The four-way standoff didn't last long.
Varro appeared behind a boulder, crimson threads already weaving from his iron hand. Three pistol shapes formed in the air beside him and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lucian jumped behind a rock. The shots hit stones and sprayed dust everywhere.
"Claude!" he shouted. "Your boy almost killed me back there. You sure we're on the same team?"
Claude didn't look at him. "Leo wasn't trying to kill you."
"His sword says different."
Leo stepped forward, sword raised. "Keep talking, slave. See what happens."
"Dear!" Claude's voice was quiet. One word. Leo stopped.
"Focus on Varro," Claude said. "I'm done analyzing his moves. His iron hand is a Magician class artifact. It creates weapons from crimson threads. And that vanishing trick is his own Hunter ability called Veil Cloak. Watch out for his strikes when he vanishes."
Lucian still didn't trust him. But the information was important, and he couldn't beat any of them alone.
"Alright. What's your plan?"
Across the arena, the red-haired girl was still attacking Johan. She moved like something feral, no technique, no form, just speed and violence. Her chains whipped behind her as she clawed at his face. Johan sidestepped and caught her by the throat. She bit his wrist. He threw her into a wall.
She got up before the dust settled.
"That thing doesn't stop," Johan muttered.
"Watch out!"
Varro wove his iron hand through the air as multiple cannon shapes formed above him and fired toward them.
Boom! Boom!
The arena was covered in smoke. The Luzerna team closed in together, covering all directions from the attack.
"A lone prey," a voice whispered around Lucian.
His senses spiked. His eyes followed every ripple in the smoke. Sweat ran down his neck.
Then a dagger flew past his neck, barely grazing it. He couldn't even sense it.
"Khuhuhuh. I can feel your fear. The despair." The whisper came from everywhere and nowhere.
A cut appeared on his forearm. Then another. Then another. Varro was toying with him.
"I like to hear you scream, boy."
Lucian slashed toward the voice. Nothing but air.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed through the arena, followed by a gust of wind that cleared the smoke.
A few meters away, Claude stood with a small mechanical ball floating beside him. He raised his revolver and fired three shots at Varro. Two missed. The third clipped his shoulder as Varro appeared, barely flinching.
Blood dripped.
Claude grinned. "You're too talkative for a Hunter."
"Khuhuhuh. Luck," Varro said, and vanished again.
The mechanical ball scanned the area. A second one rose from Claude's belt and drifted out to widen the sweep.
"Right. Six meters. He's creating something," Claude called out.
"Understood," Leo and Johan said in unison as they charged.
Lucian watched them fight. Their teamwork was better than he expected. They moved in perfect sync. Johan took the front, his grey scales absorbing every hit while Leo stayed behind him, reading the openings and countering. Claude commanded from range, supporting with precise shots.
But Varro matched them. Crimson threads wove weapon after weapon from his iron hand. Sword. Dagger. Spear. Each one formed and dissolved in seconds, and he wielded every single one like he'd mastered every weapon in his hand.
Lucian had never seen anyone fight like that. Switching weapons mid-swing without losing a beat, each one used differently, each one aimed at a different weakness. It wasn't just skill. It was something beyond that.
He watched how Luzerna fought together, and how Varro answered everything they threw at him without slowing down. There was no opening. Not for Lucian. Not against any of them.
I need to weaken them, or it will be impossible to kill them.
Then he glanced to his right.
The red-haired girl was charging straight at him.
Shit.
. . .
Lucian ran. The red-haired girl chased him, her chains scraping behind her.
He needed to come up with something fast and shake her off.
She closed the gap fast. So, he planted his foot and spun, driving a kick hard into her stomach. She took it. Her body barely shifted. It was like kicking a wall.
Her fist came back at him before he could readjust. He jerked his head to the side and felt the air snap past his ear. If that had connected, he'd be done.
He turned and ran again.
She followed. Every chance she had, she lunged at him as he barely slipped past her fist. She swung again. He ducked. Her fist cracked into the boulder behind him, leaving a fracture.
Dodge and run. That was all he could do.
The fight between Luzerna and Varro was reaching its peak. Varro's body was starting to show cuts and bruises as he fought all three of them nonstop, not giving him a breath. Claude fired from cover while Leo pressed in close, his aura-coated sword clashing against crimson shields. But the one taking the worst of it was Johan. He tanked hit after hit, his scales cracking under repeated blows.
Lucian ran toward them, then made a sharp turn, trying to herd the girl away from him. The momentum of their fight broke as the red-haired girl slammed into Johan, and Varro vanished again.
"Watch it, slave!" Leo shouted.
"Dammit. I lost him," Johan said.
But the red-haired girl's fiery eyes were still locked on Lucian as he ran again.
"I'm scanning the area," Claude said.
"Kill," she said. "You."
Lucian kept running and dodging, tracking her movements. Then she vanished fast.
What?
She came from his blind side. No warning. No sound. Just a fist that connected with the side of his head and sent him spinning into the dirt. His ears rang. His jaw felt numb, locked tight from the hit.
He rolled and tried to get up. She was already on top of him, hands around his throat, screaming in Arkian words. Her red eyes were wild, locked on him like he was just another thing to kill.
His vision blurred. His hands clawed at her wrists, trying to breathe, but she was too strong.
He needed something. Anything.
The Arkian words he'd read in old translation books. Fragments. Broken pieces. But it was all he had.
He forced it out through her grip on his throat.
"Friend."
Her hands stopped squeezing. Her eyes flickered. She tilted her head slightly. Confused. Like a dog hearing a sound it hadn't heard in years.
She stared at him. Her grip loosened just enough.
He grabbed a rock from the ground and hit her at the temple.
She dropped.
Lucian lay there gasping, one hand on his throat, the other still holding the rock. She was out cold beside him, breathing but still.
She almost got him.
. . .
Across the arena, Luzerna was losing ground.
Johan's scales were cracking worse with every hit. Patches of bare skin showed through where the grey had chipped away. He was slower now, his breathing heavy, but he still stood in the front line. Leo circled behind him, sword coated in red aura, waiting for Varro to appear. Claude stayed at range, his mechanical balls hovering beside him, scanning.
"Left. Four meters. Behind the tall rock," Claude called out.
Leo charged. His sword came down hard, but Varro was already gone. Crimson threads wove into a spear and shot toward Claude. Leo threw himself sideways to block it, the impact sending him sliding back.
"Johan, pin him now!" Claude ordered.
Johan pushed forward. Varro appeared again, and Johan lunged, both hands reaching for his shoulders. "Constrain!"
The gauntlet pulsed. But the light was weaker this time. Varro froze for a second before the constrain collapsed. He twisted free like it was nothing.
"It's not holding," Johan said through gritted teeth.
"Again!" Claude shouted. The two mechanical balls charged forward to support Johan.
Johan threw himself forward once more, grabbing Varro's arm. "Constrain!"
However, Varro didn't even stop moving. He simply brushed Johan's hand aside and kicked him in the chest. Johan stumbled back, scales crumbling from the impact.
"Khuhuhu. Enforcer class. Really a tough shell to crack," Varro said, mocking.
Johan was done. His ability was spent, and his defense was falling apart. But his face stayed flat and hard. No pain. No panic.
Lucian watched Varro circle back. His eyes were locked on Johan. He wasn't attacking yet. He was waiting. Patient. Like a hunter playing with wounded prey.
Claude saw it too. "Johan, fall back! Leo, cover him!"
Leo moved to intercept, but Varro wove two cannons from his iron hand and fired them in quick succession. Leo deflected one with his aura-coated blade but the other grazed his side. He shielded himself with red aura but still stumbled.
Johan was alone.
Lucian saw Varro weaving something from thin air as Johan tried to raise his arms to block it. The mechanical balls floated in front of Johan, trying to shield him.
This was a chance.
He forced himself to move.
But not to help him.
Lucian ran toward Johan from behind. Johan was focused on Varro, trying to raise his arms for a counter. He didn't see Lucian coming.
Lucian drove his dagger into the back of Johan's knee. His balance broke and he pitched forward, one hand hitting the ground as he tried to support his body.
"You little," Johan said, glaring at him.
Varro was already there.
Johan had no chance to block. Varro pierced through his broken scales and stabbed deep into his abdomen with a crimson sword. Then he slashed horizontally.
Johan split apart. His entrails spilled across the sand as blood dripped down from what was left of his torso to his head.
Varro stepped on Johan's head and pressed down with force, laughing. "Khuhahahaha!"
"Finally! The first kill goes to the SeaHunter!" the shirtless announcer shouted from above.
The mechanical balls fired at Varro. A gunshot cracked from Claude's position. Leo charged. But Varro vanished.
Leo stopped in front of what remained.
"JOHAN!"
He looked at the two halves on the ground. At the wound behind the knee, low and clean, nothing Varro could have reached.
Then at Lucian.
His eyes changed.
"You," he said. His voice was low and shaking. The red aura around his sword flared brighter, hotter, crawling up his arm like fire. "You did this."
He took a step towards Lucian.
"Leo, wait!" Claude started.
"SHUT UP!" Leo roared. He raised his sword. The aura pulsed so brightly it hurt to look at.
Leo charged.