On stage, the two beasts were currently testing each other's strength. The wound like lines on the Lava Hounds body slowly starting opening wider, and lava poured out through its gaping wounds. As the magma on the stage increased, it started flooding the stairs, rolling down into the icy waters. The small ice blocks floating on the freezing water started melting, the heat of the lava turning the water lapping at the edges of the stairs to vapor which rose to join the already colliding fire and ice vapours at the borders.
The Walrus was still observing from the side, seemingly unthreatened by the Lava Hound. But one could see a gradual increase in the icy vapours from its mouth. The icy scales on its body slightly shifted upwards, and icy vapours started pouring out from the gaps beneath the scales as well. The water was now freezing all along the second circle, and as soon as the lava melted it, the icy vapours would turn it back to ice.
Rihanna was awed and mesmerized by this fight. High level demonic beasts had the intelligence of teenagers to young adults, and they would not fight unnecessarily. Especially facing an opponent of equal strength, they could be extremely scheming and also ruthless. Though she hoped there wouldn't be any deaths....it did look like this fight would be quite enlightening!
The hound flicked its tail in the air like a fire whip, picking up chunks of molten lava and throwing them at the walrus at random. In defense, the scales of the walrus elongated, turning into thick ice blocks, overlapping each other. The icy mist seeping through the scales turned denser, toughening and thickening the ice cover all over its body and head.
The chunks of lava hit the wall of ice scales with a loud sizzling sound, before being submerged into the icy waters. As the number of lava chunks hitting the walrus and then dropping into the icy waters increased, the thick icy layer over the water around the walrus started melting, and water broke through the cracks in the ice.
This was a chance the hound was waiting for, as the wounds in its body grew wider, and lava poured out like a thick stream, rolling over the stairs and flooding the ice water. The ice started melting at a very fast pace. Without breaking the momentum of throwing the lava chunks at the walrus, the hound scooped up the molten magma with its mouth and shot it at the body of the walrus beneath the water surface.
Rihanna gasped in surprise...It seems that an Ice Scaled Walrus only has ice scales on the top half of its body. That was the reason for it being half submerged inside the icy waters! Then.....was the hound going to win this battle?!.....But why did the walrus still seem so unperturbed?
Suddenly, the cold waters around the walrus erupted outwards like an explosion, and a large typhoon formed around the walrus, with ice shards and icy water churning outwards. the lava chunks were all swept up into the momentum of the cyclone even as its mouth lowered, then turned towards the Lava Hound. Then like the gaping jaws of a voracious beast, the entire tornado, mouth first, jumped over the platform where the hound was standing.
The fire of the lava melted all the ice, and water splashed all over the magma stage, greatly reducing the power of fire burning over the platform. As the water turned to steam and dispersed, the fire chunks in the tornado started raging faster, catching up with the speed of the wind of the tornado, till all one could see on the stage was a speeding vortex of fire, bulging outwards as if about to erupt.
But....where was the hound??
Rihanna blinked hard, wondering if she had strained her sight too much and her vision was blurring. She didn't notice the group in the chamber laughing at her antics of blinking hard and then rubbing both her eyes. She focused hard on the stage once more.....where was the hound?!
Something flickered at the edge of the stage, then disappeared. Again she caught sight of a black flicker over one of the floating ice chunks and she looked over to find it had disappeared once more! What in the world was that thing flickering around like that?
Once again there was a flicker, now at the border of the water circle and the array circle. It disappeared and reappeared behind the walrus this time...wasn't that the Lava Hound?! What was up with it flickering all over the screen like a glitch in an old video game?? Was it a hound or a virus?
Before Rihanna could even confirm it was actually the Lava Hound, the hound emerged in all its power - the lines on its body were fully open and lava gushed out at an alarming speed. Its tail turned thicker and longer, as the spikes around its neck too turned into burning lava, dripping all around. The water all around it turned to a pool of boiling lava as all the water directly evaporated on contact.
The walrus also felt the danger at its back, and the ice scales became longer and thicker as the icy vapours rolled outwards, instantly freezing all water around it into a thick ice block. Hindered by its large size, it could only turn its mouth, opening wide its jaws to release an explosion of large icicles towards the hound. In return the hound too opened its mouth, spewing lava all over the barrage of icicles. Fire met ice, burning and sizzling and melting and turning to fog and rolling off to the borders to join the coiling steam.
Suddenly the walrus let out a long piercing shriek, its body thrashing all around. Its front flippers and tail broke through the frozen layers of ice, and flapped wildly in the air, twisting and turning as if in deathly agony.
Rihanna jumped up in shock, unable to understand what had happened to it. Like a crazy audience hooked to a horror movie, she almost poked her head out of the gauze covered window, trying to see what was happening. Her eyes roved around before coming to a stop over the thin and long line of fire piercing through the belly of the walrus. Following back the trail she discovered that at some point the hound had let its tail elongate and penetrate the ice covering of the water around the walrus, chipping off the ice layer by layer till it reached the undefended belly of the walrus and then made the final kill!
But that didn't look like a fire attack!....As Rihanna stared at the shrieking and grunting and thrashing walrus, right before her eyes, the entire body of the walrus started shrinking.....like a dehydrated corpse!
Why....did this remind her of that time when she was escaping from Green-Stone city.....those Devil Cultivators....wait....didn't these people mention dark energy! Could it be this hound had a third attack....of sucking up all blood and vitality of its opponent?! Rihanna felt a shudder go down her spine as the scene before merged with her memories of that day, and she felt like puking all over again. Gulping down her discomfort, she bit her lips but did not look away. This was what this world was like....she couldn't keep pretending death like this did not happen!
The huge body of the walrus kept moving about for a long while. The wound like lines on the hounds body started forming into lines, and more and more fire whip like tentacles pierced through the lower body of the walrus, sucking all fluids and essence from within. The mountain like body shriveled up at an unbelievable speed, till the body stopped moving and lay unmoving in the web of fire tentacles gripping the body.
The remaining carcass of skin and bones looked pitiful and scary, but the lava hound was merciless, as the many tentacles remorselessly tugged apart the dried corpse, tearing it into dozens of pieces and throwing it all over the arena. Parts of it fell in the icy water and sunk down like lead.....parts of it flew onto the stage and burned away to merge with the molten lava still flowing down the stairs. In less than the time taken to burn two incense sticks.....the mountain like walrus completely vanished from sight!
The hound opened its large mouth, turning towards the audience, and snarled ferociously, lava dripping down the corner of its lips. Rihanna looked into the bloody eyes of the little black hound, and felt another shudder raking down her back! This was the power of a high level beast?! She didn't even want to know what a supreme level beast fight would look like!
"Hey....Girl! have you gone deaf from the growls of the Lava Hound!"
Rihanna turned abruptly, her eyes still laden with fear of the terrifying sights of the battle. To the eyes of the four sitting in the room, she looked like a terrified puppy....adorable....but also pitiful. They looked at each other, trying to hold in their laughter.
Rihanna looked at them in a daze before snapping back to her senses. What was she thinking, acting in such an idiotic way! She jerked back to stand straight, taking a deep breath to relieve the tension from within, then bowed respectfully. Wenzhaobei looked at her bent waist and felt his lips twitching. Again this?! What was she up to this time!!
But before either Rihanna or Wenzhaobei could speak, the 'Emperor' stood up. At once the temperature of the room went down a few notches, and everyone stood up and looked towards him. Without a word he turned and moved towards the doors, slowing down slightly as he passed her. His fingers moved in a gesture of following and then he disappeared through the door.
Rihanna blinked in surprise, unsure if what she understood from the gesture was he meant to convey.
"What are you still standing and drooling there for? When Master tells you to follow, then you do exactly as he tell you! Keep up!"
For the first time Wenzhaobei looked at her in annoyance, discarding his laid back and creepy attitude for a moment. The others looked back at her in curiosity, but turned back and walked out without a word.
Rihanna was a little surprised at this sudden change in the scourge, but she didn't really put anything beneath him, so it was not as strange. But what did the 'Emperor' mean by asking her to follow?! The emotional upsurge from before still made her unsettled, and she was unsure if being too much in contact with such a powerful and dangerous person would be the right thing to do. She let out a long deep sigh and rubbed her forehead. It's not like she had much of a choice! Pursing her lips, he rushed out to follow the group ahead.