While being calmed by Lavana, Oliver and Dante took over and dropped out after the 9th which was 4 tough rounds of chess. Mel continued till the 11th and dropped out. The games he participated in were arm wrestling (where he displayed his amazing prowess, easily defeating his opponents in one go) and cooking (which he lost woefully).
It was now evening. The very last activity was about to begin. At Mr Rex’s order, the Alphaless packs brought out their chosen warriors. Tyrion chose to participate after seeing Phoenix rise from his seat. He wanted to strike a deal with Phoenix. If he won this round, he doesn't need to kneel and say 'Father' whenever he sees him. He could even add another 10,000 dollars so he could be free of the sick agreement. He stood beside Phoenix and gave him a letter stating his intention.
After reading it, Phoenix chuckled. "I'll let you off if you add another 20,000."
"Eh?" Tyrion almost choked. What's this Phoenix's problem? Was he bent on making him poor in one day?
Phoenix added. "If you pay $20,000, no matter the outcome, you'll be free and I'll even give you a special something."
Tyrion looked at him doubtfully and then shook his head. No, he couldn't bleed that much money from his account again. Not possible!
He pressed his palms together after pointing at the paper in Phoenix's hand.
Phoenix nodded. "Alright, I agree. Just kneel and call me 'dad' immediately after we're done with this round no matter if you win or not. Then you're free. You don't even need to pay."
If Tyrion had the strength, he would have beaten this Phoenix to a pulp. What kind of Beta wolf was this?
He sighed in defeat and took the paper from Phoenix, putting it in his pants back pocket.
No one knew what the 12th activity was. There were a lot of speculations going on. After a while of quietness, Mr Rex addressed the contestants. "This last activity is a very easy and super fun one. All 26 packs who made it to this round, applaud yourselves."
In response to his words was applause from the Alphaless packs area of the venue. At his signal, it died down.
"Tonight, you 26 will grace us with your talents in any of the following: musical instruments, singing and of course, dancing." he disclosed, generating a thunderous cheer from the crowd.
It was excellent to end the tiring day with something uplifting. Some of the packs whose selected members were to perform were apprehensive while some others rejoiced for they knew that the warrior was good in either of the three requirements.
"As long as you impress us, 5 points will be yours. You will be paired into groups of two. Then you will wait in the costume centres. You and your partner must decide what to do here on the stage. The show will start in 30 minutes, starting now. The rest of us can also see this as a break. Contestants, please head to the costume centres." said Mr Rex.
The participants, after being paired by him, headed in two directions to the different costume centres. They had less than thirty minutes to prepare for a show.
Many in the audience rose and stretched their bodies. Quite a number headed out of the venue while the ones who remained engaged in discussions and exchanging pleasantries. A few though kept to themselves.
....
It was finally time. Mr Rex was back on the stage again, now dressed in a brown hat, sequinned silver shirt and brown leather pants. His heavy black boots were one of a kind.
"Hello, darlings. I'm back here again. I'm gonna buy our dear participants more time while entertaining you."
As he said this, several females climbed onto the stage. They were dressed in white, pearl studded bras, extremely short red skirts with black fishnet stockings underneath and 10-inch heels. They were wearing red masks that covered their face entirely. The unified rainbow hair colour and style showed that they were wearing wigs too.
There were whistles and some applause from the crowd, many of whom were hurrying to the venue after going for a break.
Music started playing and Mr Rex's look turned flirty as he beckoned at the audience. The ladies behind him were already dancing while slowly removing their masks. When they'd taken off their masks, they quickly threw them away and covered their faces for a minute after which they let everyone see their painted spooky faces.
He began to sing and a lot were amazed by his amazing voice. He also amazed them with his dance skills, causing the most impressed ones to stand and clap for him.
When he was done, he received thunderous applause and he bowed.
"Thank you. Thank you. I'm humbled by your response. Thank you once again." he motioned for the dancers to leave and they quickly got off the stage in two rows, heading in different directions. A lady gave him two papers and he thanked her before she left. He took a quick glance at the first paper before speaking:
"Alright, time buying's over. Let's welcome the first group, Rockyvert, to come on stage." he then got off the platform.
Two men came from the erected blue tent. During Rex's performance, two tents were set up on opposite sides where the goalposts used to be. One was a blue tent and the other was red. Then the participants who were covered in floor-length black cloths were escorted into the tents in twos by the assigned staff. Tent red had 7 groups, the other had 6.
These two men who ascended the stage were attired in matching loose grey tops, white trousers and black shoes. A golden neck chain hung around their neck that glittered. One was smiling, the other looked cold. Both were carrying two drums of different sizes and colours.
"We'll be performing 'Moonlight dream'." the smiling man said.
"That's a nice choice. We look forward to your performance," said Mr Rex, who was not too far from the stage, seated on a chair brought by an assigned Omega female.
"Thank you." said the gleeful guy and both of them bowed. The cold-faced man now stood close to the microphone stand and the other guy started playing his drum. After a while, the cold-faced guy started playing his drum too. A minute later he began to sing while playing the drum.
There was silence as everyone watched their performance intently.
...
When they were done some minutes later, they received some applause. Mr Rex stood up from his seat. "Thank you. That was a good performance. You can leave now. See you tomorrow."
The gleeful guy waved as he left the stage with his partner. Both of them had gotten the last 5 points needed for their packs' advancement in this competition.
"Now, let's welcome the second group, Night soul." he sat again, cross-legged as two people, a male and female walked out of the red tent and ascended the stage.
"We'll sing be performing, 'Hypocrite Lily'." said the golden-haired man.
"Alright. We're looking forward to your performance," said Mr Rex, motioning for them to begin.
...
When they were finished, quite a number of people rose to clap for the duo. They really tried.
The next performance was from 2 burly females dressed like maids. They sang 'Just a demon' acapella. They made people laugh when one of them tried to hit a high note but woefully failed. The song they chose didn't even suit their voice. From the moment they started singing, Mr Rex had sighed, shaking his head in pity. These ladies' packs had failed!
Packs that reached this last round had at least 45 points. They needed the last 5 points to qualify for the battles tomorrow.
"Thank you for that uh... show. You tried your best but unfortunately, your packs can't advance any further in this contest. You may decide to head home tomorrow or stay for all the days of this competition. You may now leave the stage." he gestured for the sad ladies to leave.
....
It was now time for the last group from the red tent to appear.
"Let's welcome the last but not least group, Mistyka."
As Mr Rex said this, Phoenix and Tyrion walked out of the tent and ascended the platform. They were attired in ragged clothing of different colours. Their hair looked wild and there was charcoal on their faces. Their skin looked dirty too. Tyler's shoes had holes in them while Phoenix was barefooted.
"Oh my gosh. What a... unique appearance." Mr Rex commented after finding the lost words. "So what will you guys be performing?"
"We will be performing 'Celestial's rise from ashes'," said Phoenix.
"Clestial's rise from ashes? What song is that?" Mr Rex wore a puzzled face just like many in the audience.
"It's a song sung in the olden days by our ancestors," he replied.
"Oh." Mr Rex said with a look of realization. So this last pair had decided to grace them with an ancient song. Hopefully, they won't be like those unlucky ladies.
"Alright. We look forward to your performance." he then sat down on the seat, legs crossed and arms folded, looking at the pair in great anticipation just like the others.
Phoenix knelt down and kowtowed. Raising his upper body, all could see a change in his facial expression. He now looked extremely sad and heartbroken, a tear slid down his right eyelid.
Then he let out a howl of pain before staring at the audience with eyes of sorrow. He slowly rose, wearing a bitter smile before starting to sing acapella.
♪ Oh, goddess of the moon!
Why have you forsaken us? Our children are dying,
Our land ruined,
We're stepped on by the evil. We cannot run, we don't dare dream.
No saviour in sight, no prophecy!
Those who laugh at our downfall, are bigger than the ocean,
They're earnestly wishing we all did not exist anymore.
I recall the time, the mornings that were ever so bright,
The birds melodiously woke us from sleep
And sent us back to the world of dreams dutifully.
Now they scorn us, not even grass wants to be in our land.
It has become a desolate place...
Our future seems so bleak...
Why have you forsaken us?
Didn't you give us this gift of shifting
So we can fight back against our enemy?
Didn't you...? ♪
Hearing his voice, many were stunned. It was soothing yet it gave chills and then calm.
Tyrion would occasionally beat the drum once as the song progressed. It was a ten-minute-long song that required a lot of vocalizing, high notes, low notes and howls.
The howls progressively changed from sad to hopeful then changed again to heartbroken. Towards the last 3 minutes of the song, Phoenix started dancing wildly as Tyrion increased the beats of the drum.
An elderly man, a Beta wolf who suddenly remembered the song even joined the duo after taking a flute from the costume centre and played it while dancing. Many rhythmically clapped while nodding or shaking their upper body. Quite a number even tapped their feet. Mr Rex at this point was even dancing just like some bold others in the audience.
Phoenix: ♪ And now, Oh goddess of the moon, we see you shine.
You've come back for us again?
We were wrong so we beseech you to help us out.
Give us the strength, so that we can fight...
♪
Audience: " ♪ Against our enemy;
We shall destroy them.
Give them a taste of their medicine!!
Their blood shall flow and become our children's bathing pool.
This story shall be told for ages to come.
Oh, Moon goddess, we thank you for making our earnest wish... come true. ♪
Phoenix: ♪Oh, divine celestial, Oh queen of the night.
Your beauty and splendour make us awed and make the foes blind.
Oh, Moon Goddess you have risen from the ashes,
Reborn like a phoenix, a carp into a dragon.
Ooh, the beautiful queen of the night.
Ooh, she is celestial, she is divine!!
Their blood shall flow and become our children's bathing pool
For our Celestial moon goddess has risen from the ashes!! ♪
At the song's end, all of them let out a howl of happiness and pride. The audience stood up and applauded for a while, truly impressed by the performance.
The elderly Beta wolf left the stage after shaking Phoenix and Tyrion's hands. Mr Rex hurriedly ascended the stage and kowtowed before Phoenix severally and then rose to his feet.
"You are a legend. That was more than an amazing performance from you two. It was mind-blowing!" he exclaimed in delight.
"Thank you." the two men said with a smile.
At this moment, a red-haired smallish man ascended the stage, carrying a golden trophy of a howling wolf.
"Your pack has the most points in this contest and yeah, you have made us feel so much emotion within those ten minutes. This trophy is yours." he then turned to Tyler. "You are sure the best partner one could dream of."
A brown-haired Omega female brought a silver trophy which Mr Rex handed to Tyrion who thanked him severally.
"Please, give them another round of applause, people. They deserve it!"
The audience applauded, whistling and cheering as the two men headed towards the costume centres.
"Man, I can't believe we bested them all," Tyrion said to Phoenix as they arrived at the entrance door.
"Don't be too happy. Tomorrow, there'll be no friends in the ring. This was just a co-operation that turned out just right." Phoenix walked into the building.
Tyrion sighed.
"This guy's right," he mumbled as he walked into the building also.
After Phoenix and Tyrion come out, they joined the 18 other contestants who won. So the packs that would battle tomorrow were 20.
Mr Rex gave a motivating speech and the contestants got applause as they went to join their various packs.
"Alright. This Elimination day of the contest's come to an end. It's late. Let's get enough sleep and come here 2 pm tomorrow for the battle. I know you 20 have a lot in store for us.
Thank you everyone for coming to this event and to those of us back home who've been watching from the moment we began until now, thank you. You also have a good rest and come watch us in our best spirits tomorrow.
Thank you to those Alphas who blessed our contestants with those points and made the contest more colourful.
Thank you to the werewolf council who let me stand here. It's a dream come true, haha. Goodnight, everyone." Mr Rex bowed and he received applause as he left the stage.
The first day of the contest was officially done.
Lavana jumped at Phoenix, hugging him tightly.
"Mate, you were amazing." she praised gleefully.
"Thank you." he then kissed her. The other Blood star members just smiled. It's not like telling them to mind where they are would help.
When the duo were done and had separated the 6 of them went to thank him and also compliment his amazing performance.
"Man, I didn't know that you could sing. Honestly, I'm glad you were the one who represented us. Haha, you blew everyone's mind." Dante laughed as he slapped Phoenix's shoulder.
There were others who came over too, intending to talk to Phoenix.
From the looks of it, they won't leave the venue that quickly.
******
Blackville hotel, Jygane city.
The 8 of them alighted from the jeep and made their way into the hotel building. They'd eaten at a restaurant before coming here.
Reaching the floor where their rooms were, Rolandro addressed them through mind link. Phoenix had gotten the pack's brand on his right arm.
He was branded by Mel. Rolandro was recording the process on his phone, eagerly waiting to see Phoenix wince in pain but he was disappointed.
"Your pain tolerance is great then." he had said.
Phoenix just smiled at that time.
For the sleeping arrangements, the six men changed their roommates for the night. Dante ended up with Phoenix. Recalling how drained Rolandro looked this morning, he shuddered. Phoenix patted his shoulder and then asked him to come whenever he was ready.
Dante pointed his trembling right index finger at a chuckling Rolandro. "You... you deliberately did it."
"Well, you at least saw the effects of what he fed me last night. Come on, don’t wear that face.” Rolandro said, pushing Dante into the room.
Then he walked out and closed the door behind him.“Dante, have a good night's rest and sweet dreams. Alright?”
He looked at Mel who was shaking his head in amusement.
Mel and his buddy would be together tonight while Zyair and Oliver would be in one room. Before they left the contest venue, Rolandro had told Phoenix and his mate that the explanation behind their ability to fly and disappear could wait. They can tell them whenever they are ready.
Phoenix and his mate mindlinked for a while before saying 'Goodnight' to each other.