The Duel [2]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The arrows that were previously attacking the abyssal pierced through the air and crashed into the ground one by one. It seemed as if they collapsed due to stability issues.

The abyssal sighed in relief and then turned to Varian.

"DIE!"

With a light kick on the floor, he shot at Varian like a bolt of lightning.

As he reached Varian, there was a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

'What a stupid son of a bitch.' Varian cursed inwardly and snapped his fingers.

Whoosh!

The arrows that were earlier 'stuck' into the ground suddenly flashed and the ground under the abyssal was covered in ice.

"Wha—"

The abyssal was equally confused when the ice turned into water and wrapped him in a bubble before solidifying into ice again.

"Mffm!" The abyssal's sound was muffled by the ice cocoon—he was frozen in mid-air.

He was still mid-air and he was still lunging towards Varian, but he was frozen.

The major reason for it was his own carelessness. The abyssal looked at the ice surrounding him and his eyes reddened.

Kacha!

Cracks appeared on the ice and the next moment, it broke into pieces as. If it never existed.

"HAA!" The abyssal shouted in glee. 'You can't trap me.'

To his confusion, Varian seemed to have expected it as he simply shrugged.

Whoosh!

An ice spear thicker than any arrow he received was already waiting for him the moment he broke the ice cocoon.

It pierced his neck and destroyed his head, ending his life.

[Winner: Ryke!]

'Ryke? Oh, that's my pseudonym here, I totally forgot.' Varian clicked his tongue at the hologram announcement.

Lifting his body path restrictions, he glanced at the audience and found that they were all focusing on something else.

'Don't tell me…' Varian's eyes widened as he hurriedly turned to the side.

Splash! Splash!

The moment he saw that scene, Varian's blood boiled as his eyes went red.

"Stop it already!" He yelled but no one stopped it.

The scene didn't change.

An abyssal was sitting atop a bloodied body.

Like a painter checking his masterpiece, he slowly broke the bones of the human underneath him one by one.

First, the breaking of finger bones elicited painful but weak shrieks.

Then the hand bones, then the arms, the ribs, the legs…

Varian gritted his teeth at the gruesome butcher.

The participant was still moving a finger, so, he wasn't considered as 'fainted'.

And…

"Greeeh!" An abyssal violently punched through the neck of a woman who faint from blood loss.

Boom!

Like a tomato being squashed, the woman's neck burst into pieces as she died a horrible death.

"…Why isn't anyone stopping?" Varian glanced around and saw that at least twenty of the hundred level 4s were dead.

"Are humans really that cold-blooded?" A chill ran down his spine and he looked at the audience.

"Woo!"

"Somebody save them."

"My big brother…he's just like my big brother. He'll die! Save him please."

"Sister, sister, don't shout. The risk of life is clearly mentioned in the terms and conditions. They won't stop it."

The audience mostly had a face overcome by grief, guilt, and nostalgia. Some even tried to run to the floor and stop the matches forcefully.

Unfortunately for them, the staff of the stadium swiftly stopped them.

It didn't matter if you were a level 3 or a level 7, under the guidance of Sovereign Julius, everything went smoothly.

[1:00]

[0:45]

As the time trickled down to the last bits, Varian suddenly had a question.

Out of the hundred participants, ten died, and seventy-five had won. Fifteen were still fighting.

Cling!

Cling!

The sharp sword blows were the most common sound. With each passing second, the injuries on the humans and abyssals that continued to fight worsened.

[0:30]

[0:15]

As things neared an end, three died while seven emerged victorious, albeit with heavy injuries.

So, the statistics so far were:

Won: 82

Dead: 13

Fighting: 5

Total: 100

[0:00]

The stopwatch stopped and Varian held his breath without knowing why. The five human-abyssals who were fighting until then stiffened.

'They're being frozen by a telepath.' Varian noted the dimness in their eyes and wiped the sweat off his palms.

'But what is this nervous feeling…?'

BOOM!

Under Varian's and the audience's incredulous gaze, the dueling ring of the five participants was blasted into pieces.

After the horrifying sight, all that was left was charred bodies.

The audience opened their mouth but words seemed to be stuck in their throat.

Since the era they were living in wasn't peaceful, they were used to seeing such content on a daily basis.

But even that didn't mean they were comfortable or even indifferent to such gruesome sights.

"Aw!"

A woman in the audience retched.

"Aw!"

"Vom!"

More followed, but they were only a minority.

The majority stared high into the sky, to the floating chairs—the seating of the most important guests including Sovereign Julius. They stared at it as if they wanted an answer.

As if on cue, Sovereign Julius' voice resounded throughout the stadium.

"Being the gamma potion's expo participant wasn't just an opportunity, but also a risk. They know full well what they were signing up to.

And let this serve as a harsh lesson to you. War doesn't care about morality.

If you're weak, then you die. Just like these 'geniuses'. So, get stronger. It's the only way."

The audience was visibly shaken by his words.

It seemed like a wake-up call for them.

If they had to fight the abyssals in the future, would they be able to win?

No one thought of lasting long enough for help to arrive.

Sovereign Julius made it clear by blasting the participants who couldn't make it in time.

In real life too, some battles had to be fought under a severe time constraints. If you can't win them, then you die.

'But how do I improve my strength?'

This question rose in everyone's minds as they frantically searched for the answers.

'And how do I improve son's, daughter's, spouse's, parents' strength?'

It only got more complicated from there and soon, the audience was wiping the sweat off their foreheads until one of them clapped and said "Aha! Potion!"

"Right!"

"Yes!"

"It's the best option we have."

One by one, the audience calmed down from the agitation. The mysterious gamma potion was their one-stop solution.

Not just them, even the people watching it online, they too had the same thoughts.

"I will pre-book them."

"I will sell my house but I'll buy them."

"This is my gift to my son. Don't worry son, your dad is rich."

The whole world was affected by Julius' words and that included everyone in the audience.

Except for Varian.

'What a cheap guy. He is using their fear to get them to buy his product.' A sense of

disgust rose in Varian's mind as he despised Julius' actions.

'I need some evidence about the evils Xander committed…does this fear-mongering tactic count—?' His train of thought was broken by an announcement that shook the stadium.

{Dear Participants, here you go. The gamma potion. Down it immediately.}

Following those words, in front of every standing participant, a crystal white vial filled with blue liquid floated.

{Take it now.}

Varian took a deep breath and unscrewed the potion.

Then without hesitation, he downed the potion.