Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit-Chapter 139: The Elven Nation of Sylph(Part 9)

"Alright, this should be fun," Smirked Colt, stretching his arms out as he stepped onto the arena.

His opponent, the Elf who’d bumped into him during the banquet and caused the commotion that led to these duels, took his place at the other end of the arena, eyeing Colt with a grimace.

He had long, wavy golden blonde hair that went down past his shoulders and framed his face, sparkly blue eyes, a fair complexion, and he was quite tall, with a strong, agile build. He held a spear in his right hand, with a straight, narrow blade.

"I’ll be sure to wipe that cocky look off your face, human," He remarked, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Heh, we’ll see about that, pretty boy. I must say, I’m flattered. You’ve done your hair up all fancy, just for me," Taunted Colt in response.

"Wha-...don’t be ridiculous! Why would I take such trouble for the likes of you? No, this is for myself...I always look my best, at all times. The Goddess Sylph blessed me with such ravishingly good looks, so of course I spare no effort into looking my best at all times! Hah, but looking at you, it’s evident that you wouldn’t understand," Scoffed the Elf, as he gave Colt a disdainful glance over.

"Wow, you sure are a shallow one, aren’t you? I guess I should introduce myself before I kick your ass...I’m Colt Lekta, a First-Class Knight."

"I really couldn’t care less. But I suppose it would be gracious of me to let you know the name of the one who is about to humiliate you, and I’m nothing if not gracious. I am Feno, a First Stage Warrior of Sylph."

"Alright, the fifth match will begin in three...two...one!"

Feno swiftly fired out a rapid water arrow towards Colt, before his eyes widened as Colt whipped his right arm across and fired out a slashing wave of blood, blood and water splattering across the floor of the arena as the attacks collided and canceled out.

Colt then fired off a barrage of blood bullets from his right hand as he took out his dagger from his Storage Ring in his left hand, a swirling pillar of water rising up in front of Feno as the blood bullets closed in on him.

"Is...is that your own blood? What a vile form of Magic," He frowned in disgust, before quickly ducking as Colt extended out and whipped a snaking tendril of blood towards the Elf, which whizzed through the air around the water pillar and zipped it towards Feno.

The blood tendril shot past the top of Feno’s head, severing a couple of strands of his hair before it suddenly broke apart into dozens of droplets, which took the shape of needles and shot down.

Feno quickly coated the blade of his spear with a swirling, compressed mass of water and swung it up and across as the blood needles closed in on him, unleashing the compressed water in a powerful, pressurized burst as the blade sliced across the needles, blowing them away before he winced in pain as a couple of the needles avoided the swing of his spear and pierced into the top of his left shoulder.

He then sprang back onto his feet as Colt came racing around to his left and leapt forward as he closed in, a gleam in his eye as he slashed at the side of the Elf’s neck with his dagger.

Feno narrowly blocked the slash with his spear, a sharp clang ringing out before Colt swiftly got low and fired out a piercing beam of blood from his fingertip towards Feno’s right knee.

The Elf jumped off to the side as fast as he could, grimacing in pain as the beam sliced across the side of his leg by his knee, blood streaming out and running down his calf before he unleashed a rapid, powerful thrust of his spear towards Colt’s face.

Colt swiftly tilted his head across, the blade of the spear grazing his left cheek and drawing out a trickle of blood, before Feno took one hand off the handle of his spear and fired out a blast of water, which slammed onto the middle of Colt’s stomach and knocked him back several meters.

He managed to maintain his balance, his feet hitting the floor and skidding back, before he lifted his gaze as Feno came charging in towards him, unleashing a couple of swift thrusts of his spear, which Colt evaded with ease.

Feno continued attacking relentlessly at close-range, wielding his spear with eye-catching elegance and grace, his attacks ceaseless to avoid giving Colt a chance to catch his breath and gain some distance.

Several shallow cuts and grazes appeared across Colt’s skin as the blade of the spear nicked him over and over, thin trails of blood running down his skin all over his body.

As Feno then drove his spear towards Colt’s right side, he tilted his body across, the blade shooting past his side just below his armpit, before he swiftly clamped his arm up, trapped the handle of the spear between his bicep and ribs.

He then took a swift step forward and slammed his palm onto the middle of Feno’s torso, who quickly opened his mouth and began to charge up a swirling ball of water.

Colt unleashed an intense, pressurized burst of blood from his palm as Feno simultaneously fired out the ball of water, which struck Colt’s forehead and knocked his head back as Feno got sent hurtling back with a wheezing gasp of pain, his vision blurring sharply.

He then gritted his teeth and jammed his blade into the floor of the arena, bringing himself to an abrupt halt before he coughed out blood, waves of pain throbbing from the middle of his body, as trickles of blood ran down Colt’s face from his forehead, his face flushed as he breathed heavily.

Feno then froze and mustered all his strength to try and get back onto his feet as Colt flung his dagger towards him, with a thin rope of blood attached to the handle.

Feno quickly tilted his head across as the dagger closed in, the blade grazed his right cheek and kicking his ear before Colt swiftly pulled it back with the blood rope he’d tied to the handle, grabbing hold of the dagger as it got within his reach.

"D-Damn it, he’s stronger that I thought. But something felt off about that earlier exchange...it seemed like he was capable of dodging all my attacks, but it appeared as though he deliberately let my blade graze him several times. But why would he do such a thing, I don’t-...wh-what the...? I feel a bit faint...that dagger, is it coated in some sort of poison?" Frowned Feno, stumbling slightly as his vision blurred.

"What’s the matter? You’re looking a bit unsteady on your feet there," Smirked Colt tauntingly.

"Y-You bastard...tch, I can’t believe I have to resort to this against the likes of you. You should feel honored, human...I acknowledge that you are strong. But you cannot defeat me!" Snarled the Elf, as he launched himself towards Colt with immense bursts of pressurized water from behind himself.

He let out a fierce roar as he closed in, gripping the bottom of the handle of his spear before whipping it across at Colt’s head, who narrowly ducked under the swing before starting to fire out a blast of blood.

Feno swiftly swung his right foot forward, firing out a blast of water from his toes, which struck Colt’s chest and knocked him back, his back hitting the arena with a thud.

He then quickly rolled out of the way as Feno leapt towards him and slashed his spear down, which grazed Colt’s shoulder before striking the arena with a clang.

Colt rushed to sprang back onto his feet, before coating his forearms in swirling blood and crossing his arms in front of himself as Feno unleashed a devastating blast of water towards him, which slammed onto his arms and sent him flying back with immense speed through the air.

Colt’s back thudded against the barrier with a jarring impact, before he collapsed onto his knees as Feno came charging in towards him to deal the finishing blow and end the fight.

"Woah, it’s like I’m fighting a completely different person...his attacks are a lot more wild and instinctive now, with no trace of that elegance from before. He’s a hell of a lot faster now too, guess I can’t mess around anymore," Colt thought to himself as he let out a wistful sigh.

"It ends now!" Declared Feno, leaping forward as he closed in on Colt.

"Yeah, for you...now, [Blood Zone]," Smirked Colt, an immense mass of blood erupting out and expanding around him and his opponent, forming a large, enclosed dome of blood.

Several tendrils extended out from the dome and the layer of blood that had formed over the floor, restraining Feno’s limbs and torso, holding him in place before he could strike.

"Wh-What...!? This is...this is so disgusting!" He exclaimed with a repulsed look on his face as the tendrils coiled and constricted tightly.

He desperately tried to break free of the grasp of the tendrils but to no avail.

He began to try and cast his Water Magic to blast the tendrils off, before Colt swiftly extended out needles from the tendrils, piercing into the Elf’s limbs, the pain breaking his concentration and dissipating his Spells.

"Sorry, but it’s over," Smiled Colt malevolently, as he whipped his dagger across at Feno’s throat, the Elf vanishing from sight as the blade closed in on the side of his neck.

He then took down the blood dome, letting out a content, satisfied sigh as he stretched his arms up, a look of ecstacy on his face as the barrier disappeared.

"The winner is...Colt Lekta!"

"H-How...how could I have lost?" Stuttered Feno with a stunned look on his face, as Colt hopped off the arena and approached him.

"Heh, that must have been really embarrassing for ya...maybe if you’d gone all out from the start, you might have won," Smirked Colt patronizingly, before turning around and walking away, resisting the urge to taunt him further.

He put his dagger back into his Storage Ring as he stepped onto the sidelines, stumbling slightly as the adrenaline wore off, all the injuries he’d sustained starting to take their toll.

"You took a lot of unnecessary risks there, but I suppose I’ll let it slide since you won," Sighed Jules in exasperation.

"This is just how he is, he would’ve been disappointed if he’d won unscathed," Aster informed her wryly.

"I feel like I’m wasting my breath asking this, but I’ll ask anyway...want me to heal you?" Inquired Raven, as Colt swayed unsteadily, his eyelids fluttering.

"No way, I...I want to...savor...this...," He muttered before collapsing onto his knees and falling over as he lost consciousness.

"Considering the direct hit he took to the forehead, I’m surprised he didn’t pass out sooner. Raven, please heal him, he’s bleeding all over," Jules sighed with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, I’m on it," Nodded Raven, as he knelt down beside Colt and healed him, before standing up and stretching as he finished, "Alright, it’s my turn next, right?"

"Yes, and please take it seriously, if you would," Frowned Jules in response.

"Come on, don’t compare me to this guy, that’s pretty insulting," Replied Raven apprehensively, before making his way towards the arena.

He hopped onto the platform as he reached it, along with his opponent, the barrier forming around them as they took their places.

"You’re the one who took down the Earth Dragon, right? And my instincts tell me that you are indeed strong, I’m quite looking forward to this," Smiled his opponent, as he cracked his knuckles.

He had spiky, dark blonde hair, icy light blue eyes, a diagonal scar across his face that extended from the right side of his forehead to the middle of his left cheek, he had a pointy tooth sticking out on left side of his mouth over his lower lip, a pale complexion, and strong build.

He had a look of anticipation on his face, a sword strapped to his left hip with his hand hovering over the handle, eager to start the fight.

"Yeah, that was me. I’m Raven Kyzer, Vice-Captain of the Third Squad," Raven introduced himself politely.

"And I am Zesta, a Grand Warrior," Responded his opponent with a smile.

"Alright, the sixth and penultimate match will begin in three...two...ONE!!!"

Raven quickly spread out his wings and zipped up into the air as a rapid wave of ice spikes came rising up towards him, before he opened his mouth and fired out a blazing wave of flames down towards Zesta.

The Elf swiftly raised a large wall of ice in front of himself, the flames colliding against it and melting it down rapidly, but it was large enough to keep Zesta protected as the flames began to peter out.

Raven then unleashed a barrage of swirling purple fireballs at the arena, engulfing the ice spikes and melting them, a layer of water forming over the arena as clouds of steam rose up.

Raven’s eyes widened in alarm before he quickly veered across to his left as an angled pillar of ice came shooting out towards him, just barely evading it before stiffening as the pillar broke apart into several, paper-thin disks of ice, which began spinning with immense speed before shooting towards Raven.

A gleam of intrigue then appeared in Zesta’s eyes as Raven fully tranformed, letting out a roar of exertion before unleashing an immense shockwave of flames around himself, blowing the disks away as they closed in on him, before he turned his gaze towards the Elf and fired out a pair of speeding, piercing beams from his eyes.

Zesta swiftly drew out his sword as he raised another wall of ice in front of himself, a look of surprise appearing on his face as the beams drilled right through the ice.

He quickly raised his blade up defensively at a tilted angle, deflecting the beams away before lifting his gaze as Raven came swooping down towards him with his claws extended out and coated in intense, crackling purple lightning.

Raven whipped his right arm across as he closed in on Zesta, a sharp clang ringing out as the Elf managed to block the slash with his sword, before quickly springing back as Raven unleashed a fierce thrust of his left arm and drove his claws towards his opponent’s face.

Zesta’s eyes then widened as Raven’s arm extended a few inches, the tip of one of his claws piercing the bridge of Zesta’s nose, the lightning scorching the small wound shut as the Elf’s face stiffened up from the electrocution, before he sent several ice spikes shooting up towards Raven from the floor, with immense speed.

Raven quickly flew back up, grimacing as one of the spikes pierced his left calf, drawing out a trickle of blood. Raven strained his shoulder blades to flap his wings with as much strength as he could mister as he felt the tip of the ice spike starting to branch out inside his calf, a sharp gust of wind erupting from his wings as he wrenched the spike out of his leg and flew up.

He then stiffened before crossing his arms in front of himself defensively as a rapidly speeding block of ice came shooting up towards him, grimacing in pain as it slammed onto his forearms with a powerful impact, fracturing the bones in his arms as he got pushed back several meters through the air, before bringing himself to an abrupt halt with a sharp spread of his wings.

As Zesta began to form several ice projectiles around himself, Raven took a sharp, deep breath before firing out a deafening sonic screech down towards the Elf, who quickly raised a wall of ice in front of himself to block out the sound, cracks rapidly spreading out across the wall as the ringing, high-pitched wave of sound slammed onto it.

Raven then formed flames in his mouth while secreting his venom, a cloud of poison mist flowing out of his jaws and spreading out across the arena, right as the ice wall shattered.

Raven’s eyes widened as the wall collapsed to pieces, but there was no sight of his opponent behind it, before he focused on his ability to sense Mana, stiffening as he realized that Zesta was right below him.

He quickly flew back with all the speed he could generate as a towering ice spike came shooting up towards him, narrowly evading it before Zesta launched himself up towards Raven with a pillar of ice below him, leaping off it as he reached Raven’s altitude and fired out several ice shards towards him.

Raven whipped his claws across to deflect the shards, before starting to move his arms in front of himself as Zesta closed in on him with his blade raised high.

Suddenly, a pair of narrow ice spikes rapidly extended out of the ice pillar, striking Raven’s wrists and pushing his arms back, leaving him vulnerable as Zesta swung his blade down.

The blade struck Raven’s left shoulder and slashed across his chest and stomach, blood spraying out before Raven gritted his teeth and fired out his beams at Zesta’s head, who quickly formed a V-shaped slate of ice in front of his face, the beams sliding across the slate and getting deflected to either side, before the Elf let out a startled yelp as Raven grabbed his left ankle with his tail and flung him down towards the ground with a sharp flick of his tail.

Zesta formed several thin sheets of ice below himself to try and soften his landing, gritting his teeth and tensing up his back before he crashed onto the floor of the arena with a jarring impact, cracks spreading out across the floor as he let out a sharp gasp of pain.

He then got back onto his feet with a grimace, while Raven healed the gash across his torso with a wince.

"He’s formidable, I thought the barrier would teleport him out with my last slash, but those scales of his are quite tough, I cut through him a lot less deeply than I expected to. And that mist he fired out of his mouth must have been some kind of poison, I’m feeling a slight, debilitating effect in my body. I need to end this, quickly," Zesta thought to himself as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face, before calling out to Raven, "You are indeed powerful, there’s no denying that...had this battle taken place in a wide, open area, I likely would not have stood a chance. But, unfortunately for you, I have the edge in this enclosed space!"

"Shit...!" Exclaimed Raven, as several ice pillars rose up, branches of ice extending from them and spreading out across the space within the barrier, a forest of ice trees filling the arena, leaving Raven with hardly any room to move.

"Without your maneuverability, you cannot defeat me!" Declared Zesta, as he sprang up and leapt across the ice branches with immense speed and agility.

"I’ll just melt them down!" Shot back Raven, the air around him shimmering as streaks of flames flowed out the sides of his jaws, more clouds of poison mist bursting forth and billowing out across the arena.

He then stiffened as all the pillars and branches broke apart into countless, variously shaped ice projectiles, surrounding him in every direction.

"As fast as you may be...you cannot possibly hope to evade all of these," Remarked Zesta, sheathing his sword as he sent the numerous projectiles zipping in towards Raven.

Raven desperately began weaving through the air to try and evade them as they closed in on him, managing to dodge of few of them before a block of ice thudded against the back of his head, severely dazing him before the rest converged in on him from all sides.

In the next instant, Raven found himself outside the barrier, letting out a shaky groan as he stumbled back unsteadily, his eyes rolling back slightly before he collapsed onto the ground as he lost consciousness.

As the barrier faded, a thud echoed out as Zesta’s legs buckled and he fell onto his knees, sweat pouring down his face as he let out a sharp cough, a trail of blood trickling out of his left nostril, having inhaled a significant amount of Raven’s poison mist.

"The winner is...Zesta!"

"Th-that was close...," He stuttered with a slight gasp, shaking his head as his vision blurred severely and his ears began ringing.

Aster and Jules rushed over towards Raven, with Celia close behind, kneeling down beside him and checking if he was alright.

"Is he okay?" Inquired Celia with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah, he’ll be just fine, his breathing is stable and his pulse is steady. He’s probably got a concussion, he shouldn’t have any trouble healing that after he wakes up," Aster assured her.

"He fought well, but that was a bad match-up for him. And it was encouraging to see that he’s gotten stronger since the last time I saw him fight," Remarked Jules, before adding as she turned her attention to the arena, "Alright, take him to the sidelines and keep an eye on him until he regains consciousness, just as a precaution. It’s my turn now."