Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Chapter 391: The Gladiator Gauntlet VII

The moons had shifted in their orbit.

The moons had been shifted. Selene and Lunaris – I could imagine no other entity that could even begin to think about pulling off the stunt – had spun the moons in their orbit, eclipsing the sun and explicitly highlighting Iona before a crowd of hundreds. Soon to be thousands, if not tens of thousands. What was happening had to be visible before half the world!

Roughly?

This was going to cause all sorts of havoc with the tides, calendars… my mind boggled at just how many things got casually upended with a single move.

The fact that the goddesses could casually shatter the illusion Lun’Kat had on the moons was also interesting, with dozens, if not hundreds, of implications. Things to work through another day.

“-r. Match Pause!” The [Referee] caught himself in the middle of starting the fight, aborting right before saying ‘fight’.

The crowd exploded. We all got to our feet, cheering or screaming. The screaming portion of the crowd was mainly trying to flee the arena, and get out before something bad happened, while the cheering part couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I was on my feet like the rest of them, yelling myself hoarse.

Then the howls started. I whirled around to one behind me.

Some of the spectators, scattered here and there, were werewolves. Generally harmless, all but the most sociopathic werewolves restrained themselves during the full moon. They knew the phases of the moon the way I knew where the nearest source of mangos was.

Divine intervention had understandably screwed with their careful planning, and now they were transforming. In the crowd. With no restraints.

Werewolves could transform into the wolf-elvenoid hybrid when they wanted, and still retained most of their faculties. It was different under a full moon, or two.

Chaos erupted. I split my mind into pieces, one focused on everything else going on, the other on the werewolf right in front of me. One was in fight mode, the other was in heal mode.

I didn’t want to kill anyone if I didn’t have to. None of the werewolves here had planned to transform, to become raging beasts attacking everyone around them.

The werewolf snarled and lunged at the woman next to him, who was screaming and falling back. I shot forward, throwing up a shield between the two of them. The werewolf bounced off my shield, and turned to me. His lips were curled back, showing his teeth, and he crouched before pouncing at me.

He was slow. A fat [Merchant] by… I wanted to say day, but it was daytime right now. Either way, he didn’t have significant stats boosting him. It was trivial to step into his wild swipes, and grab him by the throat.

The other part of my mind noted a dozen different people getting mauled. We were all under full moonlight, and it was trivial for my mind to flicker out, casting [Wheel of Sun and Moon] along with [Dance with the Heavens] to heal and stabilize everyone in my range.

None would die while I was here.

The part of me handling the werewolf was still going.

“Bad doggy.” I said. He snapped at my face, his teeth closing an inch away from my nose. I used my other hand to clamp down on his snout, forcing his mouth closed.

“No. Down.” I said.

What I was saying was terribly offensive to an untransformed werewolf, but most of the social rules of etiquette went out the window during a murder attempt. He started it.

He tried to scratch at my back. I snapped my shield up behind me, protecting my clothes. I doubted he could penetrate my subdermal rainbow serpent scales, but why go shopping for another outfit?

Then he kicked me. The angle was bad – I was holding his throat and mouth, and my shield was protecting my back. He had a significant height advantage on me, and with bestial cunning, let my grip on his throat hold him up.

His kick tore my shirt and raked across my belly, drawing the thinnest of bloody lines. It didn’t manage to get through my biomancied skin, but I felt a sharp chill spread from the source, starting to settle into my bones.

Oh fuck.

The werewolf curse. There was nothing else I could imagine that felt like that.

My healing had nothing on it. It just wasn’t something it could handle. I’d need to see a cursebreaker, and fast.

Then, so fast I only caught an azure blur, the werewolf was viciously ripped from my hands. I was left with a tuft of fur as blessed warmth spread through my body. The curse lifted.

I blinked, collapsing my [Parallel Thoughts] back together, mentally replaying what happened. [Astral Archives] gave me a perfect look.

A demon, probably one of the Immortal combatants in the unrestricted tournament, had shot through, picking up dozens of other werewolves before grabbing mine, and had continued on, seizing the beasts and securing them – and the audience – against further harm.

More Immortals were sprinting through the arena, moving so quickly they were blurring. A powerful [Cursebreaker] was clearly also at work.

The woman who’d almost gotten mauled by the werewolf was still lying there in shock. I took a few steps over and offered her my hand.

“Hey. You okay?” I asked in the language I thought she’d recognize the most, using a gentle tone.

She flinched at me, and I drew back.

I scanned the stadium, continuing to blast healing all around me.

It looked like things were rapidly coming under control again. I was reminded of the sheer tyranny of stats and levels. I was a cut above just about everyone my age. Heck, when it came to mortals it wasn’t bragging to say I was in the top fraction of the top 1%.

I was a complete baby when ancient Immortals entered the picture.

The [Announcer] had been blessedly silent the entire time, and I had a brief moment of hope that one of the werewolves had done him in. He spoke up, and my dreams were dashed.

“[Lords] and [Ladies], please remain calm. Our security has things well under control.”

“Bullshit.” I muttered under my breath. Their security had done nothing. It was all the other competitors. I had to imagine Vollomond was having a Bad Day.

I had some minor sympathy for Night. He’d told me about how the gods had kept messing with creation, but I’d never really appreciated what it meant for a pair of goddesses to just twist the moons in the sky and upend everything.

“Without further ado, let us continue the games! And yes! Here is Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose himself!” The [Announcer] shouted as Mormerilhawn teleported into the arena. He took in the situation at a glance, and had a quiet word with the [Referee], who nodded at him like a bobblehead.

He went to have a quiet word with Iona, and damn his skills. He had a [Private Conversation] skill or something. Great for investigations for [Judges], less great for when I wanted to eavesdrop on what was going on.

He did keep glancing at the moons while talking with Iona. A [Runner] of some sort sprinted onto the field, handed the [Judge] a slip of paper, and sprinted back off the field. Mormerilhawn took a quick look at the slip of paper.

My eyes let me peek at what was written, and the language was Combrogi, one of the keystone languages I’d learned. I could only make out ‘permit’ due to the angle, with no context.

Drat.

The Black Rose then had a quick word with the Shining Prince, then stepped forward to the middle of the field.

He stepped forward, and his voice was magically amplified.

“I have determined that the present events do not qualify as Outside Assistance. Iona is a [Paladin] of Selene and Lunaris, and their assistance is valid. If anyone has an issue with the ruling, take it up with them.” Mormerilhawn drily added that last part, pointing up at the blazing moons hanging in the sky.

“Yes!” I screamed, the crowd having a similar reaction.

The… much larger crowd. Forget the werewolf assault, this arena was the place to be. People were pouring into the stadium to watch the match, and I spotted the first fliers hovering over the edge, peeking into the arena.

“The One Hit Wonder is permitted to continue fighting! What other miracles will we see today!?” The [Announcer] continued stating the obvious.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!” Mormerilhawn decreed, and the fight was joined.

Iona was honored beyond words. Selene and Lunaris had shifted the very sky to show their blessing. To show they cared. To show their favor for the Valkyries and Iona’s fight for honor and recognition.

To bring attention to Iona and her cause in her hour of need.

She hadn’t asked, they’d just done it. Spotlighting her in the glowing beams of the two moons for the world to see.

Prayers and thanks would have to wait though. They clearly expected Iona to win, and win big, in front of the ever-growing crowd. Each victory Iona achieved would bring people to her goddesses, and that was right.

First was dealing with Elric, the Shining Prince. Triple classed with Brilliance and Gale being his main classes, and Sound being his new third. Iona had gotten a chance to study the Rolland team during the opening events, and had the start of a plan for each member of the team.

No plan survived first contact with the enemy, but the broad strokes and outlines were there.

Brilliance was his main [Knight] class, and the reason for his title. He had the standard fighting skills, armor and weapon reinforcing skills, an energy skill, a barrier skill, and a skill to let him [Shine]. People could always find him in a fight, a blazing beacon of hope – and it let him blind his foes.

Gale was his second element, focusing on passive speed, active skills to help him move faster, skills to sharpen his blades and a few diplomacy and politics-related skills. It wasn’t as scary as his Brilliance element, but still deadly.

His Sound class was last, and Iona was almost able to ignore it. The skills were primarily command-related, with a single skill dedicated to improving his speed.

All in all, he was fast. Possibly faster than Iona was, even after Elaine’s brilliant [Biomancy] additions. His greatsword, Ruination, also threatened to smash through Iona’s defenses, even with her skills.

However, nothing was free. His speed focus came at a cost, namely his vitality and strength, along with weaker magic stats than Iona had. Two of his classes were split, a leader-warrior hybrid. Wearing his mana out would slow him down, but would it slow him down enough?

Iona had two different plans for Elric. If she encountered him late, she’d take to the skies with [Valkyrie’s Flight] and pepper him with arrows. It would wear away at his defenses, and [Frost Wyvern’s Fang] let her apply her full strength to her arrows. She had a reasonable shot at punching through his armor and getting an arrow or two into him. It wouldn’t be enough to make him yield, but it’d give Iona enough of an advantage to directly clash with him.

Elric was her first round opponent though, and [Valkyrie’s Flight] was a mana-hungry skill. She didn’t want to blow all her mana on her first opponent, not when there were six more after him.

She was stronger than he was by a significant margin. More durable. Iona won the moment it became a slugging match, where she could trade blows with Elric.

Naturally, the Shining Prince would want to avoid that.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!”

The fight was on.

Iona charged the prince, glaive held in two hands while her shield was securely attached to her left arm. The prince’s armor began shining, but it was a useless attempt to blind Iona. He didn’t know Iona’s perception skills couldn’t be disrupted like that.

Iona’s own skills came online. [Weakness] was searching for any vulnerable point, while [Lunar Mass] increased Iona’s weight and momentum – and that of her weapons. [Harmony of the Spheres] would try to bridge the gap in their speed when it came to swinging weapons around, and [Star Forged] reinforced her own weapons and armor. All this was before her true passives came into play.

The Valkyrie shifted her grip on her glaive as she waited for the prince to make the first move. Anything she did, Elric was fast enough to counter. Iona’s improved reflexes suggested that she could react to his moves, even if she wasn’t fast enough, and the current mutual charge was beneficial to her.

If they collided, Iona would bowl Elric over like he was a child, Brilliance barriers or no. She was heavier than him, even before her skills, and she welcomed a direct clash that would let her apply her strength.

He was no idiot, bringing his greatsword up like a fencer’s foil, threatening to run Iona through with it.

The collision was like a high speed game of chess, but with hundreds of pounds moving at inhuman speeds. Most of the mortals in the overflowing stands wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Iona cursed. Normally, she could just batter the sword out of the way and continue her charge. Except Ruination would utterly destroy her glaive if she tried. Iona making the first move, or changing course, would give Elric the opportunity to gain the momentum advantage. With his speed and experience, it’d be trivial to turn the small advantage into a larger one, snowballing until victory was his. The same was true for Iona, both [Warriors] powerful and experienced.

Iona knew it.

Elric knew it.

Iona called his bluff.

At the last possible moment, she let go of her glaive with her left hand, retracting her armor from the same hand. She moved to slap the greatsword out of the way, but Elric twisted the blade, continuing to present the sharp edge of it to Iona’s hand as the point went towards her heart.

Iona twisted, casting [Frost Wyvern’s Fang] to summon her horn bow into her hands as she slapped the blade anyway. It was sharp and reinforced, slicing straight through the bow, but not only did Iona have a layer of padding on her gloves, but the ankylosaurus subdermal layer Elaine had modified her with added as a complete set of armor.

Biological armor, which Ruination couldn’t work its magics on.

The layers slowed the sword down, but it was still a greatsword moving at incredibly high speeds, reinforced to impossible sharpness by Elric’s Gale skill. It bit deep regardless, Iona’s hand half bisected between her middle and ring fingers all the way down to her wrist.

Without her modifications, without her stats, Iona’s hand and most of her arm would’ve passed through the greatsword, entirely failing to modify its trajectory. It would’ve impaled her through and through, and that’d be the end of her run. Her modifications, acting as a third layer of tough armor changed all that, letting her push the sword completely out of the way.

The sacrifice was worth it though. She was now inside of Elric’s guard, and in spite of his best efforts to change course, it was too little, too late. She slammed into him like a charging triceratops, and a triceratops would’ve done less damage than Iona did.

His Brilliance shield on his armor shattered, and Iona’s impact was enough to dent and break his skill-reinforced armor, transmitting the shock and the impact all the way to the prince’s body.

She didn’t pause. Didn’t rest on her laurels.

Didn’t give him a chance to get up.

Iona followed through on her charge, leaping on top of Elric before he finished tumbling across the field. Easy enough when her charge had never stopped, the only danger being the chaotically flashing Ruination.

Then the two were grappling, Iona able to leverage her greater strength and weight. It was an overwhelming advantage.

She grabbed Elric’s arm and professionally snapped his elbow with her knee, the prince unable to escape.

He screamed, an anti-pain skill not being on his list, and Iona grabbed his second arm.

Elaine had modified Iona with biomancy, giving her subdermal dinosaur armor. That had been secondary to the main modifications she’d made – making Iona strong.

Making Iona ridiculously strong.

With a savage tug, she ripped off the Shining Prince’s other arm, then started bashing his head with his own arm, slapping him back and forth as she rained blows down on him.

Her lips were curled back and she was practically snarling, the savage aspects of her bond with Fenrir bursting through.

“I yield! I yield!” The prince shouted his concession after the briefest of moments.

Iona got up, not being particularly careful how. She weighed a lot, and wasn’t particularly gentle in how she got up. She didn’t deliberately hit the prince or anything, and the two went back to their respective sides, the prince stotically carrying his ripped arm over one shoulder.

A [Medic] was rushing out onto the field to treat him.

The beams of moonlight followed Iona’s every move.

“Round 1, winner, Team Iona.” Mormerilhawn officiously and clearly declared. “Current points are 2-0 in favor of Team Iona.”

Yay! Go Iona! Whoo whoo whoo! Fight! Win! Huzzah! Selene cheered into her ears.

One down. Six to go. Shame you couldn’t nab Ruination and offer it up, or at least break it. Lunaris was a little more critical. It’s going to be back in the teamfight. Still, the arm ripping should give them all a moment’s pause, which will be useful.

Iona took stock as she moved back. She’d barely dipped into her mana reserves, but her left hand was busted. She could get a solid three-finger grip on a weapon, but her ring and pinky fingers were going to be useless. She was also bleeding, and the wound was deep enough that it wasn’t going to stop on its own.

It was acceptable. Elric Morgans was one of the largest powerhouses on the Rolland team, and Iona felt that she’d gotten a little lucky that he’d gone for the quick victory, and was unprepared for her sacrificial move. At the same time, she was now weakened for the next opponent.

And all the ones after.

A [Healer] tended to Elric on the other side, but Iona got no such respite. It was one aspect of the king of the hill format the tournament was based on. Their team was quietly chatting, but Iona had no hope of hearing them through the crowd’s excitement.

Not that it mattered. She had to fight through all of them.

“Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.” Mormerilhawn declared, and Grimwald stepped up.

Iona briefly flicked through his stats and skills. Two split noble-sorcerer classes, Fire and Lightning. He had flight in his Lightning class, and was heavily power-focused with a relatively small mana pool. If Iona could endure his initial assault, she won.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!”

Iona conjured up her [Frost Wyvern’s Fang] as soon as the fight started, snapping off a half-dozen arrows towards Grimwald. He had a defensive skill, but it was worth the attempt.

Iona took off sprinting towards the fort before her arrows landed. Grimwald took to the moonlit skies, bolts of Lightning neatly dispatching her arrows. Iona gave up on taking any further shots from even further away as the sorcerer rapidly gained height. She angled her shield to defend against any attacks, but none came. The [Mage] continued to soar up into the sky as Iona made a beautiful dive into the moat.

Any attempts at burning her out would need to get through the huge heatsink that was the water, reflecting the twin orbs in the sky. It also insulated in the most minor fashion against Lightning, providing a weak shield against the element.

Getting cooked out of her armor was one of Iona’s larger concerns. Lightning strikes were of a lesser concern, given her layers of skill-enhanced armor. Still, a stray jolt in the wrong place could be lethal.

Grimwald saw where Iona dove to, and vanished behind the castle. The [Announcer]’s voice quickly became filtered from the arena, along with the sounds from the crowd. A measure so Iona wouldn’t know a sneak strike was about to occur from the crowd’s reaction.

Iona flipped her bow back into her hands. The green-eyed [Warrior] didn’t need a perfect shot – she simply needed a [Blizzard Shot] to fill the air with ice and snow, which would foul Grimwald’s assault. Aiming anywhere near him would do the trick.

Iona had thousands of hours of practice. Along with her stats and skills, she could snap-aim her bow and arrow and hit a spinning ring from a field away. Any shot that would be in ‘roughly the right direction’ would be a heart-shot, the only question was which chamber of the heart the arrow was going for.

Once the mage was out of mana, the fight would be over. Grimwald’s stats suggested the exchange would only take seconds.

Iona slowly circled in the water, watching for any hint of the sorcerer. Would he come over the wall of the fort? Would he be clever, and go low? Would he try to electrify the entire moat, hoping the surprise and skill made up for the distance and lack of proper aiming?

“The fort’s flag has been raised by Rolland. Team Iona has five minutes to contest before the round ends.” The Black Rose announced.

Iona cursed to herself as she started to swim to the shore. Grimwald wasn’t trying to fight – he was trying to use the anti-stall tiebreaker rules to win!

Blasted games and their rules. The contest should be determined by a fair fight, nothing else.

Now she’d need to storm the fortress and dislodge the mage from his spot. The only benefit to Iona was Grimwald needed to be in a fixed location to trigger the anti-stall rules.

The curling tower in the center of the fort.

A soaked Iona dragged herself up and out of the water, looking up at the fort walls.

She could go over them, and expose herself in a single perfect moment to Grimwald’s assault. She could try to go through the open drawbridge, but that presented the same challenge.

Iona didn’t like either of those options. She started to jog, then run along the side of the fort, her weight increasing with every step thanks to [Lunar Mass]. With enough momentum built up, at the right time and place, Iona twisted and went through one of the stone walls.

She continued to run as masonry fell around her, her entrance louder than any siren. The falling dust and rubble shielded her, and the element of surprise and poor visibility was enough for Grimwald to hesitate.

Iona slammed through the flimsy door at the bottom of the tower, and looked up. There was only a spiraling stone staircase, and Iona began her trip up.

There was a chance Grimwald would come down the stairs to ambush Iona early, but she doubted it. Leaving the top of the tower would reset the clock on the tiebreaker.

Iona reached the final stretch before the top of the tower, and grinned. Grimwald obviously knew she was coming. He must have every skill ready to launch the moment she turned the spiral in the tower.

Iona stepped back, letting her armor morph and flow off of her. A thin strand connected her to her armor, letting her continue to control and manipulate it, although no longer being on her body meant [Star-Forged] didn’t protect and enhance it anymore.

Using [Telekinesis], Iona ‘equipped’ the armor with her shield and axe. Then she had the empty suit of armor ‘charge’ around the corner, and leapt back.

The hallway exploded with Fire and Lightning as Grimwald unleashed his entire arsenal at an empty suit of armor. Heat washed over Iona as the stone started to melt, and her waterlogged clothes started to steam.

A cry of triumphant dismay escaped Grimwald’s lips. Triumph followed by horrified realization, with a note of despair added to the end.

Iona stepped over the molten puddle of her armor and former weapon, locking eyes with Grimwald. She quickly checked his status before doing anything else.

45 mana left. He was done.

“Yield.” Iona demanded.

“No!” The sorcerer tried to leap off the tower, but Iona was too quick compared to the magically-focused [Mage].

She sprinted across the remaining distance, grabbed his shoulder, and yanked him back. Her hand crushed his shoulder joint into thousands of tiny bone shards, and he crashed to the ground. Iona stomped hard, turning the family jewels into pulp.

Grimwald shrieked.

“Yield.” Iona knelt down, crushing his thigh and breaking it into four pieces as she did so. Her hand wrapped around his throat. “I will not ask a third time.”

“Yi-yield.” Grimwald croaked out. He was instantly teleported out of the arena, Mormerilhawn clearly judging his injuries to be significant enough to warrant immediate attention.

Iona walked back to her melted armor and focused.

The beauty of Mallium was how it flowed and moved. It practically was a liquid already, and Iona was able to ‘herd’ it along with her without needing to directly touch more than the smallest of threads.

She was using her left pinky for it, already mauled beyond recognition or usefulness. The burns it was leaving behind would heal.

Iona dipped the superheated metal in the moat on her way out, a great gout of steam heralding her poor armor returning to a usable temperature. Iona had it reform around her body as she moved back to her side, the moonbeams anointing her every step.

The [Paladin] briefly mourned the loss of her axe. It had been a necessary sacrifice. It didn’t mean she was happy about it.

Selene was laughing herself sick in Iona’s ears.

OOooh, that’ll show them. They’re going to yield much more quickly now. Lunaris analyzed.

“Thank you.” Iona whispered to her goddesses.

“Round 2, winner, Team Iona.” Mormerilhawn pronounced, repeating his tone exactly if not the words. “Current points are 4-0 in favor of Team Iona.”