Date: Unspecified Time: Unspecified Location: Myriad Realms, Lil. Red Storm, Seed World, Trophy Section, Duel Realm, Crafting Sector, Venue: Chaos Dwarven Forge.
While the audience and judges waited impatiently for the smoke to clear, a one-armed corpse puppet shakily emerged from the cozy crater it had been hiding in. Its movements were slow and deliberate as it made its way toward a seemingly shallow puddle of lava and molten rock near the arena's edge.
The floor of the Chaos Dwarven Forge arena was renowned for being made of high-grade materials capable of withstanding battles of any level. But nobody had anticipated that an Elder Chaos Dwarf would blow the entire thing up by detonating an incomplete natural array formation.
By the time the one-armed corpse puppet reached the glowing puddle, a few sharp-eyed members of the audience noticed its peculiar actions. Whispers spread like wildfire, and soon, all eyes followed the puppet's movements. Murmurs turned to gasps as the Elder Chaos Dwarf began chanting loudly, "Earth Fire Furnace!"
Without hesitation, the one-armed corpse puppet dove straight into the puddle of lava and disappeared beneath the surface. It was only then that the audience realized the puddle was far deeper than it had appeared.
The arena was abuzz with confusion. Even Bigold, the puppet's creator, wore a stunned expression. Why would the Elder Chaos Dwarf send a Frosling corpse puppet—famously weak to flame—into a pool of molten lava? To many, it seemed like a complete surrender.
As the smoke finally cleared from the center of the arena, it revealed an expanse of glowing lava. The crowd scanned the pool anxiously, searching for any sign of the Armored Frosling corpse puppet. Suddenly, the surface of the lava rippled, and out rose a massive, nine-foot-long diamond-like coffin, shimmering with an icy brilliance.
The crystal-clear glacier surface of the glacier coffin emit steam while constantly being burned from outside and frozen from outside. Still the translucent surface of the glacier coffin revealed the Armored Frosling corpse puppet resting inside, unscathed. Gasps filled the air as the puppet kicked the coffin lid off with a powerful motion and leapt high into the air.
"Glacier Web!" Moon shouted, her voice sharp and commanding. The crowd's astonishment erupted into wild cheers as shimmering threads of ice spread across the arena, weaving a silken trap along its walls and columns. The icy lattice transformed the entire airspace into her domain.
The Armored Frosling corpse puppet landed gracefully on the Glacier Web, its weight effortlessly supported by the intricate frozen structure. It stood still, scanning the arena alongside Moon to locate its opponent. But to their surprise—and growing unease—the Elder Chaos Dwarf's puppet was nowhere to be seen. It had vanished.
A sense of foreboding tugged at Moon as her gaze shifted to the lava pool. 'Could it be hiding in there?' she wondered. Her instincts screamed caution. She resisted the temptation to send her puppet charging into the molten depths—it would be reckless, a sure way to fall into a trap and give up ones advantage.
Instead, Moon held her ground. Calm but wary, she issued a mental command to her Armored Frosling corpse puppet, activating its last-resort command, having received a mental transmission from her Chaos Dwarven teammate: 'It's over. No disrespect, but once that corpse puppet comes out of the lava, neither of us stands a chance. Trust me—I know.'
The weight of his words made her stomach twist, but Moon pushed her nerves aside. She had one shot at this and couldn't afford to let it go to waste.
Under the watchful, hushed gaze of the audience, the surface of the lava pool began to ripple. Tension crackled in the air as something slowly emerged—not the one-armed corpse puppet everyone had been expecting, but a massive, egg-shaped boulder formed from molten rock.
The glowing structure rose ominously from the lava, its heat warping the air around it, and hovered just above the pool. Confusion rippled through the crowd like wildfire, whispers growing louder as no one—not even Moon—could make sense of what was happening.
Still, Moon didn't waver. She tightened her grip on the spiritual connection with her puppet, her eyes narrowing with steely determination. Whatever was coming, she would face it head-on, 'This is my chance. I won't waste it.'
Under the watchful eyes of the audience and the judges, the egg-shaped boulder began to peel away, its outer shell cracking like a boiled egg. Inside, an amber-brown humanoid figure was curled up, hugging its knees in a fetal position. The spectators gasped in shock at the sight. Even Wyatt couldn't help but react, his eyes widening as he understood what the Elder Chaos Dwarf had done.
The Dwarf had reforged the corpse puppet deep in the lava pool, using the original puppet as the skeleton frame, magma rocks as flesh, and lava as its blood. What had once been a subpar creation was now transformed into something monstrous—a predator among Demon Emperor-ranked corpse puppets.
"Holy shit, this is it! This is it!"
"Yes, this is why the Chaos Dwarven race is famous across the myriad realms for their crafting."
"Damn, I can't believe he reforged the corpse puppet in a duel. Fuck! Now that is something."
"How did he even do that?"
"Had I known, I wouldn't be wasting my precious time here—I'd be in my workshop, crafting the best piece of my life."
"This is the peak of nepotism. Nephew screws up, and then the overpowered uncle comes in to whip his ass."
"I feel bad for the unknown demon merchant. He's got real talent for crafting, but I gotta blame him for kicking the wrong rock."
"I wish I had an invisible uncle who doted on me and spoiled me like that. Now that would be a dream come true." The arena was abuzz with astonished murmurs as everyone struggled to wrap their heads around what they'd just witnessed. The Elder Chaos Dwarf had transformed his nephew's craft to an entirely new level with his own craft. The crowd couldn't help but admire his audacity and skill.