Wudang: Legends Of Qi Earth 101 Hell Arena Vi : The Manticore

A portal sizzling with red electricity and a weird pull it gravity showed up above the Arena. Alex and the boys gathered around themselves in preparation for what was coming next, while the Naga King wasn't a famous creature, the manticore was the stuff of nightmares. It's well known that it was almost extinct with the only ones alive being bred in captivity by really powerful figures on Earth, but that's besides the point as the danger of the legendary magical beast was beyond all expectations.

Manticore weren't graded according to cultivation or magical circles, they had this nifty ability of being able to adjust the speed and lethality of their poison according to the stage of power their opponents or prey had. But apart from that they were born at a definite level of strength, speed and defense, unfortunately that's a level that would a little bit too difficult for Alex and the others to surpa.s.s. Never the less they've not backed off a challenge yet, so they won't be starting with a lion/scorpion/man hybrid.

The portal seemed to shrink and then expand before a ma.s.sive grey skinned monstrosity fell out of it. Thick and very hard chitinous carapace covered it, a ma.s.sive stinger slowly vibrating rose up into the air above it as it's ma.s.sive claws covered the front of it's face.

Apart from the moving stinger, the boys would have thought that the MANTICORE was already dead, however before they could even think to move a step closer the manticore raised it's head up and.....

*Skrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttttt*

It was loud, their eardrums rumbled to the point of bleeding as they stood their ground in front of the extreme display of power from the 8 foot tall manticore. It took the manticore just a few seconds to know exactly where it was, before all right of it's legs began the motion of carrying it straight towards the boys.

The Manticore was much more bigger than the Naga King, it might not be as flexible, but it covered a wider area and was basically a wild animal as opposed to the Naga King that could be considered a fully conscious and intelligent being. When fighting them he would have been a bit careful, but in the case of the Manticore, it would be a situation were a predator hunts down it's prey with any means necessary.

Louis made the first move, his light based spells meant that he could always draw the attention when needed, his handsomeness aside, the kid was a literal beacon with his light based spells. Even a blind man would know where Louis was, and since the Manticore was more of a wild beast it would happily follow after the boy who was more eye catching.

Yun Fao also made his move, going towards the singer of the Manticore hoping to flank the very grotesque combination of a man, lion and scorpion. Alex on the other hand was trying and failing to get in contact with Khan. If they had their weapons in hand, then dealing with any of these threats would be a whole lot more easier, it wouldn't completely eliminate the threat or completely turn the fight in their favor, but at the very least they would be able to cause significant damage and fight at their fullest potential. No matter how you see it, weapons could cause more damage than flesh and bone, regardless of what stage of cultivation you fin yourself.

The Manticore swiped it's ma.s.sive cla.s.s at Louis who jumped above it, only for the stinger of the Manticore to come crashing down towards his chest as a lighting fast speed. Louis's light shield sprang up to life to defend him against the strike from the Manticore, for the most part the shield held, but for just a second as it was ripped apart, causing a shockwave that blasted Louis back and onto the chain link platform where he bounced up only for the claws to smack him away, blood flying out of his mouth.

Alex flew up to catch his friend, he didn't know how much, but he knew Louis was seriously injured. His breathing was little bit heavier than normal, and his hands clutched his chest, there was a possibility that Louis's ribs or collar bone might have been broken, and if that was the case the kid could have a whole slew of internal bleeding. However Alex knew he could hold on a bit longer, his body was infinitely stronger than a normal persons, they just had to be done with this fight as soon as possible. If it dragged for too long, the amount of danger Louis would be in would increase exponentially.

Alex placed Louis by the side, cleaning the blood on his friend's lips as he turned in one fluid motion with the Javelin of the Naga King still in his hand, then he threw it straight towards the head of the Manticore, however the monster quickly ducked under the flying fiery javelin, however it was not completely out of danger yet as the Javelin sank halfway through it's tail, green noxious gas sprayed out of the wound as the Manticore roared out in anger. Yun Fao made his way underneath the Manticore where he placed a well times. .h.i.t underneath it, it didn't cause any sort of damage shirt of p.i.s.sing the monstrous being off. A shockwave boasted out of it's body, throwing Alex backwards and flattening Yun Fao who bounced back and forth from the chain platform to the hard body of the Manticore, busting his head open in the process and leaving him dazed from the impact.

Alex held his hands together as a ball of flames began to take shape, the flames seemed to fool as it turned from bright orange to gold and then to bright neon green. Alex felt weak at the knees as this technique took a whole lot of spirit energy out of him, and even more so considering he was using the WindFlame rather than Nezha's normal flames. He took a deep breath his eyes watching closely as the Manticore stepped over the still Dazed Yun Fao and walked towards him, it's eyes completely glued to the glowing green ball of flames. Guess this could be added into the encyclopedia of monsters, Manticore are attracted to bright lights, just like cats.

Alex held his breath, his hands shaking as sweat covered his brows, he took a few steps back, making sure to lead the Manticore away from his friends. It was almost impossible to believe that such a fearsome monster would have such a weakness, but nonetheless it was that same weakness that Alex was banking on. When the Manticore was only three meters away, it raised itself to it's full height, it's tail and stinger poised to strike at the light, Alex on the other hand was so exhausted that it was taking all of his strength to remain conscious or standing. Then he pointed his hands, the WindFlame softly blazing like a calm summer breeze.

(Dragon Fall)

This was Nezha's ultimate skill, eventually when the fire mask gets it's animal and plant spirit, They too will have an ultimate skill of their own. This move told the story of Nezha's battle with a blue dragon, though the army told was that he slayed the dragon, but this move didn't show the strength used in killing a dragon, rather it showed the power of a true dragon, all of it's anger and all of it's rage, all of it's power...…

The calm summer breeze turned into a spring hurricane as the green flames seemed to flare up and take the shape of an enormous green and gold dragon, it was still bright enough to drag the attention of the Manticore as it flew up into the air, and then dived down, Jaws gaping to completely swallow the still enthralled monster of poison and death. The dragon disappeared into the chain link platform, not even leaving a scratch on it, and as for the Manticore, all that was left was Ash and the Javelin of the Naga King.

Alex fell to his knees, his breaths heavy as he slowly crawled towards Louis who did not seem to be getting any better. Yun Fao dragged himself closer as they both held onto Louis who's fair skin had already turned a deathly shade of white, completely pale and seemingly on the verge of death. Noticing a blood spot on his shirt; Alex moved it aside only to see a small puncture wound releasing black blood and having green, red and black veins spreading from it, slowly creeping across his entire chest.

"That's the Manticore's poison!" Yun Fao cried out, Alex had no idea what to say or do, this was a poison he had no idea how to deal with, and worse still was the fact that his storage ring wasn't here, so he had nothing on hand to try and slow the spread of the poison.

"KHAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!" Alex's roar of desperation seemed to bring about a hour of amus.e.m.e.nt to the invisible audience they had as the Announcer, the same guy who almost captured them in the name of saving them appeared above them.

"It seems we will be having our first death of the night ladies and gentlemen! Who knew they would get rid of the Manticore with such ease…though I guess I could say it cost them quite a bit didn't it! Whooooo! This is exciting, two helpless friends with no other choice but to watch their third friend die! And even more so their next opponent is coming right up! This is so bleak! So exciting! So painful! Soooooo much fun! Mhmhahahaha!

Boys! I think you should all say your goodbyes to each other, your next Opponent is not something you can deal with! So without further ado I introduce the next challenger, The Dark Lands Basilisks! Prepare to die!"