The loud neighing of the Nightmare made everyone pay attention to the battle that was about to start.
Diablo was like a black knight as it held a sword and a shield in each hand in a defensive position.
Nevreal scratched his head as he looked at Lux's Summon before glancing at the Half-Elf who was cheering for the Skeleton, alongside the baby slime on his head.
"Is this how you plan to tame the Nightmare?" Nevreal asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Mmm." Lux hummed. "Don't tell anyone. It is a trade secret."
"What a bunch of nonsense."
"Relax. Just watch and learn."
Lux looked confident on the surface, but deep inside, he was wondering if Diablo's strategy to tame the wild Nightmare was going to work.
The fiery horse was a true Rank 2 Monster, which was of the same Rank as Diablo. Lux wanted to think that both were evenly matched, but there was one small problem. Skeletons were weak against Fire, Life, Healing, and Holy Magic.
The Nightmare was able to conjure purple flames to aid it in battle, which made the untamed mount Diablo's worst matchup. Even so, the Half-Elf felt that everything would just be fine. After all, his Named Creature had never let him down when it really mattered.
Suddenly, the Nightmare coated its entire body in purplish flames as it ran towards Diablo with the intention to ram him.
The Dwarves who were watching the battle smirked because they anticipated that the Skeleton's body would crumble even if it was just grazed by the Nightmare's attack.
However, to their surprise, Diablo did something unthinkable.
Diablo leaped high up in the air before throwing his shield like a frisbee towards the Nightmare's head.
A metallic sound reverberated in the surroundings the moment the shield collided with the Nightmare's head, dispelling the flames that coated its body. But, Diablo's attack wasn't over yet. After throwing the shield, Dawne, to disorient the monster in front of him, Lux's Named Skeleton took another shield out of its inventory.
He then charged towards the side of the nightmare, ramming its body, which sent it skidding a few meters away, and neighing in pain.
As a Rank 2 Monster, the Nightmare quickly recovered its footing and summoned two fire lances, and shot them in Diablo's direction.
Diablo didn't back down and fired two bone spears consecutively, which negated the attacks that were aimed at him. After the battle against the Kobold Sorcerer in the Kobold's Nest, Diablo had learned how to fight against spellcasters with long ranged attacks.
Also, Lux had helped him a bit by casting Battlecry, which raised his physical and magical damage by 100 points, allowing him to overcome his elemental weakness.
"Go Diablo!" Colette raised her fist as she cheered.
"Diablo go!" Eiko lightly jumped on Lux's head, as she also cheered for her Papa's Named Creature.
Nevreal rubbed his chin as he looked at the two monsters inside the monster pen.
"Not bad," Nevreal stated. "It's no wonder you were able to capture the mastermind behind the Figaro incident."
Lux didn't say anything and simply smiled. Although it didn't show on his face, he was worried about Diablo's chances of taking down the Nightmare.
By this time, the fiery horse had already realized that its opponent wasn't a pushover. However, because of its stubborn nature, it refused to believe that Diablo was better than it.
As the flames on its body burned brightly, eight flaming lances appeared around it. Their tip was pointed at the Skeleton that was currently standing perfectly still, as if he was just a mere target that was waiting for destruction.
However, before the Nightmare could even fire the lances that it had conjured, Diablo pointed his sword at the Nightmare, which made its body involuntarily charged forward.
Due to the loss of concentration, the spears that it had summoned disappeared, leaving only traces of ember behind.
Diablo had activated its skill, Duel [EX], which forced his target to exchange one blow with him.
As the Nightmare angrily charged forward, Diablo leaped up to the air at the last minute and fired a Bone Spear at his opponent's backside.
Everyone who saw this scene flinched, and some of them even subconsciously placed their hands over their backside, as their faces winced in pain.
The Nightmare neighed in pain as well as shame, as Diablo's Bone Spear pierced the one place that would make anyone go down on their knees.
The corner of Nevreal's lips twitched when he saw this shameless display of skill. Although this seemed to be an effective way to tame the wild mounts that refused to submit to anyone, he still found Diablo's method too… crude and unorthodox.
'If I mentioned this method to the Royal Stablemaster, he would definitely shout in anger and call me mad,' Nevreal thought as he tossed the idea to the back of his mind.
The dwarf then watched as Diablo walked towards the horse that had fallen on the ground and lightly stepped on the Bone Spear that was still embedded on its backside.
"Kekeke." Diablo chuckled as it looked at the Nightmare's defiant expression.
However, that stubbornness soon disappeared after it saw Diablo summoning another Bone Spear in its hand.
Seeing that his opponent had surrendered, Diablo placed his hand over its head as he activated the taming spell. The Nightmare was enveloped with a purplish glow before disappearing from the Monster Pen.
Lux then summoned his Soul Book as he went to check Diablo's Page to see the status of his mount.
To his surprise, the Mount received a page of its own, which also showed its stats and abilities. Diablo walked up to Lux as it peeked at his Soul Book to look at his new partner in crime.
"Do you want to give him a name?" Lux asked because the Nightmare's Page allowed him to bestow a name to Diablo's new mount.
Diablo rubbed his chin before nodding his head. He then tapped Lux's chest twice, before tapping the Nightmare's portrait, indicating his intention of letting his Master choose a name for his new steed.
"Understood." Lux nodded as he thought of a good name for the stubborn horse that refused to be tamed in the past.
After several minutes had passed, Lux lightly tapped the Nightmare's Page as he used his finger to write the name that he had thought of.
"Arion," Lux said softly. "From now on, your name will be Arion. The mighty horse that the heroes rode into battle."
Diablo nodded his head in satisfaction before turning into particles of light. Now that he had his own mount to carry him into battle, he would finally be able to unleash the full power of the Skeleton Rider Class, which Lux had bestowed unto him.
