Chapter 179: The White Arena
"So this is the White Estate." Mutters Alexia as she and her group approaches the White Estate grounds. The sight of the pure white and luxurious mansion, which is so luxurious that it should've been owned by a Duke rather than a mere Earl, makes them wary as this is the enemy's territory.
The mansion still looks fancy and relatively clean despite being supposedly abandoned for weeks, a sign that it isn't truly abandoned despite the plants, bushes and vines being allowed to overgrow around the property's garden.
The group consists of 4 girls and several men, most of which are from the Crimson Order.
"That place may look fancy on the outside but it's a hellhole! Hellhole I tell you!" Shouts a girl who's not part of their group until a moment ago.
"Uuuhh… remind me. Who is she again?" Asks Alexia, bewildered as to the presence of the black haired girl who accompanies them.
"She is Kanade, mine and Cid's classmate." Says Duchess Christina, introducing the black haired girl in their group, who stands out due to being the only one of low ranking among the girls of the group.
"And… why did you invite her here?"
"She's more familiar with the layouts of the White Mansion than the rest of us because she's been there before."
"Oh? How?" Asks Alexia while staring at the poor girl with scrutinizing eyes.
"I-I heard that after THAT BITCH Eliza was humiliated by Miss Hope here back in school, sh-she killed her own maid and one day she just grabbed me and told me, "You're gonna be my maid!" and I couldn't resist at all!" Kanade tells her story, emphasizing the words "that bitch" with an ugly expression and different tone than when she speaks of everything else.
"Let me guess. The bitch stayed here a lot, which is why you were stationed here? And you agreed to come back here because you need protection as you are someone who knows the layout of the mansion more than other people? Including its secret passages?" Says Alexia, fully agreeing that the person they were referring to is a bitch while also assessing the usefulness of the unassuming girl.
"Yes! You're exactly right, princess! I was lucky enough to be released before she could kill me because Lord Claude arrested the Thirteen Night Blades! But now that they're released and Lord Claude gone…" Kanade continues while trembling, fearing for her life.
"Hmmm… I suppose she will be useful in this mission, unlike Poo—Cid Kagenou…" Alexia frowns due to the absence of her beloved dog, who had to have a stomach-ache at the most crucial time, although part of her believes it is for the best that he didn't come with them to enemy territory.
"Y-Yeah! Where is that Cid guy!? I could've used him as a human shield if it comes to it!" Kanade shouts, clearly honest with her desire for self preservation.
"Don't worry, Kanade. I will protect you." Says Christina reassuringly while smiling.
"M-Miss Hope! You're my human shie- angel!"
"Ah ha ha ha. I did bring you here after all. And I also promised you protection from the Night Blades so you can at least expect protection from me and from the knights we're bringing with us." Says Christina, still smiling sweetly at the poor girl.
"O-Okay…!" Mumbles Kanade while crying tears of joy. But just a second later she immediately turns back and changes her expression. "All according to plan. Hee hee hee." She mumbles quietly with a grin whilst also drooling, totally planning on snatching some expensive items she saw from the White Estate on the way. In fact, this ulterior motive is part of the reason why she agreed to come back here in the first place. The other part being Christina's promise of protection from the Night Blades and reward.
"If she's useful, she can stay. All that matters is that we must rescue my brother!" Declares Charlotte, fully determined to be the one to save her brother this time as she has been rescued by him many times in the past.
"Let's not waste any more time, for we are not the first to come here." Declares the only beastkin among the group, who is also the only one who is not a knight among the men in the group.
"What do you mean, Sir Gettan?" Alexia asks with worry.
"I detected the scent of many people coming this way. They smell like blood, which leads me to believe they came from the front lines. And among them is a smell similar to yours, princess." Gettan replies, confirming Alexia's suspicion and worry.
"Iris is here!? Then we must hurry!" Shouts Alexia as she rushes to the mansion, prompting everyone she brings to follow.
"Hyaaaaa!" A feminine shout echoes throughout the underground arena underneath Earl White's mansion, which is followed by a man's torso flying away from his feet and his blood spraying to the floor.
This arena is where Earl White often hosts depraved gladiator matches to humiliate and punish people who wronged him and the Thirteen Night Blades. This time, Princess Iris is its next victim.
The audience wearing red, who are sitting on the challenger's side, cheers whereas the audience on the other side are silent, especially the ones sitting on the VIP booth.
"Tch. It seems that common mercenaries are no match for her even if we've forced her to fight alone." Mutters Earl Battler, fully convinced that ordinary fighters won't be a match for the princess, especially when she's bringing an Artifact with her, something they forgot to consider when they let her enter the arena even though she has always brought it with her on the battlefield.
"Should we bring our trump card already? He's stronger than even her, right?" Says one of the Night Blades, more specifically the one whose arm has been cut few nights before, carefully avoiding the mention of their trump card's name as they have guests sitting with them on the VIP booth. But before they could decide, one of their subordinates enters the VIP booth with a rush.
"My lords! More intruders have infiltrated the estate! They are quickly on the way here!" Said subordinate reports with a bow, making the Night Blades reconsider their options.
"Who are the intruders!?"
"It's princess Alexia and her troops! She is also accompanied by Duchess Hope and Charlotte Normann!"
"What are the guards doing!? They should've stopped those intruders!"
"A-All our guards have been eliminated long before the intruders made it in!"
"How did that happen!?"
"I-I don't know!" The subordinate panics as he is unable to answer.
"How's the state of the corpses?" Earl Battler, the more level headed among the Night Blades, asks the panicked subordinate.
"T-They were brutally mutilated, sir!"
"Then… perhaps they were slain by Jack the Ripper. He is here." Earl Battler concludes, bringing panic to the Night Blades.
"How did you conclude that, Earl Battler!? He didn't use cards on those guards… did he?"
"Jack the Ripper is known to be brutal. And he didn't need to leave cards on mere subordinates. I believe it's a bad idea to let our trump card out. I have little doubt that the princesses wouldn't kill our trump card but if it's that clown, there's no guarantee!" Earl Battler concludes.
"What should we do!?"
"Come now, we have spent great amount of money to hire the best mercenaries we can. Even ones from the Lawless City. Surely they alone would be enough to handle the princesses and that killer clown?" Says Earl White, the owner of the property, while turning to his guest, formerly Don Jon's assistant who is now working under Yukime and the Necromancer.
"Indeed, my lords. No need to worry. We shall display the might of the Lawless City here and now." Says Marie, who's now wearing white secretary suit with Don Jon's cane in hand at all times.
"Then, let's bring the first among them, shall we?" Says Earl White confidently as he sends a hand signal to the announcer.
"Hailing from the Lawless City, he's a former knight captain and a wanted man with a huge bounty on his head! Formerly serving as a guard dog of the Crimson Tower, now he serves as the Lawless City's attack dog! Feast your eyes on the infamous White Demon!" Declares the announcer, signalling for the gate of the arena on the Night Blades' side to open, revealing the next combatant to Iris, the challenger. His arrival is followed by cheers from the audience on the Night Blades' side.
"Heh heh heh. To think that I would have the opportunity to squash a big fish like you! I hope you'll be more entertaining than the two mercenaries I fought before." Says the White Demon, no longer dressed in a white robe made of his former military uniform but in a proper military uniform resembling the one he previously wore during his time as a knight captain. His body is also less scrawny and more muscular now.
"I don't care who you are. I will crush you as I did everyone who stood in my way." Iris replies while pointing her blade at the mutilated corpses around her, not flinching at the sight of the man in front of her.
"My former self might be outmatched compared to you but the current me has grown stronger thanks to Lord Don Jon's blessing! He even gave me my severed arm back! And with this new weapon bestowed upon me by Lord Necromancer, I'll turn you into just another victim! Now, prepare to be slaughtered, princess!" Declares the White Demon as he charges forth to meet his opponent with his decorated and double bladed spear in both hands.
Iris parries the strike from his spear. She feels something different the moment their weapons clash but she dismisses it as she pushes him away in order to follow it up with a counter attack. The White Demon parries her attack while grinning menacingly.
"Good! Good! Give me more!" He declares with a maddened voice. Iris ignores it as she focuses her efforts on delivering more strikes. But each strike she delivers is blocked. Judging that she needs to unleash more power in order to quickly dispatch him, she pours more magic to her mythril blade, causing it to glow red.
"Ohhh, that's good! Yes! Give it to me!" The sight of her glowing blade did not deter the man. In fact, it excites him more as he jumps forward to let his weapon clash with hers. Yes, that's what he's aiming for, not herself. Iris only noticed why after seeing the red aura covering her blade dissipates after clashing with his weapon once more.
Now that she has noticed something's wrong, she also notices how the magical energy that once coated her blade were absorbed by his spear.
"Took you long enough to notice, princess! Now your power is mine!" Declares the White Demon as he holds his weapon high in the air and coats it with the red tinted magical energy that said weapon previously absorbed from Iris.
"Hmph. Absurd." Iris is undeterred as she unleashes more magic into her blade, the aura coating it extends to the edge of the arena, which is protected by a barrier that cracks against Iris' power.
"Ha! Are you stupid!? All you're gonna do is giving me more po-" The White Demon taunts as he attempts to parry the mighty strike that Iris delivers but his words… and his body are cut apart by a red arc.
"Whaaaa… How…?" The White Demon can only mumble as he look upon his feet and stomach, which has been separated from the rest of his body, before falling to the floor, unable to comprehend the overwhelming difference between him and her, which overwhelms even the power of his Artifact, which has now been sliced into two along with his body.
The Crimson Order knights, who are sitting on the audience seats, cheer on while the audience on the other side once again stay silent at the crimson haired princess' constant victory.
"Who's next!?" Shouts Iris as she points her blade at the audience on the other side, particularly at the Night Blades who are sitting on the VIP booth.
"Hailing from the Crimson Tower of the Lawless City, formerly one of Crimson's subordinates who survived the Red Moon Incident! A monster who has made a name for himself since the fall of the Blood Queen! Please welcome the vampire, Sanguine!" The announcer shouts as the gate on the other side opens once again, revealing a pale vampire wearing a red cape.
"Heh. That foolish dog got himself killed because he's too overconfident, eh? Well, you'll find me an entirely different beast, princess." Says the vampire as he approaches the princess, who remains undeterred even though she knew how terrifying vampires could be since the Red Moon Incident.
"I wonder how your blood will taste like! Heh heh heh!" Says Sanguine as he launches the expected blood spears towards Iris, who destroys them easily with a swipe of her blade.
"Wrong move!" Sanguine declares as he launches the shards of his broken blood spears at her, piercing and slicing her body from many angles, finally being the first among her opponents to draw blood, eliciting a cheer from the audience on the Night Blades' side.
"Heh heh heh. Now… to get my blood into your system and…" Sanguine says as he manipulates his blood shards to dig deeper into Iris' wounds in order to infect her with his blood.
In response, Iris unleashes her magic, coating her entire body with red tinted aura that blows away the blood shards, surprising Sanguine.
"What… how could she be that stro-" His words are cut as he finds his heart already pierced by her mythril blade, not giving him the chance to turn into a mist.
"Heh. But I am a true vampire! A true Nosferatu! Through Lord Necromancer's gift, I will not die just from thi-" His words are once again cut by a mighty punch in the face, which sends his head away from his neck, effectively killing him and turning his undead body to dust.
"Next!" Shouts Iris as adrenaline pumps within her, eager to destroy her next opponent. Her blood thirst surprises and scares not only the Night Blades and their minions but also the Crimson Order knights in the audience seats.
As the Night Blades are about to unveil the next fighter they've prepared for her, they hear a shout.
"Sister!" Shouts Alexia as she and her group enters the arena through the gate from the challengers' side.
"Alexia. What are you doing here?" Asks Iris.
"I'm here to help you!"
"Go home Alexia. I need no help in this."
"That's bullshit and you know it! We need to stick together!"
"No. The Night Blades specifically instructed me to fight alone."
"And you're just gonna follow their whims!?"
"They have Claude in their hands! Of course I have no choice!"
"But-"
"Ahem!" Just as they are about to continue arguing, the announcer clears his throat in order to draw everyone's attention to him.
"Due to the unexpected circumstances in which the challenger broke the rules by bringing more fighters to their side, we hereby announce that we will also be increasing the number of opponents that the challengers have to face!" Declares the announcer as the gate opens, revealing a troop of mercenaries and thugs of various origins, each as bloodthirsty as one another. The number of fighters on their side greatly exceeds the number of fighters that Alexia brought with her.
"Hawawawawawa I'm gonna die! I'm totally gonna die! Miss Hope is a devil for bringing me to this!" Shouts an unassuming girl among their group, whose pocket is visibly full of stolen gems and jewelries that she snatched from the mansion above.
Alexia and the others brandish their weapons to face the troop before them.
"Hey hey! This is unfair! They outnumber us ten to one!" Shouts Alexia.
"But they are outmatched ten to one." Says Iris while smirking as she charges in to slaughter the troop of enemies in front of her, an attitude that even Alexia didn't expect of her sister.
Has the battlefield affected her that much!? No. I must focus on the battle first! Thought Alexia as she and her group charges forward, following her sister's example.
Thanks to Iris' unparalleled might, which surprises everyone except the knights who fought with her on the battlefield, the troop of enemies is quickly dispatched, leading to the Night Blades panicking.
"E-Earl White! She killed them all! What should we do!?" One of the Night Blades asks Earl White, who's losing his confidence and is visibly shaking.
"M-Miss Marie! Do you have anyone stronger among your ranks!?" Instead of replying to his colleague, he turns to ask his guest.
"We do have someone… but she's not here and I have no authority to bring her here anyway because she works directly under Lord Necromancer. Why don't you bring the trump card that you mentioned?" Marie answers nonchalantly.
"B-But…" Earl White was about to argue with the former prostitute but he was interrupted by a shout.
"Look!" Shouts one of the Night Blades while pointing at the arena where someone unexpected has entered through the gate from the Night Blades side.
Author's Note:
Sorry this update once again took so long. I was busy with grammar fixing the old chapters while thinking of how to continue the story.
I've also made some additions to Chapter 31: An Ancient Evil btw. I wrote a fight scene against Nelson in that chapter, extending it beyond the original.
Kanade is a cutie and the manga reminded me of that, which is why I decided to bring her into this chapter because I almost forgot about her.
Marie also returns! Wearing Don Jon inspired attire and is more confident than she was before!
Also, who is the unexpected person who enters the arena? Find out in the next episode of The Gladiator in Shadow!
And once more, please support me on Ko-Fi!
Guest: Response/Add on to EightEyedOne's post: I feel the same way, it was I how stumbled upon this fanfic in the first place. Watching both Overlord and TEiS made me wish there was an OC that could challenge the OP protagonists that is Ainz and Cid and their equally OP minions (I was hoping they would fight in the small crossover but they just hung out instead). And then I found this fanfic by chance and it has become my current favorite fanfic to read (OC villain protagonist fanfics are rare too). I used to think the only thing that can beat OP characters were Eldritch beings, which incidentally this fic has in the form of Thanatos. If I hadn't come across this fic I would have came up with my own OC, though I am not a good writer and can only think up concepts, not write stories.
Answer: Glad you liked my fic and its concepts. I came up with this fic only because I want more TEiS content and adding a villainous OC due to my love of villains. Him being Shadow's rival is to be expected at that point.
DerTrap: We are so back!
So we are doing "Mind Controlled" Clon Claude vs Iris? Let me guess, she will still get clapped with negative level difficulty, before finally kicking off her villainess arc?
Answer: It's probably coming now. ;)
Guest: I just thought of the craziest idea! If and when Shadow and Necromancer have their final battle, it should be as their old identities. Balaclavas Berserker/Stylish Bandit Slayer vs Occult Killer, vigilante vs serial killer, crowbar vs butcher knife, no magic, just a contest of sheer martial prowess. But at the end of the day, it is your story so you get to decide how you want to write it.
Answer: I may do that for later fights between them.