Randall Rhodes leaned against the wall, staring out the archway at the crowds. From Randall's angle, the stands looked like a dense, shifting mass, much like overgrown moss swaying in the wind. Randall looked around, seeking something to hold his attention, but found nothing. He sighed and looked away.

The other nine winners of the tournament stood around him. Randall idly observed them.

They don't look strong, he noted. They all looked like they didn’t deserve to win. He had watched a few of their battles and conceded that they each had some skill. He could imagine how the spectators would assume they won each round by accident, only to watch them win round after round until they won the tournament.

Randall appreciated people like that. They were the sort that managed to hold his attention a little longer.

Soon, he lost interest and sighed again, leaning further into the wall.

When will it finally start? He was anxious for the tournament’s end. It had been a long, boring day, and all he wanted now was to go to sleep. He understood that the Arena’s management wanted to raise the crowd’s anticipation and make them susceptible to riskier bets, but the wait was tiring. With nothing better to do, he returned his attention to his fellow combatants after a while.

There were ten of them, including him, but only nine could join the S-rank’s team. The President said during the banquet that the teams were restricted to a maximum of ten members. In keeping with this rule, Star Seeker could only invite the top nine Colossi to her team.

Two of them caught his attention more than others: a woman with a sapphire hairpin prominently displayed on her head and a young boy about nine years old. Both of them had the highest win rates in the tournament alongside him.

They both intrigued him, but Randall was more interested in the young boy. Although his calm as he cruelly dismembered his opponents during the tournament didn't warrant his attention, Randall saw a light behind the boy's eyes that spoke of uncanny wisdom.

It was well-hidden, but Randall noticed it. There was something off about the boy. He was so young, but something about him made Randall feel like he was much older than he seemed to be.

The tournament finally started. The boy, Darkness, was first called onto the stage. The audience grew quiet as he entered, waiting to hear his choice.

Randall was also curious. He scratched his chin, then his lower back. Would he choose the ninth rank or the first?

Would he choose the safest option or the most ambitious one?

A small choice, but it would give Randall more information about him.

Darkness's small form grew enshrouded by dark fog, an eerie darkness blanketing the Arena. He opened his mouth to say one word.

"Behemoth."

Heh. Randall grinned.

Sun God Behemoth was a titan from the old days of chaos. As one of the earliest abnormals, he had been a member of the New World Government's founding party, traveling to bring it under their control. Since the Colossal Arena's founding and the Colossal Rankings' establishment, Sun God Behemoth remained undefeated. The world revered him as the strongest under the S-rank.

I was correct, Randall thought. Everything I thought about him was correct.

The world thought Behemoth was special, but Randall, and apparently Darkness, knew the truth.

Behemoth was utter trash. He held the top Colossus Rank for many years, yet the S-rank danger rating remained out of his reach. All the resources given to him had gone to waste.

But the crowd didn’t know that. They went wild at Darkness’s words. They had known someone could challenge Behemoth, but they hadn't expected it to be so early in the final stage. Randall couldn't hear individual voices in the din. However, he could imagine reactions ranging from confidence in Behemoth to considering betting on Darkness for the high payout.

Sun God had deeply ingrained his absolute strength within the audience's minds. Most of them grew up hearing tales of his exploits. His losing a battle was a foreign concept to them.

Sun God Behemoth, a wrinkly old man with a walking stick, entered the stage. He wore voluminous robes embroidered with gold and silver patterns, and a pendant in the Spire's form dangled from his neck. His face looked frozen in the action of swallowing spit, and his two eyes looked in slightly different directions.

Randall could see the shadow of the old man's past form in him, a young, fearless warrior who conquered the battlefield with his overpowering strength. However, that form was long gone. He had watched his comrades grow and overtake him in strength while he spent his life lingering at the border between A-rank and S-rank.

Behemoth’s body was now a wreck. The many ways he had tried to increase his strength had left lingering effects. What they gave him in raw ability, they took back in skill. The slight imperfections in his form were gaping holes to any experienced warrior.

Behemoth still didn't know it. He assumed he would come out and dominate once more.

Darkness summoned his shadows, and Behemoth grunted, searing heat spreading from him as a brilliant golden aura spread from him. The crowd fell silent, anxiously anticipating the moment Behemoth would trounce the presumptuous Camper.

However, they quickly fell silent. Bangs, booms, and crashes continued to resound, but a haunting quiet pervaded the arena.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Randall shrugged at this. It was understandable that they would be dumbfounded. After all, Sun God Behemoth was being smacked around like a pinball. It wasn't that Behemoth looked weak. In fact, he looked stronger than ever. Waves of power emanated from him, pressuring the weak-looking barrier.

But it felt pointless. Darkness’s actions appeared effortless, yet Sun God Behemoth continued to be slapped around. His attacks were slightly off, his evasions just a bit too slow.

Ten minutes later, twisting shadows given form grabbed his head and limbs, holding him up in the air while he struggled to get free.

Darkness smiled, then, with a snap of his fingers, twisted off the old man’s head and limbs, causing him to drop lifeless to the ground.

The audience was shocked and motionless, but the announcer tonelessly called in the next challenger.

Jade, the woman with the sapphire hairpin, entered the arena and chose the second-ranked Colossus, a long-haired man in a combat suit.

It was again a one-sided beating. The long-haired man wasn’t nearly as strong as Behemoth. He fought well, showing that he didn’t completely waste the resources he’d received, but the battle ended when Jade’s hairpin lodged itself in his throat, bringing an end to his life.

The announcer called Randall onto the stage.

Finally, Randall thought. He yawned and stretched as he waltzed onto the bloodied and wrecked stage. It seemed he was not the only one anxious to get it all over with. During the tournament that day, there were intervals between each round when the arena stage was prepared for the next match.

But no such thing happened now. That was fine with Randall. The faster the battles went, the faster he could call it a day.

Randall stuck his finger deeper into his nose, feeling disgruntled. Instead of finally returning to relax, he and the other eight A-ranks stood in a circle, facing a girl. She was tall and slender, with tanned skin and brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail. Her big brown eyes and young face made her look cute and approachable.

A man of average height and build spoke first, his deep voice breaking the silence. "Star Seeker, are you certain of this?"

No 'senior,' Randall noted, grunting in surprise.

"Any one of us can instantly kill an ordinary A-rank," a girl with one green eye and one purple one said, supporting the man. "We aren't S-ranks. We can't fight you, but surviving ten seconds? That'll be too easy."

"She's looking down on us," Jade said, shaking her head with a grin. “We are the strongest under S-rank. There are nine of us here. Are we not a match for one S-rank?"

The girl, Star Seeker, remained impassive. Her calm eyes flitted from one of them to the other.

"Alright, that's enough," Randall said, unable to take it anymore. Things were dragging on too long. "Senior Star Seeker knows what she's doing. Remember, we’re only here because of her grace."

Jade laughed. "Nonsense. We're here because she wanted the strongest."

A man spoke in a disturbingly high-pitched voice. "Quiet! You’re unfit to question her motives! If she wants to fight us, then so be it!"

"You misunderstand," Star Seeker said. Her voice was gentle, but it silenced the rowdy abnormals. "This will be no fight. I simply want to know the depths of your abilities and assess how far you can go. These ten seconds will help me with that.”

"Senior Star Seeker, I want to be sure of one thing." Darkness, who had remained silent until this point, said. "We will fight you as a team, and if we last ten seconds on this stage, you will give the team leader role to the person who contributed the most. Am I correct?"

The girl nodded. "That is so. The battle will also end if any of you manage to scratch me."

Darkness nodded in understanding. He clapped twice, looking around. "Let's do this. Don't hold back, or I'll become the leader."

Jade scoffed. "Careful, little boy. Your first rank has no meaning here. Until you defeat me, you'd better keep your mouth in check."

Darkness's expression hardened, but he didn't say a word. He turned away from them and fixated on Star Seeker, tendrils of shadows already rising from his body. Jade scoffed again and removed her hairpin from her hair. She spoke lightly, but Randall saw her grip the accessory tightly.

They all readied themselves, settling into their combat stances.

Finally, Randall thought again. He stretched his shoulders and cracked his neck. This would be the first time he was going against an S-rank.

Let me see just how wide the gap is. Randall wouldn't use all his strength in this scuffle. Spikes again? He nodded to himself. It would be enough. Thirty percent of his strength would be enough to probe the abnormals' depths.

All nine attacked Tami Frond in a flurry.

Each worked independently, but their actions blended harmoniously. Sharp earth spikes moved far faster than they had during the day's battles alongside flying blades, weapons, curses, and others, flying toward Tami, but in her eyes, they were all the same. She took a moment to observe them, nodding at how refined the techniques were. But she only took a moment.

She had only ten seconds, after all.

She moved slightly and appeared behind one of them. The attacks collided where she was a moment ago, creating a devastating shockwave that shattered the unprotected stands and threw wreckage into the air. She stretched out a hand, gripped the man's neck, then tossed him casually out of the Arena like she was throwing a chicken. The man flew away like a comet, destroying the west side of the stands.

Two seconds. One to observe. One to throw the man out.

She moved again. Jade's eyes widened. Gripping the hairpin tightly in her hand, she suddenly began to glow a vibrant green. She roared as swaths of plants, mushrooms, and vines grew around her, filled with thorns and poisonous substances.

Tami waved a hand and split the foliage in two. Then she flung her leg out, kicking the woman into the far wall, where she was embedded.

Three seconds.

She appeared next to another man. This one glanced at her, opening his eyes wide as purple energy pulsed from them, but Tami calmly stared back. Her vision of ten thousand stars, revolving constellations, and star signs struck his mind, and he stood there dumbfounded. With a kick, he was thrown off the stage as well.

Four seconds.

She punched another one off the stage, then kicked another. Five seconds passed, then six seconds. Only four more remained on the stage: Darkness, Spikes, Dia–the girl with different eye colors–and Holler–the man with the high-pitched voice.

She stepped forward, aiming to appear behind Spikes, but she instead appeared before him, staring into his smiling face. He didn't miss a beat. An earth spike jutted from the ground in a blur, colliding with the underside of Tami's jaw. The impact stunned her, but the bored-looking man was even more stunned. Tami, irritated by the slight ache in her neck, punched the man harder than she intended. He flew out, his chest caved in from the impact.

She had less than three seconds left because Spikes had taken up more time. She summoned her abnormality.

An intense glow descended on the Arena. The heat of the sun, combined with the beauty of the stars, created an unnatural pressure.

In an instant, all three A-ranks spat blood, knocked unconscious by the sheer pressure.

Tami waved a hand, blasting the last three off the Arena. She looked around. None of the nine combatants were standing. Most were only stunned because she didn't intend to hurt them, but the last four were unconscious.

Tami deactivated her abnormality, letting the intense glow recede. She glanced around at the combatants who were still conscious.

"Tomorrow, you will receive your resources. As the new Colossi, you are entitled to even more resources, and I expect you to collect them all. Once that's settled, you all will assemble here for training. I wanted the best, but it's still not enough. I will have to train you until you are up to par."

The A-ranks were speechless. Tami shrugged, turned, and left. She still had many things to do.