Chapter 13 – Gladiator Champion
The roar of the coliseum was thunder itself. Tens of thousands of digital citizens, projected as avatars of light and code, filled the amphitheater. Their chants rattled the air:
"Blood and Glory! Blood and Glory!"
Lyra stepped onto the sand, her boots sinking slightly into the granular floor that shimmered faintly—half arena, half simulation. Her breath slowed, syncing with the rhythm of her pounding heart. She had survived trials, thieves, hackers, mages—but this was different. Today, she was thrown into the heart of the storm: the Champion's Grand Free-for-All.
[System Prompt: Initiating Gladiator Championship Trial]
[Objective: Survive the free-for-all and face the reigning Champion.]
[Reward: Unique Skill + System Upgrade Core.]
[Penalty: Death → Permanent Erasure from Archive.]
The words burned inside her vision like molten steel. There was no room for hesitation.
Across the field, gates groaned open. One after another, warriors marched out—hulking brutes with steel-plated bodies, assassins clad in shadow-woven cloaks, beastkin with eyes glowing crimson, and cybernetic gladiators whose arms hummed with plasma blades. Forty combatants in total. Forty rivals with one purpose: to be the last standing.
The horn sounded.
And chaos erupted.
Lyra dodged immediately, instincts sharpened by the Archive's brutal lessons. A spear whistled past her head, embedding itself into the ground with a crack that spidered the stone beneath the sand. She rolled, unsheathing the short plasma-forged blade she had claimed in the Survivalist Trial.
Two opponents—a reptilian twin-sword fighter and a bulky human carrying a spiked hammer—converged on her.
The hammer came first, smashing downward. Lyra leapt sideways, sparks exploding where it hit. The reptilian struck from her blind side, but Lyra ducked, sliding beneath his arm, and drove her plasma blade into his side.
The hiss of burning flesh filled the air. The reptilian shrieked, twisting, but Lyra yanked the blade free and kicked him into the hammer-wielder.
[System Prompt: Opponent Eliminated. +120 XP. Current Kill Count: 1.]
"Not bad," Lyra muttered, scanning the battlefield.
The arena was a storm of violence. Lightning crackled as a mage launched spells into the crowd. Fire erupted where a beastkin tore into armored gladiators. The screams of steel against steel rang in the air, punctuated by bursts of blood.
A shadow passed overhead.
Lyra looked up just as a winged fighter dove, twin axes glinting. She rolled again, but not fast enough—one blade nicked her shoulder, tearing open flesh.
Pain seared through her nerves.
[System Alert: Minor Wound Sustained. Bleeding Effect: -2 HP/second.]
"Not good…"
Lyra gritted her teeth and lifted her hand. The elemental module she had begun to unlock pulsed, responding to her will. She thrust it forward.
A surge of compressed wind erupted from her palm.
The winged fighter was caught mid-dive, slammed backward into the arena wall with a crunch.
[System Prompt: Opponent Eliminated. +200 XP. Current Kill Count: 2.]
Her wound still burned. She slapped a healing stim onto it from her inventory. The bleeding slowed, the pain fading into a dull throb.
The crowd roared louder. She wasn't just surviving—she was climbing the ladder of death.
But so were others.
From the chaos, five fighters emerged—clearly veterans, each one cutting down rivals with terrifying ease. A spear-wielding woman with tattoos glowing like fire. A cybernetic juggernaut with a shield the size of a wall. A silent assassin whose knives never missed. A beastkin covered in blood but still roaring with vitality. And at their center, a tall, muscular man wielding a double-edged sword that gleamed like lightning itself.
The others parted around him instinctively, avoiding his path.
"The Champion's Vanguard…" Lyra whispered.
They weren't the reigning Champion—but they were his gatekeepers, the final test before anyone could reach him.
And they had their eyes on her.
The spear-wielder struck first, her weapon snaking forward like a serpent. Lyra twisted, barely deflecting it with her blade, but the sheer force shoved her back. Before she could recover, the juggernaut charged, shield-first.
The impact was like being hit by a charging beast. Lyra flew back, sand exploding around her as she hit the ground hard.
[System Alert: -45 HP.]
Her vision blurred. Her ribs screamed. She forced herself to roll, just as the assassin's knife sliced the space where her throat had been.
Too close. Way too close.
Her mind raced. If she fought them all at once, she'd be crushed. She needed chaos.
She slammed her palm into the ground. Wind energy surged again, whipping up a cyclone of sand. Visibility dropped. Fighters coughed, blinded.
She darted into the storm she had made, silent as a ghost.
The first target: the assassin.
She caught the glint of his knife in the swirling sand and lunged. Her blade slid between his ribs before he realized she was there.
[System Prompt: Opponent Eliminated. +150 XP. Current Kill Count: 3.]
She didn't pause. The juggernaut's heavy steps thundered toward her. She feinted left, then circled behind him in the swirling dust. Her blade slashed the tubing along his back, where cybernetics met flesh. Sparks and blood sprayed.
The juggernaut bellowed, staggering, his systems shorting.
The beastkin pounced then, claws slashing. Lyra barely lifted her blade in time, sparks erupting as claws met plasma. She twisted under his swipe and drove her boot into his chest, forcing him back into the faltering juggernaut.
The spear-wielder roared, spinning her weapon in a deadly arc. Lyra ducked—but too late. The spear tore across her arm, searing pain making her vision white.
[System Alert: Moderate Wound Sustained. HP -60.]
She hissed through her teeth, then shoved her palm forward again. This time, she mixed the wind surge with raw plasma energy.
A shockwave exploded from her hand, a blinding blast that sent the beastkin sprawling and ripped the spear from the woman's grip.
Lyra stumbled, panting, vision narrowing. Blood slicked her arm, her health bar dangerously low.
The spear-wielder snarled and lunged barehanded. Lyra met her with her blade, sparks flying as they grappled.
It came down to raw will. Lyra screamed, forcing every ounce of strength into her strike. Her blade punched through the woman's chest.
[System Prompt: Opponent Eliminated. +220 XP. Current Kill Count: 4.]
Silence.
For a heartbeat, silence reigned over her storm of sand.
When the dust cleared, only Lyra stood. Around her lay the bodies of the Vanguard, broken, bleeding, erased by the Archive's merciless system.
The crowd roared in approval, the sound shaking the heavens.
But the arena was not finished.
[System Prompt: Vanguard Eliminated. Accessing Final Stage.]
The ground trembled.
A new gate opened.
From its shadow, a lone figure stepped forward.
He was massive, towering over every other gladiator she had seen. His armor gleamed obsidian, etched with glowing crimson lines. A helmet in the shape of a lion's head masked his face. His greatsword was broader than Lyra's entire body.
The crowd hushed, then screamed his name:
"TITAN, THE UNDYING CHAMPION!"
The man raised his sword, pointing it at Lyra.
[System Prompt: Final Duel Initiated. Opponent: Undying Champion – Level 70.]
Lyra swallowed hard, her body trembling, her health bar half-drained, her blade slick with blood.
But she lifted it anyway.
Because if she didn't, this was where her story ended.
The Champion began to walk forward, each step like thunder.
And Lyra… tightened her grip, eyes blazing.