This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 761: Chapter 761: A Closer Match Than Expected

Albrecht Velin walked onto the stage with his hands in his pockets, as though he were stepping into his backyard.

The stadium trembled in eerie stillness, as if thousands of audience goers were holding their breath in anticipation.

Serena stood across from him, chin high, sleeves rustling gently in the breeze. Her expression remained calm, eyes half-lidded. But even she could feel the shift.

This man was dangerous.

Despite not having as many blue-grade contracts as Sevra (who had 5 blue-grade contracts), he was undeniably stronger than her.

The announcer’s voice barely cut through the tension.

“Representing First Celestial College in the fourth match—Albrecht Velin!”

Six flashes of light flared behind him.

The battlefield trembled as Albrecht released all six of his contracts.

The Scaldhide Ore Demon hit the stage first, a hulking creature with the shape of a gorilla carved from semi-melted iron. Its molten hide gleamed like smouldering coal, constantly oozing rivulets of lava that steamed and hissed on contact with the arena floor. Patches of exposed slag bulged and cracked as it moved, as if it had been forged in a furnace that never finished its work.

Beside it, the Virulent Iron Elk emerged like something from a nightmare forest. Thin, sinewy, its metal hide was etched with sickly green veins. Its antlers shimmered with slow-moving venom.

The Corrosteel Tiger landed in a crouch, sleek and muscular, its armor plating rippling like living mercury across its frame. The plates glided over one another like liquid mirrors, never quite settling, as if the beast’s body was in a constant state of melting and re-forging. Its elongated claws dug in and easily cracked the stone composing the stage, and its eyes burned with a low, acidic green glow that mirrored the glow attached the the metal plates composing its body..

Then came the Hooked Chain Wyrm, a serpentine monstrosity nearly twenty meters long, its iron-scaled body covered in uneven ridges and branching barbs like rusted anchor hooks. Segments of metal chains were embedded along its sides like parasitic limbs, twitching and scraping against the ground with the eerie rhythm of centipede legs. Its face looked like an iron mask with no visible eyes—just a gaping, hinged jaw rimmed with curved spikes and long whisker-like chains on each side of its mouth.

The final two arrivals—his green-grade support contracts—slid into place next. The Copper-rot Weaverskittered along the outer edges, its legs delicate and hair-thin as it began spinning glowing silver threads across the ground. The Mercurial Leechling pulsed like living quicksilver, darting in wide loops that left behind oily streaks of distortion.

Mires muttered under his breath from the observation benches meant for participants and their staff. “That lineup is probably one of the worst to face right before dealing with Isolde. The likelihood of Serena getting off without serious sequelae that will last even after the match is dismal.”

Kain didn’t try to reassure him.

He was too focused on Serena.

Serena stepped forward and answered the full opposing lineup with only four contracts.

Starweaver, wings already shimmering with constellation light as they immediately triggered the gemini constellation on the Elemental Guardian.

Elemental Guardian, in its fire and wind attribute fusion form already—likely wanting to use speed to avoid the enemies’ corrosive metal attacks while maintaining its offensive might of the fire-attribute form.

Prismarin, appearing like a delicate and graceful hare, but glowing with strange, hypnotic pulses.

And finally, for the first time in the tournament, Balens.

And immediately, the new, unfamiliar contract was the center of attention for both First Celestial and those watching. Unfortunately, none of them were immediately able to guess Balens identity. After all, Emanacions were too rare. But Kain was sure that it was only a matter of time before its identity was found out. After all, the fact that Serena contracted an Emanacion was known to many at Dark Moon College after revealing it in her Re-ranking match against Kain. It’s surprising and impressive that the info hadn’t already spread to outside of the college already…

The match began.

And the arena erupted.

The Ore Demon charged forward first, belching a steaming hot mist, leaving a path of melted sludge in its wake. But as that sludge hardened, the audience could tell that it was actually extremely hot melted metal…

The Corrosteel Tiger vanished mid-pounce—not through spatial warping, but via a sudden optical displacement. Its reflective armor shimmered like liquid metal, blending perfectly into the terrain. It had flattened its body and used its mercury-like plating to bend and scatter the ambient light, allowing it to slink around Prismarin’s blind spot like a phantom. Then, with a lurching twist of its fluid frame, it sprang forward from the distortion, fangs bared.

Chains glowing a faint green uncoiled from the Wyrm, flying toward Balens. Albrecht couldn’t quite tell the purpose of this strange creature that looked like an antique balance scale yet, and decided to test it out with his strongest contract.

Serena didn’t move.

Instead, she whispered, “Let the tiger’s battle instincts falter.”

The Tiger hesitated—just enough. Prismarin twisted, kicked off the ground, and flipped overhead, its long ears sweeping back as it launched into a graceful arc. A rippling trail of frost followed its agile form. The Tiger yowled as a sheet of ice crusted over its shoulder, locking part of its armour in place.

Balens turned his head.

Serena opened her mouth again, voice sharp and precise. “I wish for the Hooked Chain Wyrm’s bindings to strike itself and cease their aggression.”

The Wyrm’s chains—thick, rusted, and covered in jagged barbs—snapped taut in the air. They thrashed like enraged serpents, each link glowing faintly with a toxic green hue. The largest chain coiled backward, as if yanked by an invisible hook, and with a metallic groan, looped over the Wyrm’s own body and constricted its throat. It wasn’t fluid or graceful—it was as if the Wyrm had been caught by its own trap, the chains reacting not to its own will but Balens’ influence stopped midair.

Albrecht’s eyes narrowed.

A whisper of spiritual power originating from Albrecht rippled through the field. The Wyrm shook violently—and the rogue chain unlatched, flung into the air like it had never disobeyed.

Serena’s eyes narrowed after seeing her wish be so quickly reversed. This was going to be a long battle.

Likewise, Albrecht and everyone watching were not expecting for Serena to put up such a hard fight.