Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Nightshade's opponent was some kind of a brown Griffin.

In this special arena, there was a prevention for a beast flying away, so the Griffin was able to fly around.

As soon as the battle started, the Griffin moved its massive wings and rose as high in the air as the arena allowed.

Nightshade moved too as she dashed forward with dazzling speed.

The eyes of the Griffin shined green and used some kind of elemental attacks, attacks that could only be described as a storm shot toward Nightshade.

She, being a panther, managed to dodge the attack gracefully by moving her body to the side without stopping her charge.

Her gold eyes narrowed as she saw that the Griffin was too high in the air, meaning she couldn't reach it just by jumping.

That didn't mean that she wasn't able to reach it some other way, though.

She changed the direction of her dash as she raced to the walls of the arena and began to climb it.

Thanks to her claws, as she was part of the cat family, she didn't have trouble running upwards as long as she had momentum.

She climbed the walls, reaching the ceiling and running along it without falling.

The Griffin attacked again, and Nightshade was forced to take it as she couldn't dodge.

The wind blade collided with her head, leaving a large wound on the panther's skull, and blood began to pour from it.

In normal circumstances, the panther should have fallen dead on the ground. If the attack didn't kill it, the fall surely would have.

But the audience, as well as the Griffin, stared in shock as Nightshade simply continued running, unbothered by the fatal injury.

Before the Griffin could react, Nightshade jumped forward, and her claws clashed with its body.

Once Nightshade reached the Griffin, the fight was basically over. It was the same as if a street cat got a hold of a bird.

Death would certainly follow.

The Griffin tried to resist, using its claws and beak to strike, but Nightshade's claws sank deep into its body as her fangs closed around the Griffin's neck.

A loud cracking sound echoed across the arena as the Griffin's eyes dimmed, and it fell to the ground dead.

The announcer proclaimed that Nightshade had won, and the audience stood, erupting in cheers.

Some cursed that they had lost the bet, but most of them were impressed by the way the beast fought.

Zaroth silently watched the scene with a smile on his face.

"Second win," he muttered under his breath.

At that moment, he wondered how many fights his beast would partake in over the upcoming days.

*****

"And the winner of the fight is Nightshade!" the announcer's words echoed, and the crowd cheered once again.

"God… how many wins does this make now?" one woman muttered to her friend.

"I am not sure… but I think it is more than fifty at least," her friend answered back.

"More than fifty wins in a single week… unbelievable, how is that possible?"

"I don't know, but some people suspect that it has to do with her master—Hollow."

"What does this have to do with the panther master? Isn't the master only the owner?"

"Not necessarily, you see, this beast could be Hollow's summon. If that is the case, it would mean that Hollow is a Beast Master or something similar."

The woman's eyes widened in realization. "So you mean that Hollow's blessing extends to the beast as well?"

The other woman nodded back, "Yes, this is the only way to explain how the beast is able to take so many fatal attacks and walk them off just fine, almost as if it didn't feel pain."

"Then what could that blessing do?"

"It's unknown, but some theorize that it makes Hollow's beasts immortal as long as Hollow has mana. Others say that these are not beasts but some kind of weird demons that could heal forever, no matter how strong the attacks they receive."

The woman quickly added, "But keep in mind, these are only speculations. The reality is most likely very different."

Zaroth didn't pay any attention to the muttering around him. It was safe to say that his Hollow persona had already become quite popular. Sadly, there still wasn't a single mention of Destiny at all.

It was as if that individual didn't existed at all.

But that didn't concern him at the moment as he felt that Nightshade was very close to evolving.

And seeing her opponent, Zaroth was sure that this was going to be the last push she would need to reach the Epic tier.

Her opponent was the same Gorehorn Minotaur that had killed her before.

The moment both beasts entered the arena, Zaroth felt a bit nauseated by the pure hatred Nightshade was displaying.

Her golden eyes were gone as they were now bloodshot, almost like she was barely controlling herself from going berserk.

Seeing that, Zaroth's mouth curved into a twisted smile.

He sent Nightshade a simple message,

'Act as you see fit.'

As soon as the fight started, the Gorehorn Minotaur roared in an attempt to intimidate Nightshade.

It also lifted its axe above its head.

But Nightshade didn't care.

She didn't show fear.

There was only a single emotion she was displaying.

Hatred.

Before the Gorehorn Minotaur even realized it, Nightshade had already moved.

The Gorehorn Minotaur's eyes narrowed. The beast remembered that it had battled against this creature before, but the panther hadn't been nearly as fast!

Before the minotaur could react, Nightshade lunged at its exposed leg.

She could have gone for the throat.

She could have ended the fight right then and there.

But she had received an order from Zaroth.

So her decision was to make what she saw fit.

And there was nothing in this world more important than making this minotaur suffer as much as possible.

Leaving deep claws and bite marks on one of the minotaur's legs, she lunged for the next one.

The minotaur moved its arm, ready to deliver a blow, but it horrifiedly realized that it was moving slower than usual.

Something was wrong!

Left with no time to react, Nightshade made even more severe wounds on the minotaur's leg.

Then she retreated with hurried steps.

The entire time, she was looking into her opponent's eyes.

It was very important to see it suffer.

The minotaur's face had become a bit paler as it took ragged breaths.

It was now not only feeling the effects of Hellweaver's poison, but it had also lost some blood.

And yet, it felt rage as it saw the panther and, without hesitation, charged toward her.

Nightshade, in turn, did the same.

Unlike last time, however, she dodged its charge and the swing of the axe, landing on the minotaur's back.

Again, she didn't go for the throat but made several wounds on its back.

The minotaur grunted as it looked at the panther again.

Something was wrong! The panther was faster and more deadly than before. It was going to die!

Zaroth smiled as he felt the amount of pleasure Nightshade was feeling from this battle.

She charged again,

First, she injured the hand that the minotaur was holding the axe with, making it drop it.

Then the other hand,

Then the chest and abs.

The minotaur's face wasn't spared as well, but Nightshade made sure not to kill it too fast.

The audience was looking in shock.

Usually, a battle didn't last longer than ten minutes.

But this one had been more than half an hour!

And most of the time, the panther was only playing with the minotaur!

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Gorehorn Minotaur collapsed on the ground, but it was still alive, looking at Nightshade with horror in its eyes.

Too much poison and it had lost too much blood, it couldn't move!

Nightshade moved quietly forward.

Getting very close to the minotaur's face, making sure that this was the last thing the minotaur was going to remember before it died.

And then she closed her jaws on the minotaur's neck, breaking it.

The minotaur was dead.

Zaroth couldn't help but gasp at the amount of energy that Nightshade's body started to give off.

And a second later, a familiar and yet unfamiliar voice of the system echoed in Zaroth's mind.

[Nightshade's wish has been granted.]

[Nightshade's purpose has been fulfilled.]

[Nightshade is ready to evolve.]