This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The arena hummed with tension as the two vice-captains stepped onto the stage. Isolde Blackheart, the icy-hearted strategist of Dark Moon, stood poised with a cold, calculating gaze.

Ravi, in his sleek black and silver uniform, looked every bit the warrior. His amber eyes glinted with focus, the determination of a fighter who had honed his strength for years to rise above the limitations of his origins.

The two vice-captains locked eyes for a brief moment. No words were exchanged, but the silent battle of wills had already begun.

The referees examined the stage, ensuring the poisonous mist had dissipated entirely, before stepping back and signalling the start of the match.

Ravi's Zephyrstrike Mantis was the first to make a move due to its speed of reaction. The creature's sweeping, metallic limbs sliced through the air, its razor-sharp claws shimmering in the light. It darted forward, a blur of motion as it aimed to close the distance with lightning speed.

In response, the Burning Abyssal Phoenix, soared higher. Its wings spreading with a deafening crack of air, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. The massive bird circled above, its molten eyes locked onto Ravi's mantis as it descended with a terrifying, predatory grace.

However, the mantis wasn't alone, the Dawn Butterfly cast a radiant halo over the battlefield.

The butterfly's light pulsed, causing the Zephyrstrike Mantis to become more agile, its movements a blur of silver.

Meanwhile, the movements of all the infernal opponents slowed. All of them were momentarily encased in a golden and shimmering casing that seemed to impede their movements.

The Demonwing Harpy dove toward the butterfly, her screech ripping through the air as her claws swiped through the space where the butterfly had been moments before. However, in a flash of light from its delicate wings, it appeared a short distance away, successfully dodging the attack.

Meanwhile, the mantis' sharp, sweeping limbs crashing against the claws of the phoenix that had finally arrived in a symphony of sparks.

Additionally, the dragonfly Vermix shot a lightning bolt toward the phoenix, forcing the creature to swerve just out of reach before it could launch another attack. However, when the insect wanted to continue its pursuit it was stopped by the gargoyle that had long had its fiery eyes locked onto the Vermix.

As it bobbed and weaved through the air, the gargoyle didn't give up its pursuit, continuously swinging its claws, it caused the air to crackle with heat, the stone claws glowing as if forged in the depths of a volcanic furnace.

Lastly, the manticore, which had been watching these events from the side, finally made a move, a cloud of dust and debris shot into the air as it charged forward, its claws tearing into the stage.

Its target was the dark-attribute spider that had been steadily weaving a web around the entirety of the arena—its plans unknown, but leaving an ominous impression on the First Celestial team.

However, impeding the manticore's plans, as it was forced to dodge, were sharp spikes that suddenly appeared in its path.

Wanting to quickly get rid of one of the opponents, the incubus' eyes began to emit an ominous glow before the mantis began to screech in pain while covering its head. In coordination with it, the circling phoenix and waiting Dreadclaw demon took that moment to attack it from both its front and back.

Essentially ganged up on 3 to 1, nobody was expecting the mantis to weather the attacks.

Suddenly a golden glow began to emit from Ravi, or more specifically the small cicada on his shoulder no larger than the palm of his hand.

The next moment, the mantis was completely free of its encirclement and instead had one of its blades pressed against the incubus' neck from behind.

The Incubus's eerie eyes widened in shock as the cold, razor-sharp edge of the mantis' blade hovered a mere inch from its throat.

Meanwhile, the cicada that had clearly taken the opportunity to manipulate time and relieve the mantis of its predicament, took on a pallid and sickly yellow colour, its once-shimmering wings now dull and drooping. Clearly, manipulating time for so many blue-grade spiritual creatures while being one grade lower had expended the majority of its strength.

Suddenly, the Soulreaver Incubus, still held at bay by the Zephyrstrike Mantis, let out a bone-chilling laugh. Its dark eyes shifted from Ravi to the weakening Golden Cicada, understanding its critical state. Without warning, the Incubus's wings flared out, and it released a shockwave of mental energy—targeted not only at its captor, but also the golden cicada.

Completely spent and defenseless, the cicada was forced to withdraw back into the star space.

Ravi's mantis staggered, its limbs jerking in confusion. For a split second, its blade wavered—just enough for the Incubus to shift its position out of the hold in a single, fluid motion.

Unfortunately, aware of the cunning nature of the incubus species dark threads had long surrounded the area it had been stalled in with the mantis. Threads that immediately robbed all of its senses upon contact and allowed the waiting spider to wrap it up helplessly. After a brief period in which the bundle of threads bulged and squirmed as its captive struggled for freedom, the threads unwound—now empty. Clearly the incubus had been recalled.

Both sides were now down to 5 contracts each.

Meanwhile, the Dawn butterfly was showing traces of exhaustion from continuously avoiding the gargoyle that was now pursuing it.

It fluttered weakly but persisted, its wings glowing faintly as it unleashed another pulse of light, forcing the gargoyle to veer off course as it swooped toward it again. The gargoyle screeched in frustration but couldn't land a blow as the butterfly's light flared, slowing its movements to a crawl briefly as a shimmering substance surrounded its body to impede its movements.

Unfortunately, while adept at support and control, the butterfly didn't have an offensive skill strong enough to get through the gargoyle's stone skin and capitalize on its advantage.