Transmigrated as a Ghost

'There certainly are a lot of people here.' Marcus thought looking around the arena.

When they had arrived in the afternoon to watch and register for the beast pushing event, the arena had already been crowded, but now it seemed to have pushed past its normal capacity.

People were standing shoulder to shoulder and even the walkways were crowded with people, making it difficult for anyone to move about.

Seeing this, Marcus realized just how rare it was for someone to try and challenge one of the strongest beasts in the competition.

Apparently most just went with the weaker beasts like the dual horn he had seen earlier, and even the most hot-blooded challenges would not try their might against a beast like the diamond head he had chosen.

'Looks like they are finally bringing out my opponent.' Marcus thought watching he large gate at the other end of the areas opening.

On the other side he could see several dozen high level men with thick mithril chains wrapped around the beast and struggling to keep it under control.

It was actually quite a bit bigger than Marcus had been expecting. The diamond head was easily ten meters tall and fifteen meters long.

The beast had two thick and sturdy legs with hard gleaming scales all over its body, and its head was large and rounded with spikes coming out of the side.

From Marcus' point of view, it really did look quite similar to the images of a Pachycephalosaur he had seen back on earth. Though it was several times larger, and its heard head gleamed like a diamond.

'Level forty-nine. Its stats aren't bad for a rare grade beast, and it has some powerful race abilities. I would say it is close to the top of what a rare grade beast can reach, close to a quasi-epic grade. Still, not any threat to me.'

While this beast could easily lay waste to a large town all on its own and most people would be quaking in their boots if they had to face it, Marcus just stood by nonchalantly while those wrangling it moved it into the arena.

A great deal of the people watching could only wonder how Marcus had any chance. The beast he was going to be up against in a battle of pure strength was far large than him and it seemed incredible that any person could try and stop such a beast with their bare hands.

Soon an announcer using a magic tool to project their voice over the arena began explaining what kind of beast Marcus was up against and really driving home how dangerous it was.

This increased the crowd's excitement and Marcus was sure that many of them were hoping to watch him be mercilessly trampled from the bloodthirsty looks on their faces.

'I am sure plenty of them think I must be the epitome of stupid. Or maybe even suicidal.' Marcus thought.

Certainly, no normal person in their right mind would go up against such a thing, but Marcus was far from normal.

He had faced down beasts, monster, and people that were far stronger than the enemy before him.

'Oh, looks like they are ready.' Marcus thought, seeing those that dragged the beast in start to quickly run away while it was temporarily stunned by an enchantment.

The diamond head, no longer restrained, shook off the chains that had been loosened and stared towards Marcus. The sole entity in the arena with it.

Looking into its eyes Marcus could tell it was pissed, and for good reason. It had just been minding its business out in the wild when a group of people captured it and carted it off to an unknown place where it was always confined.

The powerful beast began stamping its feet into the ground and carving up the dirt floor, before it lowered its head and prepared to charge at Marcus.

Its entire body began to glow brightly, and Marcus understood this as it activated its perilous charge race ability.

'How do I want to do this?'

Watching the beast preparing to hit him with its all, Marcus pondered what he wanted to do.

He could allow himself to be pushed back for a bit and make it look like he had to struggle to in, or he could show off and easily deal with the beast.

'I suppose since this is for entertainment, I might as well make it a good show.' Marcus thought, deciding to make it look like a struggle of epic proportions.

Slamming both of his feet into the ground he got into a stable position and prepared to catch the diamond head that was only moments away from charging him.

The second it began running at him, he felt like he was going to be trying to catch a freight train that barreling towards him.

When he outstated both of his hands to catch the charge, he felt a powerful impact against his body, and his legs began carving through the dirt as he was pushed back.

'Oof, this thing hits harder than I thought.'

Having relied solely on his pure strength without the enhancement of any skills, Marcus found receiving the all-out charge from the diamond head a bit tougher than he anticipated.

Quickly he activated the mana body skill and created a mana barrier platform under his feet, since the ground simply could not hold up to the force of the diamond head's charge and he was being pushed through it like it was water.

After activating these two skills, Marcus was now in complete control, and he slowed down his and the diamond head's momentum until he was braced right up against the side of the arena.

Several people gasped when they saw him actually stop the charge of a beast that was several times large than him. No ordinary person would be able to do something like that.

The diamond head tried to rear back and slam its head against Marcus again, but he was not going to let it go.

Putting more power into his fingers he dug them into the beast's crystalline head and held its head down.

"Sorry, but you are not going anywhere." Marcus said, beginning to slowly push back the diamond head.

He easily could have simply run it back in just a few seconds, but he made it seem like a struggle. Allowing himself to get pushed back every now and then to help rile up the crowd.

Of course, the diamond head quickly realized that it was being manhandled with ease and it gave up on struggling at all. Marcus actually felt a bit bad when it realized the futility of fighting back against him.

'I guess that is enough.' He thought, pushing back with a bit more force and shoving the beast beyond the large gate it had come in from.

But before he let go, he did cast the persistent healing spell on the creature so that it would recover from the injures he had given it.

Once Marcus had won the crowd went absolutely wild with glee. It was very rare that they got to see such a show of prowess against such a powerful beast.

However, while most of the crowd looked happy, those that had thought it was a guaranteed win for the beast and bet against Marcus looked like they were devastated.

"Here are your winnings for you victory." A staff member said to Marcus once he left the floor of the arena.

Those that participated and won received one percent of the bets. It was not all that much compared to what the event was brining in, but just the sheer number of people watching meant that the sum was not small.

Marcus had received nearly four thousand gold coins, showing just how popular it was to bet on this event.

When he returned to where Mrazivý was, Marcus saw that she was similarly holding a bag of money. Having just retrieved her own winnings from betting on him.

"That was pretty impressive. You make quite the showman." Mrazivý said, understanding that Marcus had never been struggling.

Amira complemented him as well and looked relived that he had come out unharmed.

"Now, it will be my turn soon. I will have to make sure to top your performance." Mrazivý said, a competitive smile on her face. Marcus had no clue what she was planning, but he imagined that it was certainly going to draw everyone's attention.

Soon enough Mrazivý was standing center stage waiting for the beast she was going to go up against to be brought out.

Since she was taking on the most powerful creature that the event had she had been saved for the end of the day and despite it begin close to midnight, even more people had crammed into the arena than when Marcus had participated.

'That thing certainly looked menacing.' Marcus thought watching Mrazivý's opponent being brought out.

The beast known as a lead ox stood six meters tall which was much shorter than the beast Marcus had fought, but its body was thick and built like a tank.

Its horns were made out a dark gray material that looked like lead, and its body had what thick armor plating all over it.

'Yep, that thing is a bit stronger than the diamond head.' Marcus thought after appraising it.

Not only was its level at fifty-two, but it had more abilities and skills that would make its charge stronger.

In overall combat ability Marcus figured the two beast were close enough to the same that either could beat the other, but in terms of just straight on charging with pure force, the lead ox had the diamond head beat.

Nevertheless, Marcus knew that Mrazivý would be stronger. In terms of pure strength, she handily beat him.

The crowd roared when they saw the lead ox begin to stamp on the ground and stare furiously at Mrazivý. This was going to be the most exciting match for the beast pushing event and everyone was looking on with excitement.

There were plenty of years where not even a single one of the top five beasts that had been caught were challenged, but this year on the first day the top two were making an appearance.

In some ways this could be the considered the best start to the Muharib Festival in a long time.

Yet the cheering stopped, and everything went silent the moment the lead ox's charge met Mrazivý.

With just a single hand she had stopped the giant beast and without moving back even a centimeter.

The lead ox's body suddenly coming to a stop looked like an accordion as the back of its body pushed in on it as its front that had abruptly stopped.

Mrazivý then pushed back the stunned beast in an instant and threw it back through the gates it had come out of. Showing off an overwhelming level of power that was beyond absurd.