Asher stood above the vanquished Alpha, displaying a menacing grin as he was declared the champion. Everyone was stunned by the brutality he displayed, but nothing could be said about it. Such was the way of the strong, and since Tyman was weak, he was crushed.
Larry smiled wildly, happy by Klaus’ performance. His violent display had sent fear into the hearts of many, and even though the other matches would have victors, none would be as overwhelming as Klaus’.
“There’s no way Dax is winning against that!”
Benson and the other contestants to come clenched their fist as they witnessed the loss of one of their own. The old man gulped as he looked at Klaus’ frame.
‘It’s a good thing I wasn’t pitted against him in the first round.’ He thought in relief.
“Since Klaus won the first match, we’ll move onto the second one immediately.” Asher remarked, calling the next participants to the stage.
It was Benson versus Derek.
Both men appeared to be in their late fifties, but Derek had a much larger build. He wasn’t fond of words, so he was usually quiet, even in meetings. However, no one doubted his strength. Even Benson was wary of the mysterious Alpha he would be fighting.
As both of them stared hard at themselves, Benson steeled himself, preparing for Asher’s declaration.
“Let the battle… begin.”
>SHWUUU<
Benson instantly coated himself in his half-wolf form as he prepared for the incoming assault of Derek. Every Alpha was known for a particular trait they had. For Benson, it was his defense. However, the Alpha currently approaching him had a different specialty. SPEED!
>SWOOOOSH<
In a flash, even to Benson's eyes, Derek closed the distance and drew his fist close to his face. Benson braced himself and steeled his body for the strike, realizing he couldn't react on time.
>BAM!< The hot connected, sending Benson's body moving away from it's previous location.
Quickly planting his legs on the ground, the persistent man rooted himself to the ground and halted the sliding process initiated by Derek's powerful blow. The moment he halted, Derek appeared behind Benson once again, throwing a jab at him.
"Garkk!" The assaulted Alpha let out in slight pain, feeling the sting course through his back.
Still, he endured.
Derek kept appearing and vanishing at various locations, each time hitting Benson in a weak spot and making him yelp in pain.
"Just give up, Benson. You can't catch up to me." Derek finally made his first statement.
Unlike Klaus who delighted in utterly crushing his foes, Derek didn't see any point in taking one's time in breaking the opponent. If victory was the goal, victory should be achieved. Any other thing was irrelevant.
'I don't want to go too far…' He thought.
They were fighting for the throne of Wolf King, but the fact remained that they were all Alphas of Oregon woods and friends who grew up knowing each other. He wasn't going to stoop so low as to draw out more pain than necessary from Benson.
"There's no way I'm giving up and shaming my Pack!" Benson answered, gritting his teeth as he narrowed his gaze on Derek's body in a distance.
"Why aren't you using your Werewolf Art? Aura would help you very much in this fight." Derek asked Benson.
Every Alpha of Oregon Woods had an ancient Werewolf Art, it was trite. This was why they could rise to such high level of power. Tyman's Art was [Insight], unsuitable for combat, so it was entirely useless in his fight against Klaus.
As for Benson and Derek… they both had [Aura].
"Why aren't you using yours as well?" Benson responded with a sly grin.
Derek clenched his fist the moment he heard this. He could tell that Benson was taunting him, but he refused to give in.
'Its cowardly to use my full power against someone holding back. That isn't true victory.'
Benson smiled internally after watching Derek's conflicted face. He had known him since they were young, and Benson was aware of what kind of man he was. Derek wasn't going to use his Art if Benson was holding back.
'Such an idiot!' Benson's mind rang.
Derek glared at Benson, tightening his fists. He was going to end the fight now.
Once against, Benson braced himself for the bombardment to arrive.
>SWOOOOSH!!!<
Derek raced, moving even faster than his previous speed. The Werewolves who watched had to strain their eyes to even get a glimpse of his blur.
Derek launched his fist at Benson's defenseless body, throwing his heavy blows to his stomach in order to send him flying to the ground and unconscious.
Unfortunately for him, Benson had already predicted this.
>BOOOOOMMMM!!!<
As Derek buried his fist into Benson's stomach, the Alpha tightened his guts and released his Aura at the exact time of the attack. This strengthened his body, allowing him to tank the attack.
"So, you finally used it, uh-?"
Before Derek could respond to Benson's sudden use of his Art, the latter quickly gripped him and drew him closer in a firm embrace.
"W-what are you-?!"
Benson moved faster than ever due to the strengthening effect of the red energy around him, trapping Derek in his grasp and hugged him tightly.
Derek quickly activated his aura and attempted to free himself from Benson's locked grasp, but he couldn't.
", You seem to have forgotten, Derek. You might be faster than me, but that's all there is to it. When it comes to combat and strength, I am still superior! This is the end!"
Benson mustered all his strength and crushed Derek who was stuck in his arms. The Alpha couldn't free himself from Benson and yelled in pain, feeling his body getting crushed by Benson's brute force
"Gahhh!!!" He yelled.
Benson showed no signs of hesitation or mercy, simply pouring all he could into breaking his opponent. Seeing that he was already trapped, with no route of escape, Derek realized that his defeat was guaranteed.
"Stop… It's my loss!" He groaned, yelling out in surrender.
Unlike Tyman, who stubbornly refused to give up until he was already severely battered, Derek had enough sense to realize when he needed to pull out.
Upon hearing this, Benson grinned and loosened his hold, allowing Derek to move away from him in a flash.
"Looks like it's my win, after all." Benson grinned with a superior air wafting around him.
Derek gritted his teeth as he glared at his former friend and fellow Alpha in slight annoyance.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, Derek. I never told you not to use your Aura. It was your fault for underestimating me and deciding to restrain yourself." Benson said, shrugging off the slight aches and pains he still felt on his body.
They were small sacrifices to get Derek in his grasp.
"Tch. I see." Derek muttered, now seeing through Benson's sly plan.
He had intentionally refused to use Aura so Derek would do the same, taking multiple hits while reading the direction and route he would be assaulted in. By the time Derek resolved to end the fight, Benson, who knew him well, knew that his friend would go for the gut. Using this to his advantage, he readied his hand and synced with the time Derek nearly hit him to use Aura and trap him in his grasp.
'It wasn't a bad idea… but to think he used my pride as a Werewolf against me… that Benson…' Derek thought to himself, rising from the hard ground where he had fallen die to the weakness of his body.
"The second match goes to Alpha Benson." Asher declared.
Benson's supporters from the audience let out cheers, clapping and making noise to celebrate the victory of their leader.
Now, with only one more round to go for the preliminaries, the remaining participants looked at each other. Dax was a little nervous, since it had been very long since he truly fought. He had been so caught up in his duties as a Beta and temporary Alpha, that he hadn't even done his usual training regiment in so long.
The opponent he would be facing, Alfred, was a hot-blooded Alpha, who was entirely against Dax's ascension as Alpha. The burning glare in his eyes was enough to tell Dax that he held malevolent intentions toward him. The only reason Alfred hadn't made any moves against Dax and outright started a fight, was die to Asher's presence.
Still, Dax knew that the moment they began their fight, his opponent would show no mercy!
"The final participants should come to the stage." Asher said, as the moderator.
Dax and Alfred moved to the stage which had been battered by the fights that occurred within the span of some minutes. Close to one hour had elapsed since the battle had began. Lots of time had passed, yet it seemed like it had only began.
"You may begin."
>FWOOOSH<
Both parties raced at each other to finish the preliminaries, with only one emerging as the winner!