Dominion of The Beast Masters

255  The Will of an Ant

Ryder took countless attacks, each one threatening to bring him down, but he kept enduring. The relentless barrage of energy blasts, beast strikes, and elemental assaults pounded him, yet Chameleona continued to shift and adapt, carrying him forward.

The battlefield was a maelstrom of chaos, yet Ryder's unyielding determination turned what seemed like an execution into a performance of resilience.

In the stands, the crowd watched in stunned silence.

The roars of enthusiasm and taunts had quieted, replaced by a collective breath held in awe. Ryder's struggle had transcended the brutality of the match, he wasn't just surviving; he was inspiring.

Cassie clutched Roger's hand tightly, her face a mix of fear and pride. Tamara's usual detached demeanor wavered, her masked face betraying a faint, thoughtful expression.

In the Golden Cosmos locker room, the tension was suffocating. Zara's voice was barely above a whisper as she murmured.

"Come on, Ryder… you can do it." Her eyes never left the screen, willing him to push through.

Mercury sat forward in her seat, her hands gripping her knees. Kaida paced back and forth, her fists clenched.

"You've already lasted that long… just a little more," she muttered through gritted teeth.

Milo's eyes were wide, his hands clasped tightly together.

"Come on, Ryder… keep going," he murmured under his breath.

In their cages, Eratz and Raya also witnessed the show of their friend in different ways and feelings.

Raya remained eerily still. She sat on her legs, her posture rigid, her eyes closed.

Eratz leaned forward in a tense silence. His jaw tightened as he watched Ryder narrowly evade another devastating blow, Chameleona shifting once more to counter an incoming elemental attack.

The battlefield trembled as another round of coordinated attacks converged on Ryder. He was scorched by fire, shocked by lightning, and buffeted by howling winds, yet he kept moving.

Chameleona's power was unlike anything most had seen before. Its beastification allowed Ryder to take any form or size, granting him the abilities of whatever he mirrored.

This style of combat was the very definition of adaptability, a constant evolution to counter every threat. At this moment, it wasn't just a skill, it was his last hope.

Arin, standing amidst the chaos, felt her heart pounding in frustration. She clenched her teeth, her eyes darting to the time of the giant screen towering above the battlefield. The numbers ticked down relentlessly.

"The five minutes…" she whispered. "They're almost over."

The timer showed 4 minutes and 11 seconds.

Arin trembled as her eyes darted to the cages in each corner of the battlefield, where Eratz and Raya were immobile.

Her breath hitched as despair clawed at her thoughts. They were running out of time, and it was becoming painfully clear they might not succeed. Her gaze flicked to the scoreboard:

[Infinite Twilight: 7

Golden Cosmos: 4

Blazing Horizons: 0

She bit her lip slightly. The numbers mocked her, they were on the verge of a catastrophe.

"Guys!" Her voice cracked but managed to cut through the chaos.

Her teammates froze, panic evident in their eyes as they turned to her.

"Ignore him! Attack everyone else!" she screamed.

Bastian from Blazing Horizons halted mid-strike, his confusion mirrored on the faces of the other fighters.

"What???" he exclaimed, his voice carrying over the battlefield.

The fighters from all teams hesitated, their gazes snapping to Arin. Her command was counter to their common goal of eliminating Ryder. For a moment, there was only silence, broken by the distant roar of the crowd. But then, one by one, understanding dawned.

The time limit.

The realization hit them like a thunderclap. Less than 30 seconds remained before the cages unlocked. If Eratz and Raya were unleashed, it would mean disaster.

Eleven fighters on the field would become nothing more than eleven free points for monsters on the level of world-tier beast masters.

Infinite Twilight's fighters gulped, their confidence shaken. They immediately began attacking in disorganized chaos, lashing out at anything in their path.

Energy blasts and beasts rampaged across the battlefield as they turned their attention to their fellow competitors.

The members of Blazing Horizons tried to reason with them at first, shouting above the cacophony, but it was futile. Desperation had consumed the battlefield. The realization of their inevitable defeat drove everyone into a frenzied state.

The scene devolved into pure destruction. Fighters darted across the battlefield, beasts clashing and roaring as explosions and slashes tore the ground apart.

Flames erupted, winds howled, and lightning crackled. It was chaos incarnate.

Amidst the madness, Ryder barely managed to stay airborne, his battered form shimmering faintly as Chameleona shifted to keep him aloft. He was in terrible shape, his movements sluggish and labored.

In a final act of desperation, Caius activated a dual beastification, his body glowing with the combined power of fire and lightning. He conjured two massive, crackling orbs of energy in his hands, his eyes blazing with determination.

With a guttural roar, he hurled the explosive blasts at Ryder.

Ryder coiled in mid-air, his body shimmering with Chameleona's adaptive energy. His form began to glow brighter and brighter as he braced himself. The twin blasts collided with him, and the resulting explosion was catastrophic.

A blinding light engulfed the battlefield, the force of the explosion sending shockwaves that rattled the arena. The ground split and cratered, debris flying in every direction.

The crowd gasped in unison, some shielding their eyes from the intensity. In the locker rooms, Zara covered her mouth in shock, while Kaida's pacing came to an abrupt halt. Mercury's hands tightened into fists, her jaw dropping.

Leonidas, watching from the Infinite Twilight booth, stood abruptly and punched the table in front of him, his face alight with triumph.

"It's over!" he bellowed, his voice echoing in the stunned silence of the crowd.

On the battlefield, Ryder's body plummeted to the ground, hitting the earth with a sickening thud. The dust began to settle, revealing his crumpled form. Chameleona had reverted, leaving Ryder in his normal state, battered. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The fighters paused as they stared at his fallen body. The tension in the air was suffocating. Ryder had fallen, it was finally over.

But then, as if by instinct, every fighter tensed, their hands raised. Even though Ryder was clearly defeated, they weren't taking any chances.

Their instincts screamed at them to finish the job.

The announcer's voice broke through the eerie silence, a grim, foreboding tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here comes hell."

And then…

"Shinsei Kiba"

"Raijinara."

 A sudden explosion of lightning crossed by hundreds of slashes swept across the battlefield and forced everyone to retreat. The sheer intensity of the attack created a powerful shockwave, leaving the fighters scrambling to regain their footing.

As the dust and debris cleared, everyone stood petrified, the nightmare unfolding before their eyes.

Eratz and Raya had been unleashed.