Turning around, I grabbed the loose chain piece and caught the lizardman's hand with it. Yet he didn't nearly struggle as much as I hoped for.
Too much had been taken from him to understand what was going on. Too cruel the change forced upon the poor creature against his will.
Force gushed through his muscles indiscriminately, tearing open many tiny wounds. The chain I had around his wrist dug even deeper, blood gushing alongside it, sprinkling onto me.
There was poison contained within, I found out belatedly. Though nothing that could harm my scales, but if I got a wound where the mixture could enter freely, I wouldn't be so sure about the result any longer.
Foam was dripping down the lizardman's turgid lips, blood, greenish secretion and spittle too. His bloodshot eyes were wide open and unfocused, like those of a dead fish.
I wasn't so sure his brain was functional any longer, but neither had I the time, and more importantly, the capital to care about this sorry brute.
My muscles bulged too, yet a lone arm came closer and closer. Shedding stripes of altered meat and muscle here and there thanks to the chain getting in the way, his blood provided the necessary grease to continue.
Both feet planted on the ground to exert the most force he could, his tail lashed out at me, a section breaking off and revealing serrated blades jutting from his very flesh.
I saw no other escape than to stop the dangerous addition dead in its track with my very own tail, now released and for all to see.
I'd have preferred to keep my appearance a secret, but there was only this much I could do in this situation.
It was by far worse getting my coat ripped apart and a couple of flesh wounds inflicted upon me. That would reveal my appearance eventually.
And that... would lead to a certain event I had no hopes of surviving without lasting injury. Ganged up on by the whole city... I consciously kept my horn hidden, but this too would only last for as long as my control over mana remained.
Which, in a situation like this, required much concentration I had great use for otherwise. While our bodies remained stuck in place, our tails engaged in a spirited, lethal dance.
From the audience I heard many shocked exclamations, as the utility of a tail would've slipped them by for the rest of their ignorant lives if it weren't for glorious old me.
Albeit providing me with a bit of respite, this was no solution either. The lizardman had a blade extending from his armstump after all.
One that sure enough saw use after a corresponding idea was pieced together in that mistreated brain of his.
I managed to sidestep the first slice, but the second came right after my feet were literally grounded by that bull's overwhelming strength.
With no way out, I went for the next best solution. Which was... retracting my tail and feet fast and skidding between his legs.
The lizardman abruptly lost his footing as there was no resistance he could exert himself against and came crashing down, head first.
Bang!! That sure was terrible. Maybe the mage responsible for this weaponisation wasn't all that aware of how much weight he strained the creature with.
While muscles and some such, if strengthened enough, provided certain leeway for the madness of the mind, the same couldn't be said about the rest of the body.
In other words, the lizardman running on his last fumes broke many a bone due to the fall, now awkwardly waddling around.
Standing up with the help of the blade serving as a crutch, he fell back immediately after. I could tell his spine was done for, yet he didn't seem to register the damage.
With a face so lost I felt like forgiving the creature for the offence, the lizardman didn't understand just why his trusty body didn't follow proper command any longer.
I came closer, readying myself to force that yapping anchorman's hand. There he lay in his puddle, eyes blue and lifeless.
I... crashed to the ground, right into the puddle of rancid secretion. My back hurt like hell now more than ever. Glancing back, I spotted a small crater in the place I was standing earlier.
Plus, the crater came in the form of a hand. Looking around the ring, I cursed. "Stupid, stupid. This ain't like you at all...,"
There was only one explanation for what happened. The torn-off hand I didn't care about any longer after it lost any sense of activity altogether wasn't as inactive as I believed it to be.
"...reluctance ain't like you. Nor is this indecisiveness you're displaying." I frankly didn't want to experience if that limb was unique or less so.
Leaping forward while experiencing the heartfelt wish for a lengthy break, I extended my claws and pierced through the lizardman's reinforced chest.
Past plates of steel and runes of defence, I felt something squishy losing out to my intrusion. The creature gawked for a second or two, his one remaining hand slowly rising to clutch my own.
Then he fell backwards, leaving the crushed remains of his heart within the palm of my fist. The game... was over. Yet victory felt strangely hollow.
"Spice, my man. I don't know if I give you the money first or kill you before that," my mutters trailed off.
I ignored the resulting commotion and rapidly walked back to the youth. This fight had me grasping at straw, a dangerous finding others hopefully wouldn't discover.
Or at least not this soon. 16 fighters left, 4 fights to survive... "Oh my gosh." Only now did I realise just how fucked up I was.
Yet... there were secrets engraved on my body that would easily grant me victory for the unfair scuffles to come. At a price, though. A darn steep price...