Year 888 – Subterra Kingdom Surface Entrance

"Kill every last one of them!"

The fires of war broke out over the surface as the invading force of Subterra was forced to retreat. Though rallied under the objective of overtaking the New Chariot Empire, they were quickly swarmed by the overwhelming force of their surface-bound foes. Though they were a hardy people, they stood no chance against the empire's weaponry.

Subterran soldiers fell one-by-one by a rain of arrows before being trampled by the empire's spearmen. Many tried to fight back, armed with clubs and shields, but lacked the range and strategy of their foes. Many were struck down by the spears and left bleeding out on the ground. Others dragged themselves into the emergency tunnels with their limbs barely functioning.

It was all over.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Or so they thought.

Bursting out from the ground, Oddvar charged through the empire's forces, bashing apart their formations with a single swipe of his tail. Their shields and armor crumpled against the weight of his tail. Their bodies sailed over their allies, who remained unfazed by the emergence of the threatening Tyrantrum.

"{Retreat! I'll hold them back!}" Oddvar roared.

The soldiers rushed down Oddvar, stabbing him with their spears, but they snapped on impact with his hardened scales. He furiously stomped the ground, shaking up the earth and throwing them off balance. He charged forward with Head Smash, plowing through bodies and burying them through the earth. He mercilessly stomped down on the heads of rising soldiers until they could rise no more.

He spun around, creating space with his Breaking Swipe and pushing away more of the army. He went for the stragglers behind him, biting down on their heads and tossing them into the sky. He flattened one under his tail and chased down another trying to kill a wounded Subterra. He effortlessly lifted the soldier in his teeth bit down so hard that blood exploded through his teeth. He tossed aside the mangled body and roared at the remaining platoons of soldiers.

The brass of a Falinks gestured for the Subterran soldiers to retreat down the tunnels as Oddvar charged into the thick of battle, stomping and battering away those in his way. The brass called out, "{Commander Oddvar, the soldiers have been successfully evacuated! Retreat!}"

But Oddvar didn't listen. He knew that their enemy was crafty. They would try something to block off their escape, or perhaps do something to the tunnels to kill them before they ever reach the lower levels underground. He had to make sure all their attention was strictly on him.

"{Commander Oddvar!}" the brass yelled. He tried to run to the Tyrantrum, but one of his troopers jumped in front of his way.

"{Commander Lind, we need to get underground immediately!}" the Falinks trooper exclaimed. "{The enemy has a group of Electrode in their ranks. If we don't get underground soon, they'll cause a collapse in the tunnels before we ever reach the Underworld.}"

The brass growled. "{Oddvar…}" He shook his head before running into the tunnel. "{Please make it back in one piece…}"

Oddvar saw the last of his allies retreating underground, allowing himself a moment of relief. He needed to buy as much time as he could from here on out. The longer he stalled the empire, the less likely they'll be able to chase the Subterrans into the deeper levels of the underground. They'll be far out of the reach of danger.

With a mettlesome fury rising in his chest, Oddvar activated his Outrage and continued in his attack, ready to exterminate every last soldier even if it kills him.

If there should be any more casualties, let it be his own life.

No more squabbling. No more disorder.

In order to survive, they had to fight as one.

With a newfound sense of teamwork brought together in desperation, the guilty party of the execution match made their move with one member of their team down. Tyranno furiously stomped the ground, shaking up the arena with his Earthquake, before rushing down his prey. His stature alone was intimidating to the unprepared, but these four would not rest until they saw the light of freedom once again.

Melissa and Alfhild took the lead, racing around Tyranno's legs as he attempted to squash them. Melissa was springier, darting around his stomps and peppering him with ineffective kicks to draw away his attention. Alfhild, now armed with a wooden club in place of her confiscated hammer, rushed to the back of the dinosaur's legs and dealt a heavy blow to the heel.

"{Alfheim Crash!}"

The power was significantly reduced since the club didn't carry nearly as much weight as her hammer, but it served its function of dealing a hefty hit to the dinosaur's tough scales. Tyranno roared out in anger and swung with Breaking Swipe.

Alfhild raised her arm and braced herself as the tail impacted. Due to her Fairy-typing, she cancelled out Breaking Swipe's energy and endured the force of the giant rex's heavy tail. She twirled her club before chucking it across Tyranno's face, snapping his head back.

"{Alfheim Cannon!}" She backed off as Tyranno stumbled around before snapping her fingers. Her club spun through the air like a boomerang and flew back, nailing Tyranno across the head again before returning to her hand.

Tyranno nearly collapsed, but spread his legs out and regained his balance. Shaking his head, he roared in Alfhild's direction and raced forward. He activated Iron Head and Head Smash simultaneously, resulting in a silverly blue blaze erupting from the rex's forehead.

"Bramble Bulwark!" Giant roots erupted out of the ground and blocked Tyranno's attack, shielding Alfhild. Terrowin detached his roots from the ground and raced out into the open. He reached under his rags and plucked a seed off his back. "Briar Garden!" He plunged the seed into the ground and applied his energy to it.

A network of glowing purple roots extended across the surface. Alfhild jumped over these root patterns as best she could. Tyranno, however, couldn't avoid them due to his gargantuan size. The moment his foot landed on the roots, a hidden seed bomb triggered below, causing a massive shrub of dark spikes to rapidly grow out from the earth. The explosive growth of the shrub caused the scales on Tyranno's sole to be torn off.

"RAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Tyranno roared. He stumbled around in pain, triggering more of the hidden seed bombs. Spiked shrubs exploded out of the ground, tearing across his scales. In response, he activated Iron Defense, causing the next couple of shrubs to break apart against him.

"Burst Cannon!" Tyranno had little time to recuperate as Vilde ran out from behind one of the spiked shrubs and fired a cannonball of condensed heat, blasting the rex off his feet.

Melissa dashed around the shrubs, chasing the airborne dinosaur, and grappled herself up to him with Abyss Cloud. She pulled on the dark clouds as she hovered above him, then fired herself down like she was loaded into a slingshot. "Mega Crash!"

Putting a spin on herself, she landed a heavy dive kick into the dinosaur's throat and carried him straight down to the ground. She grinded her foot against his neck, the force of her spinning creating a little bit of heat.

However, Tyranno wasn't so easily felled. Arisen by a sudden burst of fury, Tyranno unleashed his Outrage/Head Smash common, blasting the Buneary off. He rolled onto his feet and rushed down the Buneary before she could land, hitting her with a critical headbutt.

"GAH!" Melissa was sent sailing across the arena, her body skipping off the ground before crashing into a wall.

"Harlow!" Terrowin called out.

"I'll cover you!" Vilde yelled, firing off Burst Scatter into Tyranno's eyes. The dinosaur roared and turned his attention onto Vilde, who immediately ran away.

Terrowin rushed over to Melissa's side and pressed his wooden hand to her back. With his other hand, he drained away the energy of his Briar Garden and transferred it through Melissa, closing her open wounds. Once patched up, he pulled her to her feet. "You good?"

She groaned. "I will be once we win…" She shook her head and glared. "Got anymore bag of tricks?"

Terrowin plucked another seed off his back. After channeling his energy through it, he crushed it in his grip, revealing a cluster of green seeds that vaguely resembled the arils of a pomegranate. "Try using these."

Back in the fight, Vilde continued firing his Burst Scatter into Tyranno's eyes, hoping to blind him. Tyranno remained stubborn in the chase, pushing through the burning pain with the aura of his Outrage/Head Smash combo offering minor protection from the attack.

"Burst Mortar!" Vilde crumpled one of his pauldrons and fired it into Tyranno's face. The dense chunk of metal banged off of the dinosaur's face, stunning him briefly enough for Vilde to run under his legs to safety.

Tyranno recovered and swiped his tail across the ground, firing off a shockwave of draconic energy that caused the earth to crumble along the path. The wave caught Vilde's ankles and tripped him up, causing cracks to spread along his armored body.

With his prey downed, Tyranno rushed him down with his fangs exposed. He nearly caught his prey, but Alfhild intervened, throwing herself into the beast's fangs and catching his maw before it could snap shut. Despite her small frame, Alfhild valiantly held Tyranno's jaw open even as he struggled to bite down on her.

Vilde rolled onto his back, calling back his pauldron, and aimed into the monster's mouth. "Sorry about this, big guy! Burst Eruptor!" He fired the blue magma ball into Tyranno's mouth, prompting Alfhild to immediately retreat.

Tyranno's jaw snapped shut as the attack exploded within him. He roared up to the protective dome's ceiling, expelling torrents of flame that coated the inside of his mouth. The pain would've been overwhelming to anyone else, feeling the flesh of their tongue and gums being scorched, but Tyranno's pain tolerance was unlike any other.

Biting through the pain, he swung his tail around with a Breaking Swipe/Iron Defense combo, cleverly hitting Vilde so that his body would slam against Alfhild's, sending them both packing across the arena. After knocking them away, Tyranno stomped on the ground and triggered another Earthquake, causing sections of the ground to be uplifted.

Through the shifting plates of earth, Melissa dashed around with a handful of green seeds in hand. One by one, she chucked them at Tyranno while he was distracted. Each seed stuck to his scales like goopy bubbles, incapable of being shaken off.

With the plan set, Terrowin focused on the dinosaur through one eye and clenched his fist. "Gluttonous Garden."

The seeds exploded into clusters of vibrant green vines, ensnaring around the dinosaur. Tyranno roared upon noticing and attempted to rip the vines off, but only ended up getting them tangled around his bottom jaw. As soon as the finished spreading over his body, a violent aura of green light erupted around him. It caused no pain, but it hit the beast with a sudden wave of fatigue. Though he struggled to rip them off, Tyranno fell to his knees as even the act of standing was too great.

Terrowin breathed a sigh of relief. "Stay down."

Nero twirled his wine glass with a look of amusement on his face. "The old man's a lot trickier than I gave him credit for. Who would've guessed he had so many devilish tricks at his disposal?"

Ceres the Mightyena frowned. "Seems they will be winning this match sooner than expected."

"I wouldn't praise them just yet," Nero said. "If it were that easy to restrain Tyranno, he wouldn't be the executioner of our colosseum. My father can attest to this creature's might."

Tiberius glared. "It's true. He was a dangerous soldier of the Subterra Kingdom. It took three whole days to restrain him. Even then, we only managed because he exhausted himself. We've had to take special care to keep him from breaking loose. He's been much easier to manage once his mind started degrading from the stress."

Fortuna laughed. "That's not going to stop me from changing my bet. Come on, you losers! Don't get too relaxed!"

Jason gripped into his sleeve, withholding the nervous twitch in his face. She'll be fine. She'll be fine, Jason. Trust Melissa. Even telling himself that, sparks surged across his body in preparation. Just in case.

With Tyranno brought down to his knees, the guilty party joined back up with each other to catch their breaths. Vilde, after repairing his armor, asked, "So, what's the plan now?"

"We wait," Terrowin stated, pointing to the vines restraining Tyranno as they grew flowers across their surface. "My Gluttonous Garden will sap him of every drop of energy available. It's designed to restrain and subdue. The more he struggles, the more energy my vines can absorb."

Melissa sighed. "Thank goodness—"

"{Don't get too comfortable,}" Alfhild growled, clutching her club tightly. "{Commander Oddvar was not a man who went down by tricks alone.}"

"Wait, what was that?"

The moment Melissa took her eyes off Tyranno, the rex sprung into action. He had not fallen over purely by the energy-sapping nature of the vines, but rather to relax his body. His primordial mind, though at the forefront of his savage nature, tapped into the dormant experiences of his forgotten time as a soldier. Tyranno couldn't understand the nature of such tricks, but the remnants of Oddvar remembered everything.

Outrage. Head Smash. Iron Defense.

His eyes snapped open with a crimson glow blazing out. The vines, which had tightened around him, suddenly snapped apart as Tyranno burst from his lumbering state. Cloaked in a fierce crimson glow, he rushed forward like a speed train springing out from a foggy night.

His sudden burst of movement took the group by surprise, and they were a second too late to dodge. Tyranno plowed through them, scattering them across the air with a hefty headbutt. His hardened scraped against their bodies, shaving off fur/armor and bits of flesh.

"GAH!" they cried as they went flying in separate directions.

Tyranno's eyes flickered between the flying bodies before focusing his attention on Melissa, the one who had thrown the seeds that restrained him in the first place. He nearly tripped over himself as he turned, crashing against the arena wall, and charged at the fallen Buneary.

Melissa came to her senses as she felt the beast's stomps getting closer. She rolled onto her hands and catapulted herself off the ground, narrowly avoiding his snapping jaws. Crap!

Terrowin and the others picked themselves up and watched as Tyranno chased Melissa around the arena. Terrowin grimaced. This is beyond anything I've seen. No one in his mental state should be able to break free from my vines. He would've had to understand the mechanics on a fundamental level at least. Does that mean Oddvar still lives on somewhere under all that savagery?

Alfhild raised her club and shouted, "{For Subterra!}" She charged at Tyranno, roaring to the sky.

Vilde shook his head clear and summoned some flaming pellets in his hands. "Quit slacking, old man! We've got a battle to survive!" He followed behind Alfhild.

Terrowin picked himself up and glared unsurely. King Obsidian never specifically said I needed to kill Oddvar. Only if he was too far gone. I can't make sense if Oddvar still persists in that warped mind. I could technically knock him out and find a way to drag his body back to the castle. Cain would be able to confirm if Oddvar exists somewhere inside. He clenched his teeth. However, there are the…benefits of this situation. Until Project Talos is fully realized, I need soldiers greater than those living in the Outlands. Subterra would suffice. And what better cause to fight for than this?

"AAHH!" Melissa kept jumping ahead of Tyranno, feeling the wind of his jaws snapping close to her tail. "I'm not that tasty, I swear!"

"{Land skitter!}" Melissa glanced left and saw Alfhild pursuing after them. She stopped briefly, wound her arm back, and threw her club at her.

Realizing what the Tinkaton was offering, Melissa lunged at the club and caught its handle, allowing it to carry her ahead of Tyranno. She held on for her life as the club spun wildly into the air, hugging it like a baby Litleo stuck halfway up a tree. Now high in the air, Melissa remained briefly suspended, allowing her to grab the club in both hands.

Alfhild snapped her fingers, calling the club back. Melissa tightened her grip as she spun back down, putting her own spin on the club to build up its momentum. Tyranno opened his jaw and attempted to snatch the flying Buneary out of the air, but a barrage of Burst Volley from Vilde briefly staggered him, allowing Melissa to get in close and bash the club across Tyranno's skull.

"RAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Tyranno tripped over his feet and collapsed onto his side.

Alfhild jumped and caught Melissa right as she touched the ground. She set the shaky Buneary down and grinned. "{Not bad, land skitter!}" She punched her shoulder in celebration.

"Oooowwww…" Melissa massaged her aching shoulder. "Yaaayyyy. Friend punch…"

Tyranno flailed on the ground before twisting himself back onto his feet. The girls noticed too late as Tyranno whipped his tail at them, sending him flying across the arena. He aimed to chase them, but Vilde bombarded him with another dose of Burst Volley. The explosive pellets barely rattled the beast this time, and he swung his Breaking Swipe through the smoke, bashing the Armorouge away, too.

"AGH!" Vilde skidded across his back, then rolled back onto his shoulders and flipped to his feet. He punched his fists together and quickly repaired his armor. "No matter how many times we hit this thing, it's like he has multiple second winds to spare."

Tyranno roared in Vilde's direction and charged at him. Right as Vilde aimed to counterattack, wooden arms coated with purple claws burst out of the earth and caught the dinosaur in his tracks.

"Wicked Remains of the Harvest." Terrowin stood up after plunging his wooden arm through the ground. With a wave of his hand, more twisted arms burst out of the ground and swung their claws against Tyranno's reinforced hide. Each round of clawed arms passing over the dinosaur left nasty scars through his scales, slowly but surely chipping away at his nearly unbreakable defenses.

Seeing his chance, Vilde dropped to one knee and aimed his cannon at Tyranno's exposed neck. "Burst Rabauld!" He fired a stream of superheated projectiles into the beast, each one leaving a burning scar across his underside.

Tyranno roared and squirmed from the bombardment of attacks, struggling to get free from the wooden arms that kept him restrained. Shaking with rage, he once again erupted in crimson light. The claws that once dug through his scales were now caught in their rough ridges, and the burning pellets that did him so much harm were nothing more than irritating itches.

With one swing of his Breaking Swipe, he snapped the wooden arms, dropping him back onto his feet. He dug his head down and swung it across Vilde, throwing him over Terrowin.

Terrowin raised his hand and conjured a wooden arm to rise and catch Vilde out of the air. However, he mistakenly took his eyes off Tyranno for a second, because the beast had instantly sprinted into range when he turned back. Terrowin barely deployed his Bramble Bulwark in time before being tossed backwards.

Melissa and Alfhild picked themselves up and saw that Tyranno had gotten a hold of Terrowin's protective cocoon and was attempting to chew through it. Melissa glared at Alfhild and made gestures as she explained, "You draw his attention, and I'll attack from his blind spot."

Alfhild nodded. "{Right.}" She picked up her club and ran ahead while Melissa sprinted along the arena wall. Alfhild reared her club back like a croquet mallet. "{Alfheim Storm!}" She scraped the club against the ground and unleashed a barrage of stone spears at Tyranno's back.

The rocks exploded across Tyranno's hard scales, but did their job of distracting the beast. He turned toward Alfhild, still gnawing on Terrowin's barrier, and failed to notice Melissa racing up behind him. She threw herself against the wall, took a deep breath, and launched off at incredible speeds.

"Frantic Bunny Hop!" Cutting through the air at nearly imperceivable speeds, she hammered her foot into Tyranno's knee, striking with such ferocity that she made it buckle.

Tyranno was taken aback by the sudden attack and crumbled to the ground, letting go of Terrowin who uncoiled himself from his barrier. "Excellent work, Harlow!" he praised.

Vilde freed himself from the wooden construct and flipped through the air, raining down Burst Volley on Tyranno's head. "Now, stay DOWN!"

Tyranno squirmed on his back, enduring the bombardment, before spinning himself around and striking Terrowin away with his Breaking Swipe. He then spun onto his feet and jumped, snapping his teeth at the airborne Armorouge. Melissa, however, quickly deployed Abyss Cloud and lassoed the beast's mouth shut.

Terrowin caught the ground and stopped himself before plunging his roots through the earth. "Wicked Remains of the Harvest!" Dozens of wooden arms burst out from the earth and slammed into Tyranno, throwing him back against the arena wall.

Melissa, still, holding onto her dark cloud tethers, slingshot herself back at Tyranno and kicked him in the throat. She could hear the beast struggling to roar in anguish. She kicked off before he could smash his head down on her. "We're barely doing anything to him!"

"Just keep hitting him! We'll wear him down eventually!" Terrowin fired another cluster of wooden arms and pinned the beast tighter to the wall.

After landing, Melissa heard the arrogant laughter of Nero booming over the roaring audience. She glared up at the royal booth, watching as the emperor reclined smugly on his throne. She could sense the pleasure he was taking in their torment.

"Why haven't you won yet, Skill Hunter?" he taunted through the megaphone. "I thought you were aiming to make a peaceful Virdis. Or have you finally accepted the foolishness of an impossible pursuit?"

Melissa snarled. "You…!"

"It's still not too late to consider your position. You could always abandon your silly endeavors and swear allegiance to the New Chariot Empire. Someone like you deserves better than fighting an uphill battle for fleeting goals. What legacy do you think you'll have after five hundred years? No matter how much you fight for peace, war is inevitable. That's the unfortunate cycle you're trying to uphold. Why are you wasting your time down there? Just to prove a point you can't back up? You want a bloodless victory?" He leaned forward in his seat, eyes crackling with dark sparks. "Because the only way you're getting out of this arena alive is by killing that monster!"

Her expression twitched with anger. "Nero…!"

"…" Terrowin looked away from the Buneary and focused back on Tyranno. Poor thing's too inexperienced to the horrors of the world. I won't let you see that horrible future, Harlow. If you could only see what I'm offering, perhaps you might be able to prove him wrong.

Nero snapped his fingers. "You lasted the longest, I'll give you that, but let's not drag out the fun part for too long."

Terrowin's eyes immediately turned toward the barrier's ceiling and saw a Salamance soldier hovering above it. The soldier took a deep breath and let out a majestic cry that cascaded over the dome in a crimson glow.

The cry reached Tyranno's ears. He stopped struggling for a moment, then his eyes snapped up, glowing in a deep crimson. He shook with newfound vigor, struggling against Terrowin's myriad of arms, before unleashing his Outrage/Head Smash combo.

With his bare teeth, he chomped down into the wood and ripped out a cluster of arms from the earth. Terrowin gasped and immediately detached his rooted arm before Tyranno ripped out the rest of them. Once he landed on the ground, the beast let out an ear-splitting that caused his opponents to collapse onto their knees in pain.

"W-What the?!" Melissa screamed.

"What just happened?!" Vilde cried.

Terrowin grimaced. "I think…that soldier just used Dragon Cheer!"

"W-What does that do?!" Melissa yelled.

"In our case, something bad!"

Sinking deeper into his primal instincts, Tyranno rushed toward the guilty party with each stomp triggering a powerful Earthquake, throwing the group off balance. He lowered and swung his head into them, striking with the force of a hundred Donphan.

The group went sailing across the arena, skipping off the ground before crashing into the walls. They barely had a moment to breathe as Tyranno continued the charge after them, their health spared by the timely activation of Terrowin's Bramble Bulwark. However, the wooden barrier nearly folded in on itself from a single headbutt of Tyranno's.

Melissa massaged her aching head and grimaced at Terrowin. "D-Dragon Cheer?"

"It rouses the spirit and increases one's focus. However, the effects are greater on Dragon-Types as the name implies. Tyranno will be hitting even harder for the rest of this match."

"That's cheating!" Melissa yelled.

"We're being executed. There was never any fairness to begin with," Vilde grumbled.

Tyranno kept throwing himself repeatedly into the Bulwark Bramble. Though its hide was virtually unbreakable, its malleability betrayed it, depressing deeper and deeper into itself with each of Tyranno's strikes. Fortunately, the bunkered party had an ally on the outside.

Alfhild ran up on Tyranno from behind, climbing up the tail to his back, and set her club ablaze in a silverly dark aura. "{Alfheim Crash!}" She struck with all her might. Unfortunately, because the club was significantly lighter than her hammer, it didn't hit with the same power as she was used to. Still, it did the job of drawing Tyranno's attention away.

The beast snapped his head back and immediately hammered the gremlin with a mighty headbutt. Because it was partially empowered with Outrage, the damage wasn't nearly as dangerous as was on the others. She tanked the hit and got control of her balance before landing on the ground.

"{Alfheim Cannon!}" She tossed her club, letting it boomerang around and slap Tyranno across the face. "{Alfheim Reload!}" She snapped her fingers before punching the ground, erecting a field of sharp rocks.

Her club came flying back through the rock field, using its spinning to tear apart the path and fire back a wide stream of broken stone into the beast. Tyranno increased his defenses with Iron Defense and rushed ahead, plowing through the rock field himself.

Alfhild caught her club and slammed the ground, vaulting herself over the colossal dinosaur. She twisted her body and came down on the base of Tyranno's tail, striking with her downward momentum.

Tyranno roared out in anger and stomped the ground with Earthquake. Under the power of Dragon Cheer, cracks split over the earth, causing even more of the arena to divide into uplifted and rough terrain. Alfhild had a rough landing, tripping over herself and nearly being pressing between shifting plates of earth. She flipped off her hands before two slabs of earth crushed her in between them.

The shaking earth rattled the group still bunkered under Terrowin's barrier, forcing him to drop it. They gasped as Alfhild came stumbling out from the shifting earth to which Melissa lunged out and caught her.

"Are you okay?" Melissa asked.

Alfhild winced. "{He's strong…}"

Vilde gasped. "Wait, Galus is still over there!"

Melissa's eyes widened. In all the excitement, she nearly forgot about him. They were more focused on diverting Tyranno's attention, but she never anticipated him overturning the entire arena to such a degree. She set Alfhild down and screamed, "GALUS!"

The rumbling of the earth was far too great, generating too much noise for her voice to reach out to the wounded dragon, assuming he wasn't swallowed up under the earth.

Before she could panic, Terrowin held her shoulder and said, "He's a resourceful fellow. I'm sure he came to his senses in time and found some degree of shelter."

She winced. "Still…"

"Focus on the objective. We cannot prioritize every inconvenience when the greater threat stands before us."

"…" She clenched her fists. "Galus, please be okay." She glared through the shifting earth and shouted, "Terrowin, do something about the ground! Alfhild, Vilde, you're with me!" She dashed ahead, hopping along the moving plates.

Vilde and Alfhild (after a brief translation from Terrowin) followed behind the Buneary while Terrowin slammed his hands down and cast Grassy Terrain over the earth again. He then plunged his roots through the ground and tangled them along the earthly plates, stretching across the wide expanse of the colosseum's arena.

Melissa jumped as the roots surged under her and rode atop one, surfing toward the stomping dinosaur. "Frantic Bunny Hop!" She tensed her muscles and catapulted forward with explosive speed, kicking Tyranno in the snout.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Tyranno stumbled over his heels, but stayed upright. He ceased his destructive stomping and lunged at Melissa, attempting to catch her in his fangs.

Alfhild's club boomeranged through the air and struck him across the face, throwing him off course. Vilde ran up an incline of rock and leapt into the air, crushing his pauldrons together. "Burst Bomber!" He fired directly atop Tyranno's head, smashing his face into the ground.

"Spirit-Binding Forest!" Terrowin flicked his fingers up, commanding the roots to rise up and coil around Tyranno.

Sensing the approaching roots, Tyranno flailed into the earth, triggering another Earthquake the hollowed out more of the ground. He sank just low enough to avoid the coiling roots before slamming the ground with the addition of Breaking Swipe, cleaving out another section of earth in the rushing shockwaves.

Terrowin sprung into the air atop his vines and vaulted himself as high as the barrier's ceiling. He tightly coiled up his wooden arm, expanding and shaping it into a massive drill. "Calamity Afforest!" His arm extended with great speed, the tip shining in a dense purple glow.

Tyranno couldn't react to the attack in time and was smashed into the ground with brutal force. His scales were shaved off as Terrowin's arm drilled into his face, reaching through a couple layers of flesh and drawing blood from the beast. Outraged, Tyranno whipped his head around, bit on the arm, and pulled Terrowin out of the air.

Terrowin detached his arm and tucked himself in upon hitting the ground. He sprung to his feet, regrew his arm, and fired wooden tendrils into the beast. "Spirit-Binding Forest!"

Tyranno reacted in time and swatted the tendrils aside with Breaking Swipe. He erupted in a cloak of crimson aura again and rushed the old lizard down. Fortunately, Melissa rushed in and grappled around the beast's neck with Abyss Cloud, forcing Tyranno's head back and causing him to trip over himself.

"Faithless Imitation!" She released her dark clouds and conjured energy vines around her arms. "Luna Style: Earth's Wrath!" She plunged the vines through the ground and conjured up massive energy vines from below. With a swipe of her hands, she slammed them down onto Tyranno's back, pressing him deeper into the earth.

Alfhild and Vilde ran out from behind cover and went to town on the pinned dino. Vilde unleashed a stream of Burst Scatter while Alfhild wildly flailed her club into Tyranno's snout.

"{Go down already, Commander Oddvar!}" Alfhild shouted.

Bit by bit, the beast was being worn down, unable to contend with the myriad of attacks raining from all over. He wanted them to stop. He wanted them dead. He wanted them all dead, until he was satisfied. His carnivorous mind wouldn't allow such pests to best the apex predator.

Tyranno slammed his tail down, triggering yet another Earthquake, this time with such force that the shaking earth forcibly bounced around into the air. Melissa lost her concentration, allowing the vines to break loose around Tyranno. He instantly rose to his feet and opened his jaw to catch the flying rabbit.

Melissa shrieked and tried to swim up the air in desperation as she fell toward him. "No, no, no, no—"

A second away from becoming Tyranno's lunch, something swooped by and caught Melissa out of the air. Her eyes widened in shock, looking up to see Galus flying unsteadily through the air.

"Galus! You're okay!" she gasped.

The wounded Dragapult winced. "Phantom…Force. In time. Very tired." His previously acquired injuries persisted, and he could only remain airborne for so long before crashing back toward the ground.

Melissa held onto Galus and spun herself around to land safely with him in her arms. "G-Galus!"

She froze and saw Tyranno rushing toward her. She screamed and tried to run, but another of Tyranno's Earthquakes tripped her up, sending her faceplanting into the ground. She looked up and saw Tyranno seconds away from snapping his teeth down on her. In a panic, she grabbed the sharpest rock she could find and frantically tried to apply electricity around it.

"J-Jason Style—"

Tyranno lunged and went for the kill, but Vilde came through in time and blasted the beast off course with his Burst Bomber. The balled-up pauldrons pressed against Tyranno's face, but he endured and headbutted the metal away. Angered, Tyranno slammed his tail down and blasted Vilde away in a shockwave of earth.

"GAAAAHHH!" Vilde skidded off his back and landed in a crevice.

Tyranno turned his sights back onto Melissa, but Alfhild raced up the beast's tail and hammered her club atop his head. It barely did anything other than irritate him. Right as Alfhild retreated, he whipped his head around, caught the club in his teeth, and threw Alfhild down before she could release her grip. She bounced once off the ground, lining her up for a hard tail smack that sent her flying into Melissa.

Melissa gasped and spread her arms out to catch her, but was thrown back in the collision and slammed up against uplifted rock. The impact dazed Melissa before knocking her unconscious on top of Alfhild.

Tyranno panted heavily, looking around at the ruined arena for any more immediate threats. As far as he could see, Vilde and Galus were too wounded to get back up, and the girls were knocked out cold for the moment. Satisfied with the results, he lumbered up to the girls, opening his jaw as a river of saliva dripped out.

His hunger was immeasurable. He ignored the cheers of the excited audience, his vision focused solely on devouring the meal he worked so tirelessly to obtain. That was his role as a carnivore in the modern day: to remind the soft-willed lifeforms who the true kings of the past were.

A mere inch away from seizing his lunch—

A vine whipped across the air and slapped his face.

"…" Tyranno pulled away from his awaiting meal and glowered over his shoulder, focusing his bloodthirsty gaze onto the lone Sceptile pulling himself out from the rubble. "Grrrrrraaaahhhhhh…" He turned around and lumbered up to the old lizard.

As Terrowin stood motionless with his head down, he listened to Nero's laughter echoing over the roaring audience. His yellow eyes, softly glowing in the light, flickered in the emperor's direction.

"Offering yourself as a final meal, old man?" Nero taunted. "I'm afraid you don't have enough meat to satisfy such a monstrous appetite." He smirked. "How foolish of you to come into my empire and make demands. Do you think I'm oblivious to the monster you are?"

"…" Terrowin glared.

"Ever since you first contacted me, I've been keeping special tabs on you. I've learned a lot since then, and I've come to understand more about the man that brought terror to this region those many, many years ago. It took a lot of digging to find an ounce of information on someone so elusive." He covered his face and laughed. "Who would've guessed someone like you could pull off a magic trick like that?"

Terrowin's eyes widened. "Magic…trick?"

"Everything's connected. The old stories of millennium old boogeyman. The secrets hidden within the ruins. And your very existence." Nero's smirk grew. "You dare look at me as a ruthless dictator? Everything I've done in the last eight years cannot compare to the crusade you've started since the first sparks of revenge ignited in your soul. Or did you think we weren't aware of the seeds you've been planting all these decades?"

Jason glared. What is he…?

"…" Terrowin closed his eyes, sighed, and straightened up as the jaws of death loomed over him. Saliva dripped onto his face as he stared into the dark void of Tyranno's maw. "Do you want to see just how much I hate this world, Emperor Nero?"

SNAP!

A simple snap of his fingers was all he needed.

The second that sound echoed over the colosseum, Tyranno fell.

The audience gasped in disbelief as the gargantuan beast that towered over the old lizard now fell to his knees with a sudden weakness. No, it wasn't just Tyranno. All around the arena, the rest of the guilty party squirmed and groaned as some dreadful weakness overtook then.

It was none other…than Terrowin's previously deployed Grassy Terrain.

However, its color had been altered. No longer projecting the arena in a vibrant green. It illuminated in a beautiful mix of reds, oranges, and browns akin to the falling of leaves before the turn of the colder months.

"Withering Autumn."

Terrowin stepped confidently toward the weakened dino, who struggled to rise back onto his feet. He snapped his teeth weakly at the old lizard who remained unfazed in the beast's presence, no longer showing fear or hesitation against such a monstrous foe.

"…I tire of this game. I could've ended this at any point, but this technique is far too unfriendly." Terrowin raised his hand. "But let not a drop of their energy be wasted."

Tyranno tried to activate Outrage to give himself an extra boost. "Grrrraaahhhh…!" He opened his maw, attempting to bite the lizard's head off.

"From Dust to Life."

Slamming his hand down, Terrowin instantly reversed the effects of his terrain. No longer sapping the energy of the environment, the ground suddenly split open under Tyranno with a massive pillar of twisting wood ejecting out. He carried the beast into the air and slammed him into the protective barrier.

Crackle, crackle, crackle

CRACK!

The pressure exuding from the wooden pillar exceeded the strength of the barrier, causing the top to shatter open. The audience recoiled and shielded themselves as the pillar continued rising high above the colosseum, now with branches extending out from its sides.

Leaves sprouted from the individual branches, and a huge cluster formed at the top, bunching themselves together tightly and blocking out the light of the sky over the arena. The rising pillar eventually slowed down and rumbled to a stop, odd creaking sounds groaning as it took on its rigid shape.

Everyone stared in awe at the birth of the largest tree residing in Telo Martius.

Leaves fluttered off from the branches and rained over the colosseum like a field of sakura petals. The occupants of the royal booth looked upon the tree in astoundment.

Fortuna plucked a leaf out of the air and marveled at it. "Is…Is this for real?"

"Of all the…!" Gemini gasped.

"What kind of power is this?!" Tiberius exclaimed.

Only Nero remained calm in face of the newly formed tree, staring at it with narrowed eyes.

After pulling himself up, Terrowin glanced ahead and found Tyranno weakly laying on the ground. In the midst of the tree's creation, the beast had been roughed up between the rapid growth and twisting of branches before ultimately being dropped back onto the ground. His legs were broken, and he was barely conscious, hanging on purely by his unending hunger.

"…" Terrowin approached the wounded beast and raised his wooden hand to him.

Tyranno growled, but couldn't work up the strength to rise. He didn't have the energy to even open his jaw and bite on the approaching lizard. Terrowin was able to get close enough to touch his chin.

"The war is over, Commander Oddvar," Terrowin whispered. "Your allies have returned safely to the kingdom. You fought a good fight."

Tyranno's growling seemed to soften at the Sceptile's words. For a moment, there seemed to be…a flicker of light in his eyes. A flicker of…recognition.

"You've been relieved of duty, soldier. Rest."

STAB!

Tyranno went rigid as Terrowin suddenly plunged his arm through his mouth, digging straight through his weaker insides and reaching the heart. Once a thunderous drum fueled by adrenaline, the beating organ went still in the beast's ribcage.

The war was finally over.

Terrowin pulled his arm from the beast as he went limp. Tyranno's feral eyes flickered weakly before darkening into dull, glassy spheres. A cascade of leaves rained from the newly formed tree and decorated across the motionless dinosaur like a ceremonial tarp.

Terrowin flickered the blood dripping off his hand and sighed. "Your death will not be in vain. I promise." He looked around as the others started to come to, sluggishly picking themselves off the ground.

"W…What happened?" Vilde groaned.

Melissa pulled herself up while Alfhild picked Galus up in her arms. She looked ahead, massaging her throbbing head, and saw Terrowin standing next to the motionless Tyrantrum. Her heart sank once she saw the blood dripping off Terrowin's hand, not even acknowledging the tree that had spontaneously burst from the earth.

"You…You just…" she mumbled, stumbling toward him.

Terrowin bowed his head shamefully. "I'm…terribly sorry you had to see this. It was our lives or his." He ran his hand along the beast's rough scales. "But he's no longer in pain, at least."

Alfhild navigated through the uneven ground and frowned at the deceased Tyrantrum. She sighed. "{This…is for the best.}"

Melissa pressed her hand to the still dinosaur, wincing at how cold his scales started to get. "I…I wish there was another way. I didn't want to go this far."

Terrowin sighed. "I'm sorry, Harlow."

"Uh, guys?" They turned toward Vilde as he limped over. He pointed to the audience. "Look."

The crowd had gone silent in shock. Beyond the mutterings and peeps of the stunned audience, all had gone completely silent to process the unimaginable victory very few dared not imagining to witness. This marked the first time in New Chariot's history someone actually survived their execution. Whether it be traditional or public sport, this…

This has never been seen before.

The group's eyes slowly trailed to the royal booth to witness the emperor's reaction. Though from such a far distance, they could see a majority of the booth's occupants were processing the unintended victory with a mix of disbelief and anger.

Emperor Nero, however…

"…Heh."

A slow, methodical, lone applause echoed out from the royal booth, bringing forth feelings of disdain from the surviving party. Nero rose from his seat, smiling not with an ounce of bitterness or contempt in their victory over the undefeated executioner. Whether or not he withheld such negative feelings for the sake of saving face, he maintained a look of unflappable composure as he applauded their efforts.

"You all are truly something," he said, his voice bellowing ominously through his megaphone. "That really should've ended with your guts painted across these walls, and yet you leave us with a corpse and a rather inconvenient weed in the middle of my colosseum. You really, really didn't want to die. Well, ended all the same, I suppose. That's just how war works."

"…" Melissa curled her fists and scowled.

"A deal is a deal. You all have been sentenced to death, yet you actually overcame it. For that, you're free to walk off." He smirked. "Just don't expect the same courtesy should you ever show your faces here again. I don't do second chances lightly."

With a snap of his fingers, soldiers raced to the arena's main gate and lifted the many blockades leading the way to the outside. The pathway to Telo Martius' streets stood just beyond the tunnel ahead.

No one made any move to approach it, their gazes never leaving Nero.

He laughed. "What? Expecting a trick? Or have you not had your fill of bloodshed? Maybe one of you could become our next executioner. Wouldn't be a bad deal. This is just the way things are. Cruelty will always prevail so long as there's something in this world that opposes the other, and this dead sack of meat that now lays before you is proof of that."

"…" Melissa growled through clenched teeth, straining her knuckles as her fists tightened.

"I don't know what you two were even fighting for. All that talk about peace, and this is how you end things?" Nero covered his face and laughed. "No one in this damnable world wants peace! We'll just keep fighting and fighting for everything until we've bled ourselves dry! No matter how good you think you are, you can't deny that malice that lives inside everyone!"

"…" Melissa was practically venting flames through her teeth as she growled. Peering down at the ground, she noticed one of Tyranno's fangs had been knocked loose during the final standoff.

Nero raised his arms to the sky and laughed. "Nothing in this world comes without a price! If you want to stay ahead of the greedy scum that pillage for their own self-satisfaction, you've got to stay ahead of the game! That is how New Chariot has thrived! And that is the empire I shall lead until the day I die—"

WHOOSH!

A collective gasp sounded from the crowd as Melissa picked up the dislodged fang and struck it with her Mega Kick. It propelled through the air like a bullet and nearly sniped off Emperor Nero's head. The Krokorok, however, reacted in time and caught it in his bare hand, digging his claws down as it drilled against his palm.

Fortuna and the rest of his harem gasped. "Nero!"

"My liege!" Gemini exclaimed.

Tiberius winced as he gazed upon his son. "Nero…"

Jason glowered. Melissa…

Blood dripped off Nero's palm. He tossed the fang aside and smirked at the irate Buneary. "Was all that talk about no bloodshed just a bluff?"

Melissa panted heavily in a vain attempt to calm herself down before pointing up to the royal booth. "Emperor Nero Martius! I challenge you!"

Shock sounded all across the colosseum as the Buneary's bold declaration rang out over their ears. All but Nero trembled at such a brazen insult against the emperor's honor.

Nero, however, only felt his smirk growing with excitement. His eyes flashed red with delightful malice. "Care to repeat that, little bunny~?"

Melissa scowled. "You want to be a God of War? Let's test that notion! I hereby challenge you! One-on-one! No one else. No running away. No backing out. Just you and me. Settling this once and for all."

Nero threw his head back and laughed. "You crazy little bunny!" He grabbed the megaphone stand and snarled through his mad grin. "How can I refuse such stupidity? Fine, I gladly accept, but I'm the one deciding the match."

Jason winced. In the event we need to move up the invasion date, Melissa was given permission to call for the Pandora Assault. You knew you would have to signal for this sudden attack strategy, didn't you?

Melissa glared. "Name your game, Nero!"

A cold, malicious laughter echoed out over the silent colosseum.

"Gladiatorial chariot combat."