The young girl's eyes gleamed as she witnessed me rip apart the six arms, stricken with relief and an admiration unbeknownst to her at the time. The mecha had been the same one that had kidnapped her earlier. Ryo was still protecting her as he held a big smile on his face, knowing for a fact I'd come out unscathed.
Terek, however, was panic-stricken. That six-armed mecha was probably one of his more suited puppets, and I had torn it in two like paper.
The crowd, also in shock, was silent, not knowing how to react. But then a cheer started from one end, then another, and then another, until the crowd was roaring again in amusement.
No reaction emerged on my face as they cheered, and I stood amongst them with my tattered jacket and shirt barely draped over my body. I held resentment for all of them. They were lucky it was the puppets I was bashing and not their skulls. But right now, the only thing on my mind was to make an example of their leader.
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.
What came out of the side pentagram was a more slender figure. It had white armor and two white swords on its back. It was smaller in frame than the other four-armed one. Just like before, he placed his left hand to its back as if injecting something into it.
Simultaneously, on the red pentagram behind him, a bigger, heavily armored mecha emerged from it. This one was black with red glowing outlines etched in between the gaps in its armor. It was large and wide, twice the size of the slender figure he summoned along with it. It was more of a golem than a figure as it stood high but hunched over. Unlike the other white slender figure, this one's weapons were the spikes that protruded from its armor.
At the same time, he had placed a hand on the white slender one, Terek laid a separate hand on this one, and both puppets' eyes glowed—blue on the slender one and red on the big one.
"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 mechanical puppets. The four arms joined back to him now, opposite the white slender one. And at this time, three mechas surrounded him: the four arms from earlier, the new white slender one, and the big golem behind him.
"Never thought I'd have to use this on you of all people… but… I can't let you make a mockery of me. No, not here amongst you trash!" he frantically said with those crazed, spiral eyes.
The two in front dashed, while the big one behind him stayed in place. As they came, I slowly took off the tattered clothes that draped over me, leaving me shirtless there, displaying all my tattoos that were outlined in and out from the black coating, still covering parts of my body. I was inked from the neck down in traditional markings. Mixtures of waves and flowers and skulls decorated me, leaving no part un-inked except my palms and my face. I was an unholy sight.
"Ryo, just protect the girl," I yelled as he nodded in understanding—the two mechas closing in to flank me.
Then, in a blink, the two had met me on both sides. The four arms attacked from above, and the slender one with its two white swords from below. I ducked the first blow and caught one of the swords, using it to swing my whole body upward, where I spun on one hand and tornado-kicked the four arms away. But then I sank through the slender one's sword, and my wrist locked in place, unable to escape. The four arms ricocheted back and threw a barrage of punches at me.
The bombs it would plant on me would be ineffective, but I dodged it anyway. I didn't need any more distractions.
Still upside down as I dodged, my wrist was still stuck on the slender one's sword. I flipped over and, with my wrist alone, threw the slender one onto the four arms as it continued its barrage of punches, using it as a shield against them. As the punches landed, the bombs planted onto it blew up instantly, freeing my wrist from its lock. I jumped back a few feet once released. The pieces of the slender figure were like dough as they plopped onto the ground before me.
As I watched the four arms blow up the other figure, I noticed the splattered dough-like parts move toward the main body where it had exploded— reforming itself.
Regeneration magic? No. This was slightly different…
The figure glopped as it rebuilt itself completely after being blown to pieces. With every piece that formed onto it, it pulsed like a heartbeat.
"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 voiced as his face changed to horror at 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."
"Fuckin' desecrator," I interjected. But then thought of how he was able to retrieve her magic ability and spirit and use it on his puppets. Was that a secret technique of Puppet magic that we were not aware of? There's no way it could do that. No, this involved another ability. Henza's Bonding magic, perhaps?
He chuckled. "Ah, yes, you're probably wondering how I was able to obtain her power?" He continued to mock, "Well, it wasn't my ability if that's what you're thinking… no, these were a gift to me as a test, you see."
At this time, I noticed the backs of the three mechas that he special-summoned in the arena. The four arms, Captain Friera's vessel, and the mysterious golem-looking one behind him, having yet to move even now… All three he had placed something within them—a magic item, and they attained their abilities. At closer inspection, they looked almost like small orbs…
"Anyway, I think we've chatted enough. Time for you to die," he finished hauntingly.
The white figure shot toward me again, and the four arms stayed back this time.
I readied myself as Captain Friera's vessel, the slender one, 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-armed one. If these two former captains were still alive, I believe this is how they actually were in combat. I could only wonder what the one behind Terek could do…
The slender one 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, so it was able to restrain its targets at the same time.
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… Finally, an opening… but I only had a few seconds to counter.
As my head shot back, I used my right leg to catch my fall and did a small hop. I gave the slender figure a side kick with my left foot to its chest and then spun mid-air, following up with a spin-kick to the side of its head—splattering it, and leaving an open torso as it dragged its arms to the ground. Its swords were still in its grasp on both hands all the while.
The four arms, from where it stood, held two of its arms together, making a hand sign—the other set of arms, palms flat on the ground. I felt the ground contort from where I stood, and then…
BOOM!
The ground beneath me and the white figure exploded. The blast was bigger than the previous bombs that thing planted before. I guessed it could make bigger ones, too, and on top of that, it could move them around from where it planted them. It almost didn't matter at this point if it hit me or not because it would always find a way to ignite them onto me.
I flew out of the smoke and landed on my feet away from it. And the white figure 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 at 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. It's pointless to waste time fighting these puppets.
I dashed to him, and the other two I was fighting followed. Terek, readying himself, spread his arms out and yelled, "Go ahead! Just try it!"
As I neared, the big golem one behind him appeared in front of me. It was as if it teleported with how extremely fast it was. Faster than the other two and possibly even me.
"Out of my way!" I yelled as I threw a massive punch directly at its center.
It staggered back greatly, and parts of it flew off from the impact. But just then, I felt pressure in my chest building up in that same moment…
BAM!
A hit so hard entered through me, harder than any hit I've taken so far in this fight.
I staggered back, almost 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 big one that 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 never seen Ryo without a smile or determined look on his face in any moment until now. The look that he had was not even disbelief or any other trivial expression… It 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 immensely.
SLAM!
It was just as heavy as the last hit, if not more.
Blood spewed out of my mouth, and then some more as I lay there face down, shadows from my bangs obscuring my eyes.
From a distance, I witnessed Ryo rushing to me almost in slow motion. The young girl we tried to protect looked at me and was screaming inaudibly. And my eyes had gotten heavy…
Had I just lost?