The rowdy Thunderdome crowd is roiling with anticipation. Krik'thir is the heavy favourite and many are eager to cash in on a sure thing, clutching Goblin betting slips in their sweaty mitts. The King, however, is unphased and as the bell rings he hesitates for only a moment to consider his kill order before he gets to work.

He wades into the first clot of giant spiders and start hewing limbs. At eight legs a pop he doesn't waste time aiming for the vulnerable joints and puts all his strength into cracking the ancient carapaces. With that deadly blade trailing death like a comet, the spiders can't get close enough to use their venomous bite. With his minions shedding legs at an alarming rate Watcher Silthik attempts to trap the giant in webbing, but the King is twice the size of the usual prey. The sticky strands cling to his limbs but do nothing to stop the fatal blow that pierces the spider's brain.

The other two watchers do not wait for Ymiron to come to them, and attack in unison. They hope to pin him down under a press of clattering monsters, but instead fall into one of the King's deadliest traps. Each blow from the spiders sends a torrent of dark bane through their midst, and with so many attacking at once their onslaught is startlingly brief. The screaming crowd is shocked into silence.

Alone with The King, Krik'thir's odds no longer look so good. Many had counted on Ymiron to be suffering the effects of many deadly bites before facing Krik'thir himself, and seeing him nearly unscathed strikes dread into their hearts. The King allows himself a moment of quiet satisfaction, and readies himself for the desperate frenzy that Krik'thir is known for. Sidestepping the initial frantic lunge, Ymiron carries the momentum into a tree felling strike of textbook form. With a master's natural ease he channels the power from his stance, through his core and shoulders, down his arms and into the grim blade in his hands. Moving with unstoppable force, the blow cleaves Krik'thir in two, his top half toppling to the ground while his lower parts carry on under their own momentum and topple in a heap in the dust.

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