Chapter 15 - 14.2: Semifinal Part 2
The arena is engulfed in an unnatural darkness. Torches flickers and extinguishes along the stone walls. The crowd’s roar fades into frightened whispers as shadows deepens beyond the typical night.
Valdris stands at the heart of the pit, chanting while his arms is raised toward the vaulted ceiling. Dark energy pours from his fingertips like liquid smoke, which thickens the air with the stench of opened graves.
The sand beneath his feet cracks as a rift tears open in reality, jagged edges bleeding raw death energy into the arena. The temperature plummets by twenty degrees in an instant. Spectators are pressed back against the stone seats, terror replacing their bloodlust.
From the abyss comes something that had never been human.
The Harbinger crawls forth on limbs that bends unnaturally. Bone and sinew twisted into a grotesque mockery of life. Its skull is elongated, the jaw unhinged to reveal rows of needle-like teeth. Arms stretches too long, ending in claws that carves grooves into solid stone.
Leon’s breath mists in the sudden cold. His wounded body trembles as the creature’s presence presses against his mind like ice picks behind his eyes.
The monster stands eight feet tall, its movements are fluid yet alien—predatory grace mingles with insectoid precision. When it turns toward Leon, its eye sockets blazes with the same void that had birthed it.
Leon’s undead falters. His assassin stumbles, her precise movements becoming jerky. The Mage Zombie’s blue fire dims to barely visible sparks.
"Impressive, isn’t it?" Valdis laughs. "Fifteen years I’ve waited to summon this beauty. It devours magic itself."
The Harbinger moves—not running, but flowing across the sand like spilled oil.
Leon fires twice. His manna rounds strike the creature’s torso and vanish without effect. The shots don’t even slow it down.