The hound's jaws clamped down on the crab's eyestalk with a sickening crunch, but the crab didn't retreat. Instead, it pivoted its entire weight on one of its legs? feet? claws? whatever its called, slamming a serrated blade-limb into the hound's flank. The blow didn't just slice through it hooked, dragging the hound across the ash-sand as the monster let out a garbled yelp.
The crowd's roar shifted from a steady thrum to a frantic, staccato chant, their tattered robes fluttering as they leaned over the stone railings. Some were pounding the obsidian tiers with their fists, the sound reminiscent of a really bad percussion band.
Rian watched, mesmerized by the sheer scale of violence.
'Man if these are just abominations I can't even imagine what higher ranks are like' thought Rian
The monsters weren't just fighting, they were brawling for survival. Every time the hound tore away a piece of translucent shell, a spray of that ink-like ichor splattered the sand, sizzling where it landed. The crab responded by snapping its smaller, secondary pincers, systematically shearing the black bristles off the hound's hide until the beast was a patchwork of raw, pulsing muscle.
'Man this might've actually been slightly enjoyable to watch if not for the Jester'
Every time blood spilt the Jester began giggling like a madman.
Total immersion ruiner.
The Jester began to circle the fight like a vulture made of silk, his feet never touching the ground. He clapped his gloved hands together, and the sound echoed over the crowd's noise like a whip-crack.
"Oh, bravo! Splendid! But look, the puppy is getting tired! And the crab… oh, the poor crab is missing a lung!"
As if spurred on by his mockery, the hound-thing reared back, its ribcage expanding to an impossible size. The single jagged mark on its flank began to glow with a dull, angry red light. It lunged one last time, ignoring the crab's blades, and buried its head into the monster's soft, exposed underbelly.
The crab shrieked, a high, glass-shattering sound, as its serrated claws locked around the hound's spine in a final, crushing embrace.
The two monsters collapsed into a heap of tangled limbs and broken chitin, twitching in the center of the arena. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the ragged, dying gasps of the Doorborns and the faint clinking of the overhead chains.
Rian immediately held his breath, the sudden silence making him freeze in place. An inexplicable weight began to pile on to his shoulders making Rian think something was gonna happen soon. As if on cue the Jester stopped mid-air, his masked head tilting to the side. The painted grin seemed to widen.
"Well, well," the Jester whispered, his voice carrying perfectly through the still air. "It seems we've run out of appetizers."
The masked man landed nimbly on the sand, strolling toward the dying abominations with a hum. He reached into the mess of gore, plucking a small, glowing shard from the hound's cooling carcass.
"A bit messy for a first act," the Jester muttered, loud enough for his voice to carry. He tossed the shard into the air and caught it. "But the audience is still hungry. And I know there's another guest invited to this party."
He didn't turn around. He didn't point. He simply snapped his fingers, and the heavy chains hanging above Rian's door began to rattle violently.
"Come out, come out, little Seeker! It's rude to watch the show without paying for a ticket!"
Rian felt the door behind him start to dissolve into that terrifying black ink. The shadow was literally eating his hiding spot, forcing him to stumble forward into the violet light of the arena.
"Ah, there he is!" the Jester shrieked, spinning around with a flourish. "The star of our second act!"
Thousands of eyes quickly flocked over to the corner Rian was standing in. Rian's body immediately tensed up, the pressure of all those people sent him into a slight panic.
Knowing he couldn't hide any longer, Rian let out a long, shaky sigh and stepped fully into the violet light of the arena. He raised his hands in a universal gesture of peace, with a tight expression plastered on his face.
He took a few cautious steps onto the ash-sand, his shoes crunching loudly in the sudden silence of the crowd. The Jester remained suspended in the air, head tilted, the painted grin of the mask looking more mocking than ever.
Rian took a shallow breath and then stammered "Guys… I uh- think there's been a slight mistake here?" Rian continued, gesturing vaguely toward the exit he'd just come from. "I think there's been a bit of a clerical error. See, I was actually just looking for some geese. Big, white, delicious birds? I must've taken a wrong turn at the twisted trees. I'm sure someone as important as a... Daily Arena Sponsor... has better things to do than pick on a guy who doesn't even have a weapon to defend himself with."
The Jester didn't move for a long moment. Then, he let out a low, bubbling giggle that quickly spiraled into a manic cackle. He drifted closer, his mismatched silk suit snapping in the still air.
"A clerical error!" the Jester shrieked, wiping an imaginary tear from his mask. "Oh, the little rat has a tongue! Well I suppose the least I could do for your troubles is let you leave"
Rian's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"
"Of course! I'm a sponsor, not a monster," the Jester giggled, gesturing toward the far end of the arena where a new, golden door began to materialize out of the violet mist. "There is your exit, little rat. All you have to do is walk across the sand and open it. A simple walk for a simple man."
Rian skeptically stared at the door not fully convinced, after all his hospitality service so far was subpar to say the least.
He started to walk, his pace quickening as he neared the center of the arena. But as his foot landed in the middle of the pit, right between the carcasses of the hound and the crab, the golden door began to flicker.
"Oh, I forgot one tiny detail!" the Jester shrieked from above, his voice blooming into a manic howl.
The golden door shattered into a thousand shards of black glass. From the hole where the door had been, a low, guttural vibration began to shake the very ground Rian stood on.
"The exit only opens... for the winner!, hehehehehe"