Nameless King



Gael slowly turned around with a calm expression, looking at Ereg being in agony. He didn't continue to attack or do anything, Gael just pointed his sword to the ground slightly holding the hilt, and directed his gaze at his opponent, waiting. 

If Ereg couldn't handle the ash particles tearing him from the inside, then there was no point in continuing their fight. Only if Ereg succeeded in getting rid of the ash would their battle be truly meaningful.

Ereg had no trouble blocking the cut with darkness to keep the blood from flowing from it, but it wasn't enough. He somehow needed to deal with the ash that continued to rage chaotically through his body, bringing more wounds with each passing second.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!" Ereg internally exclaimed with his face contorted in pain, "My darkness isn't capable of dealing with them, that's for sure... In that case, what the hell am I supposed to do?!

Liang frowned, "This is bad."

Nila anxiously looked at him, while her heart began to beat faster.

"You don't have to look at me like that. I can't help him anyway even if I wanted to, no one can." Liang shrugged his shoulders.

"But... Could the ash be that dangerous? Why isn't Ereg doing anything?!" Nila exclaimed in confusion, clenching her fists tightly. 

"He just can't." Alucard said coldly, keeping his hands in his pockets, "Enough yelling, either Ereg will lose or win, there's nothing to discuss. All we can do is watch the fight, keep doing it, and hope it doesn't end up so boring."

Nila wanted to say something, but at the feel of Alucard's powerful pressure, her words stuck in her throat, unable to get any further. She just gulped, turning hopefully towards the arena and watching Ereg.

'Wait... If he can use his ashes in this way, what's stopping me from using my darkness in the same way?' Ereg's eyes went wide when he momentarily forgot about the pain, then he had an idea that could save his life.

'Mere darkness won't be enough to get rid of the ashes of the Progenitor of Ashens, however... I have an unusual darkness.' Ereg pondered while looking at his claws.

The phantoms that were his weapons and claws were special, combining the blood energy emanating from Ereg himself. These two phantoms, he had created and fed for hundreds of years, solely with his own energy and blood, only through such a long process was he able to turn them into weapons that were perfectly suited to his fighting style.

'Well, I've never done this before, I'm not even sure I can control them properly, but... do I have any other choice?' Ereg sighed, still feeling the bright pain, before swinging his arms.

The six claws turned into phantoms, however, they were too large to safely penetrate Ereg's body. 

So, at Ereg's will, the six phantoms split into two, then another and another, until they were as small as ash particles, being only slightly larger. Cumulatively, the number of phantoms became equal to a hundred.

"Agh... Let's go, guys, I hope you can do it. You know your target and I advise you to hurry... I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out..." Ereg muttered as he coughed with massive clots of blood while dark trickles flowed from the corners of his mouth.

A hundred phantoms glanced over, despite their tiny size they retained their creepy ghost form, and then they headed towards Ereg's head penetrating his body through his nose, mouth, and ears. 

Wain nodded deeply as he watched Ereg, "Well, well, a little more, and this fight would probably be over, but he found a way to deal with the ash. That's impressive."

Sven sighed, "Honestly I thought he couldn't handle it. Maybe I'm wrong, but Ereg looks kind of weak or unsure, I'm not sure. Gael didn't see the explosion and got seriously injured, but none of that matters."

Sven continued, "Ereg is trying to win, you can see that it's very important to him, so he's using everything he has, whether it's defense, tactical attacks, or unique techniques. However, after revealing his weapons, Gael made only one attack, a rather simple, even primitive one. He added some ash and Ereg found himself dying. Lucky he found a way to deal with it, though we still have yet to see the result of his actions."

Osvald shook his head, "I disagree. Beastfolks get stronger gradually, it's definitely not the full strength of Ereg. I'm sure of it."

"I think so too." Marlis nodded, which in a way was surprising since she rarely agreed with Osvald. They usually argued since their personalities were completely different.

"Gael may not have shown anything yet, but he's already revealed medium-sized scars while Ereg hasn't gotten to the next level yet. To some extent, they are at different stages now and Ereg is trying to fight back. Moreover, Osvald is right that beasts that Beastfolks, get stronger during battle and especially when they find themselves in a deadly situation." Marlis waved her hand with a smart look.

Sven didn't say anything, he just continued to watch Ereg. He didn't believe that Ereg would be able to give a decent fight to Gael, but he listened to Marlis and Osvald's opinions. After all, they were among the strongest Arkans like him. 

Whooooooooooooooosh.

At the same moment, a hundred phantoms moved inside Ereg's body, they were small enough to reach every part of it, be it stomach, arm, or heart.

The ash particles were like tiny blades piercing Ereg's flesh, drawing blood, and causing Ereg serious damage. All this time they had been doing this with impunity, but now dark particles with a crimson aura that were phantoms were heading towards them.

It was like the body's immune system using white blood cells and macrophages to destroy a virus or disease. The phantoms approached the ash particles, sinking their teeth into them and tearing them apart.

The ash particles tried to run away, forgetting their primary goal of injuring Ereg. The phantoms chased the ash like a plague, slowly destroying it.

After a while, Ereg felt relaxed while the phantoms one by one left his body, showing that they had already accomplished their mission.

A small amount of ash still remained in his body, but the last phantoms quickly destroyed them, allowing Ereg's wounded body to breathe a sigh of relief.

He didn't have the same regeneration as Alucard, but he was a Progenitor, and a Beastfolk, so his wounds healed rather quickly, especially the internal ones.

"Agh... That hurt like hell." Ereg took a deep breath as a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Then, a hundred phantoms turned into six, heading towards Ereg's gloves and becoming sharp, long claws capable of cutting through anything.

Gael nodded, unable to hide a slight smile. He was obviously glad that his opponent was able to be resourceful, as Ereg only had one way to get rid of the ash inside his body.

"Hmm... I wonder what the others would do if they ended up in Ereg's place?" Krana asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

Alucard smirked, "You're wondering how I would have handled the ash?"

"Yeah... I think that's exactly what I said..." Krana mumbled uncertainly, not knowing if she had used the right words.

"Well, it obviously wouldn't be a problem for me. I wouldn't even bother trying to get rid of them, since even a thousand ash particles are incapable of hurting me faster than I regenerate." Alucard shrugged nonchalantly, completely confident in his abilities.

"Hey... That's too corny. What would you do if you needed to destroy them?" Nila frowned, unhappy with such an answer.

Krana gasped, "Wait, I didn't mean for you two to fight."

Alucard glanced at her, shook his head, and waved his hand.

"It's okay. You don't always have to focus on just the words, look more at the emotions and tone of whoever is speaking. It will allow you to understand the situation better."

Krana nodded silently with an awkward look. It was hard for her to make casual conversation like everyone else did. She was still learning.

"What about your question..." Alucard said thoughtfully, "Well if Gael's ashes ended up in my body, I would destroy it with blood drops or blood threads. I would do something like that."

Krana nodded and looked at Liang and Nitra.

"Damn, looks like we have no choice but to participate in this too." Liang shook his head with a tired look, "Wind. Tiny streams of wind would destroy the ash, that's it."

Nitra shrugged, "Just lightning. I don't think I'd have to use the power of space to deal with them."

Then, all eyes returned to the arena.

Gael pointed his sword at Ereg and said, "Strengthen yourself. You were able to deal with the aftermath of my attack this time, but you won't have that opportunity again."

"No."

Ereg smirked, removing his palm from his side where nothing remained of the long cut.

"I want to test myself. You're not going to get any weaker, so... Attack!" Ereg cheerfully exclaimed, preparing for his opponent's deadly attack.