The lady in the blue mask was ready to shoot. The bluish arrow was seething and begging to be released, as if it had a mind of its own.

"Wait," said the man in the golden mask with his deep authoritative voice.

The lady did not wait another second. Within the blink of an eye, the bow and arrow vanished into thin air.

She delicately moved back to her seat and picked up the cup to finish the unfinished tea.

"What are we waiting for? It’s a taboo. The cursed beast will consume his mind, he will become unstoppable," said the man in the black mask, extremely cautious for his own good.

The gold masked man gave him a side look. "Aren’t you a bit too talkative today?"

The man in the black mask licked his dried lips beneath the mask, he wanted to retort but he dared not.

"Reginald is there, we have nothing to worry about." He then looked at Ildiem. "How strong are these barriers?"

Ildiem was astounded, it was his first time seeing a bestial type blessed who had made a bond with a cursed beast from such close proximity.

The one in the silver mask snapped his fingers, loud enough to bring him back to alertness. "Mr. Ildiem, you were asked a question."

"Oh... I am sorry. They are quite strong, not even a four-lined blessed could break them."

The silver masked man gave a tentative glance to the gentleman in the orange mask.

"This is Reginald’s arena and Ildiem’s event, who are we but guests to meddle in their profitable affairs?" the man in orange gave the answer they needed.

It was a fight to the death declared by both parties, mediated by two giants of this sport.

Only their call could end this and the main man was in the very heart of the battleground, Reginald.

Silence befell inside the room.

Max was worried and so were the others. Thane looked at the screen with eyes of astonishment, he had never seen such a thing.

The bear transformation and that thing... despite his county being close to Blackwild Forest, he had never seen any cursed beast in his life.

His eyes were more dazed than afraid, glued to Vidu.

Inside the dome layered by barriers of protection, a twelve-foot monster stood. The air was warmed by his flaming breaths.

Reginald boldly stood between him and Hawk. Not afraid, but slightly excited.

Hawk touched his arm and gently tried to push him aside. "It’s my fight. Please, let me fight, uncle."

"Not anymore, he is a threat to mankind, I doubt he still has sanity left in him," Reginald said, his words loud enough to echo across the arena.

And then, Hawk heard the most sinister sneer of his life. A chuckle so eerie as if wraiths were laughing.

"I am Vidu Morris, uncle. Not someone who would lose against a puny cursed beast." Vidu spoke, his voice sent chills down the spine.

The wounds on his body started to heal, the long gash sealed itself and the leg that was cut started to mend.

Now, for the first time, Reginald’s eyes widened in surprise. "You can... talk?"

Reginald was raised and groomed on battlefields for as long as he remembered.

He saw several of his companions, seniors and juniors fall before his very eyes.

Yet the man survived and reached the level of five-lined blessings. That alone was a feat worth discussing beneath starry nights.

However, even such a man had never seen anyone talk after bonding with a cursed beast. No... he had. He remembered, and somehow it bothered him even more.

The reason bonding with cursed beasts was forbidden was because they eventually devoured the mind, the curse rivalled the blessing of humans.

The strange bond surely granted strength beyond one’s wildest imagination but the risk was too great to ignore.

Once lost, they could even kill their own companion.

A three-lined blessed could potentially wipe out an army of thousands if not faced by someone with the same or higher rank.

"That’s the Drevlorn Dynasty’s work, how did he get his hands on it?" the golden masked man said.

"I’ll look into it," the man in the orange mask replied, this time there was no joy in his words but concern.

Hawk stepped forward, passing Reginald before the latter caught his hand. "Do you not understand, Hawk?"

Hawk shook his head. "Death is the only thing that stops me now."

"Shut your mouth. The Pit is yours now, I declare you the winner." He then looked at the red demon, who stood there like a god of death ascending from the bottom of hell. "Vidu is now an enemy of the kingdom, we will deal with him."

"No, I will fight him," Hawk insisted stubbornly.

Reginald sighed, he resorted to force when a voice echoed.

"Let them fight."

A familiar voice. Many spectators wheeled their faces around but could not find its owner, it belonged to the man in the golden mask.

Reginald gritted his teeth, he looked at Hawk in seethe. He wanted to save his life but the latter was adamant on choosing death, then so be it.

He stepped aside, clearing the way between Vidu and Hawk.

Hawk also looked at Vidu, now with a calm mind. He too decided to use something he had saved for the worst scenario, his second gift.

"First Upgrade," he mumbled.

Things started to change the moment he closed his eyes.

A strange stillness spread across the battlefield, contrary to Vidu’s chaotic waves.

Light emerged from within Hawk’s body. Vidu grinned, he didn’t rush and allowed whatever was happening.

A brilliant emerald radiance burst through the cracks of his royal blue diamond arms, like sunlight piercing through frozen ice.

Reginald’s expression darkened. "He is invoking another transformation!"

Sharp clunking sounds reverberated across the arena and Hawk’s skin began to crystallize.

It was louder and faster than Vidu’s transformation.

Emerald-green diamonds erupted from his body in jagged formations, climbing across his arms, chest and shoulders like living gemstones growing at terrifying speed.

Muscles expanded and hardened into flawless crystalline structures while massive shards protruded from his back and forearms like blades forged by gods.

The colour changed from royal blue. He was now an eight-foot warrior sculpted from emerald diamond.

His face remained expressionless as his entire skin turned into crystal, leaving only two piercing eyes glowing beneath the diamond structure.

Light reflected endlessly through the diamond covering his body, every movement released a sharp chiming cacophony, as if thousands of glass-forged swords were colliding together.

The crowd stared in horror as the two monsters faced one another on the battleground.

One had turned into an otherworldly embodiment of evil, horrifying and ready to tear the continent apart.

The other became a fine sculpture, a living weapon made from diamond, beautiful yet unbreakable.

And for the first time that night, even Reginald Seraph looked uncertain whether the arena would survive what came next.

Max’s eyes were glued to the screen, his expression shifting from trembling in horror to awe.

He had been certain his precious manager was about to die. Be that as it may, it turned out the man still had a card up his sleeve.

"What an unfortunate disappointment, such rare blessings the two of them received.

Yet we are about to witness the demise of one over meaningless strife," uttered the man in the golden mask.