Vale and Lucias slowly lowered themselves into combat stances, their movements measured and cautious as the atmosphere within the colosseum shifted completely. Moments earlier the crowd had roared with bloodthirsty excitement, yet now silence dominated the arena. Thousands watched without daring to breathe too loudly, every eye fixed upon the monstrous creature standing opposite the two gladiators.
Vale narrowed his eyes beneath the onyx mask while studying the forest drake carefully.
The beast stared back with predatory fury burning in its dark amber eyes. Its teeth were long, thin, and polished like freshly sharpened knives, each one gleaming with saliva as strings of drool dripped from its maw onto the arena floor. Thick brown scales layered its body in overlapping plates that appeared both durable and strangely flexible, allowing fluid movement despite the creature's immense size. Its tail swayed slowly behind it, ending in a blade-like spear tip sharp enough to puncture steel. Massive hind legs bulged with muscle powerful enough to launch the drake across the arena in a single bound.
Aside from its reptilian nature, it resembled an oversized Siberian tiger.
An oversized tiger standing more than five meters tall at the shoulder.
A nervous grin spread beneath Vale's mask.
If the creature had been normal-sized, handling it would have been manageable. Dangerous, certainly, but manageable. At this scale, however, every movement carried catastrophic force. One mistake would not simply injure him.
It would kill him.
Quickly, Vale analyzed the drake's body while precious seconds ticked away. His gaze swept across its scales, claws, jaws, and tail before finally settling on the joints of its legs.
There.
That was the weak point.
If he could cripple the creature's mobility, the fight would effectively be over. Even something this massive would struggle once its balance and movement were compromised.
But there was a problem.
Forest drakes were intelligent.
The moment it realized what he was targeting, it would protect those weak points relentlessly.
Vale exhaled slowly beneath the mask.
At that exact moment, the drake roared.
The sound exploded through the arena with enough force to shake the steel cages surrounding the battlefield. Spectators recoiled instinctively, many covering their ears in pain as the beast crouched low and leapt forward in a blur of motion.
It moved impossibly fast.
One second it stood across the arena.
The next, it was already upon them.
Vale's knees bent instantly while Lucias sprang sideways without hesitation. Neither man treated this like the staged performances they usually put on for the audience. This was no spectacle.
This thing could genuinely kill them.
The drake's claw descended toward Vale like a falling guillotine.
Vale twisted aside at the final possible instant. The claw smashed into the stone floor with a deafening crash, sending fractures racing across the arena and kicking debris into the air. Before the dust even settled, the beast snapped its head toward him again, eyes blazing with fury as it charged once more.
Its other claw rose high.
Vale steadied himself.
Then he dropped one of his blades.
The drake's claw descended.
Vale inhaled sharply beneath his mask and drove his fist upward.
Wind gathered violently around his gauntlet.
The impact thundered across the arena as his punch collided directly with the drake's palm, disrupting the strike just enough to force the limb slightly off course. In the exact same instant, Vale lunged forward, caught his falling blade midair, and plunged it into the drake's front foot.
The beast shrieked.
Scarlet blood sprayed across the arena stones as the drake recoiled violently, lifting its injured limb while snarling in agony. It attempted to place the foot back onto the ground, only to jerk it upward again immediately with another furious roar.
Its eyes locked onto Vale.
Now they burned with true fury.
Vale didn't wait.
He was already moving.
Catching his dropped blade fluidly before it touched the ground, he charged forward with both weapons in hand. The drake roared and prepared to intercept him,
Then suddenly shrieked again.
A spear had pierced deep into its rear leg.
The drake twisted around furiously, spotting Lucias gripping the embedded spear with a savage grin.
"Forgot about me?" Lucias barked, forcing the weapon deeper into the wound. "Big mistake."
The beast snapped instantly toward him, jaws lunging with terrifying speed.
At the same time, its tail whipped toward Vale in a lethal arc.
Vale dropped low and slid beneath it.
The blade-like tip sliced through strands of his hair as it passed mere centimeters above his head.
His eyes widened briefly.
'That was close,' he thought with a nervous grin.
He regained his footing immediately and continued sprinting toward the drake's blind side. The creature noticed him too late, twisting one massive hind leg backward and kicking toward him with devastating force.
Vale twisted narrowly around the strike.
The sheer pressure from the movement alone nearly threw him off balance.
Seeing the exposed joint before him, Vale gritted his teeth and drove one blade downward with all his strength.
The steel pierced deep.
The drake roared in pain again.
Vale ripped the blade free,
Then suddenly stopped.
A strange sensation crawled across his spine.
Something was watching him.
Not the drake.
Something else.
Something filled with terrifying intent.
For the briefest moment, his attention shifted.
And that moment was enough.
The drake's claw tore through the air.
It slammed directly into Vale's right shoulder.
The impact launched him across the arena like a ragdoll, fragments of black armor exploding outward as he crashed and skidded violently across the stone. Pain erupted through what remained of his shoulder. His metallic arm absorbed most of the force, but not all of it.
Blood still poured from the wound.
Vale coughed hard as he forced himself upright.
The drake was already charging him again.
"LIONHEART!" Lucias shouted in horror. "MOVE!"
Lucias sprinted after the beast as fast as possible, but he was too far away.
Vale sheathed one blade while running, desperately trying to create distance, yet he immediately realized the truth.
He couldn't outrun it.
Not in his current condition.
The drake closed the distance effortlessly.
After several strained breaths, Vale stopped running entirely.
He turned and faced the beast head-on.
Its jaws opened wide, saliva dripping between rows of monstrous teeth as it lunged upward and raised one enormous claw above him.
Vale stared upward silently.
A nervous grin spread beneath his mask.
"Damn…" he thought quietly. "I'm really about to die, aren't I?"
The claw descended slowly in his eyes.
Too fast to dodge.
Too powerful to block.
All because his attention slipped for a single second.
What a stupid way to die.
A bitter sadness settled inside him as the realization finally struck. He had truly believed he would see them again someday.
Chrome.
Illu.
Hurricane.
August.
Ember.
Every single one of them was still out there somewhere.
And now he would die before finding any of them.
The grin faded from beneath his mask.
Because despite everything…
He didn't want to die.
Then,
A scream erupted across the arena.
Not human.
Not beast.
Something far worse.
The shriek resembled the cry of a demonic bird, filled with such overwhelming rage that the entire colosseum trembled beneath it. Iron cages exploded apart instantly as black feathers tore through the battlefield like storms of blades.
Something massive slammed into the forest drake.
The beast was hurled several meters sideways, crashing violently across the arena floor before rolling to its feet in confusion. It shook its head wildly,
Then froze.
A blur of black descended upon it.
Vale's eyes widened as the creature passed him.
Towering feathers spread outward like living darkness while monstrous claws slammed against the drake's body. The newcomer roared with primal fury, its voice deep enough to shake the heavens themselves.
The drake staggered backward.
For the first time since entering the arena,
It looked afraid.
Vale stared upward at the enormous creature now standing between him and certain death. Black feathers covered its grotesque frame, shifting unnaturally as if alive themselves. Its silhouette barely resembled anything earthly.
Slowly, Vale's mouth opened beneath the mask.
His voice came out nearly as a whisper.
"What the hell… is that?"