Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"Huh, only two teams left now," Muttered Kilzachs, watching as the young man with the black blood eliminated another team from the contest, before continuing, "Ariodred Phoenix, one of the most powerful participants in the tournament, he's pretty impressive. And probably has one of the most legitimate reasons for wanting the time travel device, to bring back his tragically killed girlfriend...honestly, think I might give him one even if his team loses.

I mean, I make the rules, so I can do whatever I want. Now, then...since there's only two teams left, maybe I should speed things along. Given their positions, it'll be a while before the remaining participants run into each other, and I'd rather not sit around and wait for too long. Alright, let's tweak things a bit...okay, maybe more than just a bit..."

He then proceeded to shrink the area of the playing field, bringing it down about the size of a football field, in an open spot without many trees or cover.

As he set the new playing field, he teleported all the remaining participants into the smaller space, bewildered looks on their faces as they all appeared within it, each time on either end of the space.

"Huh? What just happened?" Frowned Ariodred, glancing at his teammates, before his eyes widened as he turned his gaze behind them.

The speedster that Jules had fought was laying on the ground, burned and unconscious, with a slight, shimmering barrier surrounding his body. And beside him, was another figure, very clearly dead.

"N-No, it can't be...," Uttered one of his other teammates shakily.

"Damn it..."

Meanwhile, at the other one of the new playing field...

"Looks like Kora's been knocked out. She should be fine though, she's stable and has no serious injuries, no poison or anything either," Remarked Raven, as he checked her pulse.

"I'm guessing this means us and those guys over there are the only two teams left," Replied Aster, as he eyed their opponents warily.

"Seems that way," Nodded Jules, as she drew out her blade.

"I suppose this makes things easier, it certainly saves us the trouble of searching for them," Responded Wistari, as Raven healed everyone.

"I wonder why they're not attacking us, they-...," Began Raven, before instinctively tensing as Ariodred turned his attention to them, narrowing his eyes before stepping forward.

"Hey, tell me...did any of you do this?" He inquired icily, as he gestured to the corpse behind him.

"No, I defeated the unconscious one, but it seems none of us encountered the other one," Answered Jules, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

"Just how powerful is this guy? I haven't felt like this since the Undead King and Leptar, but he feels even more dangerous than they were," Aster thought to himself nervously.

"I see...never mind, then. Alright, let's end this battle," Declared Ariodred, cracking his neck as he began to step forward.

"I'll take him on myself, you guys keep the others busy!" Exclaimed Raven, before gritting his teeth as he unleashed his Dark form, a burst of energy erupting around him.

"Yes, that seems to be our best course of action," Nodded Wistari, Aster stepping back and activating his Telekinetic Zone as Jules and Wistari split up and shot towards the other members of the opposing team.

Ariodred let them rush past him, before narrowing his eyes at Raven as he tranformed.

"This sensation, you're an actual threat. Alright, then, I'll have to take this seriously," He remarked, before transforming as well.

The whites of eyes turned black, his teeth sharpening and extending into curved fangs, his nails narrowing and turning into claws. A pair of black wings extended out of his back, along with a tail from the end of his spine. His cheeks tore apart, revealing his back teeth, as a large, ovular red crystal appeared on his forehead.

Loud blasts rang out as Jules and Wistari attacked the other two members of Ariodred's team, driving them away as Raven shot towards Ariodred with immense speed, the two them driving their fists forward as Raven began to close in.

A powerful shockwave erupted as their fists collided against each other with a devastating impact, the ground around them getting torn apart before Raven fired out his beams at Ariodred's chest while simultaneously sending his tail zipping out towards the glass ball, which was floating by the right side of Ariodred's head.

Ariodred sprang back and formed a thick layer of blood over his chest, blocking the purple energy beams and blowing Raven's tail away with a blast of blood, before the red crystal on his forehead began glowing, intensifying before he unleashed a rapid beam of red energy.

Raven quickly twisted his body across, grimacing as the beam grazed his right bicep, his eyes widening as Ariodred shot towards him and unfurled a powerful uppercut towards his chin.

Raven just barely got his hands up in time, blunting the strike with his palms before the force of the hit launched him high up into the air, his arms trembling slightly as the impact had rattled his bones.

Ariodred spread out his wings and zipped up rapidly, chasing after Raven as he extended out several black blood tendrils, before Raven extended out a number of tendrils of his own, sending them shooting out towards his opponent, targeting the glass ball with a couple of the tendrils.

Ariodred narrowed and sharpened his tendrils, before whipping them out in front of himself as Raven's tendrils closed in, slicing them to pieces before they could reach him, before swiftly veering across to his right as a roaring ball of flames came shooting towards him, whizzing past his left as he evaded it.

He then swung a sharpened blood tendril across as Raven extended his arm out towards him with immense speed, the tendril slicing through Raven's extended forearm and severing it.

Raven retracted his arm with a grimace as he regenerated, taking a deep breath and letting out a slow exhale to compose himself.

"This guy's seriously powerful, seems he's trying to assess what I'm capable of, but it won't be long before he attacks with everything he's got. I need to find a way to destroy his glass ball before that happens, I'm not sure I can beat him in a fair fight," Raven thought to himself warily.