Before he knew what happened, Seth found himself in a small booth with Grayson, Mr. Alldean, and the blue horned assistant, (soon found to be named Byrus) he had seen the day before.
After Grayson’s odd job request, Seth had climbed into a grey floating pod with the rest of the booth’s inhabitants and shot off to an absurdly sized colosseum. When he said absurd, Seth meant he literally could not see the end of the place while looking through the booth window. Currently, they were placed about twenty meters off the ground of the ashy colored floor and Seth could clearly see all four corners of the combat arena.
Seth had to do a double take when he noticed his view was perfect of the arena, but he couldn’t see anyone on the far side of the place. The longer he whipped his head around, the more confused he became as he found that he could not see an end in any direction. Byrus must have noticed his state because the assistant leaned next to Seth and explained that it was because of an Umbra by the name of Ragman.
“Lord Ragman is an Umbra who’s divination path follows the pure exhilaration of battle. Therefore it is natural that he used a small portion of his power to create an arena where all that wish to bathe in the feeling can come and watch it unimpeded by distance. Although Lord Ragman’s influence spreads farther than our small city, the main core of his clan resides here in Ethin, so we are blessed with his famous Endless Stadium.”
Seth’s mouth was agape as he stared at Byrus like a crazy person.
“Wha- Just how strong can you be to create such a place with a ‘small portion’ of your power?!”
Byrus itched his horn for a moment, trying to find a way to explain the incomprehensible concept to the young lad.
“Just think of this place as some sort of personal pocket dimension of the lord.”
That does not make this any easier to understand. Seth lamented in his mind.
Rather than confessing his stupidity, Seth instead nodded dumbly like he understood the idea perfectly.
“Besides that, what exactly is this Daemon Contest all about?”
Grayson and Mr. Alldean were absorbed in their own conversation a couple feet away, seemingly discussing some gambling odds, so Seth decided to continue to pick the assistant’s brain. This also seemed to excite the wiry man, so he guessed it wouldn’t be too big of a deal to take some of his time.
“Well Mr. Shrike, the Daemon Contest is the epitome of Lord Ragman’s creations. Here you will find nothing less than the absolute strongest warriors this galactic plane has to offer. Unfortunately, the warriors you see here are limited to tier six and the occasional tier five. Any beings of a higher tier are already no doubt creating their own empires or focused solely on power tiering. But do not let that sully your opinion of this contest.
The two warriors that have made it to the final round are nothing less than gods among men. Starting with almost one hundred of this dimension’s most talented and peak powered geniuses, the eight rounds of the Daemon Contest not only whittle the number down to the best of the best, but they also act as a whetstone for those true demigods to hone their skills and push themselves to the brink of evolution.”
The man’s eyes cast a look full of wonder at the arena in front of them and Seth couldn’t blame him. This contest sounded like it would be beyond divine to watch, and Seth couldn’t help but begin to shake in anticipation. Byrus soon turned back to Seth and lowered his voice while casting a glance at the pair sitting near them.
“Not only are the combatants peak powerhouses, but there is supposed to be a true monarch amongst them today. He is listed under the name Untold. His true name is a secret, which is quite normal. His handle is known by all due to the fact that he is a true Ranker. Between you and me, if I could put my whole fortune down on a bet, it would be on him, no question. Sadly, betting would be a fools erra-,” suddenly Byrus stopped talking and began to gape at the window.
“It’s starting!” he cheered giddily.
Seth totally forgot what Byrus was talking about as he also turned to the arena with a crazy grin on his face.
All this hype has got me excited.
The somewhat muted clamor that had been droning on beforehand was totally silenced as a large red myth appeared in the center of the arena. Smoke soon appeared into existence and it began to flood the floor of the arena, creating an intense feeling of anticipation amongst the crowd. A few moments of this continued before a nightmarish sounding announcer rasped through the silence of the crowd.
“Welcome one and all, to the final round of our treasured Lord Ragman’s Daemon Contest. Only here can you all witness the glory of two gladiators engaged in the most divine act known to man…”
It was like the whole coliseum was holding in its breath awaiting the announcer’s next words. Then, a deep and grating sigh spread across the crowd.
“War.”
Silence only lasted for a second before a roar from the audience drowned out any thought Seth attempted to form. Even the glass Grayson had sitting on the table in front of them began to rumble because of the uproar. A new green myth appeared on the left side of the arena and a humanoid form began forming in the center of the myth.
“Endless spectators, please welcome our first competitor. She is a warrior of one in a millennium talent. The only thing more terrifying than her power is the amount of lives she has extinguished. Even those on the edge of creation know of the woman called the Queen of Absolution! EVERYONE GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FIRST FINALIST AND THIRD ON THE PLANE LADDER, DOMINATIOOOOONNN!!!”
The wave of noise that was unleashed after the announcement of Domination easily dwarfed the previous roar and even caused Grayson’s drink to fall over and crash on the ground. Even Seth could tell that the booth was heavily soundproofed for this exact reason, and the fact that the audience was this loud was a testament to the might this woman must hold. The smoke suddenly disappeared with of wave from the figure down below.
Mr. Alldean hummed next to Grayson and even Seth began to gape at the window.
The woman standing on top of the green myth was truly one that lived up to the name Domination. She was covered from neck to toe in bright green armor that was etched with countless myths. The only thing not covered by the armor was her head which was a picture of brutal determination. She had one long swamp green braid that was a streak down the middle of her otherwise bald head.
Besides her braid, Seth couldn’t even tell what the color of the woman’s skin was because of the dense tattoo that stretched across the surface of her face. All of these factors aside, nothing was more terrifying about her than the blood red eyes she had matched with the viscous snarl that showed off the gnarly brown tusks that replaced her canines.
Besides her personal appearance, she also held a disgusting weapon that looked to be some sort of battle axe forged from monster viscera. Seth felt as if he couldn’t even move in the presence of the brutish woman in front of him. What must be her anima influence billowed out from her like an explosion. Flashes of memories began surfacing in Seth’s mind. Pictures of times where his anger almost caused him to lose his sanity.
One specific memory kept resurfacing in his mind as the anima continued to wash over him.
The face of his father staring at him just days before he died.
Suddenly Seth came back to reality as he realized what was going on. The woman’s anima was mixed with some sort of deeper truth that passively reminded Seth of pure anger. She was like an all-powerful berserker that cared nothing for what was in front of her. Even if God himself was standing in her way, she would charge into the battle without hesitation. Seth snapped out of his stupor as he watched Domination ready her axe as a new azure blue myth came into existence on the other side of the arena.
I can’t even imagine a mortal strong enough to beat someone like her. He cast a pitiful glance at the assistant gleefully watching the arena below. Sorry Byrus, but I don’t think you are right about this one. Domination is gonna wipe the floor with Untold.
As the new competitor began to materialize on top of the myth, Seth turned his remorseful gaze to watch a rather uninteresting man come into being. He wore a thin gray body suit that reminded Seth of a costume from Tron. Other than the bodysuit, the man also had no helmet so his long mane of cloud gray hair spilled past his shoulders. Opposite of Domination, Untold had no face tattoo nor any odd tusks spilling from his mouth.
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He had a good amount of muscle that showed from the tightness of his suit, but yet again, it wasn’t anything unique or terribly impressive. The only thing that stood out about the man was the slender blue longsword that rested in his loose grip.
It was a deep blue speckled with flickers of white that reminded Seth of the deep ocean. The same color showed from the man’s eyes, which looked quite unsettling as Seth felt like the pools in his eye sockets were even deeper than the depths of space.
What was even more unsettling was the fact that the man emitted no anima that Seth could feel.
The only proof he felt that the man was actually here besides what he saw with his eyes, was the familiar smell of a thunderstorm in the air.
As Seth watched the two stare each other down, his brows furrowed.
“Wait, why didn’t Untold get an intro?” he asked to no one in particular. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Byrus turned to him with a look of pure confusion.
“He is Untold.”
Both he and Seth turned back to the arena as the announcer spoke up.
“Here it is folks! The moment all of you have been dying for! This year’s final round is upon us! It is time to find out who our newest Daemon is! Now… COUNT IT DOWN WITH ME!”
The whole audience silenced themselves in preparation for the count.
“FIRST COMES CONFLICT!” The announcer yelled.
“SECOND COMES BLOODLUST!” The audience roars.
“Finally…” everyone breathed.
“WAAARRRRRRRR!!!!”
The arena shook visibly with the enthusiasm of the crowd and Seth instinctively activated True Sight to watch an unfathomable amount of energy gather around both competitors. In an instant, a humongous emerald myth appeared behind Domination and brought forth a beast wrought out of what looked to be splintered bone and gore. Its eyes reflected the familiar blood red orbs of its handler, Domination. Furthermore, the apocalypse beast had an infinite number of deadly teeth in all shapes and sizes that promised of carnage as well as the same berserker aura that its owner released before.
At the same time the devastating beast materialized behind Domination, azure spirits began to surround Untold and rotated around him like he was the center of a galaxy.
“Wow, she is going all out immediately.” Grayson noted next to him with a look of real surprise on his face.
Seth glanced at the suited man before focusing on the giant apocalypse beast that Domination created.
“How can you tell she is going all out?” he questioned with interest.
Grayson answered him without taking his eyes off Untold.
“Because that ability of hers has peak tier six power, and is imbued with an anima that contains a concept galaxy.”
Seth’s full attention was now on Grayson.
“A concept galaxy? What the hell is that?” he inquired with an intrigued stare.
Grayson sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.
“It’s so hard to remember that you know nothing of all of this. Just use Perceive to try and understand for now, I will try and remember to tell you about it later. Just be happy you can see this battle at all, outside of this arena, you would have certainly been in critical condition after she released her influence.”
Annoyance crept over Seth’s expression before he turned back to the fight and activated Perceive for the first time. His vision became slightly darker as a multitude a various colors appeared in his vision. He cast a quick glance at the people sitting in the booth with him and gasped silently.
It was as if the souls of Grayson, Byrus, and Mr. Alldean were on display for Seth to see.
Looking at their animas was a surreal experience as they were all different in sensation yet still felt familiar. Byrus looked exactly like himself, yet instead he was shimmering with blue light just under his skin.
Mr. Alldean was quite surprising, as he looked totally different than the mound Seth was used to. His anima appeared to be a skinny man in a brown suit, with slicked back hair that matched his suit. If Seth was being honest, he looked to be a guy you would see on Wall Street.
But most surprising of all was Grayson.
Although he had already told Seth what his anima looked like, it was still crazy to behold. His anima was a gray furred feline creature with familiar golden eyes just like Grayson’s. The creature reminded Seth heavily of the Cheshire Cat, except it wasn’t smiling, but instead its whole face was wreathed in a heavy silver smoke cloud, only showing the golden pearls of its eyes. Seth tried to look around to those of the crowd as well, only to find most of them appearing the same as Byrus’s anima: just a shimmering glow underneath their skin.
That must be what it looks like when you try to conceal your energy.
A sound from the arena drew Seth’s attention back to the fight happening in front of him. Domination had finally made her move and the giant beast was beginning to rush Untold. Now because of Perceive, Seth could see that the oppressive anima of Domination looked identical to the corpse monster she had summoned with that huge myth.
So she actually summoned her anima into being with an ability? That’s badass.
Yet again Seth felt slightly sorry for Byrus and his misplaced faith in the competitor that was currently just standing there with azure lights cycling around him. A burst of bloodlust erupted from Domination as she roared.
“Avatar of Desolation, destroy the enemy in front of me and leave nothing but pity behind!”
After her chant, she picked up her axe and began rushing Untold alongside the avatar she summoned. Just when he was sure Untold was done for, Seth finally looked at the bland man and noticed that his anima was no where to be found. Before Seth could even question where it might be, the Queen of Absolution was already upon him with a mighty swing that promised death.
Right before the swing was about to hit, the azure lights began to flare and Untold leaned into a backbend that should not have been possible for the size of the man. Clearly Domination was not prepared for the lack of contact as her heavy swing made her stumble in an effort to stop its movement. The shockwave from the swing’s power was still present though and a wave of ashy sand was kicked up and obscured Untold.
This did not deter Domination though as she instantly followed up with a heavy kick in the spot she knew he was. The kick was also unsuccessful though as Untold leaned slightly to the right, avoiding the impact and delivering a glowing haymaker right into Domination’s nose.
Clearly the woman was no slouch as the punch broke her nose yet she didn’t even flinch from the spot she was in.
“DESY, END THIS!” she yelled.
In response to her command, the previously huge beast appeared out of the ash cloud in a much smaller and sleeker form. Without wasting a second, the beast’s maw erupted into green flames as it pounced onto the seemingly unaware man. The whole crowd heaved as they watched pale blue blood spray everywhere inside of the mouth of the beast as it shook like a dog with a new toy. A snarling grin ripped across Domination’s face as she was obviously certain in her victory.
Like an executioner, she raised her disgusting axe toward the sky as it began to emit the impossible weight of a planet. Green and red energy sparked all around the axe as she finally brought it down to end it a-
“Debt.”
A smooth deep voice echoed outward through the audience as all other noise was instantly silenced. Seth found he can’t breath as time itself seemed to stand still.
“Collection.”
Out of nowhere, an explosion of blue energy tore through space and a wave of green gore flew outward in all directions. Seth shielded his eyes momentarily and then shot onto his feet as his eyes rested upon the scene in front of him. Untold stood unscathed in the center of the arena with a pile of green mush that used to be “Desy” sitting pitifully at his feet. Domination was not in a much better state as Seth found her on the far side of the arena, at the center of a crater in the wall. The blue figures that swirled around Untold from before were nowhere to be found as he now stood alone, watching Domination attempt to get on her feet.
She’s still alive?! Seth thought incredulously with his mouth agape.
He watched as the warrior pried herself out of the wall crater with a primal growl. Seth heard bones snap and wet pops while what looked to be green slime started to excrete from every pore on her body. His jaw further dropped when the goo finally diminished and Domination stood relatively uninjured, hefting her battle-axe.
“I won’t allow a coward’s trick like that win this fight,” she spat while glaring at Untold.
In a flash, the two were back in the center of the arena exchanging a flurry of hits that were basically imperceptible to Seth. Surprisingly enough, the longer he watched, the more he began to see with the power of True Sight, Perceive, and the adaptable boost from the booth. The battle dragged on for minutes as Domination continued to throw more and more powerful abilities at Untold. The only problem was, as far as Seth could tell, not one of them had caused any damage to Untold.
For some reason, the man would narrowly dodge almost every attack, and only sometimes deliver the same glowing punch counter. The fact that the man’s anima was still no where to be found was also a factor that just built onto Seth’s growing unease. Finally, the two broke apart and the crowd roared as they watched Untold stand unaffected, while Domination was covered in bruises and breathing heavily.
“IS THIS SOME JOKE TO YOU COWARD?!”
The crowd silenced themselves as they waited for Untold to reply. Seth’s eyes widened as Untold’s facial expression changed for the first time in the fight. The whole time they were fighting before, the man always seemed to have some sort of far-off glassy look. Now, it was like Untold finally focused on the competitor in front of him. Domination had been trying to kill him mercilessly the whole fight, but it appeared like he hadn’t even registered her until now.
“Whoops, my mistake.”
Domination’s face became gaunt at the man’s short words. Seth’s hand began to hum as the whispers in his mind reached a crescendo. This was a first. The terrifying berserker woman had an expression Seth didn’t even know was possible for her:
Fear.
A face splitting grin plastered itself unconsciously on Seth as he realized what had caused the abrupt change in the woman. Following her gaze, Seth finally found where Untold’s anima had been hiding. Peaking over the wall of the arena, was a giant azure avatar that radiated the feeling of an arcane and alien presence. The supposed eyes of the being were like a window into a different universe.
It was absolutely inexplicable, so much so that Seth felt his sanity slipping just thinking about what the being could possibly be. As his mind continued to slip, Untold reached a hand forward toward the shaking woman. The azure being mirrored this action and soon enough a ginormous otherworldly hand sat directly above Untold’s head.
“Fate is cruel, but I am Karma. Space is infinite, but I am Time. Those who know me are unknown to all. For I am Untold.”
Seth tried to gasp but was found he was unable to because space itself was frozen. There was nothing for him to do but watch as cracks began appearing all over Domination’s body.
“Cerulean Rush.”
At the words of Untold, the alien hand stretched forward and lightly touched Domination right on the chest. Instantly after contact, the world around Seth was engulfed in blue light and his consciousness was stolen.