Nameless King

Several hundred meters of land had been destroyed, making a wide path from the Colosseum to the clearing that was near the snowy mountains. On the ground, here and there, were specks of the crimson flame, along with the darkness slowly dissipating.

One Ereg's attack, was able to create a wide hole in the colosseum, leaving no chance for his opponent. It was a real shock to everyone that Ereg was able to damage the colosseum and even destroy its part, however, once again everyone had to wonder again.

"What the hell..." Nitra muttered in disbelief, looking at Gael, steady on his feet.

Every humanoid creature had two legs and two arms, obviously, Gael was no exception to that rule. However, now something changed as his left arm was no longer there - it had just been destroyed by Ereg's attack. 

Ereg's look became more serious as he took a few steps back, allowing his opponent to come to his senses.

Gael stood still while thick streams of blood dripped from his left arm - all that was left of it - falling to the ground.

It was a total defeat in this round, nothing could change that. Ereg had completely won without leaving his opponent any chance.

"Damn... Even I couldn't expect this..." Liang muttered in disbelief, as his eyes went wide, "With one attack to destroy part of the colosseum and Gael's arm... I'm afraid that none of us would be able to endure something like that."

"Yeah... That's bad." Alucard said with a calm expression.

"Are you worried about your friend...?" Krana asked, unsure.

Alucard smirked, "No. Not at all. In this case, you should be worried about Ereg, because Gael will never let something like this happen again. Hehehehe, it would be incredible."

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same moment, an energy of monstrous power that could scare any creature, even a Dragon, began to emanate from Gael.

Ereg immediately jumped back as he could not act carelessly in such a situation. Eventually, the crimson aura had already dissipated and his strength had returned to the level at which their round had taken place.

He was no longer significantly stronger than Gael, so Ereg had to act carefully so as not to lose because of one random strike.

"Agh... Ereg... You surprised me..." Gael muttered in a hoarse voice, like an old man who saw something interesting for the first time in hundreds of years.

"Wasn't this to be expected? You gave your word that you would fight seriously. Did you underestimate me?" Ereg asked with a great frown.

Unlike Alucard, he or Gael couldn't just grow a new arm thanks to his regeneration. Now, Gael was significantly weakened, even if he used his right arm to swing his sword.

This frustrated Ereg, because his opponent no longer possessed his former strength, which meant their fight would not be as interesting, and would never reach a true peak. Moreover, because of all these factors, Ereg felt that this fight was no longer as important as before.

"Oh, don't worry, nothing will change." Gael muttered as if he could read Eregl's thoughts which made his eyes go wide for a moment.

"Though, no, I didn't put it right. Our fight won't become less serious or important, only one thing will change, the danger, to you." Gael uttered, before pulling his urca forward.

At the same moment, the streams of energy emanating from him turned into streams of ash, rapidly spinning like a chaotic vortex.

Then, new scars glowed brightly on his body - the big ones, the practical strongest ones that Gael had, aside from some giant ones.

Ereg narrowed his eyes as he didn't understand what his opponent was about to do.

"Gael, even if your big scars boost your strength to the next level, which is obviously going to happen... it still won't be enough. You can't win or give me a decent fight without an arm, it's just not possible." Ereg said seriously, not trying to mock or joke. He was speaking pure facts and how he thought.

Gael shrugged, "Well, my arrogance led me to defeat in this round, and the same thing is about to happen to you. Do you think my scars are so useless that they only give me strength?"

"Agh...?" Ereg's eyes went wide in confusion.

The others had the same reaction, no one knew what Gael was talking about except Alucard. There was a sly smirk on his face, he was the only one who knew Gael's secret, or rather his scars. 

"Everyone knows that my scars are my unique ability... They give me power, but that's not their purpose, it's the effect." Gael uttered, with a cold stare, looking at Ereg, who didn't understand what was happening.

"In fact - the purpose of my scars is one - to remember outstanding battles, to forever leave on my body the memory of important battles and strong opponents I have fought against. In that case... my scars are a kind of portal to the past, to my past and my battles." Gael explained before snapping his fingers.

Then, several medium and small scars from his chest and back began to move towards his left shoulder. Cumulatively, about 1/5 of all the small and medium scars headed towards his shoulder, but no large scars came to move. 

Ereg's eyes went wide, watching as ash transformed into a new arm - it was obviously artificial, Gael couldn't control it like his own.

However, as the scars appeared on the new arm and shone brightly, disintegrating into particles of light, bones, veins, flesh, and blood began to appear amongst the ash. 

In a few seconds, at the cost of a few dozen scars, Gael's arm was fully restored, though that wasn't quite the right way to label that process.

"What the hell...?" Nila muttered in disbelief as she looked at Alucard, "So he too has a way to regenerate like you?"

Alucard shook his head, "It's not regeneration. Scratches, bruises, or cuts on Gael's body regenerate at the same rate as Ereg or Liang. Gael doesn't have the ability to grow himself a new limb, at least not during battle."

"In that case... What is it? That arm looks like the real thing... Is it really an illusion or a copy?" Nila tilted her head, trying to figure out what Gael had done.

"No, it's pretty simple. By using some of his scars, Gael has regained the hand he possessed in one of the battles, or rather the last one, perhaps even from the beginning of this duel." Alucard shrugged. 

"Technically, that arm that crimson energy ray destroyed can never come back. However, Gael just got his own hand back, as he pulled it out of a portal that allows time travel. Something like that." Alucard explained.

After a while, Nila nodded uncertainly. It was hard for her to realize that such a power existed in this world, to her it was something that was beyond normal.

"Damn... Doesn't that mean he's immortal like you? If he loses all of his limbs, he can just retrieve them from the past, and that's it... He'll continue fighting onward without any repercussions..." Nila said in a trembling voice.

Alucard shrugged, "Your words are not without meaning, however, this skill has an obvious price. Gael has spent some of his scars, and perhaps it is one of the most valuable resources in the world. They cannot simply be recovered, they can only be earned in battle."

Krana took a few steps forward, watching Gael carefully, "Interesting... How does that happen... I mean, just now we saw the scars disappear. But, what has to happen for a new scar to appear?"

"Well, that's obvious." Alucard smirked, narrowing his eyes, "Like all other creatures, scars appear at a serious level. Naturally, losing an arm is an appropriate case.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

At the same moment, Gael's aura became much stronger, and all of his energy traveled towards his shoulder.

Ereg prepared to fight, displaying his long claws of thick darkness in front of him, however, Gael wasn't going to attack, not now.

"Ereg, I thank you. Your attack showed me that you are a worthy opponent, and I am very glad, that it was I who had the honor of fighting you. You destroyed my left arm, and I had to spend a lot of scarring to repair it, however... I also gained something." Gael smiled, radiating majestic power and genuine joy.

Whoooooooooooooooooooosh.

Massive streams of energy, disappeared into Gael's shoulder, then at the place where his arm had been lost, a gruesome scar appeared, large and multifaceted, as if from an explosion or a lightning strike. It was much larger than the average one and was now one of the strongest in the category - big ones.

"Hah, if you were to advance to the next stage, your attack could leave a giant scar on my body, but I think it's too early for that." Gael smirked before stepping forward and raising his sword upwards.

The small stones on the ground shook from his action, while wind currents gathered around the sword as if it were the center of the universe - heavy and powerful.