The King's Game Blood War Arc (Finale)

Chapter 52: Sacrifices to End Arazach

Newgate let out a mighty roar as he slammed his mace into Arazach, who swiftly dodged the blow. Stain, who had run down Newgate's arm, was ready for Arazach to dodge Newgate's blow and swung his sword, narrowly missing Arazach's head. Arazach leapt three paces back before he knocked the dust from his robe.

"I must say, that was fine teamwork coming from you two. Had I not seen you two fight against my army, you would have surely landed that blow on me disciple of K." — Arazach stroked his chin while he got lost in thought — "25%. Yes that should be enough power to make this fight interesting."

"You bastard, stop toying with us and fight us seriously, or you will regret it." Stain roar as he swung his sword at Arazach.

Arazach leaned back slightly to avoid the slash. His smile quickly faded when two throwing knives flew past him. One of them managed to scrape Arazach cheek and draw blood. The cocky smile Arazach had was quickly replaced by one filled with anger. Stain had used the swing of his sword to obstruct Arazach's vision of the two knives the threw at the same time. Before Arazach even had a second to react to the cut on his cheek, Newgate's mace slammed into his side and hurled him into the air, where Newgate's fist was ready to swat him out of the sky.

Arazach had barely slammed into the ground before he shot forward, thrusting his staff into the gut of Newgate. Saliva and blood spewed from Newgate's mouth as the oxygen left his lungs. What was even more shocking to Stain than Arazach's speed was the fact that Arazach's blow had knocked the colossal Newgate from his feet. Newgate fell to the ground with a mighty thud, his sheer size was enough to create a tremor that would travel all the way to the Capital.

Arazach landed on his feet and using his thumb he wiped the blood from the cut on his cheek, "To think that I let insects such as yourselves injure me. This is unacceptable, this is a disgrace. Me, the demon king hurt by mere mortals. No, no, I must erase this stain from history. Neither of you will make it out of here alive."

Black flames combined with enough bloodlust to turn the air around him heavy, covered Arazach as he muttered in infernal. Stain tried to move forward to strike Arazach, yet his body refused to move closer to the demon king. Newgate sat up and saw the enraged Arazach. Seeing the frozen Stain, Newgate quickly rolled over and used his colossal arm to cover Stain. Barely able to make it in time, Newgate's arm blocked a wave of black flames that blasted Newgate and Stain. Newgate howled in pain as the flames scorched his flesh, melting his armour to his skin.

Stain could hear sinister laughing coming from Arazach as Newgate grimaced in pain.

"This is wonderful, to think that a mortal existed that would be able to withstand the full brunt of my spell. Most demons fall to this spell, so you are truly fascinating me right now Calamity of Wrath. Maybe I should reanimate your corpse after this battle is over and have you serve me."

Newgate shakily rose to his feet breathing heavy, "You think such weak magic would be enough to end the life of the mighty Newgate? Once this battle is over I will use your skull as a new drinking goblet and your skeleton will be hung on my door, like all those who challenged me before."

Stain watched as wide grins formed on both Arazach and Newgate's faces, grins that he was all too familiar with; grins that said they had never been happier. Stain spun his blade and used the momentum to lob off his pinkie finger.

Arazach glanced over at Stain, "It would seem somebody has taken the oath, this fight just got interesting. Three beings that love nothing more than the battlefield. Come at me with your full strength Newgate, Stain, let us dance this dance of death and enjoy every moment of it!"

The three continued their battle, exchanging blows that sent shock waves through the skies and tremors through the ground. Despite the heavy rain, not a single drop fell around the three. It was as if their battle was shielded from all external elements, an arena of sorts where the loser could have no excuses. Time was lost during the battle and nobody was sure how long it had been, but the blood of the three beings covered the battlefield. Stain and Newgate begun to move sluggish, while Arazach seemed to have slightly more energy.

"I will admit, you two have forced me to use more power than I had wanted to; however, it would seem that you two have reached your limits. I express my gratitude for granting me this wonderful battle, but sadly it's time to end this foolish game."

Arazach raised his staff and pointed it at Newgate and Stain, greenish black flames begun to gather around the tip of the staff as Arazach chanted in infernal.

Stain looked at Newgate, "You still got enough in the tank to end this?"

Newgate let out a short chuckle, "You talking about me, it seems like you can't even walk anymore. You can fool everybody else, but I know for a fact you took that drug from the doctor."

Stain glanced down at his leg, "Well I had to; even if it would just numb the pain, I had no choice. There is no bone left in my leg, and the support the doc put in my leg is causing mass internal bleeding. I can feel the blood pooling in my leg the more I move around. I'm sorry to say Newgate, but I can't fight you after we take down Arazach; this is my last battle."

Newgate smiled as he turned to face Arazach, "Yeah I know. I overheard the doc tell you that should you survive this battle, in order to live she would have to cut your leg off."

"So you already know that it will be you to return to the Capital with Arazach's head. Do me a favour and keep an eye on Royland for the remainder of the battle, he is the key to winning this war."

As the two finished their conversation, Arazach completed his chant and the greenish black flames concentrated itself into a tiny ball.

"There won't be anything left of you two, but know that once I become the true king, I will have statues made of you two. Stain, Newgate; you two are true warriors so it would be disrespectful of me not to give you a warrior's death."

As the beam streaked forward a bolt of lightning struck before it. The lightning soon turned red as the blood of Senegas spewed from his mouth. Newgate was able to understand Senegas' plan in that brief moment and with all the strength left in him, he hurled Stain out of the ranged of the attack and straight towards Arazach. Time seemed to slow down in that moment, as Stain looked back at Newgate and Senegas, who were both smiling at him, the smiles said that the hope was now placed on Stain. Facing forward, Stain put all his strength into one final swing at the unguarded Arazach. Arazach saw the blade coming for his head, but the spell left him unguarded and unable to respond. Arazach mouth the word 'splendid' as Stain's blade cleaved his head from his shoulders. Stain crashed on the ground as Arazach's head landed besides him. The drug's effects had long since worn off and using his sword Stain rose to his feet, Arazach's head in hand, and hobbled over to the body of Newgate. Senegas' body had been completely disintegrated, while only Newgate's head remained.

"You both were selfish fools, leaving me with the burden of carrying on this hope, knowing that my life as a warrior was over since the battle in the arena. I will see both of you soon, but for now I will complete the mission."

Stain said a brief prayer before he began his long journey back to the Capital to report their success; and the sacrifices that came with it.