Fang stiffened at once... and then, his pupils shrank to pinpoints. An instant later, an overpowering, invasive sensation exploded across his tongue as if thousands of microscopic parasites had awakened at once beneath its surface!
They latched onto every nerve ending, amplifying sensation instead of dulling it... the taste hit him a split second later, all at once!
It was as if his mouth had been forcefully stuffed with festering carcasses soaked in excrement, fermented bile, and liquefied rot left to stew for centuries!
The sensation crawled into his nasal cavity, invaded his sinuses, and fused taste with smell until there was no difference between breathing and swallowing.
The giant, fearsome Fang dropped to his knees instantly and clawed at his own jaw as if trying to tear his tongue out, but the taste refused to leave!
It refreshed and intensified, causing his overpowered senses, once his greatest weapon, to betray him mercilessly.
"GRAAAAHHH...!!"
He threw up uncontrollably onto the rope, yet the moment he did, the parasites forced the sensation back onto his tongue again, as if he were endlessly feasting on a pile of feces he could neither spit out nor escape!
His nose burned, his throat convulsed, and his entire body shuddered under the sensory assault.
All he could do was scream and retch under the dumbfounded eyes of the viewers... worse, his master and his peers watched him as well.
"... You... bastar... Graaah!"
Fang instantly pulled out his tongue and brought his sharp claw to slice it apart... he didn’t know what Levi had done to him, and he had no interest in finding out now.
All he wanted was to get rid of the vile stench that crippled him and avoid further embarrassment.
Alas, Levi hadn’t gone out of his way to infect him with the parasitic takeover to allow him to escape.
Before Fang could realize it, his watery, bloodshot eyes captured the sight of Levi descending straight toward him through the toxic haze, his silhouette framed against the blood moon like a falling executioner!
"Explosive Aetheric Thunder!"
The words crashed down with him... Levi’s Divine Starforged Skeleton activated mid-descent, causing his mass and force to multiply aggressively in an instant, while the upper crown of his chained staff swelled with overcharged aether.
This wasn’t all... at the same time, layered agitated frequencies screamed through the staff, compressing the surrounding air into a trembling vacuum, and making the crown vibrate to the point that the space around it appeared distorted!
Fang tried to lift his hands to block reflexively... but alas, his instincts and senses were compromised already.
The agitated crown came down like a divine gavel, striking the top of his skull with an explosive aetheric thunderclap!
For a split second, there was resistance... the hardened skull, sovereign blood, and Fang’s monstrous durability tried to save him.
Alas... Levi’s combo wasn’t meant to be blocked, but evaded.
BOOOOOOOM!!
The concentrated aether detonated on impact while the embedded frequencies ruptured and shattered the structural integrity from within rather than without!
Fang’s skull exploded, incapable of resisting the two conflicting energies attempting to blow it off from within and outside!
Phew! Phew!...
Fragments of bone, blood, and fur were hurled everywhere in a vicious shockwave... The immense force of Levi’s augmented frame drove the strike clean through, pulverizing his head into smithereens and sending the headless remaining body crashing lifelessly against the rope’s surface.
Levi ate the recoil with gritted teeth, the starforged skeleton refusing to bend or crack... though Levi’s muscles weren’t as durable.
The arms’ muscles ruptured all the way to his shoulder, putting him in immense pain and making him feel like his bones were swimming inside a pool of blood and mushed-up flesh.
Yet, Levi didn’t let out a single cry or scream... he rolled a couple times and stood up, using the staff as a cane.
He was clearly badly hurt, but no one saw the damage... their disbelieving eyes were affixed on Fang’s headless corpse falling into the abyss.
The Blood Moon flickered, its crimson glow fading with the shadows of the abyss, and then, with a final, silent shudder, it vanished; the last beam of light was swallowed whole, devoured alongside its owner into the yawning darkness below...
A deafening silence followed...
"..."
-...-
For a moment, no one spoke or breathed out loud... then, instinctively, the attention of every viewer, Daywalker, and Nightcrawler shifted toward Levi.
There he stood... Alone, immovable, undefeatable... the toxic storm whipped around him, remnants of the final shockwave still lingering.
Shock painted the eyes of the spectators as disbelief clawed at their minds and fear coiled in the stomachs of the nightcrawlers.
Levi turned slowly in the direction of the nightcrawlers’ camp... then, in a low, cold voice that carried the weight of absolute control over life and death in this game, he uttered:
"Anyone else foolish enough to ascend the rope?"
Whoaaaaah!!! LEVI!! LEVI!! LEVI!!!
The viewers broke into a thunderous chatter, excitement, and hype painted all over their faces... especially those in the Raiders’ camp.
Who could blame them? The moment Levi ascended the rope, he had single-handedly eradicated the nightcrawlers’ camp inside their freaking Toxic Kingdom! Not even their secret weapon, Fang, managed to stop him!
They felt like they were witnessing the birth of a New Legendary Raider, who would lead his homeplanet to salvation... a mission so daunting, only a few across the universe managed to pull it off!
"Hahaha! That’s my big brother, alright!"
Arthur laughed loudly while rushing in Levi’s direction with the rest of his friends... Levi had told them not to get close to him while he was battling, as they might get in his way. Although this hurt them a little, they couldn’t deny it. Not when Fang had single-handedly wiped the floor clean with them.
Meanwhile, the nightcrawlers hissed through their clenched teeth at the sight of Levi facing them down with an indifferent expression.
They thought that Levi was taunting them... but in reality, he was addressing the last of Bishop’s elite.
Rain.
Levi noticed that he didn’t show much of a reaction after he killed his partner... in fact, he was yawning lazily and somewhat annoyedly, like an office worker waking up on Monday morning for his first shift.
This reaction made Levi understand... the greatest danger in this game might not have been Fang... He had already shown most of his hand while he still had no clue who Rain was or his powers.
And he was about to find out soon.
BWOOOOOH...
Levi raised his head, his expression solemn after hearing the Giants blowing the horns of the third round’s end.
"The Fourth Round is here!" Gamemaster Envy commented passionately, "The Raiders have flipped the narrative and returned to the top thanks to their captain’s ludicrous efforts and the masterstroke of a strategy by his allies to claim the Winged Horn... but, will they be able to maintain their position?!"
The moment the Daywalkers and Nightcrawlers heard this, they lifted their heads to gaze at the screen... they expected some names to be picked, but then... their eyes widened a little at the sight of all the remaining names highlighted from both camps!
"No more holding back!!" Gamemaster Envy brought the mic close to his mouth and shouted, "Everyone... Ascend the rope!"
Hearing this, Rain was the first to advance toward the rope, his steps small, deliberate, and eerily controlled... each one barely disturbing the ground beneath him like air walking. Then, he lifted his head, revealing a pair of sunken, shadowed eyes that seemed to drink in every detail of Levi’s figure.
They weren’t just dark... they were predatory, calculating, and fluid, like a chameleon’s eyes shifting constantly to take in its surroundings, yet tinged with the cunning, merciless glint of a hyena sizing up prey before the kill.
The combination gave his gaze a strange, peculiar duality.
’How bothersome...’
Rain murmured inwardly, and then... There was no then.