Nameless King

Bam. Bam. Bam.

Gael ruthlessly attacked his enemy, an old friend and one of the strongest creatures in the entire world.

Ereg could do nothing, he moved at the limit of his physical capabilities to dodge Gael's massive swords.

'Fuck... If this keeps up I'm just going to lose all my blood...' Ereg internally muttered, seeing only black and white flashes in front of him.

Ereg's body had been working reflexively for a long time now, thanks to his sharp and incredible instincts. His mind didn't have to control every movement or muscle just to defend himself from the endless hail of attacks.

Gael only used four of his scars and it seemed that was more than enough to win.

Everyone who watched this fight, whether it was Wain, Sven, or Alucard with Liang. Sure, there were hundreds of strong Beastfolks here at Fifth Chronicle, but... their opinions didn't matter.

The fight between Gael and Ereg was far out of line and had already dragged on considerably. Everyone realized that it was worth ending it as soon as possible and preferably with Ereg's victory - well, this was Beastfolk World, and he was their king.

Whooooooosh.

Gael swung his swords from bottom to top, cleaving Gael's chest and causing streams of dark blood to rush out.

No one said anything, everyone just watched as Gael was fast approaching victory, and that was considering he still had three giant scars and The Form. However, Ereg also had The Form, but he had almost no trump cards left.

All Ereg could count on was his Ether, and more specifically the blue ghost that there was no way he could reach 90%. Sure, after 90% his power would be much stronger, Ether was an unstoppable power, but... it seemed that Ereg just didn't have enough time for that.

'Shit... I have yet to deal with this...' Ereg internally muttered, glancing at the huge vortex that had already almost reached its peak power.

Then, after about half a minute, Ereg finally stopped wallowing in his thoughts and moved on to some action.

However... what he did was not at all what one would expect in such a situation.

Crackle.

Ereg slammed his forehead into Gael's head with all his might, causing him to lose his balance for a moment. Gael's wind swords may have made his movements faster, but Ereg was still physically stronger.

Gael tried to recover quickly to counterattack, but it was not necessary.

Crackle.

Ereg grabbed Gael's arm and thrust the wind swords into himself, right into his chest, he didn't seem worried that it might damage his organs.

"What the hell...?" Gael's eyes went wide, looking at the blood dripping down the blades of the swords and his hands, only for massive drops to fall to the ground and soak in.

Ereg smiled bitterly, while his gaze quickly grew weaker, losing the flame of life.

"I'm sorry... I'm tired of constantly running away and defending myself from your attacks. No matter what I did, you constantly found a way to outmaneuver me or suppress my abilities." Ereg muttered, coughing up clots of blood.

Well, that didn't change Gael's reaction in any way. He stared at Ereg with disbelief, really not understanding how he was supposed to act in such a situation.

Moreover, Gael was sure that it wasn't some cunning plan of Ereg's, but... he realized that Ereg had done it for a specific reason.

"Unlike you, I don't have that many different abilities..." Ereg whispered, his voice was extremely weak, and only a few besides Gael could hear it. Among them were Wain, Sven, Alucard, and Liang.

They listened attentively to Ereg's every word as if the fate of the entire world depended on it.

"My power is quite simple, even too simple for some of my status. Sure... I have various ghosts, but each new ghost is just a stronger version of the past, nothing special... Other than The Form, I only have Ether, the only unique power... that I managed to obtain..."

Then, Ereg looked up and raised his gaze to meet the vortex that was clearly ready to descend upon him and destroy him. The only reason it hadn't happened yet was because Gael didn't want it to.

Gael had planned to severely exhaust his opponent with slashing swings of his swords, and then deal critical damage with the vortex... However, that was now impossible, as his swords pierced Ereg.

"It's either all or nothing... Unleash the vortex. You will either kill me or I will become strong enough to defeat you... I will no longer run away, defend myself, and act on your plans... for that is why I lost last time. I won't let that happen again." Ereg uttered while his strength was quickly leaving him.

However, Gael did not take this opportunity. Perhaps if it were him, someone else would have immediately unleashed a whirlwind on Ereg, but Gael just felt that there was something wrong here.

Even if Ereg was injured, it was his plan that wasn't working, though... he had almost won, hadn't he?

Crackle.

Ereg suddenly frowned heavily and grabbed Gael by the neck, squeezing it tightly. He had almost no strength left, he used the last of what he had to do it. Ereg's grip was strong enough to break any creature's neck, but Gael was able to withstand this abnormal pressure for a while.

"What the hell are you doing... Bastard?" Gael frowned, trying to unclench Ereg's hands, but it seemed that it was simply impossible here.

Ereg smiled bitterly.

"Now you only have two choices: either you bring this vortex down on me and most likely kill me, or I kill you! If I break your neck and rip your head off your body, you won't be able to use your scars to go back in time. Isn't that right!" Ereg roared furiously like a madman.

Gael resisted for a few more seconds but soon realized that he had no choice.

Gael swung his hand slightly, and the vortex went into motion.