"That's 8," Enzo clenched his fist, blood pumping through his veins. Nibbleskin had caught more than half of the orbs he needed to catch, and the sky monitor was still hovering overhead.
At this point, it didn't matter how fast it was. Catching up to Nibbleskin was close to impossible.
"Hehe, big birdy scared of a little fun?" Nibbleskin mocked as he dove into the chasm once more and chased down another orb.
The orbs were fast, but they were just that. Nothing they could do could avoid the claws of Nibbleskin.
"9… that's three more to go," Enzo celebrated subtly, feeling a rush of excitement. It looked like this was in the bag. If they could get past the Skeleton King's game, then all that remained would be the sentient blood.
"You're getting ahead of yourself, kid. Remember who set the rules."
All of a sudden, the lanky skeleton spoke coyly, looking at Enzo with its devoid eyes. It was a mocking stare, rooted in a belief that Enzo was making a fool out of himself.
"Stupid bird!! End this!!" The lanky skeleton finally commanded the sky monitor with an aggressive wave of his hand, forcing a wave of shock through the bird's bones.
Right in front of them, the previously inactive bird jerked in a strange manner through the sky and started descending at an astronomical pace.
-boom!!
Seconds later, it blasted down into the rocky chasm, causing dust to pick up. It looked like a crash for a moment, but sooner rather than later they noticed it moving as rocks began to fly from inside the chasm.
"Shit!! It's destroyed the rocky maze," Enzo cursed as he watched the sky monitor moving through the rocky pillars in the chasm below like it was cutting through air.
"Hmmm, it was built to kill the Vampire Queen. I'm not surprised," Thane muttered under his breath. His words were soft-spoken, but they cut like a knife through butter.
He had forgotten for a moment there that although dead, the sky monitor was just as strong as the Skeleton King. Pitting Nibbleskin against it was very stupid.
All this talk, of course, bore no weight on Nibbleskin as he dashed through the chasm heading directly towards the other end.
12
He had picked up the remaining orbs during the chaos. All he needed to do now was reach the other end and this game would be done, and he would have won.
Kawkkk
A screech suddenly rang out in Nibbleskin's ear as he ran, forcing him to glance to the side. Immediately his eyes widened as he watched the sky monitor change directions and face him.
There was nothing in the rules that stated that one party couldn't kill the other in the course of the challenge. That was what the sky monitor was trying to do.
"Hmp!! Stupid bird." Nibbleskin simply sneered. The sky monitor had spent too much time preying on lesser creatures that it had forgotten its natural predator.
Nibbleskin's body increased in size, its claws stretched out as it clawed at the sky monitor's one big eye.
It wasn't as strong as the sky monitor, but it wasn't weak either. With a swing of its claw, it was able to leave a serious scratch on the surface of its one eye.
The sky monitor, however, didn't seem to care about the scratch as it took to the air before bearing back down on Nibbleskin.
This time though, it didn't dive. Rather, it picked a direction and flew away, confusing Nibbleskin.
"Hm?" Before he could realize it, the sky monitor was barreling towards the tree at the other end of the chasm.
"Damn it!!" Nibbleskin cursed, resuming its dash towards the tree. That blasted bird had used that attack as a distraction to get a head start.
"Cough cough"
As the dust cleared back where the spectators stood, Enzo's gut dropped as he watched the sky monitor tear through the air, talons closing around the final orb. Victory was ripped from their grasp in an instant.
"Damnations!!" Enzo cursed. This was bad. It was really bad. Losing didn't just mean they lost a round… it meant that Nibbleskin would be killed!!
Looking to the side, he noticed the grim expression on Thane's face also.
"Hehe, we won this round, that's good," the lanky skeleton said as it watched the sky monitor and Nibbleskin rush back towards them.
"Hmm." Enzo and Thane kept quiet, both prepared to forgo this entire deal and fight to the death. The sun was already setting. If they could hold out long enough, this battle would be manageable.
"You wish." Nibbleskin, seemingly hearing the lanky skeleton's words, dropped to the ground and spat.
"Ramblings of the dead," the lanky skeleton shot back with mockery. However, Nibbleskin didn't respond.
He simply started spitting out the orbs he had swallowed one after the other.
1… 2… 4… 8… 12… 14… 20… 24
Nibbleskin spat out a total of 24 orbs as his gaze fell back to the lanky skeleton with a look of extreme mockery.
The stupid bird made it seem like he had gone through and gotten the prerequisites of the challenge before heading for the tree.
It thought it could hide it, but unknown to it, the period in which it hovered around, Nibbleskin had worked hard and cleared every single orb in the chasm.
"You stupid bird!!" The lanky skeleton, noticing this, barked in frustration, but the sky monitor only looked at it with shamelessness and pride.
Its thinking faculties had really taken a nosedive.
"Sigh, this is so embarrassing," the lanky skeleton said, rubbing its bone temples in frustration.
"Well, you won the game, that's for sure," he added. That was an extremely embarrassing loss. Even with the so-called king of the skies, they had lost.
"But before you go… random question, aren't you a WhiteHole Devourer?" The lanky skeleton looked over at Nibbleskin and asked.
WhiteHole Devourers were a species of extinct felines native to the cold reaches of space. They were troublemakers for void voyagers and space travelers. In his lifetime, he had watched these cats hunted down by powerful beings and tamed them.
He didn't think he would meet one on the sands of Galafray.
Unless.
"He knows," Enzo muttered under his breath.
He had caught the lanky skeleton staring at the coffin on his back several times. Now, him pointing out Nibbleskin's origin… he had clearly come to a conclusion.
"Die!!" The first to move was Thane as he immediately slashed at the lanky skeleton with his bare hands.
Seeing this, the sky monitor spread its wings threateningly as it took to the air and dived at them in an instant.
Total chaos.