Chapter 16: Alexei, The Monster

(3° person POV)

(Ari): “How do I say it… it was a heated tournament.”

He said. It wasn’t an intended pun, it was a truly heated tournament, the fighters fought with strong spirit and stubbornness. Literally and figuratively heated. However, the one that caught the most attention is the now Red King, Alexei Ivanov.

(Serena): “For someone that rivals Luminus-san, he is quite magic-focused.”

She said. It’s true, Alexei fought mainly with magic, barely summoning any creature and barely even move. He has as much mana as Lorelay, but way more firepower.

(Umbra): “We didn’t even seen his unique magic yet.”

(Maria): “What do you mean?”

(Umbra): “For what I heard, he has the highest firepower between the kings. Something to do with a monster that he has. I don’t know the details of his magic, but I heard that it was during this match that he gained the nickname The Monster.”

(Serena): “Well, there’s a nickname that’s intimidating…”

She said, looking at the screen. The next fighters were then announced.

(Mina): “On the right side, the best summoner among the red mages, and with the greatest arsenal of monsters! Dorval Agni, the Giant Master! On the left side, the best fire manipulator among the red mages, Alexei Ivanov, the Firestarter! Which one of them will come out victorious?!”

Alexei entered the view of the four watching the tournament, and they gazed to the thin and small body, different from what they imagined when they saw him for the first time. A handsome face with red hair and red eyes, pale skin and a stoic expression and eternally angry, dressed in lose red robes.

His opponent, an average bloke, took twelve cards from his grimoire, eleven of them turning into red mana and being absorbed into the last card, of which he threw in the ground. A strong red glow emanated, and an enormous silhouette rose.

Eight meters tall, with reddish skin with a rugged texture, clearly a tough and thick hide, dressed in a simple loincloth and holding an enormous club. Its red eyes glared at Alexei, who is unmoving, slammed the club in the ground and roared in fury.

(Mina): “A Fire Giant! A high ranking red monster! It’s quite common in the high part of the mountains, and as it has a simple mind, defeating it with some cunning is enough to capture it and control it!”

With a mental command, Dorval made the giant attack, and Alexei took six cards from his grimoire. Three turned into red mana and were absorbed by the other three, one for each. He threw them in the air, and they turned into bats made of fire.

The fire bats didn’t lose time, and flew straight to the eyes of the giant, stopping the dumb hulk in it’s tracks as it tried to get rid of the bats. Instead of helping the giant, Dorval took twenty cards from his grimoire, smiling evilly.

(Dorval): “Let’s see how you deal with this!”

Nineteen of the cards turned into mana and were absorbed by the last one, and with a flash and a throw, a new creature appeared. Twelve meters, four arms and two heads with a muscular body, each head with one eye and a short horn in the top of the bald heads.

(Mina): “After having his giant hindered by the Hellbats, Dorval summons a Mountain Troll! And a two headed variant no less! Red monsters are resistant to red magic by nature, Alexei is in a tight spot as he doesn’t have strong summons!”

Alexei smiled, taking twelve cards from his grimoire as the giant approached. Eleven of the cards turned into mana, and absorbed by the last one, turned into a red flash as he threw it above his head.

The red light turned dark, to the color of blood. Tentacles swayed out of the light, covered in small red scales, with mouths on the tips, the sharp fangs snapping in the air. The light died quickly, revealing a floating ball of scales with a mouth with several tentacles connected to it. the mouth with fangs opened, revealing an eye inside.

(Mina): “Unbelievable! Alexei summons a gazer, a monster that is common in the black side of magic, and very, very rarely in red magic! A complete surprise, as there shouldn’t be any gazers in this island that we know of!”

The troll was upon them, and the beholder swung its long tentacles that stick out of its three meters diameter body. The tentacles had surprising weight to them, slamming on the troll, forcing it to protect itself.

However, the gazer didn’t do only that. The eye opened, glowing red, the air trembled with heat. The troll didn’t even thing of avoiding, as he thought that as it was fire magic, and it wouldn’t even hurt him. However, Dorval noticed the danger, and ended up screaming>

(Dorval): “Get out of there!”

However, it was too late. A white ray of heat shot out of the eye, piercing the torso of the troll, blinding everybody in the arena. When the light died, only the waist down of the troll was left. All the air of the arena inside the barrier was trembling with heat.

The giant that was having trouble with the bats was able to kill them, but not that it mattered at the moment. the gazer looked at him, and one of the tentacles lashed, it’s mouth biting the throat of the monster, tearing it apart.

Dorval frowned, nervous, and took thirty-one cards, preparing his next move.

(Mina): “As expected of a gazer! Normally, it’s a black monster with powerful magic with its eye! A red variant certainly has high firepower! Dorval is cornered!”

Twenty nine of the cards turned into mana, being absorbed by the last one. He rose the card above his head, shining red, and screamed an incantation.

(Dorval): “Come forth, flame spawn with dragon blood! Heed my words and come to this battlefield, Dragonoid Fiend!”

The card exploded in red particles, making a magic circle above his head. From that, a ten meters long and four meters tall creature jumped out, covered in red scales with a dragonish head and the body of a hound with a single horn in the center of his head.

The Dragonoid Fiend growled, looking at Alexei and the Gazer floating behind him.

(Mina): “The hidden card of Dorval, the Dragonoid Fiend! A monster famous for not only having dragon blood, which requires a lot of mana to summon, but also capable of using red magic! It’s has everything, physical power, magical power and resistance! The scales have been balanced, the master of magic, the Gazer vs the all rounder and rare Dragonoid Fiend!”

However, something that they didn’t expect happened. The Gazer approached Alexei and turned into red mana, as if the summoning was cancelled. However, the mana didn’t disperse as expected, instead, it entered Alexei’s body.

The boy smiled, and his body bent, shocking even his opponent that didn’t send the Fiend to attack. The back of Alexei inflated, as if something was trying to erupt from beneath his robes. And so it did.

Four tentacles sprouted, the red tentacles of the Gazer. Red scales covered the arms of Alexei, from above the elbow to the back of his hand, and his nails grew to claws. Scales grew on his neck, cheeks and cheekbones, stopping just beneath his eyes.

His forehead slit on the horizontal, and the wound opened, revealing a third enormous eye in the center of his forehead. Certainly, his clothes hid other transformations, but still, his appearance turned to something closer to monster than man.

(Mina): “Monster Assimilation! A technique that existed only in theory until this very moment! the magic that allows you to fuse with a monster temporarily and use their powers directly, greatly amplifying the powers of the monsters, but giving up on any other magic!”

The tentacles pierced the ground around Alexei, as if to hold him in position. The youngster bent forward, looking at his enemy with a crazed smile in his face. His eyes also changed to that red eyes glowing with magic and with cat pupils like the third eye, the same as the eye of the Gazer.

The three eyes started to glow with heat, like before. A shiver ran down Dorval’s spine. He ordered the fiend to get away from him, making Alexei aim away from him and rose as much protective magic as he could on the instant before the Alexei completed his magic.

The eyes glowed completely white, like beads made of light. And from them, aiming at the fiend, the three eyes shot a heat ray. The world turned bright again, and after almost a minute, the light died.

What was left of the arena was a charred land, with signs of melting here and there. Dorval as miraculously alive because of the magics that he casted to protect himself. The fiend was nowhere to be seen, most likely turned to dust as the direction that the ray was shot was made of magma. Dorval waves and falls, unconscious.

(Mina): “A-Alexei wins! Dorval falls unconscious! Medic team! Go quickly!”