Slimes are one of the few species of beasts who has the possibility of harnessing all elements in nature. From the most basic four elemental affinities of fire, water, wind, and earth, to the numerous advanced affinity like healing, poison, dark, light, and so on.
One of the rarest affinities available is the "space" attribute. This attribute not only allows one to bend the rules of space, but it can also slightly affect the rules of time. And, this rare affinity, actually lays dormant in all slimes. In short, all slimes possess the "space" affinity since birth. Unfortunately, they do not have enough power to properly use it.
It takes time and a lot of energy to be able to harness its true power, but they use it instinctively most of the time. This attribute is the reason why the food that slime eats seems to vanish inside their bodies. It wasn't really dissolved rapidly, but rather, broken down and stored in an infinitely expanding subspace pocket, which is essentially the slime's stomach.
Ember, who enveloped the whole 250 meters square ring, immediately started breaking down the ring and storing it. The process was fast enough that before the Shadow Wolf could even move away, the ring was already completely gone.
After doing so, Ember quickly shrunk in an instant, removing all remaining shadows around. The Shadow Wolf who lost the shadow it could stay inside of was, like in the battle with Wan Er's Phoenix, hit with the backlash of its skill. However, since it fell for this trick before, the damage was slightly minimized, however, it still staggered a few steps.
"What?! Did everyone see what I just saw?! The stage, the stage vanished! Ember completely removed the ring! This unexpected move even caused Fang enough damage! What a strategy!"
The announcer quickly narrated with an elated tone. She's not even trying to hide her bias regarding this fight. Well, as part of the tournament's committee, I guess I could understand her a bit.
Anyways, now that there's no more stage to offer a shadow, Fang quickly lost a large part of its power. Even Aster, its tamer, was at a loss. They had relied solely on [Shadow Movement] for the whole tournament, so losing it was almost equivalent to sealing their ticket to winning.
"Oh, look at this. I just sealed your [Shadow Movement] and you already look like it's the end of the world? Why don't you ask [Papa] for help?"
Of course, kicking the enemy while he's down is part of the strategy. Responding to my taunt, he visibly turned red in the face as he ground his teeth in anger.
"Fang! Kill that insect that dared to insult me!"
His getting swallowed in anger was within my expectations. However, the words he shouted in anger weren't something I thought he would say in a tournament.
Fang, hearing the order of its tamer, quickly dashed toward where I was standing. The less than 250-meter distance was closed in less than five seconds. It was quick enough, but we had enough time for Ember to come and intercept its attack.
Fang's claw was swinging downwards to my face when Ember tackled its unguarded body. The [Tackle] hit Fang so hard that I even heard a few cracks upon contact. Since it immediately got sent flying, Fang's claws never reached their intended target. Still, cold sweat ran down my back. Facing a ferocious 2nd stage beast's attack head-on was something I wouldn't do ever again.
After making sure that Fang wasn't up on its feet yet, I looked over the area where the announcer and the committee were before waving my hand to stop them. Since Aster tried to attack the tamer instead, it was obviously a violation of the tournament's rules. They should be intervening, or maybe even stopping the match soon.
"Let me handle this."
I shouted. Although I doubt it could be heard up to the stands given the loud cheers drowning it out, God Zeshion could probably read my lips from this distance. Soon, agreeing to my request, the announcer quickly resumed her work.
"It seems that tamer Aster was trying to attack tamer Will but failed! Respecting tamer Will's request, the committee would not stop the match!"
Sighing in relief, I quickly turned to where Fang was. Ember was doing her best in intercepting hits aimed at me. However, given that Aster kept on ordering it to attack me instead of Ember, Fang wasn't able to block her attacks. Damage quickly piled up and Fang was looking more and more ragged as time passes.
Other than physical skills like [Slash] or [Bite], the only support skill that Fang had was [Shadow Movement] it seems. Even after it was beaten to a pulp by Ember, it didn't use any other skill.
When I returned my gaze to Aster, he was still showing anger on his face. It was as if he wasn't even worried about his own tamed beast. He didn't care even if his beast was teetering towards probable death.
'I thought torturing his tamed beast would affect him at least... Looks like he's as heartless as a rock.'
"Ember, enough. Let's end this now."
Although I was the one who planned to beat Fang to a pulp, given how indifferent Aster was to his own tamed beast, I felt pity for it instead.
'Looks like you weren't blessed with a good tamer...'
While thinking so, Ember tried to release one last [Tackle] to Fang. However, the moment Fang came into contact with Ember's shadow, it quickly used [Shadow Movement] to hide inside.
"Did it use this move on its own?"
Seeing how Aster was getting so angry to the point that his mouth was frothing slightly as he repeatedly shouted, I doubt he had enough sanity to send such a command. Fang probably did it on its own, in an attempt to fulfill its tamer's orders.
"It may have worked on others, but unfortunately, it's useless against us."
Right after the Shadow Wolf entered Ember's shadow, she quickly used [Shrink] to its limits and shrunk her body to the point that it was only as big as a flat needle. Given how weak Fang had been, it should only be able to remain in the Shadow dimension for a short time. Given that the current area of shadow wasn't enough to even let a single nail pass through, Fang would surely suffer another backlash.
As expected, two seconds later, Fang was ejected from the shadow dimension and fell down, bleeding all over its body. It wasn't able to move anymore.