Champion of Deathly Challenger’s Cup  

"Are we ready?" Leo whispered to Morgana.

"I think the crowd's sufficiently excited, Leo," Morgana replied.

She raised a hand and waved to the audience seated on her right.

They yelled and cheered and waved back to her.

"See?" Morgana said as she winked at Leo.

"Alright," he chuckled. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Leo, back in his Game Master robes stepped forward so that all could see him at the edge of the VIP dais that overlooked the arena.

"Tell me!" He raised both hands wide in a welcoming gesture. "Have you not been entertained?"

Leo didn't realize there were so many ways to say 'yes' and in so many different languages too. He particularly liked, "Hell yeah!" and, "Yosh!" and most especially, "Hai, GM-sama!" The 'sama' part was really nice to hear.

"Know that this is but the beginning of the fun," Leo said after the audience's cheers died down. "For tomorrow brings a new challenge to the sons and daughters of Adventour! Tomorrow… our chosen go to raid!"

The cheering began anew, and it was so loud that Leo could feel his eardrums rattling inside his ears.

"Man, Agatha's script is really charging up this atmosphere," Leo noted.

"I don't think you have to work too hard at it," Morgana laughed.

She waved to the audience once more. They cheered.

Morgana winked at Leo. "See?"

"Show off," he laughed.

He couldn't help it. The celebratory atmosphere saturating the air was just that infectious.

"Now, tonight is a night of celebration… but before the revelries can truly begin, I believe it is time to introduce the champion of the Deathly Challenger's Cup!" Leo addressed the crowd. "Donatella, begin!"

On the ring below, the Maenad, Donatella, placed her mic to her lips and yelled a single name out loud, "Ath3na~~a!"

A hole appeared in the center of the ring and from its black depths, Ath3na rose to the stage with the metal of her armor gleaming under the spotlights that were trained on her.

The audience went wild with cheers so loud they caused the walls to shake.

"People are going to wonder why we don't have second and third place winners," Leo said while he clapped along with everyone.

"In the Abyss, only the winner matters," Morgana laughed her tinkling laugh.

Leo shrugged He didn't mind that kind of thinking. After all, he's been winning awards from the moment he began to chase his dream. "You better go down there and crown her then…"

Under the guise of Morgue — which wasn't much of a guise as the platinum blonde in her blue coat and dress hadn't changed her style at all — Morgana arrived at the ring with a ceremonial sword in her hands.

Made entirely of gold, it was perfectly balanced with a hilt encrusted with precious jewels. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship but completely useless in a fight for it was simply a trophy, the symbol of Ath3na's victory.

Although many in the crowd wondered why the Game Master hadn't come down himself, there was actually greater meaning for Morgana to award Ath3na with her trophy. For this was no simple ceremony to crown a winner but a moment where Morgana would bless Ath3na with her [REAPER'S BLESSING], a powerful spell which much like Leo's [GAME MASTER'S INSPIRATION] — which was a lesser alternative — gave players an advantage for a single action. Its effect was random, ranging from increased critical damage, sudden insight, and even surviving a fatal attack.

All it took for Morgana to cast this spell was to place the sword into Ath3na's hands and whisper Eldritch words into her ears — words that cannot be uttered by the tongue of men or written down in any form of retelling.

However, a rough translation would be this, "Today, Lady Death smiles upon the living… and my power, for a single moment, is yours for the taking."

Of course, Ath3na wasn't aware of this exchange and it wasn't necessary to tell her for the ability would activate on its own at the moment of her direst need.

"Sons and daughters of Adventour, I give you your champion," Donatella announced. "Ath3na~~a!"

Ath3na raised the ceremonial sword high in triumph, and that's when the confetti dropped down onto the arena. That's also when fireworks started.

The sky was filled with multicolored flowers whose breathtaking illumination lasted mere moments and yet still managed to bring such wide smiles to the audience below.

"Let's bring in the rest of the heroes who'll be joining Ath3na in the future raid of Deathman's Wonderland, the stronghold of the corrupt Death Knight Maleagant," Donatella announced.

The two portcullises in the north and south entrances of the arena began to rise, allowing the nine members of Ath3na's raid team to join her in the ring.

"Argonaut, Lyghtning, Wunderkid, Oh!siris, Narukami, Don Coyote, Bully the Kid, Iceheart, and Liberty Belle!" Donatella welcomed each of them to the ring.

Lyghtning raised her hand and Ath3na caught it in a high-five. Most of the others were equally friendly when they approached her — even Iceheart. Well, everyone but Don Coyote who hadn't even bother to look in Ath3na's direction once he'd reached the ring. Nope, he was too busy waving to the audience while managing to look quite pompous.

"For your victory," Donatella continued, "the Game Master gifts you with this war chest."

The sound of snapping fingers and a puff of smoke later and a wooden treasure chest filled to the brim with low-grade soul stones appeared before the ten players.

"So, how do you want to use this, love?" Lyghtning asked.

Leo watched from his place in the dais as Ath3na's face lit up. He assumed she'd thought of an interesting idea, and she didn't disappoint him.

"We've got a day to prepare for the raid… so we'll be using that time to get stronger," Ath3na announced to everyone. "These stones will help us do that."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying, sugah?" Liberty Belle asked.

Ath3na nodded. "Some of you are pretty close to leveling up… and I think more than one level three member on our team will up our chances of conquering Deathman's Wonderland."

Her announcement was met with cheers from both her team and the audience.

"Hopefully, your team will be able to increase its power before the next challenge begins…" Donatella said. "Speaking of your team… I don't suppose you people have a name? Saying team too many times will be quite boring for me…"

For an answer, Ath3na's eyes searched the faces of her team members, and all but one of them was grinning back at her.

"Well, we're challengers, aren't we?" Argonaut reminded her.

"We might as well own the name," Oh!siris agreed.

"Actually, boys, we're not just any challengers," Liberty Belle chimed in. She placed her elbow on Lyghtning's shoulder. "What do you think, Lyght?"

���You're right, Belle," Lyghtning said as she wrapped her arm around Liberty Belle's waist. "We're Deathly Challengers."

Bully the Kid raised a thumbs up. "Anything with death in it is cool."

"Ultra-cool," Iceheart agreed.

She draped her arm over Lyghtning's shoulder while her other arm draped over Ath3na's, leaving Leo with the impression that the girls were getting along quite well despite the fact that they'd been trying to kill each other earlier in the day.

Wunderkid whipped out his lute and began a tune. "A name worthy of a song."

"The unceasing challengers seeking to climb even greater heights in the Abyss," Narukami added approvingly.

All eyes turned on Don Coyote.

He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Fine… whatever…"

"Alright then…" Ath3na answered. She leaned toward Donatella's mic and said, "Hello, everyone! We're the Deathly Challengers!"

Another round of cheering ensued.

"And that's a wrap, folks," Leo looked over his shoulder to his fellow dev team members; McCloud, Agatha, Dani, Bront, Shannon, and Lagertha. "Up next, the Deathly Challengers versus Death Knight Maleagant… Let's hope they survive the experience."