CHAPTER 6: THE GALAGAN WAR GAMES

CHAPTER 6: THE GALAGAN WAR GAMES

The following morning arrived in a flash and soon everyone was gathered in the great Colosseum known as 'The Star Of Bitterness'. The three hundred warriors that had made it past the first round of the Diibagura Ceremonial Selection Contest had assembled within the Colosseum Field. Everyone from Helios had gathered to watch the event. This was probably the most interesting part of the whole contest and it had a fitting name too. The warriors were about to discover the reason behind the name 'Galagan War Games'.

June, Raygaard and Wedam met each other soon enough.

"If this is what I think it is, I think we'll be better off if we stick together" Raygaard advised.

"I think so too" Wedam agreed.

Gilgamesh arose and began to address the warriors.

"Warriors of Endregen, if you believe you are worthy to become Diibagura, then now is the time to prove yourselves. Congratulations on completing the first test. However this test will be more trying than anything you've ever faced before. I assure you that by the time this is over, no less than half of you will drop out of this contest. Your aim now is to survive for half a day. If you have any doubts concerning your abilities, this is your last chance to drop out" Gilgamesh said and waited for a reaction.

No one budged.

"I am glad to be king of such a strong race. Rise with honour and fall with honour…as heroes of Endregen. Your test begins…now" Gilgamesh said as he snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately after he had said that, the walls surrounding the battlefield of the colosseum began to rise and loud roars were heard. The warriors looked around trying to find the source of the loud noise when all of a sudden, all kinds of monstrous creatures charged into the colosseum. It was a whole army of monsters! The crowd could see them, they rushed out as countless as the sands on the seashore.

"Not good! Not good! Not good at all!" Wedam began to get worried.

"Hmmph! This is nothing new to me! Everyone! Stick together! Don't let them break through or they'll pick us off one by one!" Raygaard ordered.

"Hmm, looks like my son is a born leader. Make me proud Raygaard. Show me how strong you've become" Gilgamesh watched the fight with a smile on his face.

"You don't have to tell us that. It's obvious" one warrior said.

Raygaard nodded and unsheathed his Twin Blades. June and Wedam wasted no time in awakening.

"Let's break through Ray!" Wedam said in a deep voice.

Raygaard nodded.

"We're surrounded. What are we supposed to do at a time like this? We can't keep standing at one place" another warrior said.

Raygaard thought for a while.

"Our aim is to survive while we avoid being cornered at all costs. We must stick together and fend them off. To do that we must not hold anything back. I'll open a path. If we can secure the gates through which the Galagan are coming in through, we'll be able to hold them off more efficiently. There are about twelve gates in total so let's evenly split ourselves into twelve groups. There are three hundred of us here so there'll have to be twenty five of us in each group defending each of the twelve gates to prevent more Galagan from entering the Colosseum" Raygaard said just as a wave of Galagan pounced on them trying to rip them into shreds.

The warriors commenced a great battle trying to keep the Galagans at bay.

"Keep talking, it sounds like you have a plan" the warrior who spoke earlier said.

"I can get rid of these Galagans with four strikes opening a path to the gates.

Before the next wave rush in, we must charge towards the Gates in Twelve Groups. We must defend the Gates and remain evenly spaced out. If a group loses too many warriors, warriors from other groups must rush to that group to back them up. We mustn't lose a single gate to the Galagan do you understand?" Raygaard explained.

"Sounds so complicated. Since when did you become a master strategist?" Wedam teased.

"Are you sure you can do it Raygaard? You've never beaten me in a duel remember?" June seemed worried.

"Ha! Well whoever heard of a man of royal blood hitting a lady!" Raygaard bragged.

The other warrior glanced at Raygaard.

"I hear your skills are legendary. You are second only to Gilgamesh in strength. I believe you can do it. My name is Hanzo and I'll offer my full support. We are all in this together" the warrior said.

The other warriors agreed.

"Here goes!" Raygaard said as he crossed his blades.

"Show me how strong you've become Raygaard!" Gilgamesh demanded.

"RISING SILVER STAR BARRAGE!" Raygaard roared as he slashed twice while spinning.

His twin blades overlapped to form a cross. Raygaard somersaulted whilst delivering a slash, then he landed on his feet and completed the combo with a lateral strike.

The combo attacks fused and caused a great explosion releasing a silver light.

"Supernova completed! Now execute Formation Twelve Gates!" Raygaard ordered and the warriors rushed to the gates.

All Galagans in the field collapsed to the ground.

"Formation Twelve Gates? Where did that come from?" June teased.

"Well in the Book Of Eternal History, a certain legendary kingdom had Twelve Gates right? Maybe I should have gone with…" Raygaard was saying when Wedam interrupted him.

"Now is not the time to talk, the second wave of Galagan are already coming out!" Wedam yelled.

By then the teams were a bit closer to the gates. Raygaard, Wedam and June were at the Twelfth Gate with twenty three other warriors.

"Ray, let's take turns at defending the gates. I want to have a go at the Galagans. You can fight the ones that manage to break through our ranks" Wedam suggested.

"Eww, I don't want your leftovers!" Raygaard sneered.

"I'm not talking about just mine. You can have every other teams' leftovers as well" Wedam mocked.

"Garbage heap, euugh!" Raygaard made a face and ran to the centre of the field.

"June, back him up. Those that break through will prove to be more problematic and the two of you are the only ones with speed enough to protect all twelve teams" Wedam explained.

"Okay, you guys are really amazing. Coming up with all of this on the battlefield" June said as she ran to the centre of the field.

Wedam's words began to come true after four hours had passed and many Galagans had broken into the field. June smiled and reawakened. Her fingernails became sharp claws. She charged on the Galagans slashing at them with the speed and instincts of a wild Leoness X! Raygaard backed her up by slicing through the remaining Galagans. In a matter of minutes, the field was empty again. Raygaard sighed. This was becoming tiring.

Gilgamesh smiled.

"Great teamwork, excellent coordination. These warriors are no amateurs. The teams guarding the gates would have had to defend both the gates and their backs if it weren't for this brilliant strategy" Gilgamesh admired.

By the eighth hour since the battle began, two groups had been totally eliminated and the warriors were down to two hundred and fifty. They wasted no time in splitting up evenly to defend the remaining two gates and Raygaard and June wasted no time in wiping the field clean of Galagans. By the tenth hour, two other groups were defeated and June's awakened form was beginning to take a toll on her. Awakened forms were meant to be used for short battles when one needed a decisive victory but Wedam and June had fought for almost ten hours while retaining their awakened forms so naturally, they began to lose stamina quickly. Wedam quickly reversed his awakening. June did as well since she was utterly exhausted.

"I'm sorry Raygaard…Wedam…I can't do this…anymore" she sighed and lost consciousness.

"June! June! Are you alright?! June! Speak to me!" Wedam called worriedly and ran to her side.

"She's just tired Wedam. But this is bad Wedam. You know what this means right?" Raygaard asked.

Wedam nodded grimly.

"Double the stress. Now we have to fight while protecting the Twelve Groups and June" he said.

Raygaard nodded.

"We only need to keep fighting for another couple of hours. Can you hold out until then?" Raygaard asked worriedly.

"Yes, I can. I won't let you hog all the fun and I certainly do not intend to lose to you" Wedam said excitedly.

"Wedam, you've got to take it easy or you'll end up putting me in an even worse situation. Just watch over June, I'll do the rest" Raygaard said and charged into battle before Wedam could argue.

Raygaard fought on and managed to buy Wedam thirty minutes. All the time Wedam needed to regain his stamina and reawaken. However fifty more warriors were lost in the battle. Raygaard and Wedam fought on with Hanzo and the other warriors and by the end of the battle, only half of the warriors remained. The battle started with three hundred warriors and ended with only one hundred and fifty. June managed to regain consciousness shortly before the battle was over. At the twelfth hour exactly, Gilgamesh stopped the battle and ordered the Galagans to retreat. The field was littered with the bodies of slain Galagan and a hundred and fifty unconscious warriors.

"Well done! All of you that managed to remain standing at the end of the battle and those whose wounds can recover before the next event have qualified for the final round of the Diibagura Ceremonial Selection Contest. In exactly a month from now, you will all leave Helios on a quest to the Indaishin Gate which lies at the edge of this world. There, you must bond with the Earthbound Amooma and return to Endregen. Those of you that made it back alive will face a final test. Prepare yourselves well" Gilgamesh said.

There were loud cheers from the crowd and the surviving warriors waved happily to the crowd.