15 Medusa

*Puff*

*Puff*

Deep breaths resounded through the area as the cheers of the crowd increased. What appeared to be an 18-year-old boy with short dark hair and a chubby face was struggling in immense pain, completely covered in crimson blood.

On the other side of the stage, an also rather young woman was looking at the boy with a wicked grin. Her extremely long, red hair covered her entire body as it spread out like some sort of tentacle.

Suddenly, she rushed towards the nearly unconscious boy while directing her hair forward, trying to pierce right through his body.

But just as she was about to finish him off, a person in a dark suit appeared in front of her, blocking the way.

"Tchh," an annoyed sound came out of her mouth as she turned around, climbing off the stage while another person rushed over.

The person was wrapped in a white robe, making it hard to tell if it was a girl or a boy. However, the slender waist and short height led most onlookers to believe that it was a woman.

The person extended her hand towards the pale boy. Instantly, a bright ball of energy formed, lighting up the arena. The young man slowly but steadily reformed his usual appearance under the bright beams of magic, until finally, he stood up as if there had been no fight at all.

'Such a powerful healing,' Kevin thought, watching the scene from above. He'd already spent about 30 minutes observing the bloody battles as a spectator, making sure to understand how everything worked here before joining in himself.

The fights were ruthless and fierce but didn't stop even when one party was close to death. Precisely because of the healing power of the white-robed person.

The spectators liked this kind of fight the most, so God's Arena staff only stopped the fight when it became life-threatening.

'It seems I finally have to join in the fun' Kevin thought as he got up from his seat and slowly made his way towards the stage.

"WINNER OF THIS ROUND IS MEDUSA" a loud announcement reached every corner of the arena as the cheering elevated, almost to the point that the floor shook, "DOES MEDUSA WANT TO PROCEED FIGHTING?"

"Yes" she answered while her crimson hair moved to the sides, finally letting the public see her sinister smile.

"DOES ANYONE DARE TO FIGHT AGAINST HER?" the announcer shouted again.

However, this time the surroundings fell silent, even the ever cheering audience became quiet. Everyone saw how strong she was, she had even won four fights in a row.

Only a madman would dare to enter this bloody stage.

"I'll fight her," Kevin said while closing the distance between him and the stage. Everyone looked at him like he was some kind of psycho.

"THE NAME OF THE PERSON WHO DARES TO FIGHT MEDUSA IS", the announcer babbled in pure excitement as he held out the microphone to Kevin.

"Zelgius"

"ZELGIUS," the announcer repeated Kevin's nickname aloud, causing the people around him to get fired up again.

Even though, they didn't believe that this newcomer would win, seeing someone fight this diabolical woman is also competent.

Kevin just smiled wryly under the mask, recollecting the plan he had devised to win against her.

Both Kevin and Medusa walked up after a quick check of their codes to make sure they weren't from the higher floors.

"You shouldn't have accepted this duel" Medusa spoke while her hair stood up as if getting electrified.

"Since you're so confident" Kevin calmly replied while getting into a fighting stance, "Attack me"

Medusa didn't boast any bullshit and charged at him at full speed while attacking in various ways to make sure she injures him. Kevin calmly began to dodge, easily avoiding each incoming attack.

Every move he executed was elegant and precise, astonishing the spectators as they cheered louder.

However, over time, a few cuts still accumulated on Kevin's body, causing his clothes to tear at the sides.

'Tchh...if only I had my gear,' Kevin cursed in his mind, remembering the clauses that forbade the use of costumes, as it would simply be unfair to the contestants.

Kevin, realizing that this fight was not going in his favor, backed off, taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure.

"You boast so much with such an insignificant amount of power?" stated Medusa cheekily as the density of her hair increased, spreading even more throughout the arena.

Kevin just chuckled a little under the mask and finally decided to begin his plan.

Medusa laughed out loud before moving her hair towards Kevin. However, this time Kevin didn't move. Medusa felt a strange power coming from his body, so she stopped her attack in caution.

The veins on Kevin's hand began to burst as the muscles tensed, causing his sleeve to tear. Medusa watched this process from afar.

She exhaled a relieved breath, thinking his power was the most useless class, the Buffs.

She pushed all irrelevant thoughts aside and rushed at Kevin, this time more focusing on her defense. Yet Kevin still didn't move, which raised a question mark in the minds of the spectators

Medusa didn't stop her attack and just when she was about to reach his body, he moved. Using all the strength he had accumulated in this meager time, he hurled a punch straight at the ground.

A huge platform rose from the floor, completely shrouding the stage in darkness. Medusa looked at this horror.

She wondered if such a blow landed on her, would she still be able to continue the fight?

However, the next attack from Kevin sent an even greater tremor coursing through her body. Kevin kicked the platform with both legs, forcing it to fly straight towards Medusa.

She immediately stretched all her hair forward, hoping to deflect the incoming piece of ground.

Summoning all her strength, she somehow managed to bring it to a halt while gritting her teeth in anger, not really liking the way she was being played with.

She looked around the stage, searching for Kevin's body, but there was nothing to be seen, not even a shadow of him.

"Don't move or I will kill you," Kevin said coldly from Medusa's back while aiming the already exposed blade at her neck.

*Gulp*

Medusa swallowed down the over-the-fight condensed saliva, recalling the entire fight in her mind. She simply smiled while deactivated her god power.

"It's my loss, I surrender" she bellowed as the atmosphere around her calmed, "That was a good move, you forced me to focus on the platform so I wouldn't notice you moving behind me"

"Indeed" Kevin remarked while he deftly returned his sword to its scabbard, "Your god power is strong, but you mustn't forget the physical power"

"THE WINNER IS ZELGIUS" the announcer proclaimed loudly still amazed by the fight himself.

The spectators were even more shocked, never thinking that her god power could be countered this way.

They didn't cheer this time, on the other hand, they began to clap in turmoil.

Kevin bowed slightly to the crowd before jumping off the stage while recalling the fight himself. Medusa was probably a third or fourth-level human, but she mainly relied on her god power.

Her god power was indeed strong, it was a combination of perfect defense and attack, yet because she relied on it too much, it left many vulnerable spots to attack, which Kevin used to his advantage.

Either way, Medusa has great potential to be a powerhouse, after all, she is still young. The only acute issue is her messed-up personality, but at least she lives up to her nickname.

"IS ZELGIUS GOING TO CONTINUE FIGHTING?" a loud exclamation shook Kevin out of his thoughts as he nodded in agreement.

"DOES ANYONE DARE TO FIGHT AGAINST HIM?"

Silence overwhelmed the area as everyone quieted down looking around for a possible candidate. Kevin didn't show any actual power, just his great mind, and speed, so the fighters weren't so scared compared to battling against Medusa.

A giant rose from the south of the area and moved towards the stage, followed by three more fighters.

'It seems if I want people to be afraid to fight me, I have to show some blood,' Kevin thought with a wicked smile.

There was another rule for advancing the floor, if no one dared to compete against the fighter for thirty minutes, he is automatically promoted to the next stage.

That was what Kevin was striving for when he decided to fight Medusa, after all, she had won three fights in a row.

However, this plan doesn't seem to be working.

"ZELGIUS AGAINST TITAN" the commentator yelled into the microphone, already knowing his nickname.

The Titan climbed onto the stage, causing the stage to shake slightly due to his immense body.

Only now did Kevin manage to get a better look at his appearance.

He was an extremely large man, causing Kevin to wonder what kind of food he had eaten as a child. He wore a brown bandana that completely hid his hair and only revealed the serious expression.

He also had a huge ax on his back that looked rather rusty, but still gave the feeling of crisis.

'He's strong, very strong' Kevin thought while forcing a tighter grip around his blade.

"Isn't that the Titan?"

"What's he doing here?"

"Wasn't he on the sixth floor?"

Various murmurs spread around the area as Titan spoke loudly:

"Zelgius, entertain me for a bit".

Kevin ignored him, instead, he was listening to the murmurs coming from the audience.

"In case you're wondering what they're talking about, I'm originally from the sixth floor, but I didn't show up here for a year, so my rank was abolished" Titan remarked when he saw that Kevin didn't reply.

Kevin was slightly shaken by such a statement.

He never thought his second fight would be against someone from the sixth floor.

He had heard that the fighters there usually reached a frightening power of the seventh stage of Human.

However, that only caused an enormous smile to appear on Kevin's face.

"Since you're so strong, let's make this competition more interesting"

"Interesting?"

"The loser has to give a fourth level soul crystal"