Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

The audience was shocked, their poltern stuck in their throats. Their great champion had not been simply snuffed out the moment after his opponent entered his second phase, no, they were forced to watch him get tortured by the beast his opponent had become. However, the moment the poltern stopped., an even greater turmoil erupted as the players fell silent.

Cultivators who knew how Dumm Ting won were appalled, many outright screaming their protest. Protest in the shape of curses and death threats. Had they been offended by his lustful nature before, they now outright asked for someone to take his life.

It didn't take long for the people who wondered why the cultivators were snapping to ask for the reason and the horrible truth quickly spread among the dense audience ranks until the whole stadium chanted for Dumm Ting's death. Polter's loss and how he lost was one thing, but they were the smallest reason for the crowd's reaction.

The beast in question on the other hand was losing his mind. Acting like an aimless monster, crashing his fist into the arena floor, roaring mindlessly, he seemed out of control. The power he had accumulated had not been kind to him.

“Now, I understand what he said before. I don't want to imagine how he accumulated so much energy, but it seems that he can't control it once he unleashed it,” Yu commented with a frown, seeing Dumm Tinga acting at the center of the stadium. “The berserk Qi is melting his body from the inside out, he is currently dying with excruciating pain.”

“Good! Let him!” Fin said coldly, however, it didn't sound like this gruesome fate was not enough to appease her. It definitely wasn't enough to appease Karina, who was silently staring at the arena, her usually kind eyes were filled with murderous intent.

“I'm just saying this so nobody does anything stupid. Don't touch him while he is a participant in the tournament,” he said to himself, as much as to the others. Seth gave the room a serious look, especially Karina who seemed ready to jump into the arena right now. “He's free game once he is out,” he added.

The blacksmith wasn't happy at all. Dumm Ting's alleged deeds to gain power were appalling, but what had his innards boiling, was that he was forced to watch Polter suffer, as the monster ripped him apart on the stage. The dwarf was one of the few outside of Minas Mar, Seth considered a friend and cared for.

“What if he wins?” Mina asked, she had a bad taste in her mouth just thinking about this creature winning the tournament and having Seth make a legendary weapon for him. Seth's nail was silently scratching on the armrest of his chair.

“Then he will get his legendary equipment. Of course, whether it will be a blessing or a curse to him...is up to me,” he answered coldly. his tone made it quite clear, that it was not going to be the former, IF the cultivator won.

“Boss, what do we do about this?” Umi Kaldrops finally asked over the comlink. it had been two minutes since Polter's loss. Dumm Ting was calming down, bleeding from all orifices he was slowly falling silent. It was clear that he finally died.

“Declare him the winner and end him. We have more fight for the day,” the tower master answered her, prompting her to give a small, but shocked nod.

“As you can see ladies and gentlemen... we have a winner. Dumm Ting defeated Polter Onyxheart and moves on to the second round!” she said slightly apologetic, facing the boos of the crowd. Nobody agreed with the outcome, but nobody could change it either.

The fact that she continued on to crush the slowly dying Dumm Ting's skull under her high heels to force him to respawn only appeased the crowd slightly. At least nobody blamed her for the outcome of the fight.

“In consideration of the current mood, management has decided to move the break and concert forward in the schedule. I'm sure we can all use some time to calm down and recollect our thoughts. We understand you are upset, but it would be a shame to let this overshadow the following events,” the moderator announced the change in plans.

It was as she said, there were still 12 more fights to come on the first day, and it would have been a shame to let this fight ruin the mood for the rest of the first day. This was why Seth and the others decided to move forward with the break and the musical performance.

The performer was The Traveling Sound, the famous Master Bard Garmin Del'Prado who had acted as a judge during the musical round. Seeing the current mood, they really needed his skill at the moment if they wanted to save the first day if not the whole tournament.

“Where are you going?” Mina asked when Seth stood up from his chair shortly after the change in schedule was announced. The break had just begun. Although the bard would have liked to see the performance of the Master Bard, there was something more important.

“To look for Polter. I want to talk to him,” he simply said before leaving. The dwarf had suffered a terrible loss. Worse than just being overpowered. Since business was dealt with and he calmed down a little himself, the blacksmith worried about the dwarf.

The hallways of the stadium were filled with people, taking care of their business in the break before the music event. This couldn't bother Seth, he simply used the maintenance corridors to evade the crowd and appeared at the medical wing unbeknownst to anyone.

They called it the medical wing and there was everything one needed to take care of the wounded, like healers and potions, but most importantly it was also the location of the respawn point. Seth hoped to find the dwarf still here.

he was right. Right in his assumption and right in worrying. Polter, wearing a casual dwarven chainmail sat on one of the beds, but what Seth had worried about had also happened. Dumm Ting who had been ended by Umi had obviously appeared here and the two combatants met here.

The massive man was hunching over Polter, who had looked back at his torturer with an uncharacteristically frightened face. Seth had never experienced such torture himself, but he had heard what it could do to people, to die like that. It seemed like his worry for Polter was not unfounded, but that he met his torturer and killer right afterward made things even worse.

Seth even blamed himself a little, that he had not thought of this before he gave the order to kill the beast. At the time, he was simply as upset as everyone else and wanted to get on with the tournament...

...

“Little man, how did you like that? Do you fear me now? Huhuhu, that look in your eyes tells me you do, and you are right in doing so. Once this tournament is over, I will find you and-”

Dumm Ting stopped talking when a heavy gauntlet suddenly rested on his shoulder. During the split second it stayed there, the cultivator felt a terrifying and dark energy enter his body. It was evil, and corrupted, but far colder and vicious than the power he gained from the sacrifices.

Most of all, it was strong and fast, invading his body against his will before he could react and sapping away strength. He felt weak, and sick and vertigo rattled his brain while his field of vision distorted. His joints started aching and his stomach churning.

Shocked, he turned to the man who laid his hand on his shoulder, trying to jump away from his touch, but a sudden blinding light blinded him for a moment. When his shaky vision returned, he was no longer in the weird clean room, where he was revived.

He stood on a barren field, as far as his eyes could see. Above the dry plain of dirt was a black sky. An insurmountable feeling of dread filled his mind when a hand broke through the gray ash covering the dry ground.

Dark hollow souls of children and women rose, grasping for his legs, his body his being. The darkest fear that had plagued him in the dreams he was unable to remember until now, had come true. The souls of his victims had come for retribution, they were here to drag him into the dark emptiness outside the circle of reincarnation, where he had banished them with his deeds.

He couldn't run, he couldn't hide. All his power was gone and he could only uselessly struggle as he drowned in their bodies and was pulled down into the darkness.

...

“What in the world did you do to him?” Polter asked befuddled, seeing the giant villain frozen in place. His expression was struck with terror, while his eyes were quickly jumping all over the place as if he was dreaming a horrible dream with his eyes wide open. Polter waved his hand in front of the man's face, but there was no reaction at all.

Seth glanced at Antares, his shield he used to cast <Harrowing Light>, right after using Lesath to give him a little taste of the Plague Curse. He didn't expect the light to be this effective on a cruel monster like this, maybe he should use this more often?

“Don't worry about it. Let's leave here.”