Ben walked out of the grand gate, immediately met with a chorus of boos.
Clearly, all the spectators found him incredibly weak, even more so than the Prince of Asgard who had just fought.
On the hovering aircraft, Valkyrie was also watching the upcoming battle.
She wasn't qualified to be here originally, but she had brought the Red Wind Queen to the Empire before, so she received some preferential treatment from the Red King.
At this moment, she was seated in mid-air on the deck of the spaceship, one leg bent, holding a wine bottle in her right hand, resting it on her knee, drinking and shaking her head.
"What a shame. I thought you were quite clever, but I didn't expect you to be so foolish."
Actually, Valkyrie had a pretty good impression of Ben. Among all the gladiators she had captured over the years, Ben was the most honest and well-behaved. Not only that, but he had also helped her sell Loki at a high price, ensuring she wouldn't have to worry about money for wine for decades to come.
She had originally planned to visit Ben sometime, but now it wouldn't be so troublesome.
It would be enough to visit his grave twice a year for a drink.
The drunken Valkyrie looked at Ben, who stood before the giant monster, appearing minuscule yet completely fearless, and for some reason, her eyes seemed to see herself.
Thousands of years ago, wasn't she the same? Fearless, wielding her blade against the Goddess of Death for the sake of Asgard's royal power.
But what was the result?
All the Valkyries were annihilated, leaving her alone to eke out a miserable existence, tormented by nightmares day and night.
She didn't know what kind of conviction drove Ben to voluntarily enter this gladiator arena, to voluntarily propose a Champion Challenge, to be unafraid even when facing the threat of death.
But in her eyes, Ben was just as foolish as she had been in the past.
On the Totem Tower, Looma also saw this fearless contender undertaking the Champion Challenge. He looked weak, his slender arms more fragile than aged branches, as if they would shatter with a single touch.
"This is my opponent?"
She finally gave up all hope, sighing, "It looks like this is as far as he'll get."
In reality, Ben looked much better than a heavily injured Loki, and his physique appeared more proportionate and robust.
However, the criteria for judging strength among cosmic beings wasn't solely based on physique, but also on the energy within them.
"An ant like this dares to attempt a Champion Challenge? Death is his only end," the Red King said with a cruel smile after hearing Looma's words. "His only value is to die tragically, to entertain me."
Hearing this, Looma glanced at him and said with displeasure, "At least he has the courage to face an unwinnable monster unarmed."
She was clearly mocking the Red King.
The cowardly Red King didn't dare to fight with only Light Armor.
But...
Ben: Unwinnable? I don't understand!
To others, the monstrous giant was a terrifying sight, but to Ben, it was merely a slightly larger punching bag.
The gladiator arena allowed every warrior to bring weapons, but Ben had only symbolically donned Light Armor; he didn't need a weapon at all.
'Because I have the most powerful Omnitrix in the entire universe!'
He curved his lips slightly.
At the same time, his gaze swept towards the high platform, and instantly, he almost cried out in surprise.
"Princess Looma?"
Yes, he saw Looma.
If there was anything that completely exceeded Ben's expectations up to this point, it was undoubtedly Looma's presence.
"The Red Wind Queen is Looma?"
Before this, Ben had always considered the Red Wind Queen and the Red King as a united enemy, but now it seemed that might not be the case.
"Tetramands seem to respect strength. If I can defeat them, I can make them submit?" Ben mused.
If that was the case, he could completely win Looma over to his side. With her, in addition to Loki, Bill, and Valkyrie, the Galactic Plumbers would gain another powerful general!
That's right, even though the Galactic Plumbers hadn't been established yet, Ben was already planning for the future.
He had even already decided on a candidate who could serve as Security Officer.
But all talk aside, he had to conquer this female Tetramand first!
From high above, Ben's gaze was captured by the people on the Totem Tower.
"Looma, it seems he's already infatuated with you," Caiera teased.
Looma showed no reaction to this.
She shook her head and said, "I have no interest in weak insects. Moreover, if he's distracted during a fight for such a reason, he won't be far from death."
Looma was right.
At this moment, the Corker monster lunged towards Ben. If its massive body crushed him, it would likely flatten Ben's tiny form instantly.
And that kid was still spacing out.
Wasn't this just courting death?
If not for her respect for Ben's courage, Looma would have turned and left long ago.
But that was all there was to it.
The enormous monster was already pressing down on its opponent—
The light overhead dimmed, and Ben snapped back to attention. He looked up to see the red monster extending all its tentacles towards him.
Its stretched-out body was like a tightly woven, inescapable net, blocking out the sun and obscuring everyone's vision.
As Ben looked, he met its gaze, its teeth a dense, sharp mass like a meat grinder.
Thump!!
The ground trembled.
Amidst a chorus of boos, the match finally concluded.
The audience seemed unsatisfied with the fight, as it ended too quickly. They felt less like they were in a gladiator arena and more like they had paid a high price for tickets to a zoo, witnessing a giant monster devouring its prey.
"This doesn't even count as a proper fight," many shouted. However, thankfully, no one dared to demand their money back in front of the Red King.
The Valkyrie shook her head. She stood up, sprinkled the wine she hadn't finished drinking onto the ground, as if mourning for Ben.
"How boring. Let's go."
Looma shook her head and turned away.
However, the moment everyone's attention shifted away from the arena, something unexpected happened!
"Boom!"
A deafening explosion, like a cannonball being fired!
The next moment, a fierce wind swept in, carrying the monster's roar.
Looma immediately turned back, her eyes widening—the monster, weighing at least dozens of tons, was now being shot high into the sky!
Half of its body was gone, as if it had exploded from some violent impact. Viscous chunks of flesh rained down into the arena, drenching the groaning, complaining spectators.
But no one felt any displeasure because of it.
On the contrary, a fervent cheer echoed through the heavens!
Everyone looked towards the arena, where a burly man, completely crimson, with two pairs of eyes and four arms, was raising his fist.
Undoubtedly, it was he who had punched the monster into an explosion!
Such power, combined with his striking resemblance to the Red Wind Queen, drove everyone into a frenzy.
The crowd roared enthusiastically.
They didn't know Ben's name or title, but at that moment, without needing to think, a perfectly fitting name appeared in all their minds.
Almost tens of thousands of people shouted in unison:
"Red King!"
"Red King!"
"..."
Upon hearing the cheers from the Totem Tower, the Red King was stunned.
It's over, I've become a stand-in!
He really wanted to say, I'm the real Red King!
But he couldn't afford to dwell on it now. Angmo Asan's ant-like eyes instinctively glanced at Looma. As expected, Looma's eyes seemed to be fixed on Ben, unable to look away.
It wasn't that she had immediately fallen in love with Four Arms, but after being in this world for so long, it was the first time she had seen someone of her own kind. It was impossible for her not to be moved.
Just as the Red King was about to say something, he saw Ben in the gladiator arena provocatively beckoning to Looma with his finger.
"Are you challenging me?"
A smile spread across Looma's face. She had no intention of refusing.
"Wait, Looma, this isn't allowed. He needs to complete three matches first..." Caiera said with a frown.
But Looma roughly pushed her hand away. "I can't wait that long!"
Having finally encountered a Tetramand, Looma felt like ants were crawling all over her body at the thought of not being able to fight immediately.
Therefore, she leaped without hesitation.
Thump!
She landed on the ground like a red meteor.
"Red Wind Queen!"
"Red Wind Queen!"
"..."
Seeing the Red Wind Queen enter the arena, the already fervent atmosphere ignited even further, as if gasoline had been poured onto a raging fire!
At this moment, they felt that buying tickets for today's matches was an absolute steal!
In the arena, two four-armed warriors stood facing each other.
"You're quite handsome, I've never seen you in the army before. Did Dad send you to find me?" Looma asked.
But Ben didn't answer. He grinned, his four arms smashing together:
"If you want to know, fight me first!"
Hearing this, Looma wasn't angry; instead, she became happy.
"That's more like it!"
Just then, the corpse of the giant monster that had been blasted into the sky fell back down. It was like the drumbeat to the start of a battle. The moment it hit the ground, Ben and Looma charged at each other simultaneously!
*BOOM!!*
Their elbows collided, instantly creating a massive gust of wind.
Only then did the many people still in shock realize what had happened.
The Red King looked at the arena, his expression unreadable.
The Valkyrie was almost blown off the plane by the strong wind. She was dumbfounded, not even noticing when the wine bottle slipped from her hand, and muttered to herself:
"You never told me you were of the same race as the Red Wind Queen..."
Korg peered out from a crevice. The intense vibrations caused the stones on his body to loosen, and debris rained down.
"Wow, I knew he could do it!"
"When did you say he could do it? You clearly said he was the new Loki and would die faster than Loki," Miek interjected.
"That's because I didn't know he had four arms."
"I have dozens." Miek, the insectoid, straightened up, revealing rows of abdominal legs.
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