After the wheel landed on Colosseum, I began floating up.
"What?" I exclaimed, as I felt my feet lift off the ground. I struggled uselessly in the air. Was there a skill that could get me back down? I don't even know what's happening, how am I supposed to come up with a skill to counter it? Even Ben wasn't able to come up with a skill to counter this.
I saw Ash try to grab me, but his hands never made contact. There's no way he'd betray me, right? I see Ben's party also trying to grab him to the same effect. Whatever this is, it doesn't appear to be something we can stop.
I take a look around. There are four other people floating upwards, aside from Ben and I. There was a man with a spear, who looked to be in his early twenties, probably the same age as Ben. He had short brown hair, and a semi-trained physique. I guess kind of like me? Next to him was the girl with the Throwing Knife. She has light blue hair so light it's almost white, and a terrified expression on her face. That's actually normal, glancing at the other two, the man with the Spear is the only one who looks calm, he's the weird one. She looked probably the same age as Ash? The one holding a Gun looked Japanese like me, and had an even skinny build. With the way he's looking around, he seems to be desperately trying to figure out how we're floating up. He looked around nineteen. The girl next to him was wielding Tonfa, and has similar light hair to the girl wielding the throwing knife, except it was pink. She has the physique of a gymnast, so she's probably a skilled fighter, at least I hope. I'm guessing she's eighteen or nineteen.
Once we got to about a hundred and fifty feet up a landmass appeared beneath us, and the floating wore off. We all fell down a few feet onto the dirt-stone flooring of this arena. Looking around, it was pretty similar to a roman colosseum, but with a distinct difference. Gates for challengers to enter were all around it, allowing for possibly dozens of enemies to enter at once. It appears Lionhead didn't follow us up, so what do we do now?
"Alright everyone, let's introduce ourselves!" The man with the Spear cheerily said.
"Right now?" The man with the Gun responded.
"Lionhead won't be up for another minute, so now is the perfect time!"
"And… How do you know that?" The woman with the Tonfa asked.
"Because he'll need to give something for A- Arthur to do, and the other heroes of course." He was talking pretty confidently, so his stuttering there is a little odd.
"I suppose you're right, he's been treating this all like a game…" The man with the gun responds. "I just hope Robin is okay."
"Oh yes he'll be fine. I'll start. My name is John, and I'm the Spear Hero of my world." The girl with the Throwing Knife followed his lead.
"My name is Lily, and I'm the Throwing Hero of my world."
"I'm William, and I'm the Gun hero, although I was summoned from another world."
"I was summoned too. I'm Sorezo Katagi, and I'm the Sword Hero."
"I was also summoned in case you need to know!" John adds.
"I'm Ben, the Axe Hero. Not summoned, although Ash, our Gauntlet hero was." Ben was uncharacteristically repressed in front of them. I suppose he doesn't know if they're friends or enemies yet?
"I'm Eve, the Tonfa hero. Both me and Robin, our Wand hero, weren't summoned."
William and Eve were keeping a careful distance between us, while John was being overly chummy. Lily kept a medium distance, not wanting to be very far from John, but also not wanting to be too close to us.
I got a vision. I saw all of the gates to the coliseum open, with a gigantic Cyclops entering through one somehow. It was like when the cyclops entered it had the consistency of slime, then solidified upon entering. Then I saw myself leaping at it with a flaming sword. Did I use Crimson Blade? That's where my vision ended, so I don't know how effective the attack was.
"Now let's begin the main event! The coliseum will be swarmed by monsters more powerful than the ones created by the wave, and there will be bosses chosen by you, the viewers!" Lionhead was above us. I didn't perceive him move at all, or see him approach. Is it teleportation?
"William, Eve, Lily, you three focus on the small enemies. Katagi, Ben, you two will take out the boss as fast as you can. I'll provide buffs and ranged support." John gives us our game plan. Is the spear really the weapon most suited to support? Well, he did also say ranged support, so that makes sense.
"The first boss will be a cyclops." John and I say in unison.
"Huh?" Both of us look at each other.
"How did you know that?" I ask him.
"All Li- All Second Phoenix Aura!" John incants. All of us are covered in a fiery robe. It sounds like the kind of spell that will passively heal us, quite a good spell, especially if he doesn't have a healing affinity.
"Second Sunsteel Point!" He incants a spell onto me. The end of my sword glows red hot. "Use this when the cyclops emerges."
Enemies begin to pour out of each of the gates. They looked almost like Lizardmen, but they weren't reptilian. Instead, their human-like skin looked incredibly thin, over a clearly visible arrangement of muscles. It was like I could see their muscle structure, but the thin layer of skin prevented me from seeing the muscles themselves.
"Fine with me. Crowd control is a specialty of the Gun!" William changes his pistol into a Machine gun, and begins mowing down the approaching enemies. There was one gate the enemies weren't coming out of, so I'm guessing that's where the cyclops will come out.
"Force Swing! Air Strike Impact! Sneakstrike!"
"Air Strike Throw! Tornado Throw! Knife Rain!"
Both Eve and Lily were firing off skills to deal with the oncoming enemies. It didn't look like Eve had any wide range skills, she seemed to be focusing more on any enemies that looked a bit stronger than the rest. Eve seems more suited to one on one combat than crowd control, so why didn't John have her be fighting the boss? Her weapon seems similar to Ash's, so I guess if she didn't have a power up method like Ash she may not be able to output enough damage? Ben and I were also fighting off some enemies until we saw the cyclops about to emerge. John was staying in the middle the whole time.
"Crimson Blade!" I leap at the cyclops. John's spell should make my sword incredibly hot, so I stack Crimson Blade onto it to increase the heat. I attacked the cyclops before it gained its bearings, so it didn't block my attack, and I managed to stab it directly in its eye.
"Meteor Sword!" I activated this skill while my sword was still in its eye. I swung upwards, and both my sword and the stars tore open the top of its skull. The cyclops fell to the ground, and Ben brought his axe down on its neck to make sure it was dead.
"Hmm you dealt with that boss far faster than I would have liked. I think I'll make the next one more durable." Lionhead mused above us. "Alright viewers, what should be the next boss? Keep in mind it should be something durable so the heroes can't kill it before it can act!"
As for the common monsters, we've got them under control. William, Lily, and Eve are all killing them as they come out of the gates. There doesn't seem to be an end to them, but at least we have them under control for now.
"An Umbral Titan! Great idea folks, I won't even have to buff its durability! It's quite big, so I'll have to make it land in the middle of the arena." Another portal with glitchy effects opened up, and a truly gigantic monster landed in the middle of the arena. John had moved out of the way in time, but for the first time looked worried at what we faced. The Umbral Titan was about twice as tall as the Cyclops, and its body looked like it was made out of condensed darkness, aside from glowing purple eyes, and a dark purple core in its sternum.
"And to make sure all the heroes get to make a grand display, I'll cut off the spawning of the common enemies they effectively neutralized."
At least there's that. Now it's the six of us against this thing. I guess nothing to do but for us to try and take it down.
"Meteor Sword! Crimson Blade!"
"Tempest Swing! Air Strike Smash!"
"Full Buster; Auto!" "Aqua Missile; Twin!"
"Grenade Throw! Stardust Grenade!"
"Air Strike Impact! Second Impact!"
"First Firebolt! First Fire Shot!"
All of us fired a barrage of skills at it, hitting it all over, except for John who used spells. The Umbral Titan's body was a shadowy mass, which seemed to contort under our attacks, but seeing as how they had no effect, that contortion was likely a biological mechanism to reduce the damage done to it. The Umbral Titan roared at us, and swung its legs to try and kick at us. All of us had to take focus away from attacking it, and make sure to avoid its attacks. It's surprisingly fast for its size, and more than that, our attacks don't appear to be doing any damage. We need a really big attack to finish it off.
A giant beam of light fell from the sky, falling past the coliseum. I heard a loud explosion on the ground below. Yeah we needed something like that. I hope that didn't kill Ash.
"Let's try attacking the core! Heavy Cannon! Hecate Bolt!" William fired two shots at the Titan's core. The first had a loud boom, and the second fired a powerful sounding purple bolt. It didn't seem to make an effort to protect its core, and both of his attacks bounced off it. If they did damage, it wasn't visible from down here. Interesting… the core isn't malleable, while the rest of its body is. Targeting the core may be a winning strategy, but we need to hit it with more force.
"Ben, think you can get up there?"
"I can, but I'd need some help."
"John, can you buff Ben through the roof?"
A smile came across John's face.
"That's perfect. Third Flame Emperor!" John applies this spell to Ben. Ben appears to have an aura of fire bursting from him, now all that's missing is golden spiky- Wait, Zweite is the second level of magic, so is Third his equivalent of a spell past Zweite?
"Woah! I feel even more powerful than when my party all buffed me! Thanks John!" Ben got his signature cocky smile back, and leapt high into the air. He leapt to the seating area of the coliseum, and kept jumping around at high speeds until he ended up in the seating area in front of the Umbral Titan's core. The titan appeared to take notice of him, as it stuck its arm out, reckoning him closer, as if taunting him to try and reach its core.
"We need to distract it so he gets a chance to attack!" William shouted over to me.
"How? None of our attacks seem to really hurt it."
"Don't worry, I got this." John said.
"What do you mean? You haven't done anything this whole time." Eve called back.
"One of my power up methods is I can spend more Sp than necessary to increase the power of my attacks exponentially. I was simply saving it for this moment." John explained.
"Without further ado, Triaina!" A water cloaked trident was launched from the tip of John's spear, and hit the Umbral Titan in the head. The skill hit hard enough to throw the titan's head to the side, like it just got punched really hard.
"Now Ben!"
"Awww YEAH!" Ben leapt with enough force to crack the stone seating area directly at the Umbral Titan's core.
"Executioner's Swing!" Ben swung his axe as hard as he could at the core, and true to the skills name, he cracked the core in half. When he struck it, he created a large crack, which spread out until the core was split perfectly in half. Purple light spilled out from the cracks, and when the core split in half, it exploded. In a burst of force and umbral light, all of us were pushed off our feet, and Ben slammed hard into the ground next to me with his buffs wiped.
"Ah ow, that was a hard fall." Ben's voice still had energy, but he still sounded like he was suppressing a lot of pain.
"Hold on, Erste Aqua Soothe!" I cast a healing spell on Ben. Ben's face immediately relaxed.
"That's much better. Thanks Katagi."
"No problem."
"Well well well, quite a flashy ending to that fight." Lionhead decided to speak up. I'm pretty sure he was there the whole time, silent until now.
"Well it seems no matter what monster I put in front of you all of you find a way to kill it faster than I want you too. I have a lot to consider when balancing the next wave. BUT! Since the viewers are still hungry for content, the last challenge will be team elimination. All six of you will be in three teams depending on what world you're from. The first holy hero to die's team loses."
What? Now we're in a situation where one of our deaths is guaranteed? All of us look at each other warily.
"And to raise the stakes even higher, I'll let you in on a little secret. If a holy hero dies during a wave, their world dies with them."
My blood ran cold. If I died now, would Ash and Ben die with me? Was it instant death? Is it the world itself that dies? All the life in the world? I looked at William, and I think the same thoughts were going through his mind, but I could also make out some mumbling, before William asked Lionhead a question.
"How many worlds are a part of these waves?'
"Twelve."
Gears seem to be turning in William's head.
"Twelve… He's causing… If I…"
William points his gun at Lionhead.
"Wait, don't!" John shouts.
"Meteor Bullet; Empower!"
A blue comet trailed by stars was fired from William's gun, which stopped short of hitting Lionhead.
"Well well well, looks like a 'hero' thought that attacking me would pay off." Lionhead says in a condescending tone, looking into the camera. "What say to you folks that I teach this lesser life form a lesson?"
Lionhead moves down to where we are, and everyone aside from William and Eve were pushed away from him, then a light blue pyramid appeared around those two.
At first Eve looked terrified, then her expression changed as if she realized something.
"Well of course in a fight against us you would win, we've only had a month to enhance our weapons. In one more month, I'm sure we would be able to win against you."
"Interesting, you believe you could stand a chance against me after a measly two months?"
"Of course. I've noticed that wielders of legendary weapons aren't subject to any limits. Theoretically both me and William could become infinitely strong, but I don't think we'll need that much for you."
"Hahahahaha! This wench from an inferior world thinks she could beat me?!" Lionhead appears to check something. "Ahhh very well." He focuses back on Eve. "You've got a deal. In one month's time your world's heroes may all fight against me, and when you all die, your world will die along with you. I'll have your foolishness be broadcast to all the heroes of every participating world, so all of them know it's impossible to stand up to me."
"Thank you for your generosity." Eve says in an ambiguous tone. It's unclear if she's being thankful, moderate, or mocking.
"Oh don't think this is generosity. My audience just likes seeing the hope drain from the faces of inferior lifeforms when they realize they never stood a chance against us. I'm going to go check up on the other heroes, then I'm ending this wave. Don't let gravity hit you on the way out! Ha!" And then Lionhead disappears, presumably to where Ash and the other heroes are.
"Whew." Eve lets out a sigh of relief.
"Well shit." John adds.
There was an awkward pause.
"Alright do we have something else to talk about that doesn't involve doom and gloom?" Ben asks.
"It's clear we need to get a lot stronger for the next wave." I say.
"That's putting it lightly." Eve responds. William has been staying silent.
Knowing there's a possibility that we'll have to fight other heroes, it makes it more of a race to get as strong as possible, and since heroes aren't subject to any level limits this race may never end, at least not until we're dead.
"I guess try to look for items that have a theme of piercing, never missing, stuff like that? Maybe a skill from one of those items can pierce that barrier he has." John adds.
"That's good advice, I'll be putting it to use." William finally speaks.
"Oh yeah, what did he mean when he said 'don't let gravity hit-' AHHHH" Lily tries to say, as the coliseum disappears from under us. All of us begin to fall, but when the sky turns back to normal I don't see them anymore. Ben and I are reflexively screaming while we fall. Actually I don't think either of us have any skills to nullify fall damage. I am no longer reflexively screaming, instead I am intentionally screaming.
"Zweite Wind Pillar!" Was that Ash casting a spell below us? A strong wind hits Ben and I, slowing our fall. Once I reached the ground, it was like lightly touching down on the ground, as opposed to crashing into it.
Ash and all of our parties greet us.
"Guys, what happened up there?" Ash asks us.
"Oh boy where to start?" Ben starts massaging his temples.
That's the sentiment I feel as well.
"How about we go back to the castle first?" I say.
"Yeah, whatever stories we have to share, the king should probably hear too." Ash agrees.
All of us head back to the castle with the recent events fresh in our minds.