Ayggil vs Nagana - Harpy vs Naga Unleashed match!

Definitely that catperson was a show… showneko. They knew really well how to handle an audience and they had achieved something that promised to elevate that match from the rest for some time: it invested that day’s bout in some epic narrative that would make it so easy to sell that fight to the people who already bought it based on how furiously they were cheering for their favorite. That wasn’t a match or combat anymore, it was a mighty battle of the elements: land vs the skies, snake vs harpy. Two bitter rivals going at each other not only to represent themselves but their own species’ pride.

But for both contestants the story behind it was too different: it was a tale of ages long spite and unending strife, of blood and tears. No glory behind it but the cold embrace of death and unnamed graves. They weren’t fighting for their people’s pride, they were doing it for survival, struggling against the gears of a machine much bigger, older and powerful than them so they could only go with the flow and relive the hatred of the past. For everyone else was show, but for the fighters it was a new verse on a song of lament. Not to mention that Ayggil didn’t even consider herself a harpy anymore. Since her banishment from her people she had struggled with ideas ofidentity and belonging. So it wasn’t that cool bout for the races’ pride but a sad struggle for survival.

And there was the wingless harpy, holding her side where that atomic fist had landed while trying to recover from that mighty blow. But her rival wasn’t going to just let her regain her strength and before Ayggil could even notice the naga was gone from her eyesight. Luckily she knew really well the means of attack of the snake people and looking down confirmed her suspicions as Nagana was trying to wrap her long body around Ayggil. The harpy knew really well that being constrained by a naga was certain death, and even if the Sovereign wouldn’t allow someone dying in his arena that wouldn’t prevent some painful injuries and broken bones. She had to get out of there as soon as possible so Nagana couldn’t lock her embrace and that was why Ayggil jumped out of the way.

If only she had done it a little sooner. If only the harpy’s speed hadn’t been hindered by the pain in her ribcage. When she thought escape could be achieved, Nagana’s grip got her by one leg and then the rest of her body flopped on the arena. “Sh-shit!”, exclaimed Ayggil at the sight of her own leg trapped. Getting caught like that wasn’t as terrible as getting fully wrapped by the naga but she was sure about her rival making the most out of what she got. That was why Ayggil charged her free leg and threw it several times against that scaly body entrapping her, taking her time to get the most out of each kick as she struggled for freedom while groaning in exertion and pain.

The walls were already shaking in thunderous applause as every member of the audience shouted down for their favorite to prevail! To all of them, this was a fight of pride! A battle between two species that had a heated rivalry since before the Overseer united the lands! Animosity, pride, and combat prowess was on full display inside the arena, but few truly understood the hate the Naga and Harpy harbored for one another. The audience seemed to think of it as little more than an intense game. Those magical barriers and solid stone walls provided more than protection from the most savage of fights. It also provided the crowd emotional distance from the fighters stress, fear, and loathing. Despite the fear pumping through Ayggil’s heart, all the crowd saw was the speed her adrenaline bought her. Despite the enraged, fanged sneer of Nagana, they only ever cared about the riveting impact of her blows! Only one person really understood what was going on inside that arena, and she was describing the entire thing with glee~

The Warden watched with a smile on her lips as Nagana moved to bind Ayggil’s frame. The danger these two were truly in was unknown to the general populace that viewed this fight. But why tell them and ruin their good mood? Eros’s job as an announcer was to keep the crowds entertained and into the fight, not to read a contract out to them. A high octane fight with nothing held back was exactly what the crowd wanted, and the Bakeneko knew that these two could provide better then anyone in her control. They might seriously injure each other, but Eros would be careful not to let either of them die. Nothing killed the mood like a death, and she kept the controller to their collars nearby. A dead switch that would stop them both in their tracks should anything prove too lethal. But anything less than that, and the fight would continue. This was an unleashed match after all. The first in SRW history. Why not make it a bit special?

“Ms. Zuul! We’ve just gotten the numbers! It looks like we already have record viewership in Gaia for any sports program, and they are still climbing!”

The Bakeneko couldn’t have been prouder! The Overseer would certainly be pleased, which would be all the reason she would need to do something like this again if she needed to. The Warden would stand up from her chair, flicking off her microphone so she could speak privately with her staff.

“Excellent results! But I’m not convinced we can’t do better. We have to convince the public that this is how to properly settle disputes! No war, no countless killing. Just two picked warriors fighting for a cause...in this case, survival~”

The Bakeneko moved from her seat and walked toward the observation opening. She could see the two fighters with clear vision despite being so high and away from them. Ayggil had gotten her foot caught in Nagana’s binding body, leaving her to try and strike herself free.

“Ayygil...Nagana...make this a match to remember for our audience...and for me~”

___

Nagana felt her body seize the Harpy’s foot! The wingless creatures' talons were sharp, but useless in her crushing grip, leaving only the free foot of the bird woman able to commit to any type of defense! Ayygil quickly and forcefully kicked the long, scaly body of her opponent but would find the effort akin to kicking a steel wall. Nagana’s scales and taut muscle made her flesh almost as solid as rock, and with the Harpy unable to get any proper air or momentum to create her truly devastating kicks, the blows would have seemingly no effect.

A cruel, horrifying hiss rumbled in Ayygil’s ears as an immense pressure began to crush her Tarsus bone in a painful squeeze! Nagana’s bright yellow eyes bore down on her as her serpent tongue continued to flick between her pointed teeth. As Ayggil threw yet another defensive kick, Nagana would move to catch it, pulling the Harpy closer if she succeeded and using the leverage to wrap herself around the Harpy even more!

“Scared? I can’t say I blame you. It’s not every day you feel the instrument of your destruction slowly bind you...squeeze you! I’m certain you know what happens to a harpy stuck in a Naga’s coil.”

More and more of Nagana’s body was wrapping around Ayggil. Her legs were twins together, as was most of her body! Her wingless limbs were free, but that could change at any moment!

“First, your weak bones break!”

The tight squeezing from before was now intensifying! But rather than being centered in one spot, the pressure was crashing down on her entire body! Everywhere the Naga was, the pressure followed!

“Then, you blood pools up as it has nowhere to go! Your face starts to get red...and as your lungs collapse, it will turn a sickly bluish purple.”

Nagana’s face drew closer to Ayggil, her fangs secreting a venom that dripped and stung Ayggil’s beautiful skin! Her wings were still free, but the tip of Nagana’s body was slowly restraining the left arm.

“And before you drift away...the last thing I want you to think about is all of my people your kind slaughtered. Their skins you wore as a mark of pride! I hope you meet them in the afterlife!”

The sharp his was dangerously close now, Nagana’s golden gaze glaring only an inch away from Ayggil’s struggling vision. It seemed things were at an end…

But...things were just about to get started!

Most of the bloodthirsty people and fans gathering in the crowd and cheerfully wailing at the smallest sign of violence wouldn’t even know the implications of having a naga’s body wrapping oneself, but for someone as Ayggil who grew up learning how to fight against the serpent people it was a lesson burned into her memory: getting caught by a naga’s constriction movement meant death.

Luckily for the wingless harpy, the Sovereign made sure that no one could sustain fatal injuries while in the arena, but given the fact that was an unleashed match that didn’t mean that Ayggil wouldn’t travel to a world of indescribable pain. Ayggil wailed in pain as her leg was getting crushed while trying to kick her way out of Nagana’s reach, but her kicking would be as effective as some gentle pats against the naga’s powerful scales, and now that the harpy was losing her strength due to the pain there wasn’t much more she could do.

Anxiousness sank in as Nagana got a hold on her remaining leg and started wrapping herself around the harpy’s torso. Ayggil desperatedly tried to claw against the arena’s sands in an attempt to use some leverage to escape her predicament, but a new squeeze made her cry in pain and stop her struggling. Situation was becoming dire as she really needed to escape if she wanted to have any option in that match and also to remain as unscathed as possible.

Nagana was taking her damn time teasing the harpy though. She knew that there was no actual chance for Ayggil once the naga’s body wrapped around a victim, so she was using all the time she wanted to use some mind tricks on her, teasing the harpy and provoking her anger and triggering her frustration. It turned out Nagana was also good at that.

Ayggil’s torso was now fully wrapped and with each squeezing movement the harpy could feel her body and her bones breaking in several spots at the same time. The pain and the pressure were so unbearable that all sounds muffled inside her head, but at least that meant not having to listen to Nagana’s provoking as she got closer to the harpy. From that fanged, smiling face dripped several drops of poison that left a burning sensation on Ayggil’s face. She had studied how the venom from an adult naga could paralyze and kill a harpy in less than two minutes from its insertion in their bloodstream, and the idea still terrified her.

At certain point one of Ayggil’s arms got into the hold and the harpy was certain about her defeat. She could only accept it and endure the pain while her bones broke and Nagana had her fun until the arbiters would stop the naga from killing her. She was closing her eyes to accept all of it when Ayggil noticed two golden orbs in front of her. They were Nagana’s sardonic eyes gazing at her misery, boastful, confident, and open for anything. Ayggil managed to clench her teeth and form a claw with her only remaining arm before throwing it against those golden eyes. Her scales would be hard as steel, but her eyes were as soft as anyone’s, thought Ayggil while digging her fingers in those yellow orbs.

The Harpy’s body was slowly enveloped by Nagana’s crushing grip. With every passing second, the bird woman’s violent thrashing began to subside. The thin muscles that were once fighting to pry the crushing force apart was now just trying to keep the Snake’s grip from totally crushing them completely! The overhead screen seemed to zoom in on Ayggil’s bright red face so the entire audience could see it clearly right down to the droplets of venom dripping onto her face! The entire crowd ate it all up, but the Naga woman’s gaze was locked tightly onto her helpless prey. Her forked tongue licked the air and tasted the Harpy’s pheromones, the adrenaline that pumped through her body and the fear that radiated off her pores was a tasty experience. The experience justified the hatred she felt towards the harpy’s entire species, proving that a Naga was better should one be pitted against the other! Thoughts of Ayggil being wingless were wiped away in Nagana’s mind, as she saw her enemy as the avatar of the race that had hunted her kind for years.

Nagana wanted to indulge in that fear, taking mental photographs of Ayggil’s slowly dying face as her body was being crushed by the Serpent Striker’s strength! The redness of her face, the methodical cracking of bones being pushed further and further, the muscles slowly going slack from lack of oxygen and blood. The officials would probably stop the fight before Nagana could successfully finish Ayggil in her grip, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy trying to exact her retribution upon the weak little creature!

Nagana’s face hovered only inches away from Ayggil’s, the serpent’s powerful arms on either side of the bird woman’s head. She wanted Ayggil’s last sight to be her! To let her know that she couldn’t escape her grip, that her people were the inferior ones! The last dream this enemy would ever have would be a nightmare of this very moment! Things were going so well, the end was near!

Until a swift movement from Nagana’s side came about and slapped the side of her face.

The pain didn’t register at first. A confused hiss slipped through Nagana’s fangs as her right eye suddenly went black. It wasn’t until something cold began to run down her scaly face that the shock wore off and the pain made itself known. A deep, searing pain, right in her eye!

“HISSSSSSSAAAAAARRRRGHHHHHH!!!!”

Like a thundering tornado, Nagana’s entire body became a whirl of violent movement as her hands gripped her eye! The Harpy in her grasp didn’t exist in her mind as her body’s natural priority was to protect her eyes from any further damage! With a whip of her tail, the snake-like body would unravel and swing the Harpy away! The violent hissing and thrashing began to kick up a small dust storm as Nagana struggled to keep her good eye open, too busy trying to disperse the pain in her right eye and see if it still functioned!

Ayggil had never felt fully in control of the match. Far from that, the wingless harpy spent all time thinking of herself being completely in the defensive side, trying to damage control whatever Nagana had in store for her. Sure the harpy managed to land some hits and kicks, but none of them had an aparent damage done to her rival while each of Nagana’s strikes had some nasty side to them, being much more effective than Ayggil’s. But the match started going completely south the moment Ayggil got entangled in the naga’s constriction hold. She knew really well that from that hold there was no escape once it was properly secured and locked, but in those moments between the initial crush and the inevitable lay some feelings of desperation and anxiousness. In a real war-like situation that would have meant her death, but thanks to the Sovereign it would only mean infinite pain and broken bones, which seems even more terryfying.

It was in moments of great desperation when the most bold and risky moves arose though. Ayggil could feel her bones threatening to shatter and all the air escaping her lungs, the pressure on her so great that threatened with her passing out so soon, then she reached with her only free hand towards Nagana’s face and the next thing she feels is some squishy texture and some cold in her hand, all followed by one of the most intense and blood-freezing wails of pain she had ever heard in her life. Inside her mind Ayggil saw herself screaming as her wings were torn appart by her fellow sisters, and a part of her wanted to regret and have pity on what she just did to Nagana, but the harpy couldn’t forget how the naga just tries to shatter her body.

Nagana’s body jerked in a pained way and in one whipping motion tossed Ayggil away like some ragdoll. Falling to the arena, the harpy coughed and screamed her part in pain as all the pressure applied to her was relieved, but the pain and internal damage remained. As she tried to curl into a ball a terrible cough got her and she choked for air, coughing some blood that indicated that some of her bones were actually broken and piercing her from the inside. It didn’t look fatal, but moving put her in a world of pain. However, Ayggil had been training for all her life, and she knew well how to endure even the worst amounts of pain, even more when the alternative is just to lie there and take more punishment. She had to get up and use her advantage, no matter how weak it was.

As Ayggil got back on her feet in a slow, pathetic way, she noticed how her rival was still relenting and checking on her eye. The harpy knew that she couldn’t have permanently blinded Nagana, but the serpent woman would struggle for some time with her blindspot, and that opened some chancer for Ayggil. The harpy tried to approach her rival from the blind corner in her vision as fast as she could walk in her injured state and then threw several kicks aimed at the naga’s soft belly, trying to claw with her talons in the process.

A searing, itching, prominent pain was tearing at Nagana’s eye! The pain crawled through her eye and skull, stinging all the sensitive nerves and spiking panic in her heart! Had she been blinded? How serious was the wound? Why was her eye burning like it was on fire? Rapid, unfinished thoughts ran through her head just as flash as the bursts of pain pulsing through her head! The Naga’s fang’s were bared as she continued to hiss violently, acidic venom dripping from her fangs. Some of it was mixed with her blood, staining the dirty floor with sizzling droplets. Nagana’s forked tongue slipped through her hissing fangs, slapping the air like a whip as her panicked thoughts quickly bloomed into malicious, violent thoughts!

Tear out her eyes! Skin her flesh! Salt and burn every muscle fiber that Harpy has!

“I’M GOING TO BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY, AND LEAVE YOU A BLOODY, FEATHERLESS FLESH PUDDLE!!!

Nagana’s one working golden eye would return to where Ayggil stood, the giant serpent rising from the ground ever so slowly. Her hand still remained over her wounded eye, a small stream of blood rolling from between her fingers as Nagana’s fangs glistened in the lights. Those daggers promised instant death, one almost as painful as the death Ayggil had almost experienced moments before. Nagana’s hood was raised, making her appear even larger and more threatening than she was even a few moments before! The murderous glint in her good eye made her intentions clear just what would happen if Ayggil was caught once more.

Thankfully, the Harpy was quick to get back on the offense. Using her speed, Ayggil would dart into Nagana’s new blind spot, the serpent trying to turn to keep up with her target but failing. The Naga’s bodies were meant to strike out at incredible speed, but quickly turning in such a manner against the Harpy was a losing battle! The Naga could taste where the Harpy was, Nagana’s head turning just in time to see Ayggil had closed the distance! A foot was extended forward, moving to kick the larger foe while her head was turned! With a ferocious hiss, the snake moved to try and slap the wingless woman away with her elongated body, but it was too late!

Ayygil’s foot finally found its mark, hitting Nagana’s soft underbelly with brutal accuracy! All the air was pushed out of Nagana’s body, the already unsteady snake being thrown away like an empty can being kicked down the road! Nagana would smack the dirt floor of the arena once, twice, then three times as the force of Ayggil’s kick was enough to get the large serpent and her body to tumble away a good ten feet! By the time Nagana stopped, her body was covered in dust, and a fresh slash now adorned on her belly.

Nagana didn’t need to say a word. What came next said it all. In the blink of an eye, Nagana returned to the floor, willingly. She came racing forward like a living bullet, launching herself at Ayygil with her fangs pointed and her hands outstretched, looking to tackle the Harpy to the floor and pay her back for everything! Both fighters had taken some meaty damage already, and this brutish charge may just be the decisive moment either fighter needed to earn a victory!

Watching her rival squirm and hiss with her face distorted in pain, tongue flailing as her vemon almost sprayed out of her mouth while it mixed with the naga’s blood as it dripped on the sand caused quite an impression in Ayggil. Seeing that picture of unmistakable physical pain and distress was a terrible statement about the nature of that match itself and how far both contestants had gone just in order to hurt each other. It didn’t look like the place and time to start thinking about those disquisitions, but it really bugged the mind of the wingless harpy: why were they fighting at all? They were part of some combat show and were there to appease the blood thirst of some crowd, but was there anything else to bring them to those levels of nastiness?

Ayggil struggled finding a reason to keep fighting. Her chest hurt like hell and she was quite sure that she had some ribs broken. Moving in a decent manner was barely possible and she felt battered and devastated, even when she was in the winning side for some seconds. Seeing how her talons made quite a wound on Nagana’s soft belly should have been a sign of victory, but only made her feel worse about it. Thinking about it, she had been far from the harpy people and travelled the world for long enough to understand that the hate against the serpent folk was something that went beyond her. She was above that and even if she got carried away by the match’s narrative she didn’t actually hate her rival. If Ayggil was under some feeling it was the fear of her injuries becoming more severe.

Nagana, on the other hand, was hissing with fury and uttering grim threats to the harpy. Given the circumstances of the snake woman that could be a product of her deranged state or real threats to Ayggil safety. No matter what, the tone in which she said that and the physicality her big body added to her words made Nagana an impressive and threatening sight when she was addressing Ayggil like that.

Just after her death threat, Nagana rushed in a powerful tackle. As fast as it was, Ayggil had seen that kind of attack before. The harpy wasn’t so sure of her chances of dodging that in her current state, so she would need to endure the impact and the pain and get creative. She would try to accompany her rival’s momentum with her own, going on her back and using that impulse to use her legs as a powerful spring and send her rival flying in a monkey flip, but even that would make Ayggil cough in severe pain as her chest burnt like hell anytime she exerted, making her recovery so slow as she had to stop and cough some blood.

Deafening…

That was the only way to describe the cheers, the insults, the pure emotion of the crowd! Like a burning tycoon that swallowed everything up! Eros couldn’t even bother to commentate, for even her amplified voice would be drowned out in the sea of screaming and cheering. The head Warden’s golden eyes narrowed as her smile grew wider than ever before. This was what the common masses wanted. The staff in her control room kept reading her the numbers, the views were never ending! They continued to grow and climb as the fight continued, and this battle had really only just begun. Gaia viewership records were being shattered one by one, with each one giving the Warden more and more ammunition to what she pleased! The Sovereign Realm Wrestling league was growing exponentially, and the Warden in charge of it all was eagerly proving herself at the same time!

The Bakeneko peered at the fight with hardly the same level of interest the audience members had for the fight below. This was all just a means to an end, and to help prove herself to her superiors. The Naga and Harpy dispute was just a stage to set herself up as the entertaining announcer, and to reel in the market and show the Overseer just what this Bakeneko could do!

“Ms.Zuul…”

A voice would speak up, interrupting the Bakeneko’s internal gloating. Eros double checked that her microphone was still off before turning to face the person addressing her. She wasn't all that surprised to find it was the lead of the medical team on standby, all dressed up and ready to help should the time come...and judging by the wear and tear of the fighters down below, that time would be coming up relatively soon.

“Yes, what is it?”

“I feel I should warn you that if those two fighters of yours go on any further, there may be irreversible damage done during the conflict. We may not be able to completely heal them or prevent debilitating side effects from their fight!”

“Oh really?”

The apathetic tone from the head Warden was an alien sound for most of the staff in the control room. Most of the time, Eros seemed excited or pleased with how the fight and viewership was going, but in the face of serious news from the medical team, she turned surprisingly cold. The smile that was once so large and gleeful shrank quite a bit into just a normal looking smirk as her golden eyes seemed to look the medical lead up and down.

“Really? So far, the pair of them have only scratched, kicked, and bit one another. Are you trying to tell me that there is no magic or science in all of Tsubar you could use to heal them if they fought a little longer?”

The Warden tapped her cane on the floor before turning around and gesturing at the fight below.

“Those two are providing the finest spectacle ever shown over airwaves in all of Gaia! A fight to the finish between two mortal enemies! A true life drama that not even the best directors could reproduce faithfully! To shut it down in the middle of the fight isn’t something we should do for just a whim.”

Eros’s job was to maintain security in both Tsubar as well as inside the Sovereign Realm Wrestling league! Her responsibility was towards Tsubar’s citizen’s and the Overseer’s will! The fighters inside the arena knew what they were getting themselves into and when it came down to it, they were not exactly at the top of Eros’s priority list. Pairing that with her desire to crush any naysayers that whispered about her back with these stunning viewership results, and the Bakeneko wasn’t all that keen to stop the battle…

--

The arena floor became a cloud of dust as Nagana closed in on Ayggil! The inhuman features on the Naga’s face seemed to distort and take over the serpent's expression as her poisonous fangs were bared, ready to envelop the Harpy and finish her once and for all! But as fast as she was, the Harpy still had time to react! Ayggil grounded herself, bearing through the pain as she steeled herself to take the blow! One wrong move could mean it was the end of her! Things were getting dangerous, and this moment would be the one that determines if Ayggil lived a normal life from then on…

Or, at least it would have had the impossible not happened…

Just before Nagana’s tackle was about to impact the wingless Harpy, a wall made out of transparent, red light was erected between them! The snake woman crashed into the wall, a resounding THUNK echoing out into the stands as this sudden intruder interrupted the ongoing fight! Despite the sheer ballistic force the snake had behind her, the wall didn’t crack nor budge! It seemed to give only a little, like it was made of rubber, before throwing Nagana right back where she came from! It wasn’t a forceful throw, but Nagana was still pushed back a few feet. That lone, golden eye stared at the sudden aberration with fury and confusion.

“WHAT?!? WHAT’S GOING ON???”

“Sorry Nagana, but it looks like that’s all the time we have~”

Spoiler:

Suddenly, a purple mist seemed to erupt from within the transparent wall! The mist would soon disperse to reveal the announcer of the match, Eros Zuul. Her gold feline gaze and mischievous smirk were stuck to her face as though she had been having a good laugh up in her control room.

“But what a lovely fight! You two have given the Unleashed match type a truly splendid debut! I couldn’t thank the both of you enough!”

Eros gave the pair of fighters a small round of golf claps, though never once looking at them directly as she spoke.

“And with that, we will bring this fight to an end and-”

“HEY! DON’T PULL THAT CRAP! TAKE THIS WALL DOWN SO I CAN SQUEEZE THAT NO GOOD HARPY INTO A BLOODY PILE OF FLESH!”

Eros only chuckled at Nagana’s threat. The Bakeneko finally peered over at the Naga, taking a moment to flick her microphone off so that it was only the three of them that could hear each other.

“I’m afraid that's impossible. The medical team has deemed it unsafe to continue this fight with your current injuries. Any further combat would be life threatening for the both of you, and while you two were certainly putting on quite the show, I think the Overseer would be furious with me if he learned I willingly let two species fight to the death~”

The Warden chuckled to herself, flicking her gaze over towards Ayggil as Nagana continued to hiss and pound on the protective barrier. The look in her eyes and the genuine smile on her lips revealed what the Bakeneko thought of the Wingless Harpy’s serious injuries. One look was all a hunter like Ayggil would need to know that Eros wanted this fight to continue almost as much as Nagana! But the Bakeneko kept her lips sealed tight, simply smiling for them both and giving them the official explanation.

“So for now, let's write this off as a draw, okay?~”

The bustling arena was a constant roar of excitement. The people gathered there were getting a good show for the money they paid for the privilege of being there in the clash of two warriors each coming from one proud and great tribe. As minutes passed and the match went on all the narrative behind that fell apart and the charade was more evident. For the people behind that combat both fighters were nothing but a gimmick, a way of making easy money out of some sad people who needed some epic in their boring lives.

Of course that epic would be at Ayggil and Nagana’s expense. The harpy didn’t know how her rival was feeling about that but if they asked her she would say that there was no epic narrative to that match. In Ayggil’s case she wasn’t fighting for honor, pride or her people which outcasted her, she was just struggling for survival and even barely managing that. The harpy’s body was feeling heavy and every little move was as if she was straining herself to the extreme, not to mention the terrifying amount of pain she was dealing with. Everything hurt but it was particularly bad the fact that anytime she tried making the slightest move an unbearable pain came from her chest and she coughed some blood. Ayggil must have a couple of ribs broken if lucky, if unlucky…

There wasn’t much more Ayggil could do. Moving hurt to the point it was impossible for her to keep fighting and she wouldn’t be able to avoid being hit for much longer. Anytime soon the naga would throw a landing impact of her and it would be the end of it. Most likely one of her ribs would pierce her insides and she would choke in blood. The thought was terrifying, and the killing gaze Nagana threw at her wasn’t a good omen. With the serpent-woman lunging forwards once more Ayggil knew she wasn’t going to avoid that one so she closed her eyes and waited for the end.

The hit and the pain never came. When Ayggil opened her eyes she could see the reason why. An invisible wall trapped Nagana so she couldn’t land her hit and the bakeneko announcer was back on the arena. With her regular pompous manners she announced that the match would have to end there with a draw as a result. For everyone who was yearning for more blood it could be seen as a disappointment but for Ayggil it was a life saving move. Everything in her defense crumbled as her rival kept trying to reach to her and tear the harpy apart. Ayggil would just fall on her knees coughing with severe difficulties to breathe and contemplate the sadness of the scene: two disowned members of proud and arrogant races trying to kill each other for no one’s pride. And still they fought and she never wanted to lose. "Yes, a draw is okay." That was what Ayggil thought as she fell to her side unconscious. She had survived the day.

The murderous rage that radiated off of Nagana was something not even the magical wall could prevent Eros from feeling. It was strange that a cold blooded being could radiate so much heated hate for a being she had really only just met. Eros stood with her smile intact, never paying Nagana’s violent threats to her well-being much mind. Nagana was huge in comparison with the petite Bakeneko, but so long as Eros had her finger on the limiter devices as well as her security on standby, there was very little that could threaten her in this arena. Perhaps that was why those golden eyes were locked onto the fallen Harpy that looked only a few feet from death. Eros’s cool, playful tone would probably seem so alien to Ayggil after having just endured such a heated fight for survival. But the wingless bird managed to utter her confirmation of a draw before passing out into the dirt.

“Heh! Well Nagana, that should bring you some comfort, knowing you were the last one standing.”

“IT DOESN’T COUNT! WHY’D YOU INTERFERE?!?! I COULD HAVE FINISHED THIS IF NOT FOR YOUR-ACKK!!!”

The large serpent would be interrupted as an electrical charge shot through her neck and down her spine! The sudden shock sent a spasm through her muscles and body, causing her to suddenly wraith in the dirt floor, hissing in pain rather than anger now. Just a few feet away, Eros was now holding something that looked like a remote control, pushing a solitary button in the center. When her thumb finally lifted off the button, the painful electrical current suddenly subsided. The Bakeneko pocketed the remote before wandering through the magical wall. Her form was just out of reach from the writhing snake woman, as those feline eyes peered into Nagana’s snake eyes.

“Because this is my arena~ I serve under the Overseer, and with his trust I control this place however I want~ He doesn’t want his people killing each other in an arena, and it would look really bad if I let you two do just that!”

Eros straightened up, adjusting the cap on her head as she turned away as signaled for the medical team to enter.

“Your job was to make the first Unleashed match in Sovereign Reign one for the ages. And you two managed to do just that! Our viewership has never been higher! And it will only continue to grow the next time we host one of these. For that, you two have my thanks~”

Without waiting for a response, the Bakeneko would flick her microphone back on. Her tone was peppy and excited, Eros reaching out for the crowds.

“And that is the end of our first Unleashed match! While it may have ended in a draw, you can be sure our next set of fighters will be rip roaring to go at it just like these two did! And next time, there will be a winner and a loser! But for now, let's all give it up one last time for our thrilling contestants~”

Despite the sudden and abrupt ending, the crowd still roared their approval of the spectacle. As the medical team began to load up the wounded Harpy and check the Naga’s eye, Eros adored the praise showered down on her scheme. With this, her hold over the SRW was assured! And even better than that was that her path to running this place slowly proved to be the best way there was.


The end?