"Eaaaahh!!!" Storm Rider's pained screams echoed across the arena for a few breaths before they slowly died down until… silence.
Storm Rider had returned to Alfheim, the realm of beasts, in a most terrible manner.
But despite the utter brutality, Garth's expression remained unchanging, unaffected by his gruesome actions.
As he pulled his hand out of the pyramid of sand, it began to collapse, revealing the blood-soaked sand within.
With the big bird gone, Garth turned his attention to Dominic, the latter sweating profusely after watching Storm Rider get crushed to meat paste.
"I pity you, I wonder how embarrassing it must be for a Summoner to watch his contracted summon swear allegiance to another."
Dominic bit his lower lip as indeed what happened today was a shame that wouldn't be washed away no matter how long it takes.
In a world where there were five realms with enough inhabitants almost five times the size of the human population, Summoners did not have a problem of scarcity when it came to dimensional beings to contract with.
Thus it was almost impossible to find two Summoners with the same contracted summon and moreso, a contracted beast that was so disgruntled with its owner that it would swear allegiance to another.
Yet, Dominic watched Storm Rider shamelessly pledge allegiance to his enemy and even threaten to kill him.
At this moment, Dominic's pride collapsed and his head hung low, he finally understood just how insignificant he was.
"I was too arrogant." He muttered bitterly.
Garth smirked as he watched Dominic slip further into despair. It was a joy to watch.
"Now for the final touch." He moved his hands and there was a scream.
"Aaaaagh!" Dominic screamed out as the giant hands that held him began to tighten their grip around him. He could hear his bones crushing under the pressure.
"Enough!"
"Stop this match right now!"
"Isn't it over!"
The nobles began to voice their anger as they called for the jester to end the match but no response came.
Unfortunately, grown-ups couldn't enter the arena as a formation had already been put in place to ensure that only those in the age-appropriate bracket would be able to enter the arena.
Of course, the umpire of the match could deactivate the formation if need be.
Just then, there was a voice. "Stop!"
Garth turned toward the origin to find a familiar-looking individual rapidly making his way toward him.
The newcomer shared an uncanny resemblance with Dominic, it could be said that he was a perfect copy.
It was Dominic's twin, Peter.
Peter pulled out a sword and moved to attack. Garth flashed a wicked smile at the prospect of dealing with both brothers at the same time.
He moved one of his hands to handle Peter while the other continued crushing Dominic.
Several giant hands appeared around Peter intending to crush him but fortunately for the blondie, the jester came to the rescue.
"Enough!"
A powerful aura came down heavily on Garth and Peter, restricting their movements.
"I am still the umpire in charge of this tournament. Who gave you the right to interfere, Peter?" The jester asked.
Most nobles narrowed their eyes as the jester's words just showed that the reason he acted was that Peter entered the arena and not because Dominic was getting crushed into meat paste.
"B-But my brother… This bastard was trying to kill my brother!" Peter replied with great difficulty.
The jester sighed. "Is that true, Combatant Garth?"
Garth shook his head. "Not at all, your excellency. The reason I acted as I did was that he had not admitted defeat yet. It's not my fault that his brother is a masochist. All he had to do was surrender."
"I see…" The jester turned back to Peter. "Now, do you see the reason why I did not call the match over?"
Even though Garth's reason was indeed reasonable but most nobles present could not shake off the feeling of foul play that the jester gave off.
It wasn't exactly a new thing where nobles would pay the umpire to only rule the matches in the favor of their descendants especially when they fought against commoners.
In any case, the jester did not care for the piercing gazes he was receiving as he gave his ruling on the matter.
"Combatant Peter, I will overlook you breaking the rules but try that once again… you'd better not blame me for the consequences." He said coldly before turning to Garth.
"Try to exercise restraint."
Garth bowed slightly before moving his attention to Dominic. "Do you surrender?"
"Y-Yes… please let me go." Dominic was on his last legs. The pain shooting through his body was something he had never experienced in his 17 years of existence.
Garth nodded. "Alright."
He made to release Dominic but then suddenly clenched his hand. There was a scream followed by a resounding crack.
"Eaaaahh!!!"
Peter roared. "You bastard!"
Most nobles shook with anger at the blatant show of disrespect Garth showed toward their authority. Unfortunately they couldn't get to him else they would have taught him a good lesson.
In fact, some were already making plans to deal with the mischievous miscreant the moment he left the coliseum.
Garth feigned surprise. "Oh no, I might have made a mistake. I wanted to release him but I clenched my fist instead. I'm really sorry."
"You bastard, you did that on purpose!" Peter obviously did not believe Garth's act one bit.
"An honest mistake," Garth said after which he finally released Dominic from the giant hands that bound him.
Peter ignored Garth for now as he rushed to catch Dominic as he fell to the ground like a bird that had lost its wings.
Catching in his embrace, Peter immediately circulated his magic through his twin brother's body.
His facial expression contorted even further as he felt the extent of damage Garth had done to Dominic.
Due to his last act, Garth had effectively turned Dominic into a cripple with his bones completely crushed.
It would require a powerful Life attribute summon to ever give Dominic back what he just lost.
Peter looked at Garth with a vengeance. "You'll pay for this, I swear I'll make you pay!"
Garth chuckled. "Wash your neck, It would be your turn soon."