The First Legendary Beast Master

Jerome hurled a barrage of [Slash] attacks at the summons, but Karl created stone barriers in front of them that stopped the skills, even though the barriers themselves shattered on contact.

So, the Warrior charged into close combat, quickly slashing both Golems to death before the Haint grabbed him from behind, and the Lamia stabbed him with all four blades, sending their skills directly into his body.

Karl’s massive paw smashed down on Jerome’s head, tearing open his face, and ripping the chest plate of his armour off with pure brute force.

The three long claw marks, from his forehead to his navel, gushed blood as [Hemotoxic Strikes] passively prevented healing from physical injuries.

Jerome burst with power, throwing the Haint back and destroying the Lamia.

“It’s just you and me again.” He growled, looking pleased with himself.

Karl swung at him again, and Jerome erected a shield in front of himself. But at the last second, Karl stopped his paw and used it as the focus to hurl [Purgatory Flames] at the warrior, engulfing him in flames that used every bit of mana in Karl’s body.

Mana that he was quickly recovering from the Mana Crystals in the Tiny World, and from the spaces of the beasts.

Jerome staggered back, scorched and dropping ash from his body with every step.

He coughed, and smoke burst from his lips, even as blood spattered the ground in front of him.

Karl swatted him with one hand, hurling him against the barrier and leaving three more long claw marks across his chest.

The warrior fell to the ground, barely conscious.

He struggled feebly and tried to blast the massive foot off him as Karl repeatedly blasted his scorched body with Ghostfire.

Blood loss was making it hard to focus, and Jerome couldn’t understand why his [Heroic Regeneration] skill hadn’t fixed his body yet.

It was repairing the burn damage faster than Karl was inflicting it, but the claw wounds weren’t closing, and his body only held so much blood, even with regeneration skills in effect.

Jerome activated [Heroic Intervention], an emergency skill that boosted his power and skills for a short time, then [Rip and Tear], an area attack version of Rend.

Golden scales flew as the skill tore into Karl’s body, and the warrior forced his foot up, pushing Karl onto his hind legs and forcing him to retreat.

Karl called back the Lamia and the Golems as he retreated. The extra bodies bought him a few seconds for [Void Body] to begin closing the wounds, but he wasn’t the only one with abilities to slow healing.

Void Body was working, but at less than half of its usual speed.

The two combatants growled at each other, oblivious to the roar of the crowd outside the barriers.

They had been expecting a fight, but not like this. This was not a duel, this was a grudge match, and the two powerful combatants were tearing each other to shreds.

Jerome’s body was starting to show actual flesh again, but Karl’s mana had almost recovered. The mana storage of the Tiny World was low, so he wouldn’t be able to use the same technique more than one more time.

But one more [Purgatory Flame] strike would be more than enough to finish off the warrior.

Jerome frantically hurled attacks at Karl, trying to finish him off before the blood loss got to him. But Karl met the strikes with his claws, coated in multiple layers of barriers, and Totem Ranked stone.

With the summons back in action, it was only a matter of time now, and already the Warrior was slowing, his mind becoming fuzzy.

He repeatedly tried to go for potions, but before he could get them to his mouth, the uncanny accuracy of the Lamia shattered the bottles, dumping the healing potions in the sand.

If he hadn’t had the Mythic Ranked blessing, those massive gaping claw wounds would have bled him out in a matter of seconds, but as the minutes drew on and the stalemate continued, he was still holding strong.

The sand of the arena was entirely soaked in gold and black blood from the dragon and dragonkin, as well as scales and ash from scorched flesh.

But still Karl couldn’t get the advantage.

[We’re getting low on mana.] Tian warned.

Their spaces were at a third of capacity and holding steady, but they wouldn’t be able to make much of a final push if Jerome had more skills hidden.

Then, the warrior seemed to deflate, and simply collapsed. No attempt to stop himself, Jerome simply fell face down as [Heroic Intervention] ended and the last of the energy left his body.

“This duel is OVER! Winner, Karl of the Darklight Host!” The King announced before the dust of the impact had even settled.

It wasn’t hard to see what his intention was.

In a duel between a Totem and a Myth, he was not going to allow a last-minute strike that would do permanent damage or prevent the recovery of the defeated opponent.

He had also recognized the [Soul Link] skill of the Haint, and knew that Jerome’s soul was heavily damaged at this point.

It would take him months to recover without specialist treatment from the Dragon Temples, and if he let Karl finish him off, it would prove nearly impossible to recover enough of his soul energy to resurrect him.

And that would touch off an actual war among the Mythic Dungeon Guilds.

Karl patted the Haint on the head and let her return to storage, while he dismissed the rest of the summons so the King knew that he wasn’t going to fight over the decision.

With the battle over, Karl transformed back to Cat Demon form, and into his armour, which now had a third Golden Ring on the Guild Tabard.

But this one was much more ornate. Not a simple line around the tabard, it was an interwoven knot design all the way around, and had a dragon skull pattern at the bottom, where the tabard came to a point.

The barrier came down, and a Mythic Ranked Cleric from the Sholaha Dominators Guild came to rescue his Guild Master. He winced as he saw the extent of the damage, but the Hemotoxic Strikes skill only affected nonmagical healing, and he was a Mythic-Ranked Cleric of the White Dragon.

Jerome was carried out of the arena by a Mythic Ranked mage, and Karl turned his attention to the Cleric.

“High Priest. Welcome.”

The man looked startled that Karl was greeting him courteously. They had no idea what had touched off the war, as Jerome hadn’t elaborated in the message that said he was going to claim a group of powerful crafters for the Guild.

“War Champion. Congratulations on your victory. Tell me, what was the agreed prize? The Guild Master didn’t inform us in advance.”

“A Totem ranked Rune Master, and two Overlords. A Grandmaster Demonic Smith and a Divine Fox kin woman.” Karl informed him in a dry tone, attempting to convey his anger without actually snapping at the Cleric.

“And your counter?” The Cleric asked, knowing that had to be what Jerome wanted, as they didn’t have any such members.

“The whole proceeds of his current Dungeon Claim.”

The Cleric blanched and then cursed repeatedly in a language that the System didn’t translate.

“Is there a chance that could be negotiated?” He asked hopefully.

“Everything in life can be negotiated, for the right price.”

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