Leland woke up in the centre of a sand filled arena and sat upright, completely unfazed by the screams and yells of the crowd encompassing him.

“Hey, Lee,” Staress greeted.

“Hey,” Leland replied. “W-what’s the situation?”

“Well… You’ve been asleep for eighteen hours. Round sixteen has begun. We tried to buy you some time, but unfortunately you were disqualified.”

“Oh no,” Leland said, not the slightest bit of disappointment in his voice. “Are we all going to die?”

“No, we can still win,” Cadell said.

Staress pointed forwards, gripping Leland’s shoulder. “Those are our opponents.”

Three humongous crystalline creatures sat in a circle— one diamond, one ruby, one gold. They seemed to be playing a card game of sorts.

“Y-yikes.”

“Yeah,” Staress agreed. “They’re called Odemps. Ancient crystalline creatures. I’m facing the diamond one. Cadell, the gold one.”

“You can’t fight that thing, Stars.”

Staress exchanged a dark expression with Cadell. Chills shot up Leland’s spine. He had never seen them like this.

“Are you going to use it?” Cadell asked.

“Use w-what?” Leland shifted his gaze back and forth multiple times between the two.

Staress blankly stared, biting her bottom lip. After a few seconds, she shrugged nonchalantly. “Don’t ask stupid questions, Cad. I don’t have a choice. It’s showtime, boys.” She smiled, seemingly back to her usual cheery self, but Leland wasn’t buying it.

Cadell dragged him through a portal leading to front row seats.

“Now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for!” the alien announcer boomed. “It’s time, ladies and gents. We have a wonderful match up for you today… Two equally uncivilised, disgusting species will compete for their survival. In one corner, we have the so-called slug species who shamefully share 99% of their DNA with monkeys. Representing them is a pretty woman it seems? Has she gotten lost?”

The alien crowd howled with laughter.

“Bad joke,” Cadell said.

“A-agreed,” Leland said.

“And in the second corner,” the alien announcer continued. “Is a barbaric species known as the Odemps. Their species is currently enslaved by the Solarian’s after their leader thought it was a good idea to betray them. Can you imagine trying to deceive a Solarian? It doesn’t get any dumber than that.”

More laughter ensued. Leland’s heart raced, despite not being in the arena. The Odemp’s hulking physique alone was enough to intimidate. Towering at twelve feet, the alien bounded to the centre of the arena. Its head snapped to one side, producing a loud cracking sound, then violently shook about like it disapproved of everyone’s existence. Purple glimmering chains covered its scaly scarred body.

“What in the f-final boss level is this?” Leland said “W-will she be okay?”

“Let’s hope so,” Cadell said.

“You don’t know?”

Cadell chewed on his thumb and fidgeted, eyes glued to the arena. “I’m just the portal guy so, no, I don’t know.”

“As previously mentioned, Round Sixteen is a death match,” the alien announcer said. “This of course means one of you slugs must perish for the fight to end! Preferably horribly, if you can. That would be ideal for everyone watching. Feel free to use any weapons you like. Bite, stab, gouge, vaporise. Cannibalism isn’t off limits, but at the same time we would prefer if you didn’t? Because, you know… it’s cannibalism. Any questions? Only kidding. We don’t care. Fight!”

The Odemp threw its head back and made a large gurgling sound before spitting a blue glistening liquid. Staress didn’t move an inch and Leland squealed as he watched the substance devour the ground right in front of her, leaving a mini crater.

“Your Highness,” the Odemp said in a calm, almost soothing voice. “For centuries, I’ve been searching for the wielder. It’s an honour to finally meet you. You’re more than worthy to test my limits. Please test my limits. Would you so kindly test my limits?”

“W-what is he talking about?” Leland asked.

Cadell didn’t respond. Neither did Staress. She merely stared and waited.

“Test me!” the Odemp roared “Test me, test me, test me!” Its large body rumbled as loud as thunder and suddenly it duplicated multiple times in quick succession.

It wasn’t long until hundreds of Odemps surrounded Staress. All of them roared the same chant, perfectly synchronised. “Test me, test me, test me. Your highness, test me.”

“W-we have to do something!” Leland yelled. “S-she’s going to be killed! I’m going to—”

“No!” Cadell growled. The unexpected flash of anger made Leland flinch. “You have to trust her.”

The horde of Odemps continued the chant, rapidly increasing in volume, until Staress raised a single arm. They froze, staring intensely with beady green eyes.

“It’s not like I have much of a choice,” Staress said. “But sure, test accepted.”

As the first wave of Odemps charged from every angle, a golden jeweled crown flew out of a portal and landed in her hand. She took two steps forward and hurled the ornamental headdress as if it were a javelin, staggering slightly from the throwing force. Spinning rapidly, it decapitated five Odemps, then flew a complete circle, zooming its way back to her.

“What is that?” Leland whispered though he already knew what it was instinctively. The crown had to be the source of her superpowers.

Diamond shards sprinkled in the air as Staress mowed down the swarm of aliens with the crown, one mesmerising hack and slash at a time. Her footwork was minimal and compact. Lazy even. Instead of flashy acrobatics, she moved her head or tilttled her body just enough to avoid every diamond fist. Before an Odemp could smash her skull in, she obliterated theirs with a swift swing of the crown.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Leland let out a deep breath. Despite her skill being displayed, he could hardly watch. After all, humans were fragile. Mark’s accident reminded him of that. There was little room for error.

But Staress left no room…

As the fight continued, it became clear to Leland that Staress wasn’t relying on physical ability or reaction time. She perfectly timed every counter because she knew the exact movements of every Odemp, a feat only she could pull off.

Four Odemps charged simultaneously and Staress leaped, hopping off one of their heads. She twirled high in the air like an ice skater and threw the crown once again.

Leland involuntarily let out a squawk of excitement as the weapon meandered across the arena, plunging through the diamond chests of dozens of Odemps. It defied the laws of gravity, far too wacky to be considered the same as a boomerang or even Captain America’s shield. Did the crown have a life of its own? Was she controlling it somehow?

*Zing* Staress caught the weapon again. Half of the diamond Odemps were decimated, leaving only tiny diamond sprinkles as evidence of their existence.

“You’re perfect!” The remaining Odemps cried. “Perfect, perfect, perfect!”

At a shocking speed, the diamond creatures flung themselves at one another, fusing their bodies until one humongous, rocky beast towered above everyone in the arena.

“Argh!” Leland yelled, gripping Cadell’s shoulder.

“Get off me,” Cadell complained, failing to shake him off. “What are you doing?”

“Y-yelling on your b-behalf because you clearly must be blind!”

The mountain- sized Odemp slammed a colossal fist towards Staress, but the crown flung her up into the air like a slingshot. She rose and rose and rose until the sun made it hard for her to be seen without squinting.

Leland let go of Cadell. Goosebumps prickled his skin.

Staress burst downward, rotating rapidly alongside the crown. The Odemp spat out a boulder-sized chunk of diamond, yet she swiftly maneuvered beneath it, and with a strangled battle cry, swung the crown at the Odemp's head, vertically cleaving it from top to bottom by dragging the weapon forcefully down the monster's entire body.

Ridiculous. Holy shit.

The stunning spectacle reminded Leland of Kratos from God of War, only much more graceful. Momentarily, the alien crowd silenced. They simply stared, jaws hanging open as shards sprinkled everywhere.

“I shouldn’t h-have doubted her,” Leland said finally.

“No,” Cadell agreed. “You shouldn’t have”

----------------------------------------

“Hold up.” Leland’s eyes bulged. “W-what is this I’m tasting?”

Staress took a seat beside him, one eyebrow raised. “Caramel popcorn.”

“But it tastes too good to be popcorn.”

“I keep telling you, Lee. Solarian food hits different.”

Cadell stood nonchalantly in the arena, still wearing his orange prisoner jumpsuit. The golden Odemp before him cracked its fists together menacingly.

“I-is he going to fight?” Leland asked.

Staress hesitated. “Probably not.”

“W-what do you mean? He has to. How are we suppossed to— mmhmm!”

Staress closed his lips with a thumb and index finger. “No more questions. We’re helpless here so let’s just watch, okay?”

Leland pulled a look of confusion but nodded. Almost everyone had seen Cadell in action. Hundreds of viral videos could be found online showing the former vigilante swiftly beating up criminals as if it were a speedrun of a video game. How could one of the most violent humans on Earth not be violent when it mattered the most?

“Fight!” The announcer boomed.

Not wasting any time, the Golden Odemp launched a hailstorm of golden spears out of its enormous fists. Cadell reached into a small portal by his side, retrieving a comic book while another large portal absorbed the attack.

“Hey, big guy,” Cadell said. “Let’s settle this in another— ”

The golden beast pounced forwards, wildly swinging its fists. Cadell ducked and leaned back, bopping and weaving, all the while reading the comic book.

“He’s reading Berserk,” Staress said, accurately predicting Leland’s question. “It’s one of his favourite stories. Not to my taste, though. Too dark.”

Cadell darted back through a portal and sat crosslegged on one side of the arena. He turned a page. “We’re not resolving this by a fight and you’re never going to kill me. So let’s play rock, paper, scissors? It will save us both time.”

The Odemp tilted its head slightly to one side. A long glistening golden chain shot out of its palm and swung over its head until it almost couldn’t be seen.

Cadell threw the comic book away which fell into a tiny portal and sighed. “I had a feeling that wouldn’t work. Maybe a game of poker?” He reached into a portal just as the Odemp swung their arm down.

*WHACK!*

Cadell caught the golden chain with his free hand, the other filled with a deck of cards. “No poker? Alright, alright. Maybe you’re not a gambler. No game of chance then. How about brute strength? Tug of war? Let’s see who’s the strongest.”

“No, human!” The Odemp roared. Its voice was crusty and ancient, resembling an old man. “You have no honour. How could one serve under the sacred crown and be so pathetic?”

Cadell laughed. “Me? Serve under her? Not a chance.”

“You serve under me, peasant!” Staress yelled. “Treason is a crime. Defeat thy opponent or you will be punished for treason.”

Leland snickered.

Cadell dropped the golden chain and sat down before dipping his arm through a portal on the ground and, once again, opened the comic book, Berserk.

“What are you doing?” The Odemp asked.

Slowly, Cadell looked up. He frowned. “I’m reading. Obviously.”

The Odemp made a desperate lunge for him but, of course, flew through a portal, its golden head slamming into the sand several metres away from Cadell.

At first, the defensive strategy looked cool but over one hundred portals later, the crowd had lost their temper. Boos rained down on the arena. Even Leland was tempted to shake a fist— he still felt groggy and longed to go back to sleep.

*THUD!*

On its knees, the Odemp hammerfisted the ground, causing the sandy terrain to tremble. “Enough! I can’t take this anymore! Announcer, can we do something about this? This isn’t fair!”

Cadell threw away volume five of Berserk into a portal and plucked out volume six. “What a snitch.”

“What a rat,” Staress said.

“W-what a baby,” Leland said.

After a short delay, the announcer seemed to clear their throat. “Very well. Both contestants will be disqualified if one does not die in the next five minutes.”

Cadell groaned. He stood up, closing the comic book. “Disqualify yourself.”

“No, you foolish slug!”

“Alright. Suit yourself.”

The audience grew quiet. Unexplainable chills shot down Leland’s spine, and he suddenly felt the strong urge to flee. A strange energy heated the air around him.

Cadell walked across the arena. “Last chance. I’ll say it one last time. Disqualify yourself. Because once I start, there’s no going back.”

The Odemp took a step back.

“These are not threats,” Cadell continued, his eyes turning a dark purple. “See? I’m just telling you what will happen.”

“Impossible,” the Odemp said, sinking to his knees. “No…that can’t be.”

“The slug’s infected!” someone from the crowd screamed.

Pandemonium erupted with half the crowd fleeing and the other cheering. Leland turned to Staress who wore a blank expression. “Infected? What are they talking about?”

“Cad's powers originate from an alien disease that transforms its victims into superpowered, bloodthirsty monsters. But no need to worry. He maintains control over it… as long as he avoids inflicting violence."

“W-why are you telling m-me this now?” Leland asked.

“Cat’s out of the bag,” Staress replied, a look of vague sadness on her face. “He didn’t want you to know;, it’s a personal thing.”

“O-oh.”

“I disqualify myself!” The Odemp screeched. “I’m done, I’m done, I’m done!”