New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Half of the second-round fights were done with four of the second-round fights already complete. The next duo to go toe-to-toe would be Khalor and Azamus.

Azamus was shaking with anticipation. His eyes were bloodshot red, his mouth dry and his breathing ragged. The people around him felt like they were looking at a wild animal.

He focused on finding the most humiliating way to beat Khalor to the ground. He wanted to make this a lesson for all to see.

That he was still number one. That level meant nothing before his unbeatable skill.

Khalor could feel the oozing hatred and killing intent washing off of Azamus, but it only made him laugh internally. To him, Azamus was a raging child, throwing a tantrum.

Both men teleported from the stands to the arena, Azamus taking out his rifle already. Khalor stood still, simply smiling.

The smile irked Azamus to no end, as his heart beat faster and harder.

The only thought in his mind was 'Kill!'.

He couldn't see the people in the stands. Hell, he could barely see the surrounding arena at all.

He locked his gaze on his opponent, his eyes almost drying out from not blinking. In the meantime, Khalor did not even budge.

Azamus was already pointing his rifle at him, steadily aimed at his head, and he remained stationary. His smile never left his lips.

Astaroth, from the bleachers, knew Khalor was only taunting Azamus. He made himself wide open, leaving his head unprotected so that Azamus would want to fire there directly.

Most likely, Khalor was already ready to intercept the shot, and was already planning how the rest of the combat would go.

'The best way to predict a wild animal is to play along with its instincts,' Astaroth thought.

*Gong!*

*Bang!*

*Ting!*

Almost instantly, as the gong rang, Azamus fired his rifle, the bullet in a direct course to his enemy's head. But it didn't make it to the target.

A large halberd head intercepted the bullet, before it could reach Khalor's head. At the end of that halberd, a tall knight in plated armor, with dark purple eyes.

The knight's eyes were locked on the gnome that had attacked its master. Azamus was currently feeling the same intensity from the knight's gaze that Khalor was feeling from his own.

The knight spun its halberd like a windmill, slamming the butt onto the stone floor. Another shadow appeared out of Khalor's back at that moment.

A large two-headed raven flew out, floating behind Khalor, hovering overhead. Khalor was still smiling with cockiness.

"For you, I will not even use all my undead. Only these two will suffice," Khalor said, pointing to the two undead.

"Are you mocking me?!" Azamus growled.

"Why yes, I most certainly am. Call it a little payback," Khalor replied, his grin widening.

As he finished saying that, both the knight and the raven lunged at Azamus, forcing the latter into a backward run. The arena wall was soon to his back, so he had to choose a direction to go.

But his options were being cut short, as the knight and the raven split to each side, trying to pincer him. The only open path was to Khalor, but that wouldn't be wise of him, since Khalor was a melee player.

But his window to move was shortening by the second, so he dove forward anyway. As he did, he pulled out his automatic rifles, firing a full salvo at Khalor.

The undead man did not move or dodge, simply taking what few bullets hit him, still smiling. Azamus was becoming more enraged with every second that passed.

He pulled out grenades, throwing them at Khalor, but Khalor knocked them aside with his bident, sending them at the wall before they blew up.

Suddenly, a strike from behind knocked him to the floor. The knight was already upon him.

He thought dashing forward had given him time, but it seems the knight had not been going full speed. He easily caught up to Azamus and slammed the side of his halberd on his back.

The knight followed his attack by grabbing the gnome from the back of his leather armor and swinging him high up in the air. Awaiting him up there were a two-headed raven's talons.

The talons grabbed at his shoulders, locking him in their grip, as the raven flew toward the sky. It flew higher and higher, as Azamus flailed about, shooting at the bird's underside, trying to force it to drop him.

It was all for nought. The higher he flew up, the less it was a good idea to have the raven drop him.

Azamus gulped, as he knew what would come next. The raven eventually stopped flying upward and dove back down.

The speed it was gaining was dangerous on its own for an impact, but Azamus knew the moment he got caught it was already too late.

He cursed in his mind, vowing over and over to find this player and kill him. And not just in the game.

He would end this man's life with his own hands, even if it was the last thing he did!

After diving back down for a few seconds, the raven opened its talons as it beat its wings to stop its descent.

Azamus had nothing to break his fall except for the arena floor. So he yelled in fury as he crashed into the ground, turning into a paste and then particles.

Khalor looked at the crater the gnome left behind in satisfaction. He knew he had just taunted a very rich person into very dangerous thoughts. But he was confident no one would find him.

He was aware that the chairwoman Constantine was probably searching for him already. But he had made preparations so he could be untraceable.

Khalor teleported out of the arena and reappeared on the winner's side of the stands. On the other side, an angry gnome was shouting, before he disappeared from the stands.

'Hah! He disconnected. Now he's angry. Good.' Khalor thought, his grin never subsiding.

This had been his plan all along, after all.