This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Meanwhile the Scorchwing Demon tore through the air with its powerful wings, casting a blistering heatwave that seemed to warp the very space around it.

Serena's Elemental Guardian, now in its golem-like earth form, braced itself against the infernal heat, its rocky skin cracking under the pressure, but still standing strong.

It seemed like both sides had reached the consensus that the time for testing one another was over—They would both be going all out.

The shadowy form of the Echo seemed to pulse before shifting and morphing into a shadowy form reminiscent of the Starweaver, only with the complete absence of any starlight on its figure, moreso resembling a blackhole.

As the Starweaver beat its wings to stay afloat, the wings of the Abyssal Echo, now a shadowy replica of the Starweaver, beat in opposition to it, perfectly mirroring its movements in the opposite direction.

Strangely, this had a resistant effect on the movements of the Starweaver and it seemed to struggle against some invisible force to keep its wings moving and remain int eh air. Unfortunately, it seemed to lose this battle and crashed hard onto the surface the of the stage.

Tobias, still with that strange, almost innocent smile on his face, had yet to truly unleash his full strength, and Serena could sense that he had something planned as she made sure to keep an eye on.

Fortunately, he didn't keep her in suspense for long. Tobias raised his hand, his fingers curling into a fist. For a split second, the shadows around him thickened as if the arena itself was bending to his will. Meanwhile the thick scent of sulfur began to permeate the entire stadium and the temperature rose.

Suddenly a portal like structure, forged from jagged obsidian that seems to absorb the very light around it, began to get clearer behind Tobias. As the temperature continued to rise with the appearance of that portal or gate, the ground surrounding it cracked and seemed to get dry and brittle, as if the spiritual power and energy within the stone was absorbed by the dark power emanating from beyond the gate.

Carved into the gate's surface were twisted sigils that looked far more ancient than Kain had ever seen before, that pulsed with an eerie, blood-red glow.

The air seemed to hum with the whispers of lost souls, and the chilling sound of distant growls echoes from within, as shadowy tendrils of smoke seemed to extend from the opening, reaching out as if alive.

However, despite the disturbing appearance of the gate, Tobias' three infernal contracts all responded in a way that no one could have predicted.

The Abyssal Echo, usually an eerie, silent presence, shuddered violently, almost orgasmically, its form rippling like the surface of a disturbed pool of black ink. Its usual stillness is replaced with an intense hunger, as if it sensed something distant yet familiar beyond the gate.

Meanwhile, the Scorchwing Demon, shook with barely contained excitement. Its crimson wings crackled with bursts of flame as it lets out a low, rumbling growl that filled through the air, its molten red skin glowing brighter.

The heat it radiated became even more unbearably hot, the flames from its wings flickering like tongues of fire as its massive form shifted restlessly. It glared at the gate with intensity, its eyes filled with a mix of anticipation and longing.

Finally the third contract, had its thorn-covered body shuddering as if on the verge of collapsing. But it doesn't. Instead, the air around it becomes sickly with an almost perverse joy, the rancid stench of decay growing stronger. Its pulsating veins throbbed, as if something deep within it was coming alive, rising from the dead.

The eyes of the creature—beady, milky, and deathly pale—glow with an ethereal light as it cackles, a sound that chills the soul, yet carried an unmistakable undertone of glee.

The gate let out a faint hum as if responding to their collective excitement.

All three of Tobias' contracts seem to share a single, unspoken recognition—that gate wasn't to just anywhere, it was to the home of their ancestors that had been forcibly transplanted in the Blackheart family relic. A location that called out to their very souls…the underworld.

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Indeed, Tobias happened to awaken one of the rarest possible gifts within the Blackheart family, a gift that had only appeared twice before in their lineage, the first of which was the founder of their family. A gift that allowed for a connection to be made to the underworld to allow for the temporary summoning of additional infernal creatures directly from the underworld.

While the infernal creatures summoned are typically not be as powerful as his main contracts, they could still serve as useful allies or distractions in battle.

The gate to the underworld trembled violently as it opened. From the swirling abyss a tall, impossibly thin humanoid figure began to materialize.

Although humanoid in shape, the proportions of its limbs were elongated to an inhuman degree.

As the figure stepped fully into the arena, its impressive height of least nine feet was showcased. Its pale, featureless face was devoid of any distinguishing marks—no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just an unsettlingly smooth, blank surface that seems to draw the light away, leaving behind an almost ethereal, ghostly pallor.

Along with its limbs, even its head was elongated, perhaps too long for its body, and its neck contorts and twists in an almost unnatural manner.

The creature's body was cloaked in a tattered, black cloak that fluttered due to a non-existent wind. The figure's hands exposed hands were also elongated and tipped with clawed fingers that are far too long for a human.

. Slick, tendrilled appendages snake out from the edges of its cloak, almost like shadowy tendrils, but these appendages seem to grow and retract in unpredictable, twitching movements—more akin to shifting, writhing smoke.

Looking at the figure that emerged from the gate, Kain was preoccupied with a legend from bak on earth that is vaguely resembled.

'

Slenderman

?!'