The tail was swung forward and the group did their best to dodge but one of them wasn't fast enough. A light cut was made on the vampire's shoulder. The group was in deep trouble as they were attacked by the beasts together with a maniac wielding an improvised whip.
Their wounds were quickly piling up and they were running out of the little energy they had left. Their natural healing was no longer as effective as usual due to the living conditions in the mines. Blood covered their skin and dyed their clothes red.
Hiiissssss!!!
The loud hissing made the combatants stop their individual battles and stare at the source of the sound. The beasts moved away from the vampires and took cover behind the boulders. The vampires were trapped there as beasts surrounded them from every direction.
A large serpentine head emerged from behind a boulder. The yellow eyes with black vertical slits were the size of fists. The head was pushed forward by a long and winding body with dark green scales. There was a colorful pattern on its back that closely resembled water lilies in full bloom. The serpents tail was wide and flat, a clear sign that it was adapted to living in wet areas. The tail drastically affected its speed while on land.
"You must be the advanced tier beast. You don't look so threatening now that you're on land." The maniacal vampire said and then charged the snake while spinning the whip. The serpent retracted its head poised to strike. The vampire was almost within attacking range when the snake sprayed poison in a wide horizontal arch. The vampire was caught off guard and some poison landed on his legs when he jumped out of the way.
AAAHHH!!!
The vampire screamed in pain as the flesh melted off his legs and turned into black muck. Blood didn't even get the opportunity to flow as the melting was almost instantaneous. Milas heard the announcer turned commentator describe the current situation.
"That beautiful yet deadly snake is called the bone devouring serpent. As the name suggests, it feeds exclusively on the bones of its victims. Its venom corrodes anything but bone." The commentator said and the crowd went wild as they couldn't wait to see how the fighters will survive such an ordeal.
The bone devouring serpent slithered towards the immobile vampire. It spread its maw wide revealing dozens of long, needle like teeth. Its two main fangs were as long as daggers and as thick as a nail. Corrosive venom sprayed out of tiny openings at the tips of the fangs. The corrosive bath didn't give time for the vampire to utter a sound.
The serpent proceeded to swallow the skeleton whole. A dark blur flashed by the serpent's head and it slid off the body. The thick body of the snake writhed violently and sprayed blood around a very large area. Part of the skeleton was sticking out of the the serpent's jaws.
The dark blur had stopped several meters away from the dying snake. The beast looked like a wild cat and its fluffy fur was dirty grey in color. Its height was just above the knees of an adult vampire. It might have been the perfect pet to keep if it wasn't for the horns on its head that were as long as the beast itself. The horns were thin, sharp and metallic like someone had planted single edged swords on its head. The horns curved back at an angle allowing the cat to move freely.
The cat gazed at the group of vampires and lowered its head like it was about to charge. A brave vampire fired the red blade like objects from his fingers but the cat struck with its horns and shattered it like it was glass.
"Split up!" Another vampire shouted before running off. The group disbanded just in time to see a dark blur pass by where they had been previously. The group was relieved to have dodged but their relief was short lived. The dark blur seemed to bounce off a boulder, then another and a third one before slicing the torso of one vampire. The vampire was split into two halves but a vampire's vitality was high enough to keep him alive.
The vampire tried to crawl away leaving a trail of guts in his wake. The blur flashed again and finished him off by decapitation. Only two vampires remained but only two beasts had died. The vampires hid behind the boulders along with the other beasts. A beast with wings tried to fly but one of its wings got chopped off. It could only roar once before it was cut down.
The audience had turned fanatic as they watched from above. They had a clear view of the arena and all they could see was a dark blur leaving afterimages behind as it bounced off the boulders and walls of the arena. The cat seemed hellbent on killing anything that moves. The two headed dog beast had been doing a great job of dodging the cat. This ended abruptly when the two heads disagreed on which direction to dodge. It was cut in two right down the middle with one head on each half.
The massacre slowed down when only the vampires and one beast remained. The vampires had only lasted this long because the cat was occupied with the other beast. The beast in question was a pangolin that had turned into a ball and would roll out of the way of the cat. The cat seemed incapable of turning and could only rely on the boulders to change direction.
Clang!!
The cat had finally landed a hit on the pangolin but the cat was deflected and only left a deep cut on the pangolin scales. The cat sped up and landed another hit only to have a repeat of the previous incident. The cat seemed to be infuriated by its inability to kill the pangolin. It let out a loud meow that sounded cute despite the fact that it had killed multiple creatures.
It started bouncing off the walls and boulders of the arena whilst picking up speed. It then bounced off a boulder and straight towards the audience. It struck an invisible barrier and bounced off it heading straight for the pangolin. The cat curled up into a ball and its bouncing force transformed it into a spinning saw. The pangolin had no chance as the cat shredded it to pieces and came to a halt with deep gashes in the hard ground.
The cat looked weakened as its legs shook when it stood. The two vampires saw their chance and emerged from their hideout inorder to finish off the fiend. They were close enough to use the red blade like objects when the cat blurred and they both fell down. The cat was still trembling but it exuded an aura of feral magnificence.
The cat had won the round. Blood red tentacles broke through the ground and captured the cat. The announcer started speaking as the cat was dragged towards the cages by the tentacles.
"The winner is the blade horned wildcat! As usual, when a beast wins, it gets auctioned off as a pet. The auction will occur as soon as the tournament ends." The announcer said with his usual upbeat voice.
"Next we have the half-born round where we get to see what this generation has to offer!"