The Seven Demon's Tamer

And finally, the last match we have on our schedule for today will be against our champion and his opponent, Black Devil.

The announcer's voice boomed through the arena; the dramatic elongation of the challenger's name caused an uproar of cheers from the audience, with excitement in their eyes. Some leaned forward in their seats, while others stood to get a better view. This is the last fight for Crusher, and the fight that is going to determine if they would win their bets or lose.

Normally, they were always tense while Crusher fought; in fact, they were always at ease, expecting a guaranteed victory, but the fights that had been going on so far proved otherwise. Crusher nearly lost against Green Bloody, particularly at the beginning of their fight. They could only hope no one would give him a hard time anymore.

The underling tournament of the day, in particular, began a while ago. Before the tournament, there were fights hosted at the fighting platform, but the most anticipated event of them all was the underling tournament.

Everyone had already predicted that Crusher would win the tournament, as he had won others ever since they saw him appear.

The tournament was the type where, in order to win, you needed to remain undefeated until the last fight; and that was how it was managed. Those who were defeated were disqualified.

For what Ryder could count, six people had been defeated. During the time of the registration, he saw the number of people who were participating in the battle; they were seven.

If six people were defeated, and there was one person who was undefeated, that equals seven people. Even before his name was announced, he already knew it was his turn because he was the last person on the list.

So far, six people were defeated, and Crusher was behind their defeat. Even before Ryder's name was announced, Ryder already knew it was his turn because he was the last person on the list of applicants.

He felt his hair stand on end as he recalled how Crusher dismantled his opponents one after another throughout the tournament.

More than anything, the fact that Crusher was able to fight so many consecutive battles and win them all was intriguing.

Most summoners would be exhausted after three or four matches, their energy sapped by all the hits they had received and all the strength they had put behind the hits they delivered. Despite that fact, Crusher showed no signs of fatigue; his movements were as crisp and powerful in his sixth fight as they had been in his first, and now, for his seventh fight, he was still in good condition.

He clearly harnessed the durability and stamina of his iron golem because this feat was clearly beyond ordinary human capability.

Black Devil!

The announcer called again, impatience blended into her voice as the crowd began to murmur at the delay. Where was this mysterious challenger who dared to face the champion?

Upon hearing his name repeated, fear increased in Ryder's body as the gaze of everyone around pierced him. It was as if the weight of the audience's attention physically pinned him to the spot where he stood.

His legs were unresponsive as he gazed up at Crusher on the platform, who signaled with his finger for him to get onto the platform—a casual, almost dismissive gesture that carried an unmistakable threat.

Ryder's mind raced with memories of the previous fights throughout the day. Crusher had defeated his opponents with pure brutality, rarely needing to summon his iron golem for anything more than a finishing blow.

Most challengers fell to Crusher's own fists, their bodies broken before they could even summon their familiar.

And now it was Ryder's turn.

Ryder wasn't able to move in one moment, but in the next, he felt all his fear disappear. It was as if someone had reached into his mind and plucked out the emotion of fear entirely, leaving behind only calmness.

What the hell! Ryder's eyes widened as he walked towards the platform, momentarily confused about how his emotions suddenly shifted.

He blurted out, as his feet were moving of their own accord, "What just happened?"

"I bet quite a lot on you, Black Devil," Brok muttered to himself, his fingers clenching onto his betting slip. If you lose this fight, it would be a greater loss to me than you would ever imagine.

Climbing onto the platform, he took his stance while calmly staring at the ground, his cloak billowing despite the absence of wind in the warehouse.

Across from him, Crusher yawned as he stared at Ryder's cloak. The champion made a show of stretching his arms, his muscles rippling beneath skin that bore the scars of countless battles and his tattoos.

"Nervous?" Crusher asked with a raised eyebrow. The question was less a question than a taunt, and Ryder could tell but he ignored it.

"Observing," Ryder corrected, not taking his eyes off the ground. His cloak was covering the upper part of his face so no one could read his expression.

Observing is the best reply he could think of to cover up—Ryder wasn't observing; he was nervous... almost scared, but surprisingly, it wasn't on display. He was calm on the outside.

"So," Crusher said, his voice carrying easily over the quiet crowd, "you chose your arena name as Black Devil." He looked Ryder up and down, clearly unimpressed. "Gotta say, I was expecting something more... intimidating."

Ryder shrugged, maintaining a casual stance that hid his readiness to move in any direction instantly if the fight was to begin at any moment. "Sorry to disappoint. Left my horns and pitchfork at home."

"You look so calm," Crusher continued, circling slightly to the left, testing Ryder's awareness. "I should give you vital information that would make our fight more interesting."

"My skin's as hard as my golem's in some places, but not as hard in others," Crusher said, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Good luck finding the soft spots."

Ryder, who had been maintaining a poker face all this while, suddenly smiled.

That wasn't really necessary. I don't need to know any special information about you before I kick your butt.

With a sigh, Ryder erased the little fear lingering in his mind.

Ryder was feeling so calm now that he could speak freely with Crusher. He knew for sure that the sudden disappearance of his fear wasn't ordinary, and his best guess is that Luxy is involved in it.

For now, he didn't want to bother himself with it, so he focused on the battle before him.

The announcer stepped between them momentarily. "Fighters ready?" She didn't wait for confirmation before stepping back and shouting, "Begin!"

As soon as the announcement was declared, Crusher charged forward.

He was quite stunned at the confidence of his opponent, as the cloaked figure didn't even flinch or attempt to dodge the attack.

Wham.

Without holding back his strength, Crusher delivered a punch towards Black Devil's face, putting his full weight and strength behind the blow.

It was an attack that had shattered jawbones and knocked opponents unconscious on impact. The sound of the punch connecting would mostly be followed by the thud of a body hitting the platform or skidding across its surface.

But not this time.

To Crusher's greatest shock, his fist was caught by his opponent with just one hand. There was no struggle displayed on his face, no visible strain on Black Devil's part—just the simple, effortless halting of his punch that should have been impossible for anyone to do with just a single hand. Crusher is a red mark, the strongest mark among humans, excluding Ryder of course.

"What the hell!" Crusher's eyes shot wide open, as beads of sweat dripped down his face due to nervousness for the first time since he became a summoner. "He stopped my attack!"

Quickly leaping backwards, he distanced himself from Black Devil, reassessing his opponent with his eyes. Gone was the prideful and nonchalant attitude; he was taking things seriously for once, just after his first attack.

"If I may ask, are you a red-marked summoner?" Crusher's curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to ask.

This was his last battle, so he wasn't in a hurry. In fact, the more he delayed, the more he could analyse his opponent.

Ryder suddenly tilted his head and raised it upwards, enough for the red, glowing pupil of his left eye to be visible through the dark shadow of his cloak. His reply to Crusher's question was just a single taunt.

"Nervous?"

Crusher's face darkened, the curiosity replaced by something harder, colder. No one mocked him and walked away unscathed—certainly not in front of a full arena of witnesses who respected him.

"Iron golem," Crusher called out, agitated by Ryder's reply.

His iron golem, which had been inside his mark, suddenly flashed into reality.

"Do not hold back," he spoke coldly toward his familiar. "Because I won't."

Upon hearing the command of his master, the iron golem gave its reply with a single nod.

Unlike most brown-marked and some orange-marked beasts, red-marked beasts aren't ordered solely by the emotion of their summoners, but they can also understand oral commands—they possess high intelligence.

The iron golem and Crusher both flashed around Black Devil—the iron golem was in front of Ryder, while Crusher was behind. The attack was perfectly synchronized to hit Ryder at the exact same time.

Wasting no time, they both swung their fists simultaneously at Black Devil.

"Smart move, I'll have to admit. Black Devil side-stepped. But that won't help you against me."

The speed at which Black Devil moved was too fast for both Crusher and his familiar to react. In a blur of motion that was too fast for the viewers' perception, their fists continued and collided with one another.

A powerful ripple was sent through the air, billowing Ryder's cloak, but he quickly held it in place to avoid revealing his face until the wind dispersed.

Grabbing the towering Crusher by the neck, Black Devil raised him up and slammed him to the ground, breaking the platform's surface.

Upon seeing this, the iron golem roared into the air and blasted forward with his fist extended behind his back, ready to deliver a full-power punch.

Ryder didn't even flinch or take his eyes off Crusher; he simply stood patiently, staring at Crusher, who had his back against the ground.

The iron golem was just a few meters away from him when it readied its fist, especially its fingers.

Raising his hands upward, he waited for the perfect time, and that time came soon enough. With the same casualness one might display when shooing away an insect, he raised his hand upward, waited for the perfect time, and that time came soon enough.

When his iron golem got to him, he flicked his finger at the golem's forehead.

Wham.

The impact of Ryder's simple finger flick against the iron golem's forehead sent it blasting off the platform toward the crowd.

Everyone in the way quickly fled from the predicted area of collision of the iron golem.

As its hard body crashed, it destroyed a layer of the floor.

"What the..." he began, pushing himself up on one elbow, his other hand pressed against his ribs where the slam had likely cracked at least one.

Of everyone present, Crusher was the only person who couldn't believe his eyes. He knew the strength of his iron golem better than anyone. He had faced the mightiest beasts and summoners that the arena tournaments had to offer.

He had watched it shatter big chunks of rock, bend steel bars, and withstand direct hits from explosive elements. And yet this Black Devil had knocked it away with nothing more than a flick of his finger.

What... What are you?

Ryder stared at Crusher, his head tilted slightly to one side in puzzlement.

"I'm a human, of course," he replied with confusion in his voice. "What else could I be?"

Getting up from the ground slowly, Crusher's body trembled momentarily. You know what I mean—how are you so strong?

What is your familiar's rank?

"Oh, oh, now I understand," Ryder spoke, nodding as if Crusher had just clarified a minor misunderstanding. "I already told you before that I won't disclose it, didn't I?"

Raising his hands upward, Crusher clapped once, and his familiar was summoned behind him in a flash, teleporting from the wreckage it had caused in the audience area back to Crusher, its master's side.

"At least, give me the privilege to know your beast rank before I permit it to use its affinity."