Chapter 34 - A Show of Strength

Morning of the next day, Vice Admiral Magnar had put up an entire regiment together to escort me to the Coliseum. It wasn't as much for protection as a show of support as we rode from the military sector towards the grandiose amphitheater

I was touched with the support Magnar was showing, whether it was purely coming from him as a person or because he knew I would give back to them even more after this ordeal was passed.

The streets were busier than usual, and military trucks rolling through them didn't help it. We arrived at the Coliseum that seemed to be impossibly even louder than the day before, with people screaming to get in and hunters almost becoming overwhelmed

Most of the members of the regiment were stationed outside while me, a few key figures and Magnar went through another door to an expansive room that overlooked the arena below

There was a fight going on currently where two rank C hunters were working as a team against a rank B opponent, the fight going fairly well with the use of their teamwork

Drinks and food were quickly brought in as many of the people packing the arena today were waiting for the preliminary matches to finish and for the main event to begin.

Magnar and I were discussing the hunter I was going to face today in detail. From the known information, he held 2 rank A skills. One of them was a defensive skill that made him nearly impenetrable to damage when it was activated, but only lasted for a minute and he had to wait for 10 more before initiating the skill again

The other was a rank A skill that there wasn't a lot of knowledge on, but it was known to be an area of attack skill with a high mana cost that dealt significant damage. Even after knowing these things, I wasn't too worried. I will definitely be careful and watch what he does, but I was that confident in the multiple skills I was layering on myself and the fact that my attributes most likely surpass his because of some of my skills

The only thing I was remotely worried about was the casting of the rank A skill, as none of these skills are a joke. With my percentage boosted defenses and skills, I was predicting the most the rank A offensive skill would do is injure me. I would have the [Regeneration] skill ready to cast in case I took damage from the skill head on

The hour was quickly approaching as the crowd cheered when one match ended and another began as we enjoyed the food in the reserved space. Magnar continued to have a worried look on his face as he seemed to be looking to the sky every now and then, as if waiting for something

The cheers of the crowd reached its peak when an announcer's voice rang out in the Coliseum

"PEOPLE OF STAR CITY! ARE YOU READY FOR THE BIGGEST MATCH OF YOUR LIVES?!"

The announcer's voice was drowned out as soon as his word finished as the crowd screamed

YEAAAH!

The announcer continued with a calmer tone

"Then without further ado, I give you the contestants of this Death Match...Andrei Nikolaev…and Noah Osmont!"

The cheers continued as a burly man jumped down from another location in the coliseum. The man had a cold expression on his face. His body was wrapped with a purple robe and he held a frozen staff with his right hand. This was Andrei Nikolaev

He was the first hugely built mage I had seen, standing there with an imposing gaze that looked ahead.

I rose from my seat and slowly drifted down towards the arena, levitating slightly above 2 meters from the arena floor as I looked down towards Andrei. His imposing gaze become fierce as he saw this and I laughed while flying towards the podium where the announcer was at

The crowd was already screaming at their peak as they saw this. My voice rang out loud and clear towards the announcer

"I just want to confirm something with everyone as witnesses, what is the outcome of a Death Match?"

The announcer heard this and fervently replied, his voice ringing out through the Coliseum once more.

"The match ends in DEATH! With death, the feud is over, and the possessions of the other party are all yours!"

YEAAH!!!

The crowd continued screaming as the announcer said this. I nodded my head and landed on the arena floor, watching the enraged mage standing opposite to me who couldn't wait to rip my face off

"Match, START!"

The fight began with cheers as Andrei moved first, pointing his staff towards me and casting a skill that formed 5 spinning dark orbs that flew towards me.

I used [Flight] to evade the balls coming after me, my speed being fast enough to watch them as they whizzed by me and smashed onto the high walls, exploding into a mass of darkness

I wanted to test the guy out as I cast my newly gained [Doom Bolt]. A large streak of red lightning quickly formed and crashed down towards Andrei, his expression quickly changing as his body was enveloped with wind elements and he rapidly disappeared from his location.

BOOM!

The lightning bolt was abnormally powerful as it blasted apart the grounds of the arena. This was a rank B skill boosted by many active support skills, its power becoming more terrifying.

Andrei appeared at another location in the arena, his face turning abnormally serious as he looked towards me.

I returned the stare back and said "Don't get scared now, I'm just getting started"

I wanted to enrage this man as much as I could. The angrier he got, the more mistakes he would make, and the easier I can take him down. The main challenge was what would be happening after he fell

His serious face became red as he seemed to have made up his mind. I smiled at this and cast a [Miniature Tornado] towards him while also casting [Doom Bolt] to descend on him once again

He watched these deadly skills coming towards him as his body began shining in a golden light, his skin rapidly adopting a color and sheen similar to a statue

Rank A skill [Regal Armament] was cast. The golden skin shone in the light as the [Doom Bolt] struck down and the sharp winds of [Miniature Tornado] neared

Cheers rang out in the arena as these iridescent colors appeared on the arena floor

BOOM!

Another loud explosion resounded in the arena, and when the dust cleared, a golden man was still standing there, matchless

I looked at this and prepared all my attention. If he has already cast his defensive skill that only lasts a minute, he should then be planning to let out the deadliest attacks in this one minute

I didn't seem to be wrong as his staff began glowing hazy white, and the [Danger Sense] that hasn't activated in a while dimly began ringing