Joyo

I was glad I had come to the capital of Purgatory with the last crystal shipment and paid for entry to watch the fights. This last fight had been amazing. I had only seen level 2 monsters, but level 4 monsters just blew my mind.

The fact that Emperor Michael easily fought through them all with only a slight injury was even more impressive. Monster Master Michelle had been incredibly impressive. That surprise at the end had clearly caught him off guard.

It was a shame there was no announcer to explain what was going on. But the most awesome thing was when he called for a sword and one of the soldiers threw it into the arena. The blade was massive, and he used it more like a club than the weapon it should be used as, just brutally smashing aside everything in his path.

I wish there was a sword tournament. I could have shown off my skills. Historical blades were a hobby of mine and a good way to stay fit. I was even more curious to try out the blade he had left down in the arena once the fight was over.

The Emperor’s voice boomed out over the arena after going back to the arena. “People of Purgatory! Today you have seen the might of level 4 monsters and Monster Master Michelle’s skill. She even managed to wound me, however slightly. I will have to concede the match to her for her superior skill and strategy, since this is Monster Battle Arena, not just Arena.”

I cheered with everyone else. That was an incredibly interesting fight, and I could already feel my blood begin to get excited at the back and forth. Suddenly a woman appeared in the middle of the arena and Emperor Michael spun to face her.

She said something that I couldn’t hear, but Emperor Michael’s voice still carried. “Tyranny? No! Stability! The Astrologer was a terrorist.” That was the name of a man who had tried to Emperor Michael after he had killed the Divine Empress and worked with the enemy of all, the Avatar.

I felt a growing sense of dread. Eleven more level 4 monsters suddenly burst into the arena. A bloated fat deformed man. An ethereal giant tentacle. A giant pair of scissors. A cloaked skeleton with floating black hands around them. A large eye with multiple pupils. A whirling serrated ring. A humanoid figure with blades for limbs. A massive octopus with blades at the end of each limb. A decayed human that sent made me afraid as it was a slight blur. A three foot, or meter tall anthropomorphic mouse with a sword and shield. A massive gray hand the size of car.

Glancing back at Michael. The woman disappeared, vanishing without a trace. “Code black! Do not panic! Obey the soldiers!” Emperor Michael quickly shouted as he rushed at the monsters as they turned towards the crowd away from the center of the arena after entering to face the crowd.

Everyone began to scream and panic. Soldiers were shouting and skills were being used in the area. Emperor Michael had rushed right into the midst of the monsters. I was pushed, and suddenly I was falling into the area!

I landed and managed to roll, so I didn’t injure myself. The ground was shaking. A portion of the arena was destroyed. I felt emotions roll over me. I quickly looked around to see where I should go, but it was complete chaos. Everyone was panicking. That was when I saw the sword stabbed into the arena floor. The massive shiny black metal slab. The words Beat Stick etched onto one side and the side was etched the word Naran, which I had no idea what it meant.

The battle at the far end of the arena was getting worse. Rushing forward. I quickly raced to the sword and gripped the hilt. It was heavy, very heavy. But its over was immense. One hit would impart a massive force onto whatever was struck.

I lifted it up. The giant fat man was rolling across the arena towards me. Seeing the panicking crowds, I knew I had to fight. I couldn’t let other people be hurt. I lifted up the massive sword. The monster coming for me was massive. “Ahhh!” I swung down with everything I had. The blade impacted it at the bottom of its mouth. It was broken apart, blood splattered about, quickly disappeared.

But the monster wasn’t dead. I suddenly felt a massive suction vortex pulling on me. I couldn’t escape!

Monster Master Michelle

I shouldn’t have been declared the winner. It wasn’t appropriate. I had lost. Even though I had wounded Emperor Michael, I had still lost. The gap between a level 4 and him was massive. That’s when a woman suddenly appeared.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What was code black? I was here on this platform all by myself? The level 4 monsters poured into the arena. I had to stop them. The crowd screamed around me. “Go Hands!” I shouted and gestured, even though I didn’t need to. The action gave me confidence and allowed me to treat this as a Monster Battle.

I had kept my bright red hand with me at all times. It was my starter and I had even named it Gripper. I was not about to give it up if at all possible. The Ringer leapt out as well. I had managed to save it during the last battle. They weren’t fast, but I could support Emperor Michael from here. I could do it. I just had to believe in my skills. Believe Michelle. I kept telling that to myself as panic and fear raced through me.

Some idiot had rushed into the middle of the arena and grabbed up the Beat Stick. The Bloated Man was tumbling towards him. He swung but it was not enough. He didn’t have Michael’s insane Body stat to back him up. I raised up my hands to gain a better mental image. I was glad Gripper was a right hand and Ringer was a left hand.

I quickly unleashed several rays into the Bloated Man’s eyes, a critical weak point. Its suction stopped. Gripper climbed up the larger monster and dug into its head. It trashed about. The man down in the arena jumped back, brought up the Beat Stick and slammed it down on the monster’s head. It burst apart and quickly turned to dust.

The battle at the far end of the arena was getting worse. My hands leaped free and raced forward. The man who had recklessly leapt into the arena lifted up the sword and raced after them. I couldn’t keep up with Emperor Michael’s whirl wind combat, but I could help the man at the outskirts of the battle.

Doctor Benjamin Katz

“Code black! Do not panic! Obey the soldiers!” Clarissa quickly got up and left along with her personal guards. I didn’t begrudge her, her escape. She was an administrator not a fighter. She would be far more useful coordinating a response than leaping into battle.

I wouldn’t let this massacre occur. I had been helpless for too long against threats. One thing I had learned from Emperor Michael, was that power was everything. My research into energy was something I took very seriously. Even more so when I had almost died to the Divine Empress twice.

That was two times too many. There would not be a third. When I heard Michael had killed her, I almost broke down into tears at relief. She had cast a massive shadow over everything. I had been stressed about the ABS, or the Annihilation Beam Shooter project.

Time for my rapid deployment version. One benefit of being in charge of research and development were all the crystals I got to use to increase my stats. While most of them had gone into the Sense stat, I had gotten other stats as well.

I noticed a man fall into the arena across from me as I leapt into the arena myself. Would help contain the threat to limit the people killed and hurt. Then I would treat them. I had been a soldier, and while rifles weren’t a thing in the Systemic Lands, I had been making quite bit of progress.

Rushing along the edge of the arena, I raced forward as Michael zipped about smashing monsters with his fists, and using his acid attack at close range, and critical moments. I felt a large sense of danger, and triggered the shape charge I kept strapped to my chest, over my armor.

A blast of annihilation energy shot forward, engulfing a blur that was racing for me. I quickly began to shake my left hand. A technique Michael used to activate his Perception stat. It was a zombie of some sort. My hands were already pulling out the single use pistols I kept on me.

The zombie rushed towards me. An annihilation ray took it in the head. It dusted instantly. I flipped the latch, dropping the barrel of the pistol to the arena floor as I continued to race forward. I pushed the pistol on top of the spare barrel at my waist. Using my free hand, I locked them together.

The barrels could only be charged ahead of time, and I was glad I had. The one thing I knew about the Systemic Lands and Purgatory in general. Was that things would always go to shit. This celebration and tournament were just asking for a disaster to happen. I was glad I had listened to my gut and come prepared.

A humanoid with blades for limbs danced towards me. The Blade Dancer, from what I knew from Michael’s report he had given to Clarissa that I had been able to look at. It looked like a hybrid but it wasn’t.

It spun towards me quickly. I only had two shots and I would need to make them count. I had to time things just right as I shook my hands quickly to activate my Perception stat. As it got closer, a man rushed in and slammed that over massive sword at the monster. It missed completely, but bright red hand leapt towards the monster’s torso.

It tried to hit the small hand that climbed around the monster as another hand unleashed beam attacks. I rushed forward. Now was the time to act while it was distracted. My pistols’ range was terrible. Annihilation energy did not like to travel far.

Anything stronger would require pistols that were enchanted with better energy. The enchantments had to be a level higher than the crafting crystals used to create the annihilation effect, otherwise there would be problems. Basically, they were hand cannons, or single use pistols. The barrel contained a directional bomb.

This was not a weapon that could be used for grinding. It was too expensive per shot. I was spending a massive amounts of points just to fire them each time. The barrels were only single use as well. The enchantments were too distorted after firing to be reused safely. The new material Maganite had been instrumental in creating them.

Rushing forward, the monster was just in front of me and fired again. The blast when through its chest. There was no head, only another blade. Like a blade starfish. It stumbled and the bright red hand quickly dug into it. The man who had grabbed Michael’s sword rushed in and smashed. Sending the level 4 monster to the ground and dusting it. There was a large tentacle to deal in front of me. I rushed forward, pistol at the ready.