Nameless King

The Colosseum had completely changed, becoming the place where even the last battle in this world could take place - an absolutely majestic and grandiose event for which a suitable arena was needed.

"Well, well, coming here I didn't expect this kind of outcome at all. It actually looks beautiful." Gael muttered with a slight smile on his face looking at the soaring scarlet lanterns flying over the arena.

Ereg nodded, "That's impressive... I didn't even realize the Colosseum was capable of something like that, though... Just this situation was necessary for us to find out."

"Yeah, it looks like it. Toward the end of our fight, our power level would have grown so much that the colosseum would break from our every attack. However... now I think the situation is quite different."

"Hmm? You think the Colosseum has gotten stronger?" Ereg asked with a confused expression. Obviously, he doubted it since he expected that external changes were all that had happened to the Colosseum. 

"Of course!" Gael exclaimed confidently, "Damn it! Did you see how much energy the colosseum absorbed? Even Liang was tired even though he used his Form! I'm sure there's nothing in this world stronger than this colosseum, perhaps only the World of Darkness has more resilience."

Then, Gael rushed forward, gathering energy around his sword. The attack he was about to perform was no different from the one he had used on Ereg before, the only thing was that he used twice as much energy.

Whoooooooooooooooosh.

Swinging his sword, Gael unleashed a light blade that had previously practically cut Ereg in two, even taking into account the barrier of darkness.

"Last time, the colosseum collapsed simply because of the pressure exerted by your back due to the light blade. However... will that happen now?" Gael muttered with an excited smile.

In fact, he was slightly upset that the colosseum wasn't able to absorb an attack of any power. Intuitively, it made him hold back to some extent since this was not a mortal combat, and there was no need to sacrifice everything in his way to win. 

The light blade cut the wind currents in its path, but the arena itself was not harmed, in any way. The granite floor covered with runes was strong enough that not even a scratch was left on it.

This made Gael smile, it seemed like he already knew what the outcome would be.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The light blade slammed into the wall, trying to split it apart and break through further, but the barrier covering all the walls prevented the blade from doing so.

"Oh, that's interesting, but what happens if I increase the power a bit?" Gael smirked, placing his hands in front of him and pointing his palms at each other.

The threads once again created a ghostly replica of the blade, and Gael greatly reduced it, several times, increasing the pressure and power exerted on the small area.

This time, the barrier began to crack, and it seemed that very soon the colosseum would collapse under the pressure. However, as the cracks grew larger, the runes on the stones shone brightly, but only the white and gold ones remained dormant. 

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

In a heartbeat, the light blade disintegrated into tiny particles, disappearing into the white runes and leaving only emptiness behind.

Gael's eyes went wide as well as everyone else's, who was watching this scene closely.

"Damn... Honestly, I didn't expect the colosseum to be this powerful. Apparently, the golden runes didn't even need to activate, the white ones were more than enough." Gael uttered in a disbelief.

Ereg grinned widely, "Isn't that a good thing? It means that even when we activate our Forms, the Colosseum can handle it!"

Gael nodded cheerfully, "Yeah, it looks like it, so... I think we should continue."

Without hesitation, Gael turned into a torrent of ash, in no time at all, finding himself in front of Ereg. He had been injured since the end of the previous round, so Gael didn't bother to use his full strength to attack.

Gael's fist came down on Ereg's face, nearly breaking his jaw and throwing him dozens of meters away with a loud crunch coming from his bones.

Had they been on the past, unimproved colosseum, Ereg's back would have collided with a solid wall, however, now he simply fell to the ground.

Not only was the Colosseum sturdier and more inviting in appearance, but it was also much larger, giving his fighters more room to maneuver.

"This isn't fair!" Nila exclaimed, grudgingly clenching her fists. However, Gael, or anyone else, did not pay her any attention.

"Hey, stop saying such ridiculous things." Alucard waved his hand slightly irritatedly, "Their fight didn't end, but only temporarily stopped until Liang improved the Colosseum. If you have eyes, you can see that Liang and we are here, and the colosseum has changed significantly, so..... their fight should have started a long time ago."

Nila wanted to say something, but the oppressive aura emanating from Alucard silenced her. She didn't know what the reason was, it seemed that his patience was running out. He wanted to see what Ereg would do, more than anyone else.

Tap.

Krana stealthily approached Nila without her even noticing it. Krana touched her shoulder, drawing her attention to him.

"What...? What do you want?" Nila was puzzled.

Krana put a finger to her lips, "Shh. You shouldn't make Mr. Alucard nervous. His emotions are pretty chaotic right now and I think you realize that in a situation like this, he could do anything."

Nila got a strange expression as she thought, 'What...? Why is she teaching me something...? Since when is she so good at figuring out other people's emotions.''

"Stop talking." Liang sternly uttered, casting his aura over them.

"Y-Yes!" Nila and Krana simultaneously replied, straightening up like soldiers in front of the commander.

"This is an important point, just watch Ereg's actions and learn. I'm sure he can still surprise us, after all, he intends to win and after the recent events, I believe in him." Liang said seriously while crossing his arms on his chest.

Nila and Krana gulped, nodded, and did as he said. They were at the Transcendence Stage, but they were still a long way away from Liang's or Ereg's level. Compared to them, they were beginners who had just stepped into the path of the strongest. Technically, they were the weakest among the strongest.

"Argh... That was strong... Couldn't you have at least warned me?" Ereg ironically said while getting up from the ground. He cleaned the blood from the corners of his mouth and with eyes filled with energy looked at his opponent.

"Come on. We're fighting against each other, where have you ever seen one fighter warn another about an attack? That's stupid." Gael smirked slyly, enjoying the fact that his little trick had worked.

Ereg shrugged, "Well, I guess you're right. Alright, it's time to move on."

"Wait." Gael stopped him, put his sword on his shoulder, and asked, "Care to give me a hint? I mean, my power is pretty simple, fire, ash, and scars. The only thing I was able to surprise everyone with was the ability to regenerate my arm at the cost of scars. However, you have something new all the time, but I still don't understand what the source of your power is."

Gael continued, "First you summoned ghosts that were similar in effect to my scars, then phantoms and even clones. When you absorbed the power that you took from me, you became a truly powerful opponent. However, your aura is threatening now, but I don't see any ghosts behind you."

Ereg listened to him carefully and nodded deeply.

"I understand what you're saying. However, haven't you noticed one peculiarity? Considering I summoned ghosts, claws, and phantoms, you should have seen it."

"Hmm?" Gael gave him a questioning look. He'd obviously overlooked something.

Ereg smirked, "I'll give you one clue - color."

"Color...?" Gael mumbled, puzzled, while in his mind's eye, their fight was going on again.

'Yeah... Ereg is right, the ghosts were black and the phantoms crimson ones, but I thought it was all because of his blood.

"Hah, I see you're a little lost, but don't worry soon I'll show you everything. After all, my next color will be the answer to your oversized scars!" Ereg exclaimed with an excited expression as his aura intensified.

At the same moment, a new rune appeared in his amber eye that was different from the past ones - that one was much larger and more complex with many symbols.

Then, goosebumps went down Gael's body, as well as chills down the backs of every onlooker. Even Liang or Alucard were no exception.

"Oh... not bad, not bad at all..." Alucard grinned widely, showing his sharp fangs and the insane flames that ignited in his eyes.

Liang's gaze became sharp as blades, heading towards the massive silhouette appearing behind Ereg.

It was a huge purple ghost with an eerie jaw, three eyes, and four arms, each with long claws that seemed capable of cutting through the very fabric of the world.

"Next is the purple one." Ereg smirked before stepping forward, disappearing like a shadow.