Chapter 1074 - The Mighty Cruncher
Inside a dark cave-like room, there was a table set up that seemed to have naturally formed from the ground. It was large and round but not smooth and the surfaces were uneven and bumpy. If a human hand was to drag their hand across they were sure to get cuts and marks.. Currently, it acted as a meeting room for the Dalki.
Graham, a Dalki that had a strange obsession to wear human clothing was inside dressed in a smart shirt and some trousers. It would have looked quite odd on most Dalki due to their muscular body sides, yet Graham was quite thin given his race.
He wasn’t alone in the room, for there was another Dalki at the other side of the table. The other part only had a single bent horn that was sticking out from the top of his forehead.
"Graham, I know you are the smartest one out of all of us, but don’t you think your plan this time puts too much trust into that man’s will? How can you be certain that he won’t suddenly turn on us?!" One Horn shouted, clenching his fists.
"Because he isn’t doing this for our sake. That much was clear from the beginning. His d.e.s.i.r.e just happens to coincide with ours. I can see that much and I’m sure he also knows that we must realise that. In other words, we are just using each other, so as long as he thinks that he can achieve his goal by working with us, he will do his part." Graham explained confidently.
Although One Horn and Graham tended to often disagree with the other’s method, the two strongest Dalki nevertheless respected each other as well. More time than not One Horn would actually let Graham have his way.
"Fine!" One Horn stated, still annoyed he slumped back into his seat as if he no longer cared about the matter.
"It seems too late for regrets anyway, but I still don’t understand what you’re thinking by sending out Green Horn to face that lighting user?" One Horn asked, as he touched the top of his horn. He could still feel a phantom pain when thinking about the time he fought against someone with that ability.
"The man that you fought against is no longer there, and if they were to see you again, then there would be an even larger panic. Besides, if they saw you with more spikes on your back then they would know the truth about us. The fact that we are still evolving and getting stronger." Graham explained.
In the past, One Horn was the main person who had led the Dalki during their first war. At least to the humans it appeared this way. Graham had always been there but he had never shown himself.
The treaty that had been signed and more, the public figure of it all had been One Horn, but back then he hadn’t been seen, since everything was signed, and there was a reason for that, the number of spikes on his back had changed.
"Those lightning users mean trouble, I should know. Green Horn might not be enough to handle him," One horn stated. "If it was me I would have sent Dred instead. He is a true master of war. I wouldn’t even have to worry if it had been him. Where is he anyway?" One Horn asked.
The sharp teeth on Graham revealed themselves, a Dalki version of a grin, although it was hard to recognise as such for any member of another race.
"Don’t worry about Green, I haven’t sent him there to win the battle. If he does, it would just be a bonus, but if he doesn’t it won’t matter. Not every battle has to be won to win the war. As for Dred, I have told him he can do as he likes. I thought it would make things interesting. If an unpredictable Dalki is doing things that even I can’t predict, I doubt the humans will have a clue as well."
Even One Horn, the most aggressive Dalki, was shocked to hear what Graham had just said, but soon his shock turned into laughter.
"Ha, ha, this is great! Soon the humans and the vampires will be gone!"
———
"It’s okay Leo, you don’t have to worry about me. I doubt that there is anyone here that will be a match for me thanks to your teaching," Erin said to Leo, after she had been denied entry to the colosseum with the excuse that only participants and their tamed beasts could enter.
"That might not be the best mindset to have," Leo cautioned her. "If we believe we are the strongest then we will no longer strive to improve ourselves. Remember to be humble. If anything goes wrong, you are to contact me through the mask immediately!"
"I don’t think Pure will act until after the tournament, but just in case don’t stray too far from the colosseum, and try not to do anything on your own. How is your l.u.s.t? Are you able to deal with it?" Leo asked.
Erin looked at her left arm. Underneath her clothing there were chains wrapped around it, with the purpose of suppressing her d.e.s.i.r.es. Something that Leo had given her, she wondered why he had such a thing, and how it even had such abilities, but it seemed like it wasn’t the right thing to ask at the time.
"It’s okay, it hasn’t caused any problems so far and it’s better now that we’re no longer on the Cursed ship. It tends to react more when there are other vampires around," Erin answered her teacher.
Leo nodded, before heading into the colosseum through the participants entrance. Halfway through his journey one of the guards finally noticed Leo’s white eyes.
"Sir, do you need help?" The guard rushed towards him.
"I appreciate the kind gesture, but I am completely fine. Do you really think someone entering the competition would need that much help," Leo snickered as he sent the guard on his way.
At that moment, he heard loud footsteps behind him, telling him that it was a man of significant weight. "Don’t be such a stubborn old man, we can’t have anything happen to you before the start of the event." The voice said.
"Sir, you are a sponsor of our event, there is no need for you to go to so much trouble." The guard quickly intervened. He had been warned by his superiors that the other party was prone to act as he pleased.
"Don’t worry, I was heading to see all the participants anyway." The man chose to ignore the guard, and signalled for him to go back to fulfill some other duty, while the man walked side by side with Leo.
"Is that your version of helping out a blind man like me, simply walking by my side?" Leo questioned, somewhat surprised given the lack of action of the heavy man. He had expected him to either help him, or act unreasonably in some way, yet the other just did nothing but walk with him.
"You don’t look overly frail to me in the first place. Besides, didn’t you claim to be fine on your own?" The man laughed and apart from some glances of his self-assigned ’guard’ the two continued to walk in silence until they reached a waiting room for the participants.
"Good luck, although given your partner, you might not even need it," The large man bid him goodbye, walking off to look at the other participants.
’At least he seems to have a discerning eye,’ Ovin purred in satisfaction. "How come you have been hiding your Qi presence ever since you got in here?’
’We are close to finding Pure’s leader, and with how big this event is, I have the feeling they won’t just be sending some footsoldier, but someone higher up who would be able to feel it. The goal is to find them before they know we are looking for them, so it’s best to hide it for now.’
While Leo and Ovin had their little conversation, the other participants were checking the blind man out, as well as his ’Beast’. An advanced tier level beast was not an actual requirement to participate in the Battle of the Beasts and more a recommendation to prevent the loss of life. After all, nobody should be crazy enough to bring a lower tier beast to the Beast Battling Games, least of all when it was time for the Battle of the Beasts... and yet somehow this man appeared to have brought along a basic tier beast.
"The guy seems to be blind, do you think someone has tricked him by selling him that beast claiming it was something special?" One of the participants whispered to his neighbour.
"Maybe he needs the money? Could be that he has someone betting on the other contestant that he’s going to lose." The neighbour answered back in a hushed tone.
"Isn’t that dangerous though? Some constants end up losing their lives to the Battle of the Beasts." Another mentioned, worried about Leo.
’Pray to your ancestors, you won’t have to face me!’ Ovin was furious as he remembered all those who were underestimating him like that, but outwardly he continued to stay on Leo’s head, pretending to be nothing more but a lazy cat.
———
"Greetings everyone, to the Beast Battling Games! This month we have everyone’s favorite... The Battle of the Beasts! Many of you already know the rules, but for our newcomers, let me enlighten you!"
"The beast tamers will enter the arena with their tamed beast once their name has been called. Once there, a fight will begin between the beasts. However, although it is called the Battle of the Beasts, the tamers are able to participate in it as well."
"A fight lasts until one of the tamers surrenders, a tamed beast dies... or a participant dies. While the last case is rare, nobody can predict the outcome of joining a fight between beasts."
"Now before I announce the first participants, first a word from our sponsor! (Raid Bhadow legends! Editor’s note)"
The hype up from the host was streamed to a TV in the waiting room, and Leo recognised the sound of the footsteps as the one from the man who had walked alongside him.
"Ladies and Gentleman, a big applause for Chris Red! He has come here today as the representative of his wealthy merchant family and we have him to thank for putting up the Demi-god tier crystal."
Chris started to wave to everyone out there, as the contestants looked at him strangely trying to guess who he was.
"Don’t be surprised if you don’t recognise the name, as it’s not my real name since we would like to keep our real business private," Chris explained, leading to murmuring in the spectating ranks. "Today’s price is a kind gesture from us who had been helped out by the Bree family many times in the past without bringing attention to ourselves. As you all know with Mona missing it hasn’t felt quite the same, but we appreciate her family members who have kept up the traditions and wanted to encourage them."
"To all of you participating today, I’m looking forward to a good show. Try your hardest out there and as long as you impress me, I promise there will be even more rewards for you all!"
Hearing this, the waiting room was quickly filled with cheers. Nobody would say no to extra rewards, especially for something they had intended to do in the first place. They no longer cared who that man was, or what his real name was, as long as he fulfilled his promise.
"Now, please give a big round of applause for the first participants today! Beast tamer Leo and his mighty beast Ovinnik against beast tamer Max and his beast ’The Mighty Cruncher’! " The host announced.
’Does this mean it’s time for me to wake up?’ Ovin yawned, as he jumped off Leo’s head and stretched out his body.
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