Chapter 60: Blood in the Arena (The Finals - Part 1)

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Blood in the Arena (The Finals - Part 1)

The noise inside the Genesis City Arena wasn’t just loud; it was a physical weight.

One hundred thousand people were crammed into the massive stadium. The betting pools had completely broken the local economy. Half the city was waiting for the Iron Guild to reassert its absolute dominance. The other half was waiting to see a demigod tear an empire to the ground.

Donald and Evelyn stood in the shadows of the competitor’s tunnel.

Evelyn was perfectly still. The silver half-mask rested over her eyes. She wore her dark urban combat gear, her breathing slow and measured. The sheer density of the S-Rank mana humming in her chest made the dust in the tunnel float in suspended animation around her.

"Time to collect," Donald said smoothly. He adjusted his dark jacket, ensuring the heavy Thunderclap Pile Bunker on his left forearm was completely concealed.

Evelyn cracked her neck. A sharp, terrifying smile touched her lips. "Let’s go buy a Guild."

They walked out of the tunnel and into the blinding stadium light.

The roar of the crowd hit them like a tidal wave. Flashbulbs went off in a continuous, blinding strobe effect from the press pit. Evelyn ignored it all, walking with cold, lethal grace to the center of the dirt ring. Donald trailed a step behind her, playing his part perfectly.

Donald looked up at the VIP box hanging directly over the arena.

Sterling was standing right at the edge of the reinforced glass. He wasn’t glaring today. He was smiling. It wasn’t his usual charismatic, camera-ready smile. It was desperate. It was manic. His gray eyes were wide, twitching slightly as he looked down at Evelyn.

He knows he’s dead, Donald thought. So why is he smiling?

Across the stadium, the heavy steel gates of the Iron Guild’s tunnel slowly ground open.

The crowd’s cheering reached a fever pitch, waiting for Kaelen to emerge. But the A-Rank Berserker didn’t walk out waving to the crowd.

He was pushed out.

Two massive, heavily armored Guild handlers shoved a reinforced transport cage to the edge of the dirt. They hit a release latch and immediately sprinted backward, terrified.

The cage doors fell open.

Kaelen stumbled out into the dirt. He was wearing his heavy charcoal armor, but he didn’t have his massive broadsword. He was hunched over, his hands clutching his own head. He was shaking violently, his breathing ragged and wet.

The cheering in the stadium faltered. Confusion rippled through the stands.

"What’s wrong with him?" Evelyn murmured, her blue eyes narrowing.

Donald activated his [Valuation Eye]. The golden text flickered across his vision, scanning the trembling Berserker.

The results made Donald’s blood run cold.

[Target: Kaelen (Mutated)]

[Class: Blood-Crazed Berserker (Artificial S-Rank)]

[Status: Extreme Cellular Breakdown. Lifeforce burning at 400%. Highly Lethal. Mindless.]

"Evie," Donald said, his voice dropping all pretense of calm. "Do not hold back. He’s not A-Rank anymore."

Above them, the Association referee floated down on his hover-platform. He looked nervously at Kaelen, who was still convulsing in the dirt, but the official schedule had to be maintained.

"Finals of the Genesis City Tournament!" the referee’s voice boomed over the speakers. "Sanctioned rules apply! Fighters... ready!"

Kaelen let out a low, guttural whine. Black sludge dripped from his mouth onto the dirt.

"Begin!" the referee shouted, dropping the green flag.

The bell rang.

The moment the sound echoed through the stadium, the relic inside Kaelen completely activated.

Kaelen didn’t just stand up. He erupted.

A suffocating, pitch-black aura violently exploded from his body, laced with sickly crimson streaks. The sheer concussive force of his mutating mana blew the top layer of dirt off the arena floor.

The crowd screamed. It wasn’t a cheer anymore. It was pure, unadulterated terror.

Kaelen’s muscles bulged impossibly large, tearing the heavy charcoal armor right off his body. The steel plates snapped like cheap plastic. His skin turned a pale, dead gray, completely covered in thick, pulsing black veins. When he looked up, his eyes were solid, glowing red. The teeth in his mouth had elongated into jagged, bloody fangs.

He wasn’t human. Sterling had turned his Champion into a rabid, S-Rank vampire monstrosity.

"Illegal artifact!" the referee screamed into his microphone, his face completely pale. He slammed his hand onto the emergency abort console on his hover-platform. "Foul! Lock down the wards! Stop the match!"

The massive magical safety barrier surrounding the arena flashed bright red, preparing to drop and separate the fighters.

The mutated Kaelen roared. It was a sonic boom of corrupted mana. He lunged upward, moving with speed that defied his massive size, and slammed his fist directly into the referee’s hover-platform.

The platform shattered into a thousand pieces. The referee was thrown violently backward, crashing into the Association’s dugout.

The black, vampiric mana from Kaelen’s strike surged into the arena’s safety matrix. The red barrier glitched, sparking wildly. Instead of dropping to separate the ring, the barrier locked into a solid, impenetrable dome.

The system was jammed. The Association officials outside the barrier started slamming their fists against the red energy shield, completely locked out.

"We’re trapped," Donald noted, his voice flat.

"No," Evelyn said. Her blue eyes flared with blinding, celestial light. "He is."

Kaelen landed heavily in the dirt. His solid red eyes locked onto Evelyn. He let out a horrifying, blood-gurgling shriek and launched himself across the ring. The ground literally caved in behind him, propelling him forward like a cannonball.

He didn’t swing a weapon. He just swiped his massive, clawed hand, aiming to tear Evelyn in half.

Evelyn didn’t dodge.

She summoned her ethereal wings. The massive, sapphire-and-gold constructs erupted from her back, bathing the dark arena in pure holy light. She launched herself directly into Kaelen’s path, meeting the monster head-on.

She drew the Bloodhound’s Fang mid-flight.

The glowing silver blade clashed against Kaelen’s corrupted, hardened claws.

BOOOOM.

The shockwave of an S-Rank Valkyrie clashing against a mutated S-Rank Berserker rattled the entire stadium. The reinforced concrete of the stands cracked. The trapped air inside the dome violently compressed, shattering the windows of the VIP box above.

Evelyn’s [Divine Pulse] passive flared. The kinetic force of her swing converted instantly into holy damage.

The holy mana seared into Kaelen’s arm. The monster shrieked in agony as the celestial fire burned away the black sludge protecting his skin, but his corrupted regeneration was absurd. The burned flesh bubbled and healed almost instantly.

Kaelen swung his other fist, a blind, rabid haymaker aimed at her ribs.

Evelyn air-dashed backward, her wings pulsing, pulling her ten feet into the air. Kaelen’s fist missed her by an inch, the wind pressure alone tearing a deep gash into the dirt ring below.

Kaelen didn’t stop. He bent his knees and leapt into the air after her, completely ignoring gravity.

The two S-Ranks collided in mid-air.

It was a blur of silver light and black shadows. Every time Evelyn’s sword met his claws, a deafening crack of thunder shook the dome. Sparks of holy fire and dark blood rained down on the arena floor.

Donald stood dead center in the ring, watching the mid-air brawl. The wind from their strikes was tearing at his clothes, but he didn’t move. He kept his hands in his pockets, his golden mask reflecting the flashes of light above.

Kaelen was a monster, but he was fighting completely on instinct. Evelyn was a trained, perfectly disciplined killer. She was parrying his wild strikes, redirecting his momentum, and slicing deep into his mutated flesh.

But the blood-relic was carrying Kaelen. No matter how many times Evelyn cut him, the black sludge stitched him back together. He didn’t feel pain. He didn’t get tired.

Up in the ruined VIP box, Sterling was laughing. The Guild Master wiped blood from his cheek where the shattering glass had cut him. He was watching his monster slowly exhaust the Valkyrie.

High above the dirt, Kaelen finally landed a glancing blow. His heavy claws clipped Evelyn’s shoulder.

Evelyn grunted in pain, the sheer kinetic force knocking her backward. She spun in the air, using her wings to stabilize herself, but Kaelen was already on top of her. The monster grabbed her by the ankle, his grip like a steel vice, and violently hurled her down toward the ground.

Evelyn crashed into the dirt ring like a meteor. The crater was thirty feet wide.

The crowd went completely silent.

Kaelen dropped from the sky, landing heavily on the edge of the crater. He roared, pounding his massive, bleeding fists against his chest, preparing to dive in and finish her.

Donald let out a slow, heavy breath.

He unzipped his dark jacket.

"Alright," Donald said, stepping forward toward the edge of the crater. He raised his left arm, the heavy titanium plates of the Thunderclap Pile Bunker clicking loudly as the weapon powered on. "Playtime is over."