The god of duels sat on his high seat in the Colosseum which was where he ascended to godhood. From lowborn slave to godhood was one of the rarest ascensions next to one that attained it through nonviolent means. But like all things, it being rare did not mean it was impossible. All around the Colosseum, however, were several other gods who were interested in the current duel being shown. Even though it was merely an illusion that where they were no longer existed on the physical plane, which by irony was the only existing piece of evidence left of the country that once held the place.
His gaze never left the combatants as several other gods moved to his side to watch from the prime seat.
“ How peculiar this group of summoned ones is. Many of them with their faults, but each with the soul strength to endure a thousand years after death. A few of them appear to be more exceptional than the others.”
The god of duels did not even tilt his head in acknowledgment to the female elven god as another god responded.
“ It better be worth it, we each spent a good chunk of our reserved power bringing them here. It is going to take centuries to recover if they fail.”
A dwarf then steps forward and sets his hammer down to use as a crutch as he too watches the duel.
“ Worse case, they fail so spectacularly that the line collapses and forces those biding their time to act. Which in itself will be a step in the right direction in my opinion. Still, I have hope for a better outcome.”
The final addition of the group of gods makes her voice and opinion known as well.
“ The cardmancer will change the state of the board, I will bet my scales on it.”
Each of the other gods there turns to the female dragonkin, many with a raised eyebrow.
“ What? He has agreed to work with my kin. They will make sure he will prove his due. Assuming he makes it there first.”
The other gods pause upon hearing this but quickly turn to the god of duels when he starts speaking.
“ I pity the god who takes her up on her bet. I expect him and the saintess will be joining us one day. In fact, I would almost bet on it myself.”
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This causes the other gods to pause in surprise, as the god of duels is well known to never gamble on anything. Even sure bets that would pay big. This is largely due to his prejudice against the practice as many of his mortal friends fell to the payouts of gambler's odds. This however did not keep the dragonkin god’s attention for long.
“ Something does not feel right.”
The god of duels sighs as he prepares to use his power as arbiter, as his role dictates.
“ That human hero is about to perform a taboo. Not that I think he will get away with it.”
The other gods merely nod at this understanding exactly what the god of duels was leading to.
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“ This is total bull! You are just a support, meant to be our lackey for the true front-line fighters.”
Luke wheezed his complaint as he took yet another step back. The number over his head almost totaled his total hp value by now and he only barely managed to knock the cardmancers down to roughly half his. If he could only deal one solid hit then they both know that he would easily turn this fight around. Instead, he has been forced to take his small victories with scraped or redirected blows. Leaving him open to further counterattacks as well. This caused him to feel the need to finally pull out one of his trump cards. In fact, it was his only nonclass combat skill. From a time when he was an inspiring professional baseball player. The only issue is, that it is a blunt weapon skill.
Power strike: increase the blunt force of a strike by 300% (+ rank of skill by 100% and level of skill by 1% per rank and level over base.)
Taking a deep breath, Luke quickly shifts into his batter-up stance with the flat of his sword in position to strike instead of the edge. Which causes Jeff to instantly be weary. Still being in with a large lead, he was honor-bound by the rules of the duel to be the aggressor. That did not mean he did not take a moment to prepare himself, which suited Luke fine as he materialized a ball of solid steel from his dimensional storage.
As the sphere dropped, Luke swung his sword and it connected hard enough to cause a bell like cling to occur. The projectile went straight for the cardmancers chest faster than any baseball could, but he was already middodge when the sphere arrived at its intended target. Instead of striking Jeff in the chest, it struck him in the right arm. Hard enough to destroy both armor and the flesh and bone underneath. The moments after however caused the cardmancer to lay on the ground nursing his right arm with anger in his eyes. Luke smiled seeing this but turned his attention to his sword, which had a solid fracture where he used it like a baseball bat. That momentary distraction was all the cardmancer needed however as Luke found himself impaled at the knee by a crossbow bolt.
“ BEEEPS.”
As Luke lost power under one of his legs, the cardmancer tossed his used crossbow away and began to stand. Taking a bandage out of his side pack, he quickly bandaged his mangled arm before bending over and picking up his sword with his left hand. All the while pain shot through Luke. With his movement hampered it quickly became apparent Luke had lost. As Jeff probed the fallen swordsman for an opening to perform a finishing blow, Luke had a thought.
‘ screw it, no way I am losing like a pansy who can’t even fight back.’
As Jeff performed a lunge to score the last few points he needed to win Luke’s sword began to glow as the restrictions on it were forcefully broken.
‘ Swift strike counter!’
As Luke moved with unnatural speed, he first dodged the lunge for his arm and launched himself forward with his good leg lunging his own sword towards Jeff’s neck. What surprised him, however, with only a fraction of an inch from sure victory, a scaled hand gripped the blade with enough force to cause it to break at the fracture. This caused him to stumble between his opponent and the scaleprince that just saved the cardmancer’s life.