Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
With just one look at the two contestants’ familiars, Gao Peng was already able to determine the outcome of the match. However, as one of the referees of the tournament, it would be unprofessional to spoil everything for the two contestants.
[Monster Name]: Skeletal Rhinoceros
[Monster Level]: Level 27
[Monster Grade]: Excellent
[Monster Attribute]: Ghoul/Bone
[Monster Status]: Healthy (Afraid)
[Monster Weakness]: Holy
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[Monster Name]: Swamp Monster
[Monster Level]: Level 26
[Monster Grade]: Excellent
[Monster Attribute]: Earth/Mud
[Monster Status]: Healthy (Afraid)
[Monster Weakness]: 1. Wood 2. Water
Neither familiar seems to be in top form, thought Gao Peng. He patted Dumby’s head. “Turn off your Lord-tier aura.”
Both familiars loosened up considerably as soon as Dumby did what he was told.
At that moment, everyone in the stands was looking not at the two contestants and their familiars, but at the referee, Gao Peng.
With a Lord-tier familiar, clearing every round of the tournament would definitely not be a problem for him.
Flashes of light appeared from the stands as people took multiple shots of Gao Peng and Dumby with their cameras.
Before, Gao Peng had always liked to sit on Dumby’s shoulders. However, ever since a pair of tusk-like protrusions had grown out of its shoulders, he could no longer do so.
The two contestants had each taken a few hundred steps back until they reached the edge of the ring.
Even though the rules had clearly stated that deliberate attacks on one’s opponent were forbidden, it was up to both contestants to avoid being caught in the crossfire between their familiars.
White smoke issued from the Skeletal Rhinoceros’s nostrils as it stomped on the ground a few times. In the next instant, it rushed at the Swamp Monster in front of it.
The Swamp Monster was a 10-foot-wide mass of living mud. It didn’t seem to smell as bad as its revolting appearance suggested.
The Skeletal Rhinoceros rushed at its opponent like a tank, a blue flame burning brightly in its empty eye sockets. As it approached the Swamp Monster, it lifted its forelegs into the air, getting ready to slam its entire weight onto the pile of mud.
The rhinoceros’s hooves came down on the Swamp Monster, mud spraying out at the impact. At that moment, the Swamp Monster’s body was shattered into pieces.
However, the Swamp Monster didn’t seem to have suffered any serious damage. It could still recover from any injury that didn’t involve forcibly removing parts of its body.
Mud slowly began pooling around the rhinoceros’ hooves.
Realizing what was happening, Han Lei immediately ordered his familiar to step away from the mud.
He had heard of monsters like the Swamp Monster. It could hardly be called unbeatable, as there were ways to counter its unique physiology. Unfortunately, there was nothing the Skeletal Rhinoceros could do against it. His familiar was completely countered by the Swamp Monster.
“Damn it, didn’t his file say his familiar was a silver-backed gorilla? Where did this Swamp Monster come from?” Han Lei muttered under his breath. The Skeletal Rhinoceros wasn’t his only familiar. However, according to the rules of the tournament, contestants were forbidden from switching out their familiars in the middle of a fight during the first round of the tournament.
The Skeletal Rhinoceros moaned as it struggled to pull its hooves out of the mud. However, the mud continued to gather around its feet, threatening to envelop its entire body.
The blue flames inside the rhinoceros’ eyes burned even brighter. Then there was a sound like firecrackers erupting from its spine, as if someone had stepped on the accelerator of a car.
Finally, the Skeletal Rhinoceros managed to pull itself free from the mud. It staggered away from the Swamp Monster and stabilized its posture just in time.
A cheer erupted from the stands at that moment.
Suddenly, the Swamp Monster came crashing down on its head before the Skeletal Rhinoceros even had time to react.
With its sight completely blocked, the Skeletal Rhinoceros stomped madly around the field.
There was a pained expression on Han Lei’s face. It was clear to everyone that he was going to lose this match.
Even though his familiar was a Ghoul-type monster, it had yet to awaken the magical abilities most Ghoul-type monsters tended to have. The only thing it could do now was swing its nigh-impenetrable body at the Swamp Monster.
The Swamp Monster had entered the Skeletal Rhinoceros’s eye sockets and was now filling up its hollow skull with mud.
“Dumby, what would you do if you had to fight the Swamp Monster?” Gao Peng asked Dumby through his blood contract.
Dumby tilted its head ruminatively, then replied, “I’d cut it into pieces!”
“Then?”
“I’d cut it into even more pieces!” said Dumby firmly.
Han Lei had thought too little of Gao Peng by assuming that he would intentionally trip him up in the middle of the match.
He wasn’t someone who would stoop so low as to harass someone else just to resolve a past grievance. Besides, only a fool would do such thing to a contestant representing his own region.
If he had really wanted to, he could kill all of Han Lei’s familiars any time he wanted to after the tournament.
Even without Gao Peng’s interference, the match’s outcome had already been determined. It would only be a matter of time until the Skeletal Rhinoceros succumbed to the Swamp Monster.
It’s a shame that you had to go down so early in the tournament, Han Lei, thought Gao Peng.
A terrible cry pierced the air. The Skeletal Rhinoceros had fallen to the ground. It slowly began to lose all its strength as the Swamp Monster continued filling every part of its body with mud.
“You’ve done quite well. It’s just that luck doesn’t seem to be on your side today. I do hope that you won’t be disheartened by today’s defeat,” said Gao Peng.
Han Lei simply stared at him, then sighed deeply. Right now, he could only vent his frustration on his own familiar.
He coldly looked at the Skeletal Rhinoceros lying on the ground and said, “Get up.”
As if it had heard its master’s order, the Skeletal Rhinoceros began struggling against the Swamp Monster once more…
