"We can solve this," Neon was lying on the floor, dazed from the referee's throw. He could only utter a few words as his vision blurred.
Silver Fang crushed the spot where Neon's head had been with a slicing kick. His werewolf genetics strengthened his body, so breaking the floor wasn't much of a challenge.
"Damn, that was close!"
"Could you tell us your name, esteemed fighter?"
Neon quickly got up from the floor. The spot where his face had been seconds ago was now dust, shattered under his opponent's kick.
"I'm not in the mood to tell you anything. I don't even have a nickname or anything like that!" he shouted, panting as he moved away from Silver Fang.
"Boo, don't run away!"
"Coward!"
The crowd began insulting Neon as he ran for his life, unable to do anything but force a deranged laugh.
"I'm starting to resemble that lunatic, if it weren't for him..."
"What are you doing? If you keep running, you'll be penalized for fleeing!"
Neon kept running, ignoring the referee's words. Honestly, he wasn't even listening—he had more important things to do, like... not dying?
*Zttttt~*
A crackling sound echoed, and the next thing Neon felt was the rough, cold ground.
"An... e-electric shock?" he said with difficulty, trying to get up from the floor, only to fall again.
"So weak. Please last a little longer," were the words that came from Silver Fang, who had elbowed Neon in the nape.
(Damn it, everything's blurry. Is this how it ends?) The blow seemed to have caused a concussion, as Neon could feel blood streaming down his eyes...
(No, I still have a chance. I almost forgot about Rogue!) His sister, being a vampire, could track the blood of people she knew, especially his, Neon thought.
"I can't give up here!" he bravely exclaimed as he got up from the floor and tackled, hoping to hold off his opponent for at least a few seconds, and very unlikely, a minute.
"Hahaha, what the hell was that? Is that all you can do?" said the ruthless Silver Fang as the crowd laughed at the situation.
"Damn it! Why am I so weak?" Neon couldn't do anything but explode in a burst of pessimistic feelings at that moment. He knew it was all over.
(Just a few more seconds, just a few more seconds...)
*Crack~*
Neon staggered back a few steps, unable to process the blow he received. His left eye was blocked by blood, and he could barely see anything.
"Ugh!" As if losing the finger the referee's throw had taken wasn't enough, Neon spat out all his fangs and then vomited a pool of blood onto the floor. His body was at its limit—tears, sweat, and blood mixed on his face and shirt.
"Don't be disheartened. I'm just doing my job..." were the words he heard from his executioner, thinking they would be the last he'd ever hear.
Silver Fang was about to sweep the cage with Neon's body, which oscillated between a person and a corpse.
"Is that the only crap you're going to tell me? How sentimental," Neon said as he spat in Silver Fang's face.
Silver Fang placed his hand on his cheek, wiping Neon's saliva, and then tensed his dominant leg tightly. It seemed he used Muay Thai and Taekwondo as his main martial arts, which explained the painful impacts.
"Any last words?" Despite how cliché that phrase sounded, for Neon it meant nothing but a death sentence.
"I..."
*BAAM!* A dull noise echoed inside the cage and in the stands with tremendous force. Rogue had struck Silver Fang at a terrifying speed, breaking the cage and embedding him into the wall.
"Neon!"
Rogue quickly ran to Neon, almost unrecognizable from the abuse he had suffered. The poor boy was on the brink of death...
"A doctor, please, PLEASE!" Rogue screamed frantically, hoping a doctor or a wizard experienced in healing magic would come to help her brother.
"Sister, I-I'm sorry. Get out of here before something happens to you!" Neon's voice seemed to be interrupted by what appeared to be a spell. The words simply wouldn't come out of his mouth, and he struggled to breathe.
Unfortunately, Rogue hadn't realized where she was.
The crowd watched in complete silence the unexpected development of the fight. Finally, they had something entertaining to enjoy tonight, and consequently, they applauded...
*Clap!* *Clap!*
*Clap!* *Clap!*
"Hey, referee, how about we make an exception this time?" The deranged mysterious man broke the silence this time.
"It's obvious the fight was unfair to the extreme. How about we make an exception and allow a 2-on-2?" argued the mysterious man with an intoxicating voice.
Then someone from the audience protested.
"But isn't Silver Fang supposed to be dead? Just look at him," an Anima, a pig-man, tried to argue that the fight was over.
"I suppose he's new here. He should respect the opinion of veterans more, like that bandaged gentleman over there," the referee pointed out and began speaking again.
"It's obvious this fight was unfair, so let's turn the tables. A new participant has entered the cage. I imagine she wouldn't mind participating in our little game, milady."
(Damn it, he's the one who threw me to the ground. Unfair fight, he says. Look who's... talking) Neon thought, kneeling in front of his sister as his consciousness was about to fade.
"Game? What are you talking about? Who did this to my brother?"
"Let the second round begin!" said the referee, cutting off Rogue's words.
"Just... was waiting to hear those words..." The hole in the wall where Silver Fang was began to break even more, revealing what seemed to be a huge figure.
"Mmm-mmm~!" Neon tried to warn his sister, who was too focused on him. However, his words simply wouldn't come out of his mouth.
"Bon Appétit," said a huge wolf as he opened his jaws to devour Rogue's head.
Suddenly, adrenaline exploded in Neon's exhausted body, pushing Rogue with his shoulder.
"Damn it, you never listen to me," Neon said, his voice growing weaker with each passing second.
"Neon? NEON!" Terrible was the sight Rogue witnessed when she saw Neon's condition—his arm detached on the ground, and a huge hole in his shoulder.
Silver Fang, now in his wolf form, was serious.
"Rogue, if one of us is going to die, let it be me! You have so much talent. I'm a disgrace to the family, so escape and tell Mother I love her, and tell Father not to be so hard on our siblings..."
"No way," Rogue couldn't help but bite her hands instinctively to avoid screaming, tears falling from her ruby-like eyes. She wanted to wake up from the nightmare she was in...
...She wasn't going to wake up...
*Chomp!* Neon's head was devoured at that moment by Silver Fang. His body, now colorless, mutilated, and bleeding, fell to one side.
"You're next!"
The crowd could do nothing but remain silent and witness such a bloody spectacle. What they thought would be a boring night turned into a feast for their eyes.
But the most terrifying thing was that any of them could be the one in the position of the now DEAD Neon.
(Neon is dead. I must get out of here. I'll do what he would have wanted,) Rogue thought as her brother's killer approached her, with no other option but to accept reality.
However, her transformation, which she thought she had mastered well, and her blood control—all those things—failed her in the face of the fear and dominance emitted by the huge werewolf in front of her.
"Damn it, his mouth is so big... Will I see Neon if I die? Does something like that even exist? No! Think straight, think straight..." Rogue's mind filled with intrusive and suicidal thoughts. She just wished this nightmare would end. She might even stick her head into the wolf's mouth—would that make it all end faster?
"Well, my mouth is this big... to eat you better!"
At that moment, Silver Fang leaped toward Rogue. However, a disgusting and twisted sound alerted him, so he stopped what he was doing. The noise came from his victim's corpse.
*Crack-crack!* *Shuffle...!*
He could hear the sound of bones colliding and stretching, along with flesh freezing, all thanks to his enhanced werewolf senses.
The pile of flesh that was Neon began to grow. A kind of skeleton started to form, and around it, muscles grew uncontrollably, forming the anatomy of a werewolf even larger than Silver Fang.
"What the hell is this? I didn't know the guy was a wizard!"
The crowd began to panic and tremble. They had never seen a spell like this—it was likely forbidden magic.
*Crack-*
A bunch of fur began to grow from the wolf's body. It was pure white, shining like silver. It also seemed to have a kind of bandages of a light golden color, somewhat deteriorated and stained with blood. Finally, the horror show was over.
Finally, a disturbing red eye opened in the middle of the forehead of the enormous beast that grew from Neon's corpse.
"(Did I... die?) Neon's thoughts returned to normal, but it wasn't him moving the new body—it was someone else.
However, someone in the crowd—just one person—wore a calm, content expression. His current laughter even frightened the other spectators, and blood began to drip from the bandage covering his eyes.
'I knew this boy was going to be interesting, but I didn't expect such a display of power.'
'Ha... Haha... Hahahaha!'"
"Maria, so this is what you were looking, only 1 left" Whispered the mystery man.
***
"What kind of witchcraft is this!?" exclaimed Silver Fang, as he moved away from Rogue to focus his full attention on Neon. Up to that moment, the boy had shown no trace of magic or metamorphosis—so he was probably considered defective.
But this? This was beyond the limits of imagination—a corpse coming back to life without the aid of necromancy or any similar spell.
"Who cares!"
Silver Fang lunged at what *was* Neon with his enormous werewolf body, colliding with him and pushing him backward.
But then he felt an immense pain in his shoulder; by the time he realized it, a chunk was missing—and that thing was chewing on it.
Silver Fang staggered away from Neon, his shoulder rapidly healing thanks to his regenerative werewolf abilities.
"Gulp." Neon had swallowed his opponent's flesh, then let out a disturbing laugh as he stretched his jaws until his mouth contorted.
"Neon? That… that isn't my brother… What is that thing?"
Long ago at home, Rogue had spent countless days poring over books about the various races, yet she had never seen any werewolf take such a form.
(His shoulder... The one that did that was me?) Neon was terrified. Yes, he was alive—but his body, or what appeared to be him, moved without his consent. It was him, yet at the same time, it wasn't the same person.
"Judge, are you sure this is safe? We might end up caught in the fight! Who knows when the Cage will become unusable?!" declared a vampiress—her wings giving her away—seeming ready to flee at any moment.
**"Yes!"**
**"She's right!"**
"I love street duels! But this is already a slaughterhouse!?"
Slowly, the crowd began shouting, and the Judge concurred. Many people started running toward the stairs to escape, each one fearing what might happen if they stayed; yet the exit was no longer there—only a rough wall remained.
"Clear the way!"
A werewolf transformed, using his sheer mass to shove the others aside as he barreled against the wall—though the only thing that ended up breaking was his head.
Multiple wizards attempted to tear open a gap in the wall or find an exit nearby with their spells, but all failed. Not even a scratch marred the wall from the magic.
"None is going to leave here without any fun—I can't let this drama end so quickly," said the mysterious man, still stationed at his usual spot and smiling all the while.
Rogue couldn't let her brother keep fighting to the death again. Gathering every ounce of concentration left, she fired a blood bullet at Silver Fang (that was her specialty). She was proud of her blood control; however...
"Not even a scratch—I'm just getting in the way," Rogue thought, glancing over at the Judge, who was gradually distancing himself from the fight. Yet she couldn't run; her local champion—her source of income—was now at risk.
Neon sprang up and quickly pounced on Silver Fang's exhausted body. He immediately began biting him—but it was no ordinary bite. A kind of blood-colored acid replaced his saliva, severing Silver Fang's regenerative ability.
"Judge? I think you have some unfinished business with me..."
The werewolves were reaching the climax of their fight.
It appeared that Rogue had chosen a more conventional target. She had turned her attention to the Judge, planning to use him as a hostage (the fight would soon end), she thought.
"This little runt is going to kill me! If I don't eat something to recover my ene-!"
"Hey, you flea, here's your boss! Now, if you don't surrender, won't anything, w-will happen?" stuttered Rogue—obviously, she had never killed anyone before, and now an inner conflict raged within her.
But it was a matter of her life and her brother's; she couldn't hesitate. She began driving her fangs into the Judge's arm, ready to drain him if Silver Fang wouldn't yield.
...That wasn't going to work...
*Crack!* A piercing, tearing sound resounded.
**"Hey! Thanks for the snack—without your help, I might have died. Aren't you pretty good at reading the situation, right?"**
The situation just can't be worse, right?