Chapter 94: Setting the Stage

Rachel kept eye contact with the lesser god, retaining her grin. "I’m more than happy to test out a new moon every round... And giving hints about my abilities to my opponent off the cuff, host? Dirty. Heh. I love this already."

"Gauntlets," Conner spoke up, a string of images cycling in front of him, providing options that he could select. "Haha! If you’re a lover of the moon... Solar Gauntlets that can project miniature solar spheres."

"Suit yourself," Rachel nudged her head, smiling as it hit her turn. "Restriction: reveal what Conner is and his weaknesses."

"Tch. That’s dirty," he chuckled, a status window popping up for her and everyone else in the crowd to see. "My power comes from the earth and water... I’m the legend of Antaeus."

Rachel’s stomach shook with laughter. "You should have gotten something to keep yourself anchored to the ground! I don’t want you dying before I get a chance to paint the ground with your brains."

"Touché, Ms. Bun."

"Mmh-hmm-hmm." Her ears twitched; he knew she was a hare after Dionysus said it so many times. "You’ll regret that one."

Their attention went to the little blue panda as it spun through the visual options in wonder, stopping on a few. Its mouth opened in surprise at a small army of what appeared to be hobgoblins. That piqued Rachel’s interest.

How well will he do against fifty dudes that I had trouble with... Although, to be fair, my hobgoblin had magical items while I had zero. Still, open field combat, good in hand-to-hand, proud in their physical strength... This could be fun.

Transported back to the VIP box, Rachel folded her arms atop the railing next to Eostre as Dionysus showed a diagram of what was to come, having many of the immortals and lesser deities take bets on the match. A nervous itch made her scratch the base of her ear as he prepared the field.

What will the black moon do to me?

Her ears went straight up as a thought made her snicker and nudge the autumn-haired woman next to her. "Eh-heh...if I go mad and start attacking you... It’s not my fault."

The woman gave her a soft smile. "You needn’t be concerned about my safety in this regard."

"Who said anything about yours?" Rachel said with a grin, making her giggle. "Please, for the love of all that is holy—heh, that’s not offensive, right? Mmm—don’t turn me into a bunny."

"Hehe! No promises."

Rachel’s smile fell as she watched Dionysus make a showy display of altering the world in the ring, creating a dimensionally separated battle realm for Conner to fight the fifty hobgoblins. He introduced the alien race and explained their culture, setting the stage for the conflict.

Hobgoblins were the lowest rank of field leaders within the goblin race, and they prided themselves on their brutality and strength. Rachel figured this was just the warm-up match to show what Conner was about since, in a real scenario, the hobgoblins would more or less kneel to the strength of the legend and become his subordinates.

She didn’t plan on observing the full fight; she had other priorities. Conner seemed like the pompous type of guy to take his time and make it entertaining. Wrestling was that type of sport.

Muay Thai, on the other hand, was a martial art crafted for war and murder. Sure, a sporty aspect of it had crept into it to some extent, but Rachel was always more interested in the brutality of the art. She was only focused on the win, whatever the conditions.

The arena bowed and lifted to show an aerial view of the new world Dionysus created, the earth rising out of the ground with elements raging in a cyclone. Rachel’s interest lifted from the rocky stage to the darkening heavens; the moon would overshadow Conner and the audience.

Eostre tucked in her bottom lip as Dionysus lifted his hands. "Now, let the Keeper of Nightmares rise... The Black Moon arrives!"

Dark clouds began to swirl around the stadium, causing Dionysus’ smile to crack with a nervous chuckle; murky bolts of lightning streaked across the overcast heavens, cycling to reveal a giant black hole in reality.

Rachel didn’t blink as its dense mist isolated the entire coliseum; a cold wind carrying madness gently pulled her braid to the left in its rotation, and a familiar wave coursed through her veins in a chilling song. A twitch lifted her lips as Eostre’s explanation linked with something she’d learned only just after becoming a lunar hare.

The Black Moon, the embodiment of living nightmares... This is the Herald of Cerridwen. Does Dionysus know about her? Probably not. He only knows about Eostre because she’s interacted with me. He shouldn’t be able to perceive the blessing of a higher being, like Cerridwen, or...is he mocking the 6th-dimensional goddess behind the veil?

Eostre’s hushed words whispered into her mind. "Among celestial objects, there are those that are unique. Even lesser deities are afraid of such cosmic anomalies... The Black Moon is one of those. Dionysus is only confident due to the power he’s gained from the other lesser gods he’s captured and the power granted to him by this Greater Seed."

The lesser god spoke with gusto as the building smog brought horrific shrieks and growls from nightmares unseen, causing the audience of lesser deities to tremble.

"Not only will my champion fight these hobgoblins, but the nightmares of hobgoblins, made reality by the Black Moon!"

Conner appeared on the battlefield, the darkness seeping into the dimension below to form heroes from these goblins’ minds; several fully plated men and women emerged, blue light shimmering off the symbols they wore of some powerful nation on these hobgoblins’ planet.

The legend slammed his gauntleted hands against his chest as it became a three-way battle between the nightmares, Conner, and hobgoblins. He shouted and threw off his weapons.

"Haha! Why don’t we make this fun and impose self-restrictions? I won’t even use my gauntlets for this match. Let’s go!"