A screen flashed above the battleground, similar to something above octagonal fighting rings. It displayed two brackets, each bearing a pair of slots with the duelling deities’ names. The winners from each bracket would go on to the finals, where they fought for the right to invade.

“But first,” Kukusi raised his walking stick to grab the spectators’ attention, “As tradition dictates, the bold fighters prove themselves! We here at /Mudrock Bloody Entertainment©/ value the individual autonomy of all our fighters, that’s why we decided to capture the souls of the fallen so we may give them a second chance to come back to life!”

The pig revealed a small letter in his paws, sealed by a red sigil showing two angelic pigs. Tanuki flinched back in confusion as the paper appeared out of nowhere. He looked at Edgar, who responded with a shrug.

“My Liege,” Six creaked, “Do not mistake. Little thing strong.”

Edgar rubbed his chin.

“Hmmm, come on now! It looks like even I could beat it in a fight! Hell, it could not even flee with all that fat. I bet he would suffice for months with all that waste,” Edgar snickered, but Six did not undress his serious attitude.

When Six spoke again, Tanuki’s eyes wandered over to his sword and noticed he had never let go of it. Although they were clearly in no way of danger, Six remained vigilant. It made sense he would respect things smaller than his size, Tanuki thought. Most of the things he had to fight in Yoshimura were smaller than him but much stronger.

“He is strong,” Six repeated.

Edgar waved him away and leaned back on his throne. Tanuki watched Six a little longer, thinking about his words, before returning his attention to Kukusi.

The ringmaster opened the letter and put his paw on the paper within. He looked away, not to accidentally catch the inscribed name and ruin the surprise.

“In my hands is a seed of fate that once withered in the harsh competition. When I draw and read its name, that seed will be bathed in Lady Luck's tears and rejuvenated to be born anew. How tall will it grow before the winter of duelling futures dries its leaves and pulls it back under the soil? All will be decided with a cast of my hand and the words as follows…”

Kukusi drew the paper as slowly as he could to build anticipation. Above the amphitheatre, the stars of other spectating gods flashed in quick succession, almost as if clapping to cheer him on and speed up the draw. Meanwhile, Kukusi basked in their attention and slowed further, then suddenly drew the paper and read the name aloud.

“Congratulations, Schwarz! The Goddess of Grey gains a second chance!”

Eight gates with even distance between them served as entrance into the pit. As he read out that name, the gate on his right trembled. White light escaped between its cracks. Its quavering grew into something violent as the magical light grew to cast a clearer beam through the arena, nearly breaking off the hinges that fought to hold the wooden door.

The light grew in power one last time before flickering out of existence and leaving smoke oozing out of the gate like hot steam on a cold winter night. A ting! accompanied the disappearance of the white light that though unfamiliar to the NPCs, Tanuki recognised immediately as the sound of an old microwave finishing its task.

“What the fuck?” Tanuki whispered in disbelief, but before he could digest the surprise, the gate burst open.

The smoke was thick and ghastly. A silhouette’s outline formed a shape within. It belonged to a woman, short-haired and thin. Her shoulders revealed her sex. Something sinister protruded out of her chest below. It was no longer than the distance between her elbow and wrist, bearing a cylinder shape and a small head that contorted like a worm.

Tanuki leaned forward on his throne and squinted his eyes. How she shuffled out of the haze reminded him of zombies. His idea gained further basis as her feet appeared below the light gas, revealing snow-white skin that turned charred black around the end of his limbs. Some of her toes were missing, and her left ankle was visibly dislocated. As more parts of her corpse appeared, Tanuki questioned whether his eyes were mistaken.

“How is something like this able to walk?” Tanuki turned to his companions for answers. Six stared ahead silently. Edgar on the other hand grew pale, as for the first time in his life, he came face to face with death. His heart urged him to look away but his eyes remained curious, though not for long. As rags once soaked with black tar revealed hiding her beauty rotten away, Edgar heaved to the side and puked with an empty stomach.

The worst was still yet to come. As she left the smoky cloud, her glassy blind eyes stared back into the spectators’ souls. She lacked a jaw, in its place hung a sharp black tongue. Only a few of her teeth remained, all rotten. What must have been her hair looked black and firm from dried blood and dust. From above, her bald scape made her look like an unnourished flower with sharp black petals born from razor blades.

Then as it turned, Tanuki gasped and Edgar dug his face into his robes to escape the sight, repeating quiet nopes in rapid succession.

The corpse’s breasts have been consumed from the inside by that thing trying to sustain itself. There were multiple holes throughout her body that Tanuki thought were wounds but now recognised as passageways for it to travel through and peak its head out. None of them had the slightest clue about its length, which made things even worse.

It was something akin to a colourless worm. In girth, it was a little wider than her arm. Instead of a featureless face expected from a worm, it possessed a large mouth that ended with four sharp canine teeth growing out of the lips above and below.

The worm and corpse turned towards Tanuki in unison. Despite one’s eyes being blind and the other having none, their stares pierced through Tanuki. The corpse and worm’s movements were synchronised. It was not a case of one controlling the other, but two different creatures existing in a disturbing union so conjoined that even their smallest gestures mimicked each other.

“Tell me when it’s over,” Edgar’s voice muffled through his clothes.

Tanuki felt as though a bucket of cold water fell on his head and dread born by the corpse’s sight washed through his veins like liquid nitrogen. He could not move his gaze away from the corpse, nor blink, no matter how hard he tried.

It was not the monster that scared him the most, though. There was something else he could not explain.

“My hands tremble uncontrollably. I feel as though my heart is about to burst through my chest if it keeps pummelling my ribs. All of it could be explained as a phenomenon caused by overwhelming fear, yet though I feel it clearly, and its voice inside my heart screams to flee, another grows louder the more I observe her deathly features. The soulless eyes, the pale skin, the many wounds… My fear is not one dictated by logic but by experience. I look at that corpse with a sense of familiarity that scares me. I feel guilty, but I don’t know what for. I could try to explain this as the traumatic image scattering my brain into a thousand confused pieces, but even under the broken shards of my consciousness, I hear that second scream growing louder. And what scares me is not what I see but what I hear my soul dictate with every pump, the growing euphoria as a dark excitement sings its aria. I am shaking with guilt and excitement as my body readies itself for something that will not come, and I remain unable to understand.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Staring at his sweating palms, he zoned out as Kukusi raised his staff again to address what little of the audience remained. With the lucky challenger chosen, the tournament would have its appetiser round as a competitor would be randomly chosen to face off against Schwarz.

Although giving a second chance to a fallen fighter seemed fair if not kind, Kukusi’s true feelings on the matter were different. Under the guise of showmanship, he snickered at the flashing stars.

“Fools. The first round was never about your entertainment. These battles are predetermined from the start. The challenger is never on the same level as the chosen competitor. Either they are much weaker to enamel their opponent or way stronger to get a certain person out of the picture. Only a handful of gods know about this, but they bring me good money by betting on the matches.”

His small eyes turned towards Tanuki, whose face had grown pale as snow. He looked sick, but Kukusi could not care less.

“They are not here for you, boy. No rookie sees so many assholes gather to watch their tournament. Why this might be different, you may ask? There’s a first-time competitor everyone wants to see, but mostly dead. Even with Schwarz’s powers lowered to your level, she will easily make mincemeat of him.”

Under his happy-go-lucky persona, a deep-seated hatred flickered alive once more.

“I will ensure you don’t leave this arena alive, Professor!”

The trumpets spoke and drums answered. A second letter was brought to Kukusi by another pig carrying a beautiful wig on its head. He held the paper high and spoke to the stars. Even before he said it, most expected who it would be despite Kukusi’s carefully acted innocence.

“In my hand is a letter. This letter bears the name of a competitor chosen randomly from those attending this tourney. The name I’m about to read will put a fork in fate’s road. Which path will it follow next? That of the challenger or the defender? That of Schwarz, the Goddess of Grey or that of…”

Kukusi pulled the paper close to read out the competitor’s name when suddenly, a voice rang out from the spectator area. It was not one of Tanuki’s companions, but rather one belonging to an invader who emerged upon hearing Kukusi’s words.

He was a boy, around the same age as Tanuki. A dark, fuchsia pink cloak hid his mocha brown face. As he leapt out of his chair, the wind seemed to pick him up and carry him next to Kukusi. Even from afar and next to a pig that only reached up to its knees, Tanuki noticed he was about ten centimetres shorter than the average man. If he stood next to him, the mysterious challenger would barely reach above his shoulders.

Kukusi was dumbstruck by the invader’s entrance and could not react in time as he took his paper and tore it to shreds. Quiet quavering left his lips, nearly turning into an enraged shout as he saw the young man’s smug smile. Still, he managed to stop himself just in time to reequip the showman attitude.

“And who you might be?” Kukusi put his paws together and faked a smile.

The mysterious boy stepped forward to address Tanuki. His white teeth shone like snow beamed by sunlight. They were nearly blinding to look at.

“I am here on behalf of a beautiful rose who was left to wither away by a man who now sits on the stone throne so unencumbered, it makes my stomach want to throw up!” he raised his finger and pointed at Tanuki.

A thick accent made his pronunciation unique, reminding Tanuki of something he would hear from a native of Spain. Nonetheless, this did not turn him any less threatening.

The boy grabbed his cloak by the chest. Something pink flew out from under.

“My name is Fuchsia! One of the Four Fairy Guardians, the Deity of the Pink Rose! I’m here to crush my competition and take revenge on you, Hachiro Tanuki!”

He threw the cloak off in one fell swoop to reveal a beautiful, glittering pink armour made of stained glass, overgrown by virile rose stems adorned by large thorns. Pictures of fairy saints revealed themselves in the armour as torchlight shone at it, disappearing as he turned to draw his weapon. Instead of a sword, he kept an ancient censer by his side adorned with colourful gemstones. Glittering pink stardust steamed out of the religious object, drawing a short tail before becoming one with the wind.

From behind the boy’s green eyes and short pink hair, a butterfly-sized creature flew forward with fast flirts of its beautiful wings. As it sat down on Fuchsia’s shoulder, a mature woman’s likeness showed itself in a green dress, stretching her orange wings and milky white arms into the sky. Then, she scratched her head under her messy and wavy black hair. Dark circles adorned her blue eyes as she yawned.

“Had the tournament begun?”

The boy turned to the fairy in surprise, then laughed with embarrassment.

“Heh, not yet! Sorry Roseus!”

“You woke me up for nothing?” The fairy grew a frown. “I told you before, stop making a scene while I’m having my beauty sleep. You got that?”

“Yes, yes. Sorry, Rosy.”

“No, you didn’t get it, otherwise you would stop bothering me when I’m relaxing!”––she poked the tip of Fuchsia’s nose in anger––“Next time you do that, I’ll kick your ass into the void!”

Kukusi coughed gently to get the two’s attention. “What?!” The fairy yelled, but Fuchsia stopped her before she could have gotten them kicked out.

“I take you want to volunteer against the challenger, Schwarz,” Kukusi asked while trying to remain as calm as possible.

“Yes,” Fuchsia answered.

Kukusi stepped closer and lowered his voice, “You do know if she fights one of your opponents, no matter which one of them wins, you’ll have a much easier time defeating them. That would bring you closer to your true target.”

Fuchsia brushed into his hair with his hand and laughed with confidence.

“I know, but I don’t need any help winning this tourney. I’m the best, and as one of the Four Fairy Guardians, it is a duty of mine to defend against the ugly of the world,” he pointed at Scwarz, “And that thing definitely deserves some defending from.”

He would have protested. He would have fought to make Fuchsia disappear. But when he looked up, the stars shone bright with anticipation. Despite possibly upsetting a few customers, the other spectators were thrilled to see someone volunteer for the challenge, and Kukusi had a clear priority with these things. He sneered, then quietly shook his head.

“You don’t know boy, but you just signed your death certificate. Schwarz will beat you easily. You're way out of her league."

The corpse saw the stars glow brighter and remembered what that meant. She too shuffled forward to get into range for her first attack.

Kukusi raised his walking cane and spoke loudly.

“So, it is decided! Schwarz, the Goddess of Grey versus Fuchsia, honorary member of the Four Fairy Guardians and Deity of the Pink Rose! Your battle begins… now!”

As soon as he said it, a puff of smoke surrounded him and in the blink of an eye, Kukusi was gone, leaving the two challengers to fight. Edgar heard the small explosion of his disappearance and looked up from the cover of his clothes.

“What happened? Who is that pink fellow?” he asked, before seeing Schwarz again and immediately retreating into the safety of his palms.

As the match began, Fuchsia wasted no time and leapt towards Schwarz. The steam of his censer grew in volume, and when he was only a few meters away from the corpse, a pink glow grew within. Fuchsia cast the censer while in the air and the chains connecting the head and handle extended rapidly, turning his weapon into a deadly mace.

Schwarz’s blind eyes stared at the incoming attack, and she did not move until the last second. The creature from her chest lashed forward and headbutted away the censer. The creature’s skin easily deflected the censer as if it were made of steel. Fuchsia was surprised by her deflection but knew of a swift response. As the censer was shot away by the worm, Fuchsia spun around with the same motion, leading the censer on a circular path to arrive back at Schwarz and assault her with greater force.

“Eat this!” Fuchsia shouted as the censer came crashing at her.

Schwarz remained unwavering. She held up her arm in the censer’s path and a bit below. It flew millimetres above her rotting skin, and as soon as the censer cast a shadow on her fingertips, Schwarz quickly disappeared as if being sucked into a black hole.

Fuchsia’s attack travelled in a straight line until he pulled back the censer and looked around, confused. Roseus remained flying near his shoulder. She too could not detect the whereabouts of their enemy.

“Can you see her?” Fuchsia turned towards her.

It was a mistake, one Roseus noticed the moment Fuchsia moved his gaze away. Schwarz suddenly appeared in the shadow cast by his arm with the worm from her chest lunging at Fuchsia’s throat.

In the blink of an eye, it would have been over for him, had Roseus not acted swiftly.

“Morning Sun!” she shouted, quickly pointing her hand at the attackers as a pink bubble of light surrounded her fingertip. A blinding pink glow made all spectators turn and defend their eyes. She cast an explosion, one brighter than the Sun itself.

“What the hell was that?” Tanuki shouted while hiding his face. He looked in Six’s direction and his eyes widened in shock when he finally realised that bright lights did not affect plantfolks.

Six peacefully sipped his wine and giggled.

“Hehe, hot woman.”