_{The crowd gave the Soultaker a standing ovation as he re-entered the arena, having not forgotten the brilliant show he put on in his previous battle against the mutated muck monster and the six-legged lizard. The Soultaker walked to the center of the arena, then stopped, and turned to his left and right to see his new opponents. On his left, a black ghost demon floating in the air, and frothing at the mouth with a gas similar to the two previously slain opponents. On his right, a lizardman lord decked out in armor and armed with a sword. This was no time to transform; there was no need for the Soultaker to unleash his true power against these weak opponents, although one of them was clearly going to be easier to hit than the other.}

_{The Soultaker beckoned both monsters to come at him, and the monsters obliged. Sprinting towards the outer walls of the arena, the Soultaker led the monsters towards one of the many thick columns that lined it. As he reached a column, the Soultaker stopped to pick up a metal bat off the ground, and then turned around to face the monsters. The monsters also came to a stop about 10 feet away, with the ghost floating directly above the lizardman. The lizardman raised his sword as if he intended to make the first attack...}

_Oops.

_{The lizardman's sword happened to be infused with magic, and so when it was raised into the air it went through the ghost demon's body, and the ghost could feel it. The ghost became angry as it thought that the lizardman was trying to attack him instead of the Soultaker. The ghost started to breathe gas at the lizardman, and suddenly the battle between the two monsters was on.}

_{Most of the crowd was simply bloodthirsty, and they cheered on as the monsters faced off, the lizardman swinging at the ghost and the ghost exhaling gas at the lizardman, completely ignoring the fact that the Soultaker wasn't even involved in the combat at this point. However, the Soultaker did notice that some of the crowd was sitting in silence because he had not yet entered the fray. He needed to find an opening, and fortunately opportunity came knocking quickly. The ghost paused his gas-breathing for a moment, and that gave the Soultaker enough time to sneak behind the lizardman. The Soultaker swung his bat at the lizardman and connected, the force powerful enough to send the lizardman flying into and then bouncing off the nearby column. What followed next could only be described as a bizarre rally in the most twisted game of racquetball imaginable.}

_{The ghost turned to face the column, and as the lizardman bounced off, the ghost struck him with a cloud of gas in mid-air. The lizardman then bounced off the arena floor and towards the Soultaker, who swung the bat and connected again. Back and forth they all went -- the Soultaker would hit the lizardman, who would fly into the column, bounce off the column, and get gassed by the ghost in mid-air. Then the lizardman would bounce off the arena floor only to end up in the path of the Soultaker's bat one more time and the cycle would repeat. With each strike, bounce, and gas cloud, the lizardman would let out another incomprehensible noise and more blood would spew onto the arena floor. Twenty gas clouds and twenty bat swings later the lizardman would stop making noises, but the blood kept flowing and the perfectly-choreographed impromptu rally kept going. The crowd loved what they were seeing, and grew louder and louder as the rally reached thirty, forty, then fifty gas clouds and fifty swings of the bat. Finally on the 57th swing, the lizardman's corpse bounced off the column at an awkward angle and the ghost's gas cloud missed. The corpse bounced off the arena floor once, twice, thrice, and then came to a halt. The rally was finally over.}

_{Who "won the point" didn't matter to the crowd; they exploded in a raucous celebration, offering a standing ovation to both the Soultaker and the ghost demon. The Soultaker was in no celebratory mood though; he had business to finish. He turned to face the ghost demon and pointed the bat at it. The ghost demon, though, somehow figured out that fighting the Soultaker would be a very bad idea. The ghost demon let out an evil cackle, and then backed off, flying away from the Soultaker and the crowd.}

_{As the Soultaker headed back to the staging area, the ghost demon who escaped was on his mind... would the ghost demon come back and would they finish their fight? However, something on the staging area's wall caught the Soultaker's eye, and he quickly turned his attention to it. After a few moments, the Soultaker made a big frown on his face. On the wall were pictures and descriptions of the opponents for the next round, and if these descriptions were true, then there would be no holding back...}