(WARNING: GORY DETAILS AHEAD! SKIP TO THE END IF YOU AREN"T 18+!)
"YOU! THIS WAS A COMPEt.i.tION! HOW DARE YOU-"
"Did I kill anyone?"
"N-NO! BUT THEY MIGHT NEVER BE ABLE TO MAKE FULL RECOVERIES!"
"Still doesn"t mean I broke any rules. King Daneel, you should handle this mad woman. I"m leaving."
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE
As King Safiros left the emergency meeting that had been called by the Queen of Arafell after leaving these words, the air started to crackle while tiny bolts of electricity appeared and disappeared in the air.
This was a Warrior level individual who was enraged, and her anger was on a whole other level compared to Exalted Humans.
Daneel, who was standing to the side, curiously raised his hand to touch one of the lightning bolts near him.
"SSSSSS!"
Silently hissing, he had to pull his finger back and shake it as he had actually sustained a sizzling cut from the incredible amount of energy contained in just that small bolt which wasn"t even the size of his fingernail.
He, an Exalted Human, had actually been hurt by an angry reaction?
Lamenting that the gap between Human and Warrior really was large, he sighed and walked near the Queen of Arafell whose eyes were still wide open and bloodshot from the anger she was feeling.
She had called for this meeting as soon as the match had ended, and she had even requested Daneel to stop the match seeing her soldiers being taken out one by one.
More than anything, it seemed that the injuries of the giants affected her the most, as Daneel had received a report that stated that she had visited them before coming here.
The three Exalted Humans on Axelor"s team really hadn"t killed anyone, but they had chosen to repeatedly use crippling attacks that would be very hard to heal even with magic.
Using magic, it was possible to even regrow lost limbs, but a Fighter would have to spend months and years growing those limbs in order to come back to their previous power.
Now that Daneel thought back to the match, it all felt like a blur.
Since the moment the match had started, something was off.
One individual among Axelor"s team stood over 6 foot tall, and he stood out, but Daneel just thought that he was some powerful Fighter who hadn"t been deployed till now.
After the bell rang, strangely, everyone got out of the way of this man whose face was also covered.
With a b.e.s.t.i.a.l roar, he had started to run towards the other end of the goal and hence, the other team.
After this, he started going on a rampage, punching and hitting each and everyone he could find.
He seemed to revel in crippling people the most, as he repeatedly pulled on arms and legs like they were toys to separate them from the other team members" bodies.
The crowd could only watch this visceral scene with horror in their eyes, and many even started puking.
Today, Axelor had shown its bloodthirsty side, and the surprising thing was that many even cheered for this.
As for the giants, they were able to defend against this man for some time, but the other two Exalted Humans on Axelor"s team would come to help this newcomer whenever he went up against one.
Against three Exalted Humans, even a giant was powerless, and had no option but to take injuries and fall.
Of course, as the giants were crowd favorites, many had howled with grief at this, but they were only met with more blood.
Indeed, blood filled the ground, and by the end of the match, it looked like a battlefield where many might have lost their lives.
"King Daneel!"
Coming back from his thoughts due to this shout from Queen Arafell, Daneel shook his head and looked up to see those pretty eyes now filled with rage looking at him.
He was just about to say something, but her words cut him off.
"I don"t know what you do, but Axelor MUST LOSE. I know you are probably entering the match, and if you are, I need you to promise me that you will do to that man what he did to my soldiers. Promise me this, or I CANNOT let this matter rest."
Her beautiful hair was disheveled, and her rosy cheeks were red as a testament to her anger.
Without even thinking, Daneel nodded and teleported away.
There was no way that he was going to allow the same fate to befall his own soldiers, and to stop that, he would have to fulfill this promise anyway.
...
DING
As the bell rung to signal the start of the finals of the Fighter Handball Tournament, Daneel looked up at the stands to see almost half the people rooting for another b.l.o.o.d.y match while the other half were hoping that the Axelorians would be taken down.
Now, he understood why gladiator arenas were so popular in the ancient eras of Earth. Blood did drive people mad with excitement, and hearing the cheering that now had an added edge of bloodthirstiness, he cursed the Axelorians.
The rules had to be changed.
But before that, Daneel had to do something which he didn"t like at all.
Same as before, the Axelorian team got out of the way of the tall masked man who started to run towards the end.
However, as the crowd watched with baffled expressions, the Lanthanorian team also got out of the way, leaving two men alone on the ground in the way of this monstrosity.
One of them was the star who had given that incredible performance against Axelor before, while the other seemed new.
However, when both of them looked into each other"s eyes just before they came under the attack of the Exalted Human who had terrorized the Arafellians, some smart people in the spectators understood that this wasn"t the first time they were working together.
The Axelorian"s forte was both strength and speed, but they were both firmly put under control by the two Lanthanorians who worked seamlessly in sync with each other, almost as if they had trained together and also knew each other so well that they could predict the other"s moves.
Of course, those who thought so would be right.
Daneel and Elanev had been training together, but they couldn"t have imagined that they would be going up against the same opponent.
The training turned out to be a boon, as their repeated spars against each other made it so that they understood each other very well.
Daneel was a true blue Exalted Human, while Elanev had also used some method to elevate his power to this level.
He had said that it was only for a short amount of time, and Daneel was determined to a.n.a.lyze it using the system.
If the Axelorian attacked one, the other would hit it with the Hidden Kill Fist and make it bleed.
As the Hidden Kill Fist worked by using pressure to rupture ones internal structure, it was very effective even if one had strengthened skin due to being an Exalted Human.
When the other dodged, the first one would attack.
Of course, the dodging wasn"t perfect, so the Lanthanorians also kept taking punches and kicks, but they continued to fight as if they felt no pain.
In just 30 seconds, all three of them had b.l.o.o.d.y arms.
After one minute, the Axelorian"s entire body was dripping with blood, as if he had just taken a bath in a river filled with it.
After one and a half minute, the Lanthanorian who had appeared in the match before took a kick to his stomach and fell.
He didn"t get up again, and this made the first Lanthanorian even more enraged.
He ignored the damage to his body, and fought while getting bloodier and bloodier.
After two minutes, both of them were such a b.l.o.o.d.y mess that only the difference in height could be used to distinguish them.
Such a gory sight even turned off many of those who had clamored for blood before, and the entire stadium could only watch in silence.
"My King! Do we interfere and help?"
"NO! He will only end up hurting us too! Just score as many points as possible!"
This dialogue pa.s.sed between the King of Axelor and his commander, and they focused on scoring more while the opposing team only had one Exalted Human, the commander of Lanthanor.
After the two and a half minute mark, the Axelorian fell to the ground, but both of his arms were in the hands of the Lanthanorian.
While the Axelorian bled profusely from the two stumps where his arms had been, the Lanthanorian fell to his knees, still holding the two limbs.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed to the heavens, and the shout even silenced the millions who were watching.
He looked like he would break down, but the man somehow found the energy to put what he felt aside.
Throwing away the arms, he rejoined the game.
Going up against a team which also had two Exalted Humans, the Axelorians didn"t stand a chance against Lanthanor"s teamwork which had almost reached legendary status by now.
Even though he was injured, the soldier from Lanthanor did his bit, and his face was engraved into the hearts of all those watching.
As the bell sounded to indicate the end of the match, the crowd burst into a cheer louder than all the ones before.
38(Lanthanor)-20(Axelor).
"LAN-THA-NOR!"
"LAN-THA-NOR!"
"LAN-THA…