This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The arena seemed to explode with energy as the lightning dragon's attack hit the water, sending a crackling surge of electricity rippling in an indiscriminate attack against everyone standing on the arena.

Soren, as the originator of the plan, had long been prepared and jumped on the water dragon's back not long after the plan was initiated.

Kain, however, was a very different, more pitiful, story.

Kain's scream pierced the air, his body convulsing as the electricity coursed through him. His muscles seized painfully, locking his limbs in place as he fell to one knee, unable to resist the sheer force of the attack. The shock spread through his system, wreaking havoc on his spiritual power as it tried to shield him. Explore more adventures at empire

"Kain!" Bridge shouted from the stands, his deep voice barely audible over the crackling energy.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

The electrified water evaporated rapidly, forming a thick mist that began to obscure the battlefield.

Queen flew to his side, her glowing antennae releasing a wave of green energy that spread over Kain. Her healing ability eased the pain in his body, soothing the burnt nerves and calming his spasming muscles.

Still trembling, Kain gritted his teeth and forced his spiritual power to circulate through his body. He directed it toward the residual electricity that was wreaking havoc within him, isolating and pushing it out bit by bit. His body slowly began to recover, though he could still feel the lingering ache from the lightning's intensity. It'd probably take a while to recover the residual damage this attack left on him.

Thankfully, Queen and the Vespids were unaffected by the initial attack. Their ability to fly had kept them above the electrified water.

Bea, too, was unscathed, having hidden herself inside a pocket of rock on Aegis's massive stone body earlier in the competition, making Soren's plot against her useless.

Aegis was the only other individual that stood solidly on the ground, the electricity surging through his stone body with visible arcs of energy. However, his natural resistance to lightning kept him standing, and due to the power of the lightning attack being dispersed as it hit the water, the electricity emitted from the electrified water honestly felt like a vibrating massage to him.

It seems like the only one to suffer from Soren's plan was… Kain.

However, although their relationship wasn't the best, Soren couldn't have possibly come up with this strategy with the expectation of taking out his anger on Kain—right? That would be way to petty.

Unfortunately, the previous attack doesn't appear to be the end of Soren's electrifying strategy.

The lightning dragon roared and released several more bolts of lightning, this time targeting the mist that had formed from the evaporated water during the previous attack.

These bolts interacted with the water droplets composing the mist and they carried and dispersed the electric current through the air, spreading the attack across the battlefield in a wide range.

The attack wasn't concentrated or deadly, but its reach was devastating and managed to even effect the flying spiritual creatures now.

Several of Queen's remaining Vespid guards, caught in the electrified mist, were paralyzed mid-air. They dropped to the arena floor, their wings twitching as they struggled to recover.

Kain's eyes narrowed as he assessed the situation. The battlefield was becoming increasingly hazardous. Soren's control over the arena's environment, using both the water dragon and lightning dragon in tandem, was suffocating.

"Enough of this," Kain muttered, his voice hoarse but resolute. He directed Queen to heal the remaining Vespids and launched a mental command to Bea.

Bea's threads shot out from her hiding spot, weaving through the mist to target the wind dragon. Thankfully, Bea's position on Aegis was concealed within the mist, otherwise she'd not only be easier to target, but her covert attack would be easier to defend against.

Once a thread made contract, the split was able to bypass the dragon's defenses and she began to exert her influence. The wind dragon faltered mid-flight, its movements becoming erratic as it struggled against Bea's control.

At the same time, Aegis moved to shield the paralyzed Vespid guards from the attacks of Soren's other dragons who tried to capitalize on their advantage. His stone body absorbed the residual electricity from the mist, cracks forming along his surface but holding firm.

Meanwhile, Queen released a powerful pulse of healing energy, restoring her remaining guards to fighting condition. The guards, reinvigorated, buzzed aggressively toward the water dragon, their stingers glowing with concentrated energy. However, although they were now able to fight, even after receiving a boost to their abilities from one of Queen's skills, they all only had about 60% of the strength of their peak.

Unfortunately, if they had been at their peak, they would have been able to take down the newly ascended green-grade water dragon with still unstable energy much sooner.

The battle raged on, each move from Soren met with a counter from Kain. The audience sat at the edge of their seats, captivated by the ferocity of the fight.

The mist that cloaked the arena began to clear, better revealing the events on stage to the audience.

What they saw seemed to indicate that Kain held the upper hand.

The water attribute dragon was surrounded by around a dozen battered and bruised Vespid wasp guards.

The guards buzzed around the blue serpentine dragon. Each time one managed to lodge a stinger in the dragon, it would siphon off a bit of its energy before it was quickly removed. However, the small opportunities to drain its energy began to accumulate.

The water dragon desperately thrashed, sending powerful waves crashing against the annoying bugs that surrounded it, but it was clear that it was on the back foot.

On the other side of the arena was the wind dragon which, under Bea's influence, was thrashing about on stage. Its once-graceful movements had become jerky, each wingbeat a struggle.

Soren's eyes narrowed as he noticed the change.

"Gale, focus!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the cacophony. His spiritual power flared, surging into the wind dragon to help it resist Bea's control.

The dragon's wings beat powerfully, sending gusts of wind slicing through the arena and even affecting the other flying spiritual creatures.

Bea redoubled her efforts on controlling the wind dragon's mind, forcing it into a constant tug-of-war.

As the one with the greatest resistance, Aegis took the initiative to confront the lightning-attribute dragon.

However, as the concentrated target of its attacks, the force of the lightning was much greater than when dispersed through the water or mist.

The impact sent shards of stone flying, but Aegis held his ground, his massive feet seemingly fused into the arena floor to steady himself.

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Finally, the water dragon seemed to be completely out of commission. Several stingers were lodged into its side, draining its energy, but it was too exhausted to continue removing them.

With a final, anguished roar, the water dragon collapsed, its massive form splashing into the shallow pool it had created.

Soren's jaw tightened as his most recent contract fell. The loss of the water dragon disrupted the balance of the match.

The wind dragon, now fully under Bea's control, turned on the lightning dragon. It unleashed a powerful gust of wind, forcing the lightning dragon to retreat. Soren's face twisted in anger as he became more certain that the tide of the battle was shifting. Unless he did something quickly, it'd only be a matter of time before he lost.

His dragon-like arms shimmered with spiritual energy as he prepared to intervene directly. With a roar, he leaped into the fray, his claws slashing toward the weakened Vespid guards.

Drained from the electrocution and then fighting with the water dragon, they could barely mount a defense against him, and instead focused on dodging and counterattacking when possible. After all, as long as they delayed long enough their side should win.

With the Vespids forced to fight with Soren, the Bea controlled wind-dragon and Aegis devoted themselves to taking down the lightning-attribute dragon.

Thankfully, due to its seeming reluctance to severely injure its ally, it eventually fell under their coordinated attacks.

Soren's eyes widened as he realized he was now alone. His dragons were down, and his spiritual power was nearly depleted.

A lurking Vespid guard launched a sneak attack from behind as he was distracted, forcing Soren to stumble backward, his dragon transformation fading.

The referee's voice cut through the tension of the arena. "In the match between Soren Lysander versus Kain Newman…the winner is Kain Newman!"

The crowd erupted into cheers and groans as they looked at the result of their bets. However, even those that had lost quite a lot of credits weren't too upset. The intensity of the battle was exhilarating to watch. They sided to just take the lost credits as a ticket fee for watching a good match.

Kain exhaled deeply, his body sagging with exhaustion as he recalled his battered contracts into his star space.

Soren glared at Kain, his pride clearly wounded. "The next time will be your loss, Newman."

Kain smirked, his confidence unshaken. "It seems you still haven't woken up from dreamland, Lysander."

As he walked off the stage, Kain couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. The battle had been grueling, especially since he had gone in at a disadvantage. But once again, he had proven why he belonged at the top.

Now the only one blocking his path to the top was his long time rival—Serena Storm.