple drew dreadfully closer to me. Once it was below, the ground contorted at my feet and then...
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath me and the slender mech. Bigger than the previous bombs it ignited before. Looks like it didn't have to land a hit on me to cause explosions either... What a nuisance.
I flew out of the smoke and landed on my feet away from it. And the slender one walked out of the smoke and debris, reforming again, while the four arms made its way along with it, walking side by side in my direction.
This fight was going nowhere. If I wanted to make progress here, I had to stop fighting these dummies and take care of the source.
I looked to Terek, and the big one behind him had yet to move at all since being summoned. I wondered what that thing did… Regardless, if I could get a clean hit on Terek directly, it might end all of this completely.
I dashed to him and ignored the other two as they followed behind. Terek spread his arms and yelled, "Go ahead! Just try it!"
As I neared, the large one behind him appeared in front of me. It was as if it teleported, but it was just extremely fast. Faster than the other two—faster than me. But no matter. Cause' once its struck. It's all over.
"Out of my way!" I yelled as I threw a massive punch directly at its center.
Its armor shattered and it staggered back greatly. Parts of it flew off from the impact. But just then, I felt pressure in my chest building up right at the same time...
BANG!
A hit so hard entered through me, harder than any hit I've taken so far in this fight.
I staggered back in the exact same way as how I had hit the thing, and I tasted blood…
I hadn't felt a hit like that from an enemy in a long time. What the hell was that?
Terek cackled darkly as he walked toward the large mech I had just punched.
"What's wrong, Captain? Can't stand up straight? That was a hard punch you took just now…"
What did he mean? I had been the one who punched it.
"If the other two are captains, this one is an Arcane King. The previous one before our current one now."
I was too shocked from the random strike to comprehend what he had just said, but all I had to do to get the point was just look at Ryo and the young girl's faces, standing past us on the side of the arena. Their faces were completely white, like their souls had left their bodies.
I'd only ever seen Ryo without a smile or determined look a handful of times. The look that he had in this moment… was fear.
"This Arcane King was renowned as one of the most powerful mages of his time. Not as powerful as current Arcane King Daz, but against you? Child's play." He walked around it as it stood there like his prized trophy. "His ability is Pain magic. Hurting him only hurts you. The more powerful the attack, the more powerful the damage is back to you. He takes damage, and you take the same. You get the point," he finished, trailing his thoughts.
At this time, the big thing was repairing its dented and damaged armor from my strike. The red that seeped from the gaps in its armor glowed even more as steam began fuming out from it.
It trudged agonizingly slow in my direction, its heavy stomps gusting the dirt below it as it drew near. I crouched on the ground, unable to move properly. When it reached me, it raised a giant fist and hammered me to the ground so hard I cratered within it, tasting more blood.
SLAM!
This strike was heavier than the last, like my last punch but doubled in power.
Blood spewed out of my mouth, and then some more as I lay there face down, and my bangs obscured my eyes.
From a distance, I witnessed Ryo rushing to me almost in slow motion. The young girl we tried to protect screamed inaudibly from the sight of me. And my eyes had gotten so very heavy…
Had I just lost?