Nameless King

The arena of the Colosseum became much larger, so it seemed each of the fighters had more than enough space to fight.

Also, none of them could take full control of the area since the arena was wide and large, there was plenty of room to maneuver. 

However, Gael didn't care about that, since there were no barriers for his ash. It didn't matter where he was, in the arena or among the mountains, his ashes could take any shape. Most often it was simple blades, sometimes swords, but all of it was something ordinary it was just energy management.

Obviously, someone of such high status as Gael had many different techniques in his arsenal, and what he was doing now was one of them.

"Ereg has prepared well for this battle, however, it's not about preparation but the fact that his power is very diverse. Several colors, each stage with its own unique features as well as several variations of attacks." Alucard said, looking at Gael with curiosity and anticipation, "But, Gael's arsenal is actually quite extensive as well. He just didn't have any reason to show it before."

Whooooooooooooosh.

With each passing second, the ash grew larger and larger, new streams seemed to appear out of nowhere, and from a single stream, several of the same size could appear at once.

Sure, Gael had to use massive amounts of energy to do this, most of his scars were shining brightly letting out their power. Well, the large scars were still ineffective, they were just passively increasing Gael's power, and waiting for the moment to come for them.

Ereg became alert, distributing purple energy throughout his body. He was ready to take an attack from any direction and defend himself even against Gael's sword.

But, there was nothing for him to worry about, at least for now.

"What's going on...?" Nila muttered with a dazed expression, looking at the streams of ash quickly forming a giant dome.

The spectators were puzzled as they could no longer see what was happening in the arena. The dense dome completely blocked their view, and all they could see was the ash moving in circles as if a vortex was going on inside the dome.

"What the hell...?" Wain said puzzled, "I wouldn't mind seeing Gael's new ability, but... we literally can't see anything."

"Well, hopefully, someone was as unhappy about it as we were, otherwise it won't be good at all." Sven said, rubbing his cheek uncertainly.

After all, they were only ghosts watching Alucard and Gael's memories, they had no way of affecting what was happening at the moment.

At the same time, Ereg's gaze completely changed as his amber pupil became slightly richer and deeper. Thus, he adjusted his vision to the new conditions to see everything in the dark, since there was no light under the dome and there was no way the sunlight could penetrate here.

"Oh, I thought it would take you longer to do this." Gael uttered before getting right in front of Ereg.

Whoooooooosh.

In a heartbeat, Ereg bounced aside, quickly finding himself dozens of meters away from Gael, whose sword was about to pierce his opponent.

"What is this? Your ability is just to plunge me into darkness? If so, I'm disappointed." Ereg frowned, "I am Beastfolk, even in the darkness created by the energy I can see very well, and with each passing second my vision is only getting sharper!"

Gael nodded, "I know that I'm just messing around. In fact, you have the advantage right now since I can't see in the dark, or rather only slightly and much worse than you."

"What...?" Ereg's eyes went wide in confusion, "Then what's the point of this ability... I haven't heard you use it before, it must be something special."

Gael nodded again, "Yeah, you're right, however, before I show it to you, there's one, no even two problems to solve."

"Hmm?" Ereg gave him a questioning look.

Then, Gael waved his hand, sending up particles of regular ash. They quickly approached the walls of the dome, aiming for different points. In fact, only Ereg could see them, thanks to his keen eyesight and the fact that he was already used to the darkness.

"I suggest closing your eyes, though in your case an eye." Gael smirked as the ash particles suddenly flared brightly.

The blinding light illuminated the entire space beneath the dome and also created circles of flame at ten different points, wide enough for the onlookers to see through.

Even though it was daytime, the spectators had to squeeze their eyes shut because of the flash that could blind them. Only after a few seconds did they get used to it.

"Wow... how beautiful..." Krana muttered sincerely as she looked at the dome and the arena inside it.

It seemed that after Gael's ability, there was another arena in the colosseum, but obviously, only Gael could benefit from it.

"Hey, you know what this dome is for, don't you?" Liang glanced at Alucard.

"Sure, but don't expect me to tell you. I want you all to enjoy the first emotion, for it's one of the most beautiful abilities I know. Compared to this, my blood weapon is ugly and crooked." Alucard said calmly, in anticipation.

No one asked any more questions, and everyone held their breath, waiting for Gael's next action.

"Before you make your move, tell me, what was that ash before this? Why was it white and not the gray one?" Ereg asked with a serious expression, preparing for battle.

Gael smiled, "Well, you have yet to find out, however, white one I will show you right now."

Gael stretched forward his hand as white ash began to emerge from his fingertips. The process was rather long and inefficient, at least it seemed so, because Gael could produce many streams of ordinary ash with a simple wave of his hand.

In a few seconds, he was able to create a bit more white ash than when he sacrificed the blade of his sword for it.

Whoooooooooooooosh.

As before, the white ash surrounded its creator, carefully protecting it like a loyal partner.

"White ash for protection, right?" Ereg asked, while his aura slowly intensified.

Gael nodded, "Yeah, defense is what white ash does, however, it has just as many other functions."

"Hmm?" Ereg looked at him puzzled.

At the same moment, some of the white ash went towards his wounds, mostly to his stomach and jaw where there was still quite a bit of blood from Ereg's powerful attacks.

The white ash shone brightly, like a warm sun that healed any creature's wounds much faster.

Ereg's eyes went wide, watching as his opponent's wounds recovered quickly, after a while only half of the damage was left of the wounds.

However, it was then that the white ash stopped glowing and returned to normal, once again circling around Gael like a moving shield.

"Surprised? Don't worry, I'm not an Alucard, I don't have insane regeneration. Even with the help of white ash, that's the most I'm capable of."

Ereg shuddered as a chill went down his back, and his fur rose up from the realization of how much their fight had now changed.

"What...? Why does Mr. Ereg have that look on his face...?" Nila asked worriedly, "Isn't that weak regeneration? Gael has healed his wound by about half. That's all."

"Stop talking nonsense." Liang snorted, causing Nila to frown.

"What...?! What did I say wrong this time!" Nila clenched her fists unhappily, with her cheeks puffed up.

Liang sighed, "They are both one of the strongest, and before that Ereg had an advantage in physical ability, and it remains until now. This allowed him to constantly inflict more wounds on his opponent than he received. Thus, gradually Ereg was getting closer to victory as Gael would eventually run out of stamina even in the last stage."

"However, things have changed now." Alucard smirked insidiously.

"Yes." Liang nodded, "Even if it's a moderate level of regeneration it puts Ereg in a difficult position. His advantage in speed and strength has been maintained, but greatly weakened because his wounds are no longer as effective as before."

Nila nodded silently. She hadn't thought about it from this side, and now her worry had grown again. One way or another, she wanted Ereg to win, it was her only wish as a Beastfolk.

"Well, you've seen some of the possibilities of Ashes. Now it's time to move on to something more interesting, isn't it?" Gael uttered with a sly smile before pointing his sword at Ereg.

Ereg immediately took a defensive stance, not knowing what Gael was about to do.

The tip of Gael's sword flashed brightly, and then a multitude of flames appeared all over the dome. There were about ten of them in total.

Very quickly, each flame turned into a replica of Gael's sword, and they too were aimed at Ereg.

"Good luck defending against that." Gael uttered before swinging his sword.

At the same moment, ten flaming swords descended upon Ereg, quickly approaching him and leaving a plume of fire behind them.