Still Arena. Still Colosseum.

The audience frowned as Jean appeared on the stage. On the billboard above her, her name and mission count was displayed.

Jean. 1.

The crowd was silent for a while. Most of the fighters here had a few successful missions under their belts. How good can someone who just completed their recruit mission be? This must be some idiot who thought they were badass just because they lived through their recruit mission. They had no idea The City of the Voyagers was much more deadly than whatever world they were in.

After all, every inhabitant here was forged in blood and fire.

Most of the audience believed they could take down this Jean, but they didn't find the reason to. First of all, the champion had the right to refuse a duel after seeing her opponent. If someone with a mission count of 10 goes up, that girl might just quit. Plus, defeating the opposing champion itself didn't mean anything. It was the betting system that generated profit, and no one would trust their money on someone with a mission count of 1 if she was against some with 5.

Suddenly, the number below Jean’s name that demonstrated the bet placed by her supporters jumped to 500.

Most of the audience still didn't think anything of it, but a few of them grew interested. They were the Voyagers with a mission count of 2 or 3. 500 gold coins still meant a lot to them.

One figure appeared in front of Jean. Someone decided to be the other champion.

Rogue. 2.

The number below his name jumped to 700 before stopping. It was still nothing compared to the bets placed during the duel between Berserker and Vine, but it was good nonetheless at Jean’s caliber.

Rogue was a tall man. He was armored with the Voyager armor and the Voyager blade was in his hand. He tapped the blade gently before it transformed into a giant axe. He charged toward Jean.

Jean tilted her head before tapping her watch. Her Starcraft armor covered her body. Two particle disruptor pistols appeared in her hands.

She started shooting at Rogue.

The crowd was obviously taken by surprise. Welch was right in that Jean was much stronger than most Voyagers her stage. Take the Starcraft universe for example. Most people would stay with Raynor the entire way. This would be safer, as Raynor’s Raiders, in the original world, was never wiped out. As long as the Voyager was careful enough, she would be fine. But with low risk came low reward. If someone did that, the most they could get was a CMC armor and some sort of gauss weapon. A set of standard weapons would be no match for Rogue. Even the 1,000 gold coins could do very little.

But Jean was different. During the mission, she took countless risks. She went way beyond the script, and the result was an entire watch of fleets and gadgets, as well as a menacing physical body.

Rogue was a little surprised as well, but he didn't falter. As he continued to charge forward, several blasts landed on his chest. His Protector armor held its ground. A red crystal powered the piece of gadget in its center.

Just as Rogue was about to reach Jean, the girl warped a jetpack onto her back and went into the air.

The crowd booed. Jean was ranged. Rogue was melee. Even if he had a Voyager rifle, it wasn’t enough to even the playing table. Some of them could feel their money going down the sink.

But Jean had no intention of dragging this on. She had other plans.

A tap to her watch sent a hundred legionnaires all around Rogue.

Legionnaires technically belonged to Jean. They were her gadgets and thus part of her power. They were also permitted inside the Colosseum.

Each legionnaire had a CAS of 32. In a one v one duel with a Voyager, they were nothing, but when a hundred of them fully surrounded Rogue, things were drastically different.

Dozens of pairs of plasma blades instantly landed on Rogue. The Voyager watched in horror as his armor screeched. The red crystal that powered the armor erupted into a ball of dust. This number of attacks of this magnitude at the same time was enough to overload the defenses.

As the armor fell, several blades landed on Rogue, cutting through his flesh and bone.

But Rogue didn't become a Voyager for nothing. If there was one thing with Voyagers, it was that they were fierce. Those who weren’t would never have made it past their first couple missions. Rogue knew there was no safe retreat, so instead of retreating, he moved forward.

The Voyager slammed his Voyager ax into the head of one of the legionnaires and crushed it beyond recognition. As the other legionnaires rose their weapons again, Rogue drew his rifle, transformed it into a pistol, pointed it forward, and pulled the trigger down.

A wave of red blasts dismembered a dozen legionnaires at that direction, opening up a way out. Neither the legionnaires’ plasma shields nor their giant metal bodies stood a chance against even just a single blast.

Several plasma blades were still on top of Rogue, but the man didn't seem to be fazed by that. He swung his rifle and ax and knocked several legionnaires over with incredible strength. Pieces of high-density materials used on Purifier units covered the floor. Meanwhile, the Voyager weapons didn't even have a dent on them.

Another legionnaire charged. Rogue dodged to the side, grabbed onto another legionnaire by the neck, and threw it into the way of its comrade. The first legionnaire exited charge mode, but it was too late. As the two legionnaires clashed, Rogue rained down a hail of blasts and ended the two legionnaires.

There were still several dozen legionnaires left, but Rogue was already out of the corner. As Jean looked, she saw the wounds on Rogue’s body were nowhere to be seen.

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Damn healing factor.

The rest of the legionnaires charged, but Rogue tapped on his rifle and loaded another red crystal inside. He psychically turned the rifle to maximum power and pulled the trigger.

Fifty legionnaires evaporated into dust, along with the red crystal. Rogue fired all the energy contained in the crystal in one shot. The result was impressive.

A group of 100 legionnaires, in the right condition, could wipe out an entire Dominion garrison. Here, a single Voyager massacred them.

Loading his weapon again, Rogue turned around and faced Jean, still in the air.

“Pity.” He said loudly. “That was a good ambush, but I bet you didn’t know I’ve majored in battlefield survival. It takes a lot more than a few robots to take me down. What else have you got?”

Among the audience, a man with blonde hair rose his eyebrows. No experienced Voyager would waste time taunting. What Rogue did was disappointing.

The girl he was fighting, on the other hand…

In midair, Jean tilted her head. Just as Rogue was about to shoot her out of the sky, a few shadows crept to behind him.

The blonde audience rose his eyebrows. A number of other Voyagers observing noticed it as well, but even those who bet on Rogue winning didn't try to warn their champion. Cheering was fine, but cheating was punishable by death. No Voyager present would waste their hard earned lives for a few hundred coins.

Before Rogue could pull the trigger, eight G-1 units struck down at once. Two blades went for his head. Four went for his four limbs. The rest went for his chest. Within half a second, Rogue’s armor was penetrated.

“No…”

The G-1s literally dissected Rogue. Bits and pieces of the man’s corpse were scattered across the floor before both the corpses and Jean disappeared.

The audiences weren’t frightened by the gory. Some of them cursed, but all held their temper. What’s lost is lost.

In the backstage, Jean and Rogue appeared.

“This will not stand, girl. You better not meet me in one of your missions.” Rogue dropped a few sentences in anger before leaving.

Leaving Jean with 700 coins.

Yes. 700. Not 350.

According to the rules, the bet of the losing side would be evenly split between the champion and the supporters of the winner. In this case, though, Jean was the one that bet 500 coins on herself. In other words, she was her own supporter. Now that she won, she not only got the 500 coins back but also got 700 more.

1,700 gold coins.

Most Voyagers would be in tears, from laughing, of course. But to Jean, this wasn’t enough. Logically, she decided she could get more. There would be risks, but she calculated the risks would be acceptable.

Moments later, she was back on the stadium.

“Her again?” Some of the Voyagers complained while others simply disappeared. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of duels going on at once. Jean was just one of the fighters.

The crowd was silent for a few seconds before another champion appeared on the stage.

Mirage. 2.

Jean stretched and looked at her opponent. It was a man in a casual t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He looked innocent enough, but no one would be fooled into thinking someone who has passed two missions was a defenseless lamb.

Jean vs Mirage. 1 vs 2.

The bet count jumped rapidly before finally stopping.

800 coins vs 700 coins.

Surprisingly, Mirage was the underdog in this match. Then again, everyone has seen how cleanly Jean disposed of Rogue.

As the numbers jumped, Jean noticed something very interesting. The number would change with every person that placed a bet, and at one point the number changed from 600 to 800. In other words, someone trusted 200 coins to her. Subtracting Jean’s own investment, all the other audience only trusted her with 100 coins in total.

Anyways. For now, focus on the duel.

On the other side, Mirage suddenly smiled.

Like all Voyagers, he entered the battlefield prepared.

From what he saw, this champion called Jean majored in summoning. In other words, she had an army of minions, some of whom were very powerful, but her own body was very vulnerable. If she herself fell, then her army would be defeated as well.

This wasn’t the first time Mirage has faced an enemy that majored in summoning. In his first mission, he was tasked with saving the world in a zombie apocalypse. In the end, he was able to gain a set of mutations and abilities and was able to assassinate the King, an undead who gained conscious and commanded the other infested. His assassination skills saved him and millions of human beings in that world, and now it would earn him a lot of gold coins.

Jean started with a similar set of tricks as she jetpacked into the air and pulled out her weapons, but even before she could dump her units out, Mirage disappeared.

Most of the audience were confused as well, but a few of the powerful Voyagers saw the action clearly. In just fractions of seconds, Mirage created a parallel dimension and jumped in. The parallel dimension was by no means a work of art. In fact, it was really unstable and would disappear in a few seconds. But the few seconds it existed was enough.

The parallel dimension almost perfectly mimics the real world. The only difference was that those in the parallel dimension could see what was going on in the real world, but vice versa didn't work. In other words, it allows Mirage to get into position in a safe space and then wait for the perfect chance to strike.

Jean looked around in vigilance, but she couldn’t see anything. What Mirage did was above any type of cloaking in the Starcraft universe. In the Starcraft universe, even if a unit was cloaked, it was still present. It could still be touched, hurt, and killed. But with Mirage, he was no longer present. Even if Jean carpet bomb everything within her ten mile radius, Mirage wouldn’t lose a drop of blood.

Two seconds passed before Mirage suddenly appeared behind Jean and pushed his Voyager Blade through her heart.

Both Jean and Mirage fell onto the ground.

Among the audience, the blonde man frowned. He gently shook his head in disappointment. Just as he was about to stand up and leave, he noticed something very interesting.

Inside the Colosseum, Mirage had a smile on his face as well. He could already feel the 400 coins in his pocket. What should he buy with this money? An enhancement to his Voyager Blade? Another assassination technique? Maybe upgrade his body into some sort of supernatural being.

Over ten seconds passed before he realized something was very, very wrong.

Jean was killed. The duel should be over. But instead, he was still inside the Colosseum, beside Jean’s corpse.

This only meant one thing.

Jean wasn’t dead.

Just as Mirage turned around in horror, Jean, who was previously facing the other way, snapped around. Her guns were in her hands, and they were pointing at the horrified Voyager.

Piu. Piu. Piu.

Mirage collapsed without any real resistance. He was the type of person who preferred to be very good at one thing and drop everything else. His assassination skills could endanger those who had twice the mission count as him, but as a result, his personal defenses were pathetic.

Even as Mirage was on the ground, Jean kept on blasting. Mirage was a deadly assassin. Even Zeratul or Viper might not be a match. But Mirage made the mistake of underestimating his enemy. He thought Jean was down for good, but he was wrong. Unlike another famous character who died an unfortunate death due to carelessness, he didn't get his head crushed. Unfortunately, he was being ravaged by a wave of particle disruptor shots.

Which one is better? You decide.

Jean’s heart was still a gaping hole, but the girl was standing. Her Zerg genes managed to keep her alive.

This time, as Mirage’s body was beyond recognition, the two finally disappeared.

350 more coins into the bank.