Dogora stepped into the arena and faced the Beast King.
He could no longer bear watching Shea being beaten like that.
He walked closer, standing at arm's reach of the Beast King.
"Hoh, you want to fight in my daughter's place?"
Dogora's attitude was so brazen that the Beast King had to ask again for confirmation.
Shea had requested that fight to show she could determine her life on her own.
And this also involved the future of Albahar's throne.
That was why the Beast King kept addressing both Shea and Zew during the fight.
He had no right or reason to intrude.
Dogora was merely her friend, yet he stood there with so much confidence it was hard to believe.
"Yeah. Let go of her already, what kind of parent hits her daughter like that."
His voice was coarse when addressing the Beast King.
He never liked polite speech, and was not used to it either.
Not to mention that he was of the mind that Allen would take care of anything that really needed acting more properly.
Dogora could not allow a father to hit his daughter.
His father had been a blacksmith, who worked hard and seldom spoke.
Before meeting Allen, Dogora used to boss the other children around, but his father never got angry at him.
One time he asked for a weapon, so his father took a log of wood and shaped it into a club, which he left next to Dogora's bed the next morning.
His father seemed to always teach by example, so Dogora grew up understanding that as the duty of parents.
He had no mercy for someone who turned on their family.
"Alright, as you wish. You were the boy blessed by the Goddess of Fire, weren't you?"
The Beast King remembered Dogora's details, which had been broadcasted to the room on the black board earlier.
At least he paid attention when someone was blessed by a god.
\The Beast King released Shea from his grip.
As she fell, Dogora caught her body.
"Wha-?! This is my fight. Stand back."
Through her waning consciousness, she insisted Dogora step away.
"I don't care. I can't stand still watching my friend get beat up."
Saying that, he carried her battered and injured body, taking her to the edge of the arena.
"..."
The Beast King remained still watching that.
"Kiel, could you heal her?"
"Sure thing. All Heal."
Kiel cast his healing magic and Shea's wound quickly began to close.
Looking at that, Dogora began taking off his own armor.
He was going to fight with his raw stats, just like Shea.
"Dogora, you'll lose if you don't wear at least something."
Helmios suggested he wear some equipment.
"No, Kagutsuchi isn't meant for this kind of fights."
Dogora respected the hero, so he tried to sound a bit more polite.
He had left Kagutsuchi in the waiting room, and he did not intend on wearing armor.
His upper body was completely exposed as he slowly headed towards the Beast King again.
"Was it here that you lost to the Beast King before?"
"Yes Allen, it was here."
Helmios looked at Dogora worried as he approached the Beast King, and Allen asked him that.
It was like Helmios was perfectly aware of everything going on there.
The Beast King had beat up Helmios there before, hearing that he was known as the hero of the world.
"Was the Beast King not wearing anything that time as well?"
"Yup, I was in a full set of orichalcum, but I still couldn't win."
"Did you use your Skills?"
"No, that would be going too far. If I did that, the match might have ended with one side dying."
(Hey, you had no issue with using them against me in the Academy. Though that was only one Skill. And I guess it wasn't at full power either.)
Allen calculated Helmios' Skill [Phoenix Sword] was at Level 5, considering the stats it provided during the appraisal.
It was probably around as powerful as Kurena's Supreme Sword was at Level 5.
Evading that powerful attack from nearby was nearly impossible too.
Though Allen assumed its cooldown was decently long as well.
Allen finally understood why Helmios was so sure Shea could not win.
He also had a better idea of how the fight between Helmios and the Beast King went.
Apparently he had also tried to fight without any equipment, but the emperor forced him to wear everything.
Even then, the Beast King fought with no equipment, and still managed to defeat Helmios.
It had been a rather one-sided fight too, though not as ugly as Shea's situation.
In the end, Helmios lost, which annoyed the emperor to no end, but Helmios felt like using Skills and potentially killing the Beast King would bring all sorts of other issues.
"Can you appraise the Beast King?"
Helmios had a Skill to check the stats of others.
"Hm? No, it doesn't work. Though you and Dogora's stats also look strange."
(Oh? What does that mean?)
The Beast King's stats looked oddly low when Helmios attempted to appraise him.
While Allen and Helmios spoke, Dogora had reached the Beast King again.
"I see, so you're the one luring Shea away. I can't accept a human sullying my kin like that, I'll kill you!!"
The Beast King was clearly angry.
"Hm? What are you talking about?"
The Beast King believed it was Dogora who had convinced Shea to join Allen's Army, but Dogora could not understand what the he was trying to say.
"Don't play dumb. I'll let you get one free hit too, that's our signal to start. Give it your best."
Allen watched as the Beast King invited Dogora to give the first punch. It seemed the Beast King had a rule of letting his opponents get one hit at the start.
"Okay."
Saying that, Dogora wound up his fist and punched the Beast King's stomach.
"Ghuh?!"
Dogora had more than ten thousand Attack points even without equipment, and he punched without holding back, so the Beast King's face contorted in pain.
The Beast King had the air from his lungs punched out and his eyes turned up to the sky.
Apparently the Beast King had not expected it to hurt so much.
"I-I won't let you have her! Hmph?!"
Saying that, he swung his fist at Dogora's face.
Just like the Beast King, Dogora did not even flinch.
Dogora took the Beast King's powerful strike head-first, which sent him flying back many meters before he could prop himself back up.
A streak of blood flowed from his lip, but he glared at the Beast King without losing any determination.
The Beast King had let him get a punch in, so he took one as well.
"...Alright, now we're even."
"You impudent human brat!!"
Dogora muttered as he wiped the blood from his face, now the fight felt fair.
The two charged at each other, ready to punch the living daylights out of each other.
Facing Dogora's refined fighting style, the Beast King swung his fists more ferociously.
He understood that if he lost now, Shea would be taken from him forever.
(Hm? I guess this means the Beast King has slightly better stats than Dogora? Or no, maybe it's just a few stats. The Beast King has more Attack and Agility. This will be a pretty rough fight.)
Dogora had enough strength for his punches to send the Beast King flying into the air.
But that was only if the Beast King did not evade.
The Beast King was a fighter like Shea, so he was mostly using Kumite and Boxing to fight.
Since the Beast King had more Attack and Agility, he moved so quickly that Dogora looked like a beginner by comparison.
He would dodge and parry, reading Dogora's movements.
"Gah!"
Dogora received another strong hit.
His face made it clear he was in pain, but he grit his teeth and endured it.
"What happened? You can't have my daughter if you're so weak!"
"Shut up! I'm trying to think. Oh wait, that's it."
Dogora was desperately trying to remember something, even though he was being overpowered.
Then he finally found what he wanted in his memories.
"What are you babbling about- what…ghuh?!!"
The Beast King finally took another punch straight into his stomach.
Dogora was no genius like Kurena.
And he had no past life experience like Allen.
But he had grown up playing knights with Kurena and Allen.
He was desperately trying to remember his Axemanship lessons in the Academy, and Doberg's pointers in the S Rank Dungeon.
He had always tried to absorb any information that could push an average person like himself into becoming a hero.
Everything he had heard over the years was slowly giving him the way to cross the gap in stats and skills between him and the Beast King.
(I see, that's Dogora's ideal way to play out this fight. I guess Dogora has more Endurance.)
Allen felt like Dogora made the correct decision.
Dogora stopped trying to constantly evade the Beast King's swift attacks.
That was something the Sword Saint Doberg had taught him.
The Sword Saing Doberg had taught him a trick to defeat nimble opponents as a heavy warrior.
Counterattacking when the opponent got closer to attack.
That strategy involved willingly taking hits, but using them as an opportunity to chip away at the enemy's resilience.
Once the enemy was close and spent his energy to attack, Dogora just had to strike back as hard as he could.
It could be painful depending on the enemy, but it was very effective.
The Beast King's advantage in Agility and Attack was essentially neutralized now.
Dogora used his higher Endurance to his advantage, resisting the attacks and fighting back with everything he had.
The Beast King's attacks all landed on Dogora now, but he did not care as he could punch back each time.
Now it was only a matter of time before one of the two reached their limit.
Dogora and the Beast King were drenched in blood now, both striking the other without holding back.
Every time they raised their fists, drops of blood were sent flying into the air.
With every punch each, shocked voices came from the audience.
Seeing how determined Dogora was, the audience also could tell how determined they were to keep Shea in their ranks.
"Was that enough?"
Dogora's hook tore into the Beast King's flank.
His innards were damaged and he vomited blood.
Rather than continuing beating him up, Dogora asked whether he would surrender.
"I can't lose. I won't ever lose."
The Beast King muttered, his voice faint and weak.
He was trying to confront Dogora with willpower alone.
Dogora's feet were also getting unsteady.
(I think that's a match then. Though I swear both of them are in Extra Mode. I wonder if becoming Beast King pushes one into Extra Mode?)
Dogora had managed to take a win after realizing how their stats differed.
Allen did not know the Beast King's Level, but he was sure that no one in Normal Mode could become so strong.
Not to mention that the fact he lasted so long against Dogora in a fight with no equipment made it clear they were both past Normal Mode.
Also, it seemed that Helmios' appraisal Skill could not properly display the stats, blessings and Skills of someone in Extra Mode or Hell Mode.
He had also mentioned that he could not even appraise the Demon King.
That was also similar to Merus' claim that A Rank summons could not appraise S Rank monsters.
"Huff…Shea is coming with us."
The Beast King had not admitted defeat yet, but he could not even stand on his own feet anymore, so Dogora saw no reason to continue fighting.
But Dogora's words seemed to flip a switch in the Beast King's mind.
"N-no! Anything but that, I won't let that happen ever!!"
As he spoke, the Beast King's body slowly became more feral.
Dense fur grew on his entire body, and he looked more animalistic.
That was Beast King Mode, which they had seen in Prince Zew and Shea before.
"D-damn you…"
(Huh? He's going into Beast King Mode here?)
'GRAWLLLL!! I WILL WIN!!'
He charged at Dogora after transforming.
"Guh!!"
The Beast King transformed into a large lion, and two steps were enough to close in the distance between him and Dogora, lunging at his side and sending him flying into the edge of the arena.
Dogora was weakened, but he barely managed to guard with his arms, breaking his bones in the process.
The Beast King chased after him, his instincts and reflexes heightened.
It was a bit unfair to use Beast King Mode after the tacit agreement to not use weapons or Skills, but Dogora could not spare the mental capacity to think that.
The Beast King roared loudly, using his newly gained strength to dash at Dogora.
Dogora tried to stand up, but his movements were clumsy from exhaustion, the Beast King's terrifying claws closing in.
"If this is how you answer to Dogora's honest convictions, you might as well die!!"
Allen shouted into the Beast King's ears.
The Beast King tried to turn at Allen, but he would not give him enough time to do even that.
'GHAH?!'
It took Dogora a second to understand what had happened.
Allen had teleported to the Beast King's blindspot, kicking the back of his head with immense force.
The surprise attack sent the Beast King flying back, bouncing on the ground a few times.
"Hey, Allen?!"
"Player 3 is here. You stand back, Dogora. I'll take care of him now."
(Time for the third battle then.)
After Shea and Dogora, Allen felt like it was time for him to fight as well.
The representatives were all shocked at this new development. Allen was flying above the arena now.
