Immortal World.
In a place that had previously been unknown to anyone, hidden from the outside world, in a dense fog that now began to clear and revealed the sight of a magnificent structure.
In the immortal world, a huge, imposing colosseum appeared out of nowhere, which had previously been hidden from the outside world by an incredibly dense and impenetrable fog.
The structure was made of massive stone blocks, dark and smooth, as if they had been carved from a single mountain ridge. The outer walls rose dozens of meters high, supported by giant pillars decorated with strange symbols and carvings. Through numerous arches and narrow stairways one could reach the various spectator stands that surrounded the central arena in rings.
The arena itself was a circular battleground with a diameter of over a hundred meters. The ground was made of solid, cracked stone, in some places covered with dark, dried stains – traces of past battles. From the edges of the arena, mechanically appearing constructions jutted out, as if they were meant to change the environment or create obstacles.
Above, over everything, there was a huge tribune, elevated and shielded, apparently intended for particularly important spectators or rulers. Flames in stone braziers cast their light on silver banners with unknown emblems that fluttered slightly in the wind.
The place seemed deserted, quiet – but not dead. As if it was only waiting to be brought back to life.
The Colosseum. This was the place where the second trial of God, in which Cercius participated, would take place. The arena had been created not long ago by Asher himself for this trial and was meant to become a place of spectacle, joy, and lust for battle in the future, where subordinates would fight in the name of their constellations.
Through the portal that had transported him from Avalon, Cercius appeared directly in the Colosseum, in front of the closed gate that led to the arena and allowed glimpses of the dusty arena and the tribune.
But something was strange.
Huh? What's that, what happened to my clothes?! When he looked down at himself, Cercius noticed that his adventurer's outfit had disappeared and been replaced by something else.
He was no longer wearing his light plate armor or his clothes, and even his sword and shield had vanished. The only thing he still had on his body was a tight gladiator armor over his upper body, golden arm and leg guards, as well as a short metal skirt.
But it had to be said – dressed like that, he really looked like a genuine gladiator who fought for glory and honor, and for his life, in the arena.
"W-what is going on here, where did my things go, and what is this clothing?"
Cercius looked around in shock and noticed his new surroundings. But his confusion about his missing clothes was quickly interrupted by the system and faded into oblivion.
[Welcome to the Colosseum of the immortal world, the place of battle and celebration.]
[The chain scenario: "The Six Trials of God: Second Trial," will begin shortly.]
[Second Trial: "Survive in the Colosseum."]
[Task: Survive five rounds against various opponents in the Colosseum. The required equipment will be provided to you for each round in the arena.]
With that brief task description, it was more or less clear why his weapons and equipment had suddenly disappeared. But why even Cercius's clothing had been changed could only be answered by those who wanted to see an authentic gladiatorial fight.
Cercius squinted slightly, and his gaze immediately became more serious after reading the message and looking out through the iron gate.
After a few minutes of waiting, the large gate to the arena finally opened on its own, announcing the beginning of the first round.
Cercius strode forward proudly, ready for the first round in the Colosseum and curious what it would be.
He was by no means nervous or uncertain. Excitement and anticipation filled his heart, and a subtle grin appeared on his lips, ready for an intoxicating fight.
When he finally entered the large arena, the vast stands appeared, filled with people and beings of various races, cheering, eager for the battles and exciting events that would take place in the arena.
However, the spectators in the stands were not really there. The second trial had a kind of streaming function that transmitted the events of the Colosseum to all worlds and to every being with a status window.
The spectators in the stands were therefore projections of all the viewers who were watching the events of the arena through their status window. There were, however, a few figures who were actually present in the Colosseum, even though one could not tell the difference between them and the projections.
As soon as Cercius had entered the arena, a message appeared announcing the first round of the trial.
[The first round of the second trial, "King of Beasts," begins.]
Cercius stood unarmed, mostly bare in the arena, while his bronze-colored skin shimmered in the sunlight, staring at the opening iron gate on the other side of the arena, from where his first opponents would appear and enter.
When he saw his opponents, it was obvious why the first round was called "King of Beasts."
That was because the first opponents Cercius would face in the Colosseum were two strong lions whose fur shone in the sunlight and who were already baring their teeth at their prey.
The two lions slowly approached Cercius from the right and left. They approached very slowly and observed their prey first before they would pounce on him.
Cercius also did not act hastily and watched their behavior carefully.
Even if they currently looked like normal lions, since they appeared in God's trial, they were hardly ordinary lions that would be easy to defeat.
After they had observed him for a while and tension had built up in the arena, and the spectators eagerly awaited an exciting fight, the lions decided to make the first move.
They both ran toward him from different sides and pounced simultaneously on their prey in the middle.
Cercius frowned slightly as he watched the actions of the two lions and reacted quickly.
When the lion on the right reached him, he made a light step backward, dodged the lion's claw, and with his palm, shaped like a bear's paw, delivered a precise and powerful strike to its neck.
The casual-looking strike instantly broke the lion's neck and killed it on the spot.
Then followed the lion on the left. This one did not attack with its claws but with sharp teeth, aiming to bite Cercius in the neck and taste his blood.
However, Cercius knew how to respond and gave this lion a precise and powerful punch directly to its abdomen, sending it flying across the field.
The lion flew several meters and crashed against the wall of the arena. The punch broke several of the lion's bones and ribs, causing severe internal injuries.
Blood flowed from the lion's mouth and nose. It could hardly stand anymore, breathed heavily, and finally succumbed, after a few minutes, to its injuries in cruel pain.
Cercius, who had experienced all this, was speechless and looked quite confused.
Why the hell are they so weak? Isn't this supposed to be the trial of God? He was horrified. As it turned out, these two lions were ordinary lions and not even nature beasts.
[Congratulations, you have passed the first round "King of Beasts."]
[It has been recognized that you are in top form, the second round will begin immediately.]
"Are you serious…"
With that, the next round was announced before anyone could dispel Cercius's doubts or answer his questions.
Haah~ But actually, that wasn't necessary. Because the easier the opponents, the better. Why should he complain if his enemies were easy to defeat? That only showed how much he had grown.
And what he himself didn't know was that this first round was already harder than the entire first trial of God, "The Hunt for the Holy Boar." Because if he had taken this trial with his previous condition and strength, he would likely have quickly failed and been torn apart by the lions.
It only seemed so easy because he had already become that strong.
While Cercius waited for the beginning of the second round, a gladius suddenly appeared, sticking in the ground right next to him. This seemed to serve as equipment for the next round.
[The second round of the Second Trial of God begins: "Hunter of the Jungle."]
With the system's announcement, the iron gate opened again, and Cercius's opponents of the next round entered the arena.
In the second round, Cercius's opponents were not animals but intelligent monsters. They were Blood Goblins. These were a further developed and stronger species of goblin.
Although they were called an evolution, Blood Goblins rather resembled monsters and thus a degradation. They possessed far less intelligence than even normal goblins and loved to cause carnage. The only things that had developed in them were their mana and their physical strength, agility, and cruelty.
Yet even this "evolution" was not really worth mentioning and left them as the weakest of all intelligent monster races.
Three Blood Goblins, armed with short swords, entered the arena. They looked truly malicious, like little devils who loved nothing more than to watch the life of their victims fade away and to create a work of art with their blood.
With their stupid faces and a wide grin that almost stretched from ear to ear, they hopped around and approached their target standing in the middle of the arena – Cercius.
Hm~ This time they are monsters.
In truth, Cercius had looked forward to the second trial, especially to test his new powers, since even now he still lost again and again to Arthur and had no real comparison for how strong he currently was.
Therefore, the trial so far had been quite disappointing, and this round, too, promised to be disappointing and hardly satisfying. Weaker opponents would not challenge him much, let alone draw out his full strength.
"What the hell, I'll just finish it quickly!" he murmured to himself.
Cercius stood calmly and, despite the enemies, kept his guard down. Even with the gladius in his hand, he appeared quite defenseless. Nevertheless, he exuded a certain, strange self-confidence that slightly unsettled and made the Blood Goblins hesitate.
However, they did not let that stop them for long. When they saw their target moving directly toward them, completely unprotected and disinterested, they also decided to go for it immediately.
The three Blood Goblins pounced simultaneously, giggling foolishly, on their prey and swung their short swords at him.
Cercius raised his gladius in one swift motion and swung it horizontally.
With just a simple swing, he caught all three monsters at once and cut off their heads in mid-air as if they were made of cheese.
They quickly fell to the ground, and their heads, with distorted faces still grinning, unaware of their own end, rolled across the floor.
Hm~ That was a bit disappointing, Cercius sighed as he watched the three heads roll across the ground.
[You have successfully passed the first wave, the second wave follows…]
This message slightly surprised Cercius and gave him some hope after all. Maybe the second round would not end as easily as the first.
The iron gates of the arena opened again, and this time five Blood Goblins came running out.
The three Blood Goblins immediately stormed toward their target. They also looked confident of victory and giggled, ready to massacre their target.
Cercius reacted very calmly. He waited for the goblins and easily dodged the first attack – a direct thrust to his face.
Then followed a sword swing from the side.
This time he didn't even look at the attacker and merely ducked to the side, as if he could foresee the attack. But before he could launch a counter-attack, another one came, this time again from the front.
The goblin thrust its short sword directly at Cercius. At the same time, the other two Blood Goblins appeared directly behind his back.
However, Cercius stood still as if rooted to the spot and made no attempt to defend himself. He didn't even raise his sword, his guard lowered and exposed to the attacks of the Blood Goblins.
Bronze Skin!
The three Blood Goblins successfully stabbed at Cercius, but their swords did not, as expected, pierce his body; instead they bounced off as if they had struck a stone wall.
By successfully using his ability "Bronze Skin," Cercius had hardened his skin and could let the weak attacks of the monsters hit him directly without worrying about injuries. This was the ability he had obtained through the core of the Holy Boar.
He had inherited the trait of the Holy Boar as an awakened ability by using its core to awaken it.
At the moment of confusion, when the Blood Goblins were repelled and looked bewildered, Cercius raised his gladius. With a single strike, he once again cut off the heads of the three Blood Goblins in front of him.
Then he turned lightning-fast and faced the remaining two Blood Goblins.
These, however, immediately sensed the danger, and as fast as they were, they jumped back and left his attack radius.
The small monsters showed remarkable reaction speed and instincts, but…
"That's not enough!" declared Cercius and raised the middle and index fingers of his left hand.
Earth Spikes!
Unexpectedly, the Blood Goblins had not yet left his attack radius, as it was not limited to his sword.
Suddenly, from the ground behind the two Blood Goblins, two sharp stone masses burst forth as if out of nowhere and pierced their small bodies like skewers from behind.
Blood sprayed from their mouths as they hung there with wide eyes and shocked expressions. Slowly, the light of life faded from their eyes, and the little monsters perished.
Thus, all five Blood Goblins had fallen in less than a minute. This time, however, Cercius had taken a little longer and even used the magic he had learned from Morgana.
[You have successfully survived the second wave, the third and final wave follows…]
Once again, the gate on the other side of the arena opened, and this time a full dozen armed and dangerous Blood Goblins poured into the arena.
"Let's end this quickly!" declared Cercius and went straight on the offensive this time. There's no point in wasting more time with these weaklings. I'd rather finish them quickly, all at once, and start the next round!
It did not take long until Cercius had finally dealt with the last wave of Blood Goblins and thus completed all three waves of the second round. During the third wave, however, he had relied only on direct close combat instead of using magic as before and finished it quickly.
He had wasted no time and swiftly eliminated the Blood Goblins one after another.
In fact, the previous use of magic had really not been necessary. But it had fit the moment and ended the boring fight quickly, without Cercius having to linger with the Blood Goblins any longer.
It was therefore a little bit of showing off, mixed with efficiency.
[The third round of the Second Trial of God begins: "Horde of Death."]
Finally, the system message appeared, announcing the start of the third round in the Colosseum.
And as if on cue, the iron gates of the arena opened and released Cercius's challengers of this round into the arena.
Cercius's challengers in the third round had become even more numerous and had almost doubled in number compared to the previous round. Over thirty undead skeletons equipped with weapons and light armor entered the arena like a well-coordinated combat unit.
At the front stood ordinary skeletons equipped with light leather armor, shields, and swords; behind them, in the second row, stood a line of skeletons in dark robes and with round crystal balls in their bony hands. These seemed to be some kind of mages.
All the way in the back, hidden behind the two dozen skeletal warriors and a dozen mages, stood – no, rather floated – a skeleton that also wore a dark robe like the mage skeletons. But unlike the mage skeletons, it held no crystal ball in its bony hands and radiated an especially unique and sinister aura that influenced the atmosphere and darkened its surroundings.
When Cercius saw this floating undead figure, he couldn't help but frown. It was quite obvious that this skeleton was the strongest undead of this troop and probably also the leader of this group.
He had also noticed it immediately by its unique and strong aura.
That means… He took a few steps to gain momentum and immediately sprinted toward the undead. "If he falls, it'll be easier to take out the others!"