Rieren wished she had Essalina in front of her so she could punch that Abyss-Cursed woman in the face.

The way the Arteroth scion had won her battle against the Darkstalker had shoved a stake through the tenuous understanding Rieren had come to with the other monsters. Everything had been thrown into disarray after Essalina’s overwhelming victory. The worst part was that it wasn’t actually the fact that Essalina had won that bothered anyone.

It was more the way she had done so.

“This is what we hold ourselves back for?” the star shaped Aetherian asked. It had appealed to the other monsters who had come to visit Rieren in her little glen. “This brutality? This war they want to inflict upon us?”

Needless to say, the other monsters agreed. They all screamed and cried out, decrying the earlier agreement they had come to.

“We can’t go on like this,” an Arisen said.

“It hasn’t helped us,” another monster said. “We’ve been holding ourselves back, and all it granted us was two victories out of seven bouts. We’re failing.”

They were all staring at Rieren with no small amount of acrimony. She had remained silent through their whole tirade. They had gotten it into their heads if they pulled off their supposed yokes, they would magically start accruing victories in the tournament.

Rieren stood up. “You have not been losing because of holding anything back.”

“False,” the Aetherian said. “I asked the survivor of the third battle. The Arisen in question was specifically holding itself back to prevent itself from killing the little human it was fighting.”

“Fat load of good holding back did any of us,” another Arisen said. It was that strange combination of a Life Stifler and a Nebula. Despite the lack of a face, Rieren could still sense when its anger seemed to intensify. “That horrid human decided to humiliate the Darkstalker. We will not stand such a flagrant display of brutality without answering in kind.”

The other monsters growled their approval of that statement.

Rieren was tempted to sigh and rub her temple. She held herself back. No point in sighing since she wasn’t breathing, and no point in riling up the monster by acting condescendingly.

She was starting to suspect that Essalina hadn’t been cruel without a point. That devious harridan had intended to rile up the monsters. She wanted them to be angry, to no longer think as clearly as they might have done before.

Essalina also likely expected that enraged monsters would also throw whatever plans Rieren had into disarray as well. Another little reason for Rieren to hit Essalina over the head when they met next. She was beginning to wonder if the Arteroth scion had manipulated the administrations to get a match with the Darkstalker. Picking a monster with some influence she could defeat easily. Cruelly.

“Letting loose your brutality will not help you win your battles,” Rieren said.

“Then what will?” the Aetherian asked. “Tell us, Destroyer, what can we do to win?”

“The humans have defeated you because they are clearly stronger in most cases. But the way to beat those with greater power is to come up with a strategy to counter them.”

The monsters weren’t satisfied with that. They all growled and hooted in derision at her assertion.

“That did nothing to help the Darkstalker,” the Aetherian said.

The monster had a point there, even if it wasn’t right.

“If you truly think letting yourselves be as devastating and destructive as possible would help, then go ahead,” Rieren said. “But I stand by what I said. The way to triumph does not involve being cruel. Do you truly think that sinking to the levels that Essalina displayed will let you attain victory?”

They didn’t answer the question. Not directly. How could they? It wasn’t like they could test it out then and there.

But more than that, they didn’t appreciate Rieren’s response either. She had given in to their little demand a little too quickly. In their eyes, she wasn’t treating this seriously enough.

Rieren didn’t like it either. Letting the monsters do as they had originally intended was going to be yet another defeat in her eyes. It would be letting Essalina score another victory over them. She couldn’t have that.

“This is what happens when we trust the words of a traitor!” another monster yelled out. An Arisen that appeared as though someone had fused several Armistice Enforcers with a gold-plated Aetherian. “She betrayed us once before, what is there to say she won’t do so again? We can’t take her word for any of this.”

Several of the other monsters grumbled their agreement. Even Rieren had to admt the argument held some merit. She had left the monsters following her for dead, all to ensure her own qualification for the second round. To secure her victory in the tournament.

But this wasn’t how Rieren had envisioned her little pact with the qualified monsters ending.

Rieren was not letting Essalina win like this.

She stepped forward. “Are you truly intent on reverting to your monstrous selves in an effort to claim victory?” She had posed it as a rhetorical question, giving them no opportunity to answer. “Do so, and the defeat you suffer will be worse than what the Darkstalker went through.”

“Do you intend to stop us?” the Aetherian asked.

“No. Instead, I offer you an alternative.” Rieren began walking out of the glen. “Follow me.”

The monsters hesitated, but then did as told. It was a strange procession, no doubt. A gaggle of disparate looking monsters following a human-turned-Arisen in the lead. Thankfully, Rieren led them in a direction away from the main tournament area, so they wouldn’t have to worry about prying eyes poking in their direction.

Eventually, they arrived at another clearing. This one was somewhat larger than the one she’d been in, but more importantly, it was unoccupied.

“What are we doing here, Destroyer?” the Aetherian asked.

“This is a little glen that I had my Spirit Beast scout out not too long ago,” Rieren said. “In case I needed a new area where I could stay without being bothered all the time.” She turned to face the monsters and pulled out her sword. Setting her feet a little apart, she stood in a fighting stance. “Here, I want you to fight me.”

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Some of the monsters looked nonplussed, but a few looked outraged. Among the latter was the Arisen who had tried to denounce her earlier.

“You want to kill us here?” it asked in a disbelieving voice. “Keeping your promise to end us if we ever went against your little notion of modulating our brutality?”

Rieren shook her head. “No, not at all. I want you to be brutal. You believe that letting yourselves do as you please will secure your triumph?” She grinned at them, letting them see her teeth. “Then prove it against me. Show me what this ferocity of yours can achieve. Defeat me, and if you can do so, then I will aid you in your campaign of destruction in the tournament.”

For a second, it appeared the monsters were too surprised to react to her challenge. Rieren had thrown down the gauntlet. The ball was now in their court.

Then the Arisen—the one that was combination of the Life Stifler and the Nebula—stepped forward. “And will you hold nothing back against us as well?”

“I will treat you as a competitor in the tournament.” She gestured with her sword. “We have talked enough. Come and prove your mettle. Prove that you can win. Prove that you do not fear me.”

That certainly riled up the monsters. The Arisen’s posture turned combative. Then it attacked.

They couldn’t go all out, of course. They were still within the tournament grounds and it would be inconvenient if they drew the attention of others by throwing out all their powers. Loud explosions and ferocious abilities were suited only for arenas and actual life-or-death battles.

Nevertheless, the fight was still fierce. The Arisen proved to be a tough combatant, especially now that it could supposedly let loose any shackles and simply seek to win no matter the aftermath.

That said, it was still no match for Rieren. She was also holding nothing back. The only thing she changed about her approach was using the flat of her blade to fight exclusively.

Any limb-chopping—accidental or otherwise—could wait till they were in the arena.

It was a good exercise all in all. Rieren defended and evaded all that her monstrous sparring partner furiously threw at her, and she was partly impressed with all that was in the Arisen’s repertoire. A Life Stifler and Nebula combination was nothing to scoff at.

But when Rieren counterattacked, she made sure to do so with overwhelming force and speed, throwing the monster back almost out of their glen.

Rieren shook her head in mock disappointment. “Weak.” She turned to the other monsters. “What about the rest of you? Anyone else who would like to fight to the death?”

Her aggravating tone certainly raised quite a few hackles. Enough to make several of the other monsters fight each other for the opportunity to take her on first. But that was for the best. They needed to be put in their place. Just like that Arisen.

One by one, Rieren took on monster after monster. Just as they tried to be furious and overwhelming against her, holding nothing of their ferocity back, so too did Rieren let loose her own abilities. She drowned some of them in her Domain, used Rippling Blade with all of her Aspects against another, then ran circles around yet another challenger using Fray Passage.

It was stimulating, overall. A good exercise to keep her on her toes, since the monsters’ attacks could be unpredictable.

But she was never in any danger. Certainly nothing fatal, and nothing close to being defeated either.

“You see,” she said, staring at them all during a lull in their battles. “You see where your unbridled ferocity and killing intent have led you?” She smiled, almost sneered, to emphasize the point. “Nowhere.”

The monsters growled and grumbled. They wanted to argue, to rebut her point, but they had nothing to base it off. Rieren had beaten back most of them without a great deal of difficulty. And if she could do it, so could many of the other competitors.

“Get it through your thick heads.” She dropped all antagonism and decided to brusquely shove her point at them. “The aspect of your fighting that you seem to be holding back in an attempt to not kill your opponents is not what determines your victory or defeat. You thought you could defeat me by acting as monstrous as you might have done before. How did it go?”

Not well, of course. They could all see the effects around them. Rieren’s Domain still surged in the glen, the water imbued with a destructive mixture of Divine and Abyss-Aspected Essence. Monsters who had been beaten lay at the fringes of the water, unable to muster the effort to get in and attack her once more. Why would they? It was futile.

“Your victory does not lie in the unbridled strength,” Rieren said. “The best way to win is by using your brains, not just your brawn.”

Rieren went on to explain the importance of strategy. Of what could actually give them a fighting chance, especially against significantly more powerful opponents. That was the only way to overcome the odds in their circumstance.

“But it didn’t work,” one monster said despairingly. “We tried strategizing, didn’t we? Did it help the Darkstalker?”

Rieren shook her head. “Do not let one defeat dismay you to such a degree. Yes, there have been more defeats, but there are reasons behind them all. Reasons we can work together to mitigate.”

“But how, Destroyer?” the Aetherian asked. “Do you have a plan?”

“Of course, I do. I would not be standing here otherwise.”

She explained how she actually intended to assist them going forward. There were still almost a half dozen matches involving the monsters left in the first round. Still a chance for several of them to qualify for the next round.

The monsters were faced with the problem that they didn’t know a great deal about their opponents. This was true even for Rieren. For the majority of their adversaries, she didn’t have a great deal of information to share. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t collect that information with some judicious scouting through her cat.

Besides all that, Rieren was going to be present to fight with them again. On and on, where they could test their mettle against one who fought like a human. Against someone who could push them without killing them outright or destroying their ability to give it their all in the actual matches.

“It will not magically turn the tide,” Rieren said once she had finished explaining. “It will not guarantee you a victory. I knew a great deal about Essalina, but it did not work because the difference in power was simply too great. But that does not mean every such encounter has to be hopeless. There are ways to win, no matter the strength you possess.”

That was enough to mollify them for the day. Enough for them to be going on with. The monsters were satisfied enough to no longer act like belligerent children who’d had their favourite treats taken away as punishment.

The next few days followed the exact routine Rieren had laid out. She sent out Batcat to scrounge up as informative memories as it could acquire. Meanwhile, she continued facing the monsters in one-on-one combat to improve their skills in facing human competitors.

Their methods outputted decent results. There was a marked difference in outcomes between the group of monsters who had fought without Rieren’s direct help and preparation and those who had. Over the next week, of the six monsters who had to take on human competitors, four of them came out victorious. One of those who were defeated had given a good account for itself too.

“I did it,” the Life Stifler-Nebula Arisen said after exiting the arena. Rieren and the other monsters had all gone down to meet it outside the gates. A monster like that didn’t possess smiles, couldn’t make its face flush, but there were other ways to express its happiness. Right now, the Arisen had a hundred stars glowing like constellation within it. “I actually did it.”

The other monsters roared in triumphant approval. Strange how much their efforts over the last few days had instilled a sense of camaraderie within them. It was almost humanlike.

Rieren smiled. She supposed she ought to feel some sense of pride at the accomplishment. The monsters had gained greater control over their abilities and had learned better ways of both defending themselves against their human opponents and overcoming said enemies.

All thanks to her.

Best of all, the week after Essalina’s deplorable victory over the Darkstalker had gone the opposite of what the Arteroth scion had likely aimed for. Instead of deepening a divide between the monsters, Rieren had taken it as an opportunity to construct a stronger bond.

For the monsters—both the defeated and the winners—understood and appreciated Rieren’s efforts. They knew their displays at the tournament would have been significantly worse without her input and assistance. It was thanks to Rieren that no small a number of them had progressed to the next round, for their wins over their opponents hadn’t been easy at all.

Rieren was actually enjoying a little moment of positivity between herself and the other monsters.

The end of the week was marked by the final match of the first round. The fight between Rykion and Oromin was about to be underway. Rieren joined the other monsters in the stands to observe the bout. This was going to be interesting.