Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

--Outside of Little Gamma, Night--

“We shouldn't have trusted these savages from the start,” the man “hiding” his face with a beautiful silver mask said scornfully to his fellow perpetrators. Lodged in the mountainside not far away was the burly figure of a disfigured demon, the rags of his robe were lying on the ground.

Under the foot of the Monkey Masked cultivate, groveled the dismembered dismembered body of the collaborator of the scene, like a maggot on a fishing hook. His legs and arms were cut off and in the process of regrowing. Several pairs were already decorating the clearing.

This unholy immortality these savages had come up with intrigued the fiendish cultivators, but they had already found that their magic was incompatible with cultivation. Taking their elixir would cut one's cultivation path, destroying any chance ever to advance further. That was if one didn't lose their mind in the process of severing their cultivation from their body.

The monkey mask squinted sharply at the silver-masked man. Were these savages untrustworthy, yes. But they were not the only ones. Fan Yuan had been his person, but now he was feigning ignorance. He felt disgusted with the man, but there was no need to risk their plan, for useless squabble.

“You are right. Who would have thought they would act so foolishly, risking the whole operation for some quick gain? One had to be an idiot to think that was worth the risk.” Although he knew that starting a fight here wouldn't lead to anything, he couldn't hold himself back from a small side blow.

It was effective, the man in the silver mask halted for a moment and swallowed whatever was cooking up in him before he agreed with a silent nod. At least there was one advantage to the whole fiasco, with the natives and the weird beasts out of the game, there were fewer people to share the spoils and rewards with.

“Let's end this here and stay low until the Silk River Sect arrives,” a third figure announced. The Monkey Mask nodded and placed a paper slip on the struggling maggot under his boot. Hundreds of characters spread over his body, originating from the sealing talisman. The man stopped struggling and the limps stopped regrowing. He rolled the body into a sheet of cloth, carrying it like a lunch package.

“Are you taking that thing along?” the silver-masked man asked confused, actually asking why he was doing so.

“Of course, I will. Look at all the limbs I cut off. An almost endless source of meat, he will be great to feed the beast of our sect,” the Monkey Mask mentioned something neither of the others had thought of. Probably because they were not thrifty enough to feed their mounts and pets with human meat.

The figures dispersed, to escape from the awkward silence that ensued.

----

--Next Day, Arena--

Once again, the remaining participants assembled in the arena to draw lots for their next opponent.

The initial 42 had shrunken down to the ten that now stood before Rayki holding the draw pot. Caleb glared at the pot, he would be 8th to draw his lot. if he was unlucky, Dumm Ting would once again evade his grasp.

The first to draw was the Amazon. Lyca stepped forward, drawing the Number five, meaning she would fight in the last match of the third round. Dumm Ting, accompanied by the jeers of the audience was next, drawing the number two.

Dowloon, completely healed from the beating she received from April, drew the one. So far, no pairing had been decided yet. The chosen of Balder drew the number three. The mysterious swordsman just called Nam, also drew the five.

This meant the first pairing was decided, Lyca and Nam would fight in the fifth match. Caleb's heart raced. Not it was just the werewolf lady before it was his turn and Bercy drew... the four. Relieve filled his heart, this was his chance. With just some luck, he would finally get the chance to beat the shit out of Dumm Ting.

After a little ruffling, his hand emerged from the pot of paper slips. nervously, he unraveled the lot and- Two! The second complete pairing was him vs Dumm Ting. He cheered internally. The other pairing was Dowloon vs Godfrey in the first match, Bartholomew vs the assassin in the third and in the fourth match, it was Bercy against the Mudwizard.

However, Caleb didn't pay much attention to these proceedings, he was focused on imagining what he would soon do to Dumm Ting. But first, he had to leave the arena with the others. It was not his turn, yet.

...

Seth cheered for the dragon knight when the lots were drawn. To think that he would actually meet Dumm Ting like this, Caleb was really lucky. After the pairings were chosen, everyone but the poison fairy and Ibelin Godfrey left the arena.

The two were an interesting match-up that could go both ways with what they had shown so far. However, Seth's thoughts kept wandering to Python. He had tried contacting the deity golem after the events ended yesterday, but Python had fallen silent.

He was able to detect her fuzzy presence in the chamber below the tree. Although her not answering was concerning, the blacksmith was not too worried, as he could detect that she had another growth spurt after swallowing the demon and saving the day in front of the crowd.

At this pace, would Python ascend even before the tournament ended? He didn't quite know what level she was at the moment and the possibility was high that things went a little different for deities who grew with the power of faith. She probably had to concentrate. This had to be the reason she couldn't respond. He calmed himself with this thought.

“Everything okay?” Mina pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, sure,” he said with a smile, turning his attention back to the arena, where the fight was about to start.

“Who do you think will win?” he changed the topic and asked Mina. The cat girl looked down at the arena for a while, before a mischievous appeared on her lip.

“What do I get if I'm right?” she asked playfully. Seth fell silent for a moment.

“Well, what would you want?” he asked hesitatingly.

“Don't worry, I just want to try something tonight. I'm sure you will like it, too;” she said confidently, snuggling up to him.

“i also want to bet!” Fin involved herself in the conversation. Seth looked a Mina, who confidently agreed to let the fairy compete with the same stakes.

“Okay, then you have to say your predictions at the same time,” the blacksmith set the rules.

“On three: 1, 2, 3-”

“The Holy Knight”, they both announced at the same time, with utmost confidence.

“What now?” Seth asked, as they had both chosen the same answer.

“What else? if we are right, we both get to try something we want tonight;” Fin said leisurely.

Seth grimaced, so the only potential loser here was him...

“But why did you both choose the crusader?” Seth asked curious.

“You will see,” Mina said mysteriously but didn't explain. Fin also didn't reveal her secrets. he could only watch the fight to find out...