Thanatos was standing with a smile on his face after finding his objective. Things were going well so far. The Death Knight was still destroying tunnels, and he located Ennis quickly.
"Oh… A crazy son of a bitch, you say?" Ennis looked at him with total disgust. "We have an insolent worm crawling from the earth to interrupt our party. Disgusting, your lack of manners and quality is making me sick just looking at you."
"YES, this worm is so rude. Want me to deal with him, Master?" Alice took out a dagger and was about to jump onto the floor below, but Ennis raised his hand to stop her.
"No. You don't need to do anything, Alice. This fool has wandered onto my property of his own volition. At least he can try to make a good sacrifice, don't you think?" He gave her a wicked smile.
"YES, YES. The least he can do for being so stupid is offer his life for your entertainment, Master."
"Are you done talking? You can try to fight me, but it doesn't matter to me. A clown and a spoiled rich guy aren't going to stop me." Thanatos cracked his knuckles. Suddenly, another of the gates opened.
"Ahahaha silly fool, you will have the honor of dying at the hands of my Master's Champion. The invincible beast, the abomination of nature: The half-Troll Grul."
A massive creature appeared. He was not a human or beast. A demi human, but different. Thanatos remembered the demi humans in the village; this one was something different. His face looked a bit deformed, and he was about 6 meters tall. His body was covered with a clay-like substance instead of normal skin. His muscles gave him an intimidating air.
"MORE TOYS ALREADY… THIS ONE LOOKS DIFFERENT; CAN YOU EVEN FIGHT LITTLE TOY?" Grul bit one of his fingers as he looked at Thanatos from head to toe. It wasn't a playful bite; he was munching on his own finger, breaking the bone and tasting his own blood.
"A half Troll?" He hadn't seen a regular troll yet. The first impression gave a picture of the situation. He was surrounded by pools of blood, some discarded weapons, and some rags on the floor. This guy probably killed and ate them all. The people he saved from the locked hall were meant to be sacrificed to this monster.
Alice's laughter echoed around them before Ennis raised his hand to speak. "Even if you're not worthy, I must offer the same thing I do to everyone who fights Grul. If you beat him, I'll grant you one single wish."
"Soooo generous!" Alice was fawning over her master.
"I don't want anything from you, except your head. We are going to have a very long chat when I am done with your champion over here." Thanatos' confidence was still high.
"Understood worm. Grul enjoy!"
"HEHEHE..." Grul smiled.
At the same time, Thanatos noticed that the finger that was broken and bleeding had recovered. What? Does he have some kind of regeneration ability?- His thoughts were interrupted as the giant hand began to close around his head at an alarming speed.
In a moment, Thanatos dodged downward, and the hand closed with nothing in it. He didn't even notice the moment this monster moved so close. His speed is insane.
"OH, GOOD VERY GOOD, YOU ARE MORE INTERESTING THAN A NORMAL TOY HEHEHE" Grul began to laugh. It didn't sound like a laugh; it was more like wheezing.
Still laughing, he jumped again at tremendous speed toward Thanatos. This time he made a punch with his hand and slammed right on top of the little man. The floor broke into dozens of pieces, big and small.
Thanatos jumped backward, still amazed by the speed and strength of this monster. This was only the beginning of Grul's pursuit. He threw punches and kicks, trying to capture him.
It was taking everything in him to dodge. The rush of attacks was relentless, not a single second could Thanatos stay still. A punch or a kick would break a few bones at the very least. Thanatos cut a finger while dodging the hand that almost grabbed him again. The blood poured out of the wound for a single second, and then it was back to normal. The finger grew back from the hand. It was practically intact.
He thought regeneration powers were possible; spells like [Heal] can regrow limbs and organs, but this was an entirely different level of recovery. He dodged to the left and cut the back of one of the hands. The same thing happened again. The wound closed a second after being inflicted.
Grul was still attacking like nothing ever happened. It seems he didn't care about the pain. Thanatos felt a bad premonition. If he can regenerate this much with barely any loss of stamina, then I need to kill him in a single blow... This task was easier said than done. He couldn't find any openings in Grul attacks. If this fight extended too much, he was going to lose.
Grul threw a kick that broke the floor, raising the ground. Thanatos took this chance to get close and, with all his might, threw a punch against the leg before he retreated.
BAM. The impact sound came as the bone was breaking. Grul got startled for a moment and lost his balance. At the same time, Thanatos got inside and aimed his claws at the heart of his opponent. Before he could reach the chest, Grul put his hand up to intercept the strike. The monster's blood poured out, but he took Thanatos' hand in an inescapable grip.
"HAHAHA, I GOT YOU NOW." He crushed Thanatos' hand with his own.
The bones broke as if they were being crushed by a steamroller. The excruciating pain made Thanatos jump back instantly, but Grul caught him with his other hand that had already healed. Both his right arm and his torso were being crushed.
"AAAAHHHHHUUGGGG..." He vomited blood. He desperately tried to escape the grasp, but he didn't have enough power. Thanatos was used to being called a monster for his physical abilities, but Grul was a true monster. He felt his arm going numb and his ribs breaking one by one.
Grul kept a sadistic smile on his face the entire time, as if he was having fun toying with his prey. When he finally felt the arm turn into a pulp, he moved his hand to grab the torso. Thanatos didn't waste this opportunity.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" With both of his arms, he used all the strength he could muster to break free of the grip. The arm was deformed and broken. By all means, it was useless. Through sheer tenacity, Thanatos mustered enough strength to break free for a moment. He jumped out several meters away from his opponent.
"AH… AH… AH…" He could barely breath. Without wasting a second, he took a potion of healing and drank it. His arm was restored along with most of his ribs.
"HEY, YOU ARE CHEATING. I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN TOYS CAN REVERSE DAMAGE WITH MAGIC OR THINGS LIKE THAT." Grul protested.
"Shut the fuckup bastard! If anyone is cheating here, it is you. How in the hell can you cure your wounds so fast? You nature freak!"
"HEHEHE I'M NOT A CHEATER. I´M ALWAYS BEING LIKE THIS, SINCE WHEN I WAS A LITTLE KID, MAMA ALWAYS TOLD ME I WAS SPECIAL. YOU KNOW WHAT TROLLS ARE? TROLLS ARE BIG THINGS THAT LIKE TO FIGHT AND LIVE IN TRIBES IN THE FOREST."
"MAMA TOLD ME THEY ALSO CAN HEAL FAST, THEY MAKE WOUNDS GO AWAY, THAT´S WHY I CAN TOO HEHEHE." Grul licked his fingers and bit one of them. He didn't have any reason; the most common explanation was that this was some sort of nervous tic for him.
They were quiet. After the fight began, Alice and Ennis remained silent, watching. The fact that the worm was capable of dodging Grul and hurt him was incredible, but he even managed to get free of his grip. The only word they could think of was: impressive.
"Alice, tell me again, what was his name?" Ennis didn't take his eyes from the fight.
"Mmm... I think it was Thanatos Master" She responded, while putting a finger on the center of her head.
"Thanatos. This man is not a mere worm. No, no, he has quality."
"Oh, the Master is impressed. My heart is in pain from jealousy, but that means the Master is having a good time, which means I'm also happy. Yay…" She started to juggle balls of different colors while humming to herself.
Ennis didn't pay attention to his subordinate. He was amazed by the battle. After drinking what seemed to be a healing potion, Thanatos was fighting again. It was impossible to recover from all the damage that Grul had caused him, yet he was moving, jumping, dodging, attacking.
Ennis finally found someone that could battle one on one against Grul. It was not surprising that Grul became the Champion of the slaves' fights. He was a natural miracle, or more accurately, nature's mistake.
Grul was conceived when a tribe of trolls attacked a human village. It was on the border of the Kingdom, crossing the mountains, a group of fools tried to make their own nation. This and similar things happen from time to time. Just because you have money doesn't mean you can buy protection.
The villagers and mercenaries hired by them were killed and devoured by the trolls. This, sadly, was the most merciful outcome. A lone woman was not killed; it was probably a maid of some kind. A troll took a liking to her and abused her. She was kept alive for a few days while the trolls used the remaining part of the village as a base.
Fate allowed her to escape one night while the trolls were sleeping. She managed to return to the Kingdom and found shelter in a small village. Months passed and she realized that she was pregnant. After having the demi human child, the village tried to kill him. It was a danger to everyone. Trolls are violent creatures.
For some reason, the woman refused. She wanted to protect her child. Even after all she went through, she chose to leave the village and live alone in the mountains to raise her child in peace.
It worked for a while. Trolls grow fast, and in only a few months, Grul was talking and playing in the forest. Grul loved his mother; she was his whole world. She was nice to him, hugged him, taught him all kinds of things. When Grul turned one year old, his mother died of sickness. Living by herself in the wild was too much for a woman like her, especially as she raised her son alone.
Grul didn't feel sadness or grieve. He didn't understand his emotions. He continued to do things like his mama taught him. For nine long years, Grul only had contact with animals and beasts. He was strong enough to live on his own, but the things his mama taught him were lost in time until...
"Come work for me. You can have anything you want. You like to play with animals and toys, right? I'll give you all the toys you wish." Ennis recruited him after finding one of his caravans destroyed and all the mercenaries killed after they invaded Grul territory.
Grul accepted the offer and began to fight with other slaves. That was six years ago. For six long years, Grul had been the champion. No one could beat him. He also became more sadistic and cruel during his time under Ennis. He could let his troll instincts run free and be rewarded with food and more toys to play with.
Ennis knew that even if Rak, Alice, and Sully fought together, their chances of victory were still about half. And now he was watching Thanatos fight on equal footing against the prodigy of the Trolls.