††† Siegfried †††

The canine turned with a swipe of his massive, clawed paw. He might have been faster than Siegfried, but the flex of his muscles was easy to read.

Sieg came in low and rammed his shoulder into the canine with a snarl. He felt the ribs breaking before his weight and momentum catapulted the mutt away from Haylee, bouncing against the stony ground several times before slamming into the hard wall.

Relief fought with anger as he saw that Haylee’s forearms were shredded instead of her face. She’d managed to block at least.

The sound of claws ripping into stone made him turn around, raising his sword. The older canine with the scar was mid-air, posed to strike.

Any human would have impaled himself on Siegfried's sword, but Scarface had reflexes beyond human. He twisted his body at the last second, evading the deadly blade. What he did not expect was that Sieg also had inhuman reflexes.

If Sieg couldn’t match the canine’s speed, he just had to use quicker attacks. As the wolf-man twisted to rush by Siegfried, the warrior rammed his forehead into his enemy’s snout.

The hit stunned the canine, changing the flying charge into an uncontrolled fall. He hit the ground hard, slithering across the stone and leaving a trail of blood where it ground his hide.

Sieg focused on the man in the black robe while Ryden ran across the pit. The mysterious guy had not moved a muscle so far, though he could have taken advantage of the situation.

“Haylee needs healing, now!” Sieg growled.

Ryden picked up the whimpering cat-girl in his arms and stood still for a moment, concentrating. Haylee let out a relieved sigh.

“No, keep up the appearances,” Ryden told her. Turning to Sieg, he urged, “Haylee will be okay, and I can mute the pain as long as I touch her. You can still solve this without us giving away our powers— I will heal her as soon as we are out of sight!”

Sieg clenched his fists and shut his eyes closed, trying to suppress the fury that rose at Ryden’s words. He knew the healer was right. But once unleashed, his anger was hard to quell.

“You have broken the rules,” Torg’s deep bass declared. “Helping a challenger during the trial is forbidden. The cat-girl has failed and will not be allowed to ascend!”

That was all it took to make Siegfried snap. His odd-coloured eyes bore into Torg’s with burning intensity. “So that is what your honour is worth, Whrathraiser?” His words carried the cold promise of violence. Any spectator close to Torg and Zschrish fled the stands. Even Kaz seemed to get uncomfortable. His voice rising, Sieg shouted, “A spectator interfered by hindering Haylee’s movements, and you say nothing?”

Zschrish seethed, “I barely did—”

“As the cretin joined the fight, I will take him on!” Siegfried boomed. “Send everything you have left— I will slay all of them,” he waved his sword across the remaining defenders on the edge of the pit before aiming it at Zschrish. “And him,” he finished.

Murmures of consent were heard before. Now the crowd was cheering and urging Torg to go along with Siegfried’s demands. Torg’s expression soured.

He seemed to wrangle with himself, but in the end, it was as Sieg had expected.

“I cannot send a free agent of Victor himself into the pit,” Torg growled with barely constrained anger. “But you will have what you asked for. I will allow you and the kitten to pass if you survive this next round.”

“Bring her out and stay with Kaz,” Sieg calmly told Ryden while keeping his eyes on Zschrish.

“Sieg, there are more reasons why we have to—”

“I know,” Sieg cut him off. “Mute the pain and make sure nothing happens to either of you,” he ordered. “As long as she is safe, I will do what I can to keep our disguise.”

Ryden studied Siegfried's features for a moment before he walked off with Haylee in his arms.

“Defenders!” Torg shouted. “This whelp has cast doubt on your capability to defend your standing. He ridicules you by saying he can take all of you on his own!”

The outcries of the defenders were heated, even after the display, Sigfried gave them before.

“Show him that strength and reflexes are not enough to steal a place in the higher areas!”

With thunderous warcries, the remaining defenders jumped into the pit. Three of them were male felines, their build close to Kaz. They were likely a bit faster than Sieg but not by much. The other three were a grey-skinned monster, similar to Nahlid, an insectoid creature that resembled a mantis and a thick-muscled guy that resembled a bull on two cloven-hooved legs, wielding a massive hammer.

Siegfried was wary of the primitive weapon. Its head was a boulder the size of a small child, and while it would likely shatter when swung by the ripped bull-man, one hit might be all he needed.

The hidden cowl-guy still made no movement, keeping himself behind the new fighters. All the better for Siegfried.

“Rip him apart!” Torg cried, and the remaining defenders, minus Cowl, attacked.

Centring himself, Sieg took a defensive stance.

The three felines rushed forward, sprinting ahead of their burlier allies. The first darted in quickly to land a short swipe at Siegfried's abdomen, but the young warrior could read the feline’s muscles like an open book.

Sieg evaded by a margin and severed the offender’s arm with his sword. Exploiting the state of shock, he lopped off the feline’s head with the return swing.

“He’s gotten faster!” a surprised hiss came from his right. The other two retreated after their friend was killed so quickly and grouped up with the rest.

Siegfried let them be as he couldn’t chase them anyway. They were wrong in assuming he became faster— he just used less unnecessary movement.

The bull-man growled something under his breath, but it seemed his colleagues were not appreciative of his strategy. The grey-skinned monstrosity took on speed and stomped towards Sigfried with its two strange tusks pointed in Sieg’s direction.

The two remaining felines rushed to both sides, flanking him while the bull grabbed his hammer tighter. The mantis jumped into the air, overtaking them and forcing Sieg to focus on him.

It was a transparent strategy, and Sieg had planned out his counter immediately. Instead of backing up, he jumped forward, evading the scythe-like appendage of the mantis and driving his sword into the insectoid’s torso.

The felines jumped in but were hindered by the broad arms of the dying mantis, enclosing Siegfried’s frame.

He just pulled out the sword from the corpse above him as the grey-skinned monster barreled over the mantis and Siegfried alike.

Despite his enhanced muscles and bones, Sieg could feel his ribs crack as the mantis was pressed onto him by a much heavier creature.

He snarled with refusal, wormed himself to the right and rammed his sword into the leathery leg of his opponent.

With a miserable cry, the creature fell to the side, just as one of the felines wanted to take advantage of Sieg’s plight.

Sieg dropped his sword and caught the offending, clawed paw in his hand. The sharp claws shredded Siegfried’s fingers, but he held on as the flesh on his hand was torn.

The muscles were still functional on three of his five fingers, and the feline gaped with incomprehension as Sieg crushed its paw.

As he tried to crawl out from beneath the mantis, the bull finally made his play. He came from Siegfried’s blind spot, already bringing his hammer down— the warrior had only a short moment to react.

His legs trapped, Sieg could only raise his left arm in defence. The hammer struck his forearm instead of his head.

Pain exploded from the point of impact as Siegfried’s flesh was squashed, and even the bone cracked. The hammerhead burst from the force, peppering its victim with countless stone shards.