The Tenth Floor's Colosseum (3)

"A SUMMONER!?!?" exclaimed one of the elves in the audience, wearing a thin green tunic over his light skin.

"Impossible!!" Another woman replied, sitting a few rows in front of him.

In just a matter of a few moments, the entire audience erupted into a loud roar, bedazzled by the scene in front of their eyes.

"How can a summoner fight like that without his summons?!"

"Why didn't he use his summons yet?"

"Just who is he!!!?"

A plethora of questions passed throughout the entire crowd. Not a single one of them could keep calm and simply observe after seeing such an unexpected sight.

Menace adjusted his black mask as two dark figures that had emerged from his shadow took their places behind him.

He briefly glanced at the bedazzled audience, before bringing his wandering eyes back towards the death knight just a few feet away.

"Yong," Nox called out, darting his hands into his inventory, "Use this."

With a single hand, he flung the huge Blood-Cursed Axe towards the warrior's shadow, who caught it with both hands, before looking at it strangely.

"And Kenichi," he called out, once again, tossing a pair of daggers towards the assassin's shadow.

**********

Shadow glass dagger (C)

Extremely sharp daggers made of sturdy black glass that do not decay or rust.

When two of these daggers are used simultaneously, the attack power of both of them increases by 4%.

Usage condition: The user should be of an 'Assassin' class.

Price: 290,000 Points

**********

The daggers were short, barely twenty five centimetres long. The only thing that made them different from usual daggers was the fact that they were almost translucent.

Due to the usage condition, the daggers would be completely useless to Nox. He had bought them from the shop with the sole intention of passing them onto his shadow slaves.

"I had planned to give it to you after some more training, but this can't wait," he mumbled, not taking his eyes off the death knight.

For a few seconds, both the warrior and the assassin were confused. But it didn't take them long to straighten up and take proper stances with their new weapons.

The assassin crouched low, his agile form poised for swift strikes. His weapons were raised, ready to unleash a flurry of deadly blows upon the death knight. He positioned himself sideways, presenting a smaller target while keeping a keen eye on the monster's movements.

On the other hand, the warrior held his massive axe with one hand, showcasing his immense strength and determination. The gleaming weapon rested upon his shoulders, its sheer size a testament to the immense power he possessed. With a fierce glare, he locked his gaze onto the monstrous foe, refusing to be intimidated.

As Menace pointed his finger at the skeletal warrior and issued the command, "Go," his trusted companions sprang into action without hesitation. It was as if they had been eagerly awaiting his orders, their loyalty to their master driving them forward.

The assassin was the first to appear in front of the knight. Although its speed wasn't even comparable to that of Nox's, it was at a much higher level than the other participants of the tenth floor.

Unfortunately, it was too predictable. Before it could even launch an attack at the monster, its head was sliced off by the monster's huge blade.

The decapitated head didn't fall to the ground, instead, it turned into black smoke and dissipated in the air. Surprisingly, another head had started to take form, extending upwards from the assassin's neck.

Without waiting for its partner to completely regenerate, the warrior lunged at the death knight, with its axe raised over its head and chest puffed towards its enemy.

But the attack was slow. Slower than that of the assassin's.

Sliding its right feet back just a few inches, the monster effortlessly evaded the axe-head that smashed into the ground, barely less than a foot in front of him.

The strike was powerful enough to shake the entire floor, making a large crack appear all around the area of impact.

Unfortunately, the warrior was not yet experienced in fighting beings who he had such an overwhelming gap in strength with, and had put way too much strength into a single blow, which left him unguarded for the next few instants.

Not giving its opponent another chance, the monster swung its sword at the warrior's hip, slicing its lower body off in a single strike.

Just like the assassin's wound, the warrior's decapitated lower body turned into mist, before the upper body started to regenerate the missing limbs.

Swish.

Without making a single sound, Kenichi appeared behind the monster and thrust its dagger forward at the back of the monster's skull.

Before his arm could even fully extend and reach his target, the death knight disappeared, leaving him stunned for an instance. The very next moment, as if realising something, it tried to jump forward.

But he was far too slow.

The death knight's sword sliced his body in half from above, before crashing into the ground and making the mud explode in all directions, covering the scene.

"How can anyone on the tenth floor ever beat that thing?" Blurted someone from the audience, which had grown somewhat silent, enticed in the battle taking place right in front of their eyes.

The warrior attacked again.

The assassin attacked again.

Individually.

Together.

Over and over again.

The duo tried their best to take down the monster. But every time… the monster would slice them apart, making the sheer difference in their experience and raw power blatantly evident.

The difference in their prowess wasn't something that could be bridged by changing weapons.

Menace stood cross armed at the edge of the colosseum, calmly observing the scene.

The reason he sent the shadows to fight against the skeleton monster wasn't because he wanted them to win. Nor was it because he had expected the monster to tire out after battling them.

On the contrary, the thought that they could win hadn't even crossed his mind. It wasn't because they were weak… the monster was simply far too strong.

He sent his shadow soldiers to participate in the battle because they possessed something that he couldn't even dream of… Near immortality.

As long as he had enough arcane to spare, his soldiers would keep on regenerating and attacking the enemy. But after battling countless monsters on the tenth floor itself, his arcane had begun to dwindle a bit.

With his sword pointed at the ground, he began walking towards the centre of the arena, where the three monsters fought each other.

The death knight sliced through Yong once again and the assassin was about to lunge at him, but stopped, turning to his master who had whispered, "Rose."

Kenichi nodded, moving away from the monster and so did Yong, after his body had completely regained its natural state.

The word 'Rose' held diverse meanings for different people—joy, sorrow, love, hate, pain, anger—a simple flower embodying a spectrum of emotions. But to the shadow soldiers, it had a singular significance, a meaning ingrained during Nox's rigorous training.

Their master was done 'observing'… and they needed to do everything in their power to assist him.

Menace came to a stop, barely a few feet away from the monster and took in a deep breath.

Even under his black mask, his blue eyes shone brilliantly like the most precious sapphires dazzling perfectly reflecting the bright moonlight.

His right arm, holding the sword, puffed up and the tight black vest he wore displayed each curve and cut in his perfectly muscular arm.

The air had grown much colder compared to before. But that wasn't the main issue.

The wind which had been refreshing before the appearance of the monster, has now turned stale and dry.

The dense arcane pressure on the battlefield made it hard for the lower level audience to breathe like they usually did. A handful of them exited the colosseum, but the majority sat glued to their seats, not daring to miss a single moment of the encounter.

Doooooommmm.

The ground shook and the dust flew in all directions as Nox flew towards the death knight, with his sword's edge pointing at it.

He gracefully stopped right in front of the monster, barely a few inches away.

The monster's eyes glowed with a cyan tint, as it slashed its humongous sword at Nox's neck, with almost unimaginable precision and power.

"A slash from the right directed at the neck," Nox mumbled, crouching down, completely avoiding the blade.

The sword sliced through the air, launching a strong gust of air in its direction, as it came to a sudden halt.

Not waiting for its opponent to regain balance, the death knight slashed the air once again, directing its sword at the opponent's hip.

"A slash from the left aimed at the hip," Nox whispered, crouching down, channelling all his arcane into his feet and jumping up in the air, dodging the blade.

With soft steps, he landed on the monster's sword, before lunging forward and kneeing its chin.

But he wasn't fast enough. From right in front of his eyes, the death knight vanished.

"A downward slash," he mumbled, landing on the ground, before stepping to the side. "From the back."

The sword which had intended to slice right through his head, slammed down into the ground, making the dusty mist rise and cover the surroundings.

In all the attacks by the monster, there was not a single opening. It didn't leave any of its body parts unguarded, even while standing completely still.

Each of its sword slashes had been masterfully made, with not even a hint of wasted movement.

But there was a fatal flaw in its attacks. It always followed a pattern, set in stone, as if it was a pre-programmed robot.

And after every time it slashed downwards… it would be in a stunned state for the quarter of a second, unable to move even a single bone.

Menace lunged high up in the air, tightly gripping his sword, before bringing the blade down upon the monster's skull with all his strength.

But it suddenly came back to its senses.

Letting go of the sword, stuck in the ground it shot his arms up at the man in the air in front of him.

Yong and Kenichi launched through the dust, and stuck onto the monster's arms, trying to hold it down using every ounce of strength within them.

Clanggggg…

The sword shook, vibrating rigorously as it came in contact with the top of the death knight's skull.

Before he could even realise it, the blade broke apart.

{Author's Note: I Plan to do a Q&A section one reaching chapter One Hundred! Please do leave your questions below, no matter what they may be.}