The moment the fight starts, I flood the arena with mana, creating a barrier to deny light. This throws us all into darkness, and I immediately cast a point light spell to send invisible light waves everywhere but my own eyes. I haven’t used ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ in a while, but this is certainly an excellent time for it. I won’t have long, not with my mana perfectly visible despite the darkness. But it’ll be enough. I have to manually cast my radar spell as well, which takes a lot of focus. But I have a few seconds of pitch black where I can see them, and they can’t see me. A few will even have retina damage from the UV light even after the spell is broken. That can be healed later.

  I take advantage of my even greater strength, won with rapid physical enhancement during my last fight, and close the distance on the nearest enemy. I don’t have time to be selective, although I’d like to reach Bahamut and knock her out first. Unfortunately, they moved as soon as the fight started and I can only tell basic size and shape. During my precious few moments of advantage I reach one of the larger clouds of color and catch a man with my right hand. Not Bahamut, unfortunately. With my left, I pull a single scale from my arm. I throw him to the ground, carefully holding back to avoid lethal force. As he collides with the dirt below, I stab the scale into his cheek, deep enough that he won’t be digging it out without tweezers. It’ll hurt, but it’ll heal. I also wrap him in steel, summoning it as rapidly as I can. I need him restrained if he wakes up.

  My time in the dark has ended by the time I am done, however. Bahamut has completely crushed the light mana I was maintaining to block the light. I can probably keep sending the UV waves out to blind my opponents, but I am already shrouded in mana from different enchantments, and I don’t want to make them a bigger target than they are. A lot of things fall apart if any of these mages manage to crush those enchantments. Not too many things, but it will make the fight with Markus, and possible other sages should they intervene, much more dangerous.

  I look around to find myself surrounded. A breath of silence passes as everyone takes stock of the situation. Ten sets of eyes lock onto me and the already incapacitated enemy at my feet. They spent a week hearing about the actual demon queen of legend. The woman many of them heard stories about as a child. Then they went into the ring with me. A few seconds in and one of them is already unconscious in the dirt. They have also spent multiple weeks hearing about how I spare my opponents, and Markus never asks me to kill. They may know this fight is different, and they may not. But they will be afraid of me, and they will have hope in my mercy. This is phase one of the hastiest plan I’ve ever put together. Bahamut may be fighting for her life, but the rest of them? They may hesitate to fight me. Maybe for a moment, and maybe for the entire fight. Either way I can turn it to my advantage.

  I just need one more thing to drive it home. I open the eyelids on my left shoulder and in the small of my back. I can see the effect on the faces around me. A couple are disgusted. A few are afraid. Bahamut has seen them before. But none are unaffected. These eyes carry the same red hue my eyes have always had. But they wear the color of blood throughout, rather than only in the iris. This is, of course, because compound eyes don’t have a human iris. Those around may not be able to make out the hexagonal pattern, but they can see the off putting texture. The reality of my identity clearly sinks in for a few.

  It’s a brief interaction, less than a second really, but it has the effect it needs to. I have just bought myself a lot more wiggle room in this fight. Not enough to avoid fighting entirely, however, as becomes obvious very quickly. Auras explode and spells fly at me from every direction. I’m pleased to observe that some of them do seem to have their vision impaired by the light I was sending out earlier, as their spells are going wide and are obviously going to miss. Which would be great if I didn’t need to stop them from hitting anyone else as well.

  The new peepers are doing their job as well, even picking up mana. I wasn’t sure they’d be able to, since perceiving mana is clearly done with the eyes but seems unrelated to light. They aren’t nearly as good as my actual eyes, or rather my originals as the case may be, and I barely process the information they parse. My mind just isn’t used to the extra input. But it doesn’t need to be. They do what they are best at, and I notice every spell coming at me from every direction far more quickly than I otherwise would have. I leap into the air and start cycling mana. That’s what it feels like now. Cycling, like a machine. Pulsing between my enchanted steel and my traitorous cells. Bahamut can crush my mana with brute force on her own. At least right now. But that’s only if she can get to them. This method of casting is fast and powerful, with mana building internally and creating its effects an instant after, she won’t have time.

  I catch smaller spells on the ground with force, protecting my opponents from any lethal crossfire. This arena belongs to me. Huge stones fly at me, following my jump and trying to intercept me in the air. I easily twist out of the way, creating a burst of force beneath my foot and jumping to the side. I create another, and another, walking through the air one spell at a time. A massive wave of water erupts in front of me, extending from the ground to the invisible ceiling of Nexus energy. This is combined with another mage’s mana, and turns to a wall of ice. I rapidly slow myself with force, flipping around and catching the wall with my right arm, the claws of the gauntlet digging into the ice and allowing me to slide down the side. More spells fly toward me, and I direct myself to avoid the carbon projectiles, flaming rocks, and something I don’t recognize with white mana. I get a bad feeling about this one in particular.

  Below me, there is a curtain of cold mana, clearly designed to catch me as I make my way down the ice wall. Below that the water mage fires spears at me, which quickly turn to ice as they pass the cold barrier between us. I send targeted bursts of heat mana at each in rapid succession, allowing myself to get drenched in the warm water still carried by inertia as the spears instantly melt. It’s not easy but her aim still seems to be off after my first spell. I have to create a larger burst of heat to punch through the cold mana below without freezing myself. I land, hard, directly between the man and women working together to create ice. Closer to the man, the cold mage I think, I reach out my right arm to grab him by the wrist, pulsing lightning mana through my arm and tasing him the moment we make contact. As he falls I let go, quickly retrieve another scale from my left arm and forcing it into his cheek.

  High pressure water is on me in seconds and I have to erect a wall of steel to intercept it as I bind the new mage’s hands and feet with the same. The steel actually dents from the water pressure, which I have little time to admire as Bahamut’s axe descends on me. I have seen it before, and she is a machine with that weapon. As I use force to throw myself out of the way, I notice that same mana surrounding her axe. It’s white, but whatever it is creating has no color. The same thing I’d dodged a moment ago. It hits my wall instead of me, and it doesn’t cut through it. Not exactly. No, where her axe should collide with steel and water, both simply cease to exist. No resistance or anything. They just stop as soon as they touch the white mana.

  “I’d really prefer if you didn’t hit me with that,” I call as I skip backward.

  “You know why I have to,” she replies. I don’t wait around to banter more than that as she is already swinging the axe around and I really need to deal with everyone else first. It seems only five gladiators, including Bahamut, are actively pursuing me now. The other four are hanging back, building spells but obviously hoping the more aggressive combatants will deal with me first. I run toward three of them, moving at inhuman speeds and increasing my gap from Bahamut.

  The stone mage rapid-fires smaller stones at me while the carbon mage fires more arrows. I worry Bahamut will throw her own spells, but she doesn’t. And I suspect I know why. She doesn’t want to kill anyone she doesn’t have to. A less likely boundary for people incapable of grief. This makes it easier on me. I mostly ignore the stone spell. As fast as they are they simply bounce away when they get within an inch of me. A week with a mana circle and accelerated gathering of force has made my armor . . . slightly more effective. The area immediately around my torso, legs, and head are surrounded by a force barrier facing outward and enchanted into my clothing. My arms aren’t protected for a few reasons, but the stone just sparks as it cuts through my armor and meets steel. So long as I can keep my left arm away from the attack I’m good to go.

  I dodge back and forth to avoid the carbon arrows, which seem to have more force and weight behind them. The final of the three mages I am charging shoots a stream of flames at me. I jump into the air again, easily avoiding the fire and launching myself into a roll to the side of it. Just as I am recovering I lift my right arm, intercepting a carbon attack just before it hits me. I waste no time, clapping as I fill the air with ear splitting sound mana. At the same time I release the brightest burst of light mana I can. Without the protective sound mana I’ve shrouded my ears with, my nearby adversaries immediately grab their head and cover their ears. Dazed and without sight or sound, they fail to stop the rest of my approach.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  I pull them all together with force mana, forcing their backs against each other and wrapping them together in rapidly formed steel. I manage to knock the fire mage out with a punch as soon as I make it to them, but the eye on my back catches water mana approaching me with furious speed. Approaching these three meant leaving the cover of my steel wall, which was collapsing anyway. I grab the steel I’ve wrapped these ones in, pulling them with me as I sidestep. I hear something crack and wince as the man with the stone screams. It doesn’t take much to tell I broke his leg somehow with the rapid movement.

  Well, they didn’t die in the crossfire. We’ll call it even, I think. I need to knock the remaining two unconscious, but the stream is following me. Mimicking her own tactics from earlier, I throw up a wall of heat mana, which evaporates the water on contact and leaves us hidden in steam. Not comfortable, but it is concealment. Which is good, because as I am dragging the pair again, Bahamut crushes the heat mana. I waste no time, knocking my conscious captives out with a couple gentle thuds. I leave all three with a scale each, lodged in their face.

  I gather light mana, using radar to find my remaining opponents. The water mage and Bahamut are the only ones attacking me at this moment, although the other four seem to be realizing they need to use their spells or lose. Bahamut is much larger and more obvious, making the water mage easy to spot. With a massive burst of force at my back, I throw myself from the steam and shoot like a bullet at her, catching her in my left arm and pulling her as my momentum fails to slow. This interrupts her fucking fire hydrant attack and increases our distance from Bahamut.

  I use opposing force to slow us before we collide with the far wall. Even then my boots kick up dirt as they make contact and I have to collapse into a roll, taking most of the hit for both of us. We land just by the intersection of two walls, one of stone, the other of ice. Just as my little pathetic, wet ragdoll is getting her bearings, I slam her head, ever so gently, into the ice and knock her out. One more lodged scale and I turn to face the remaining gladiators. The four who hoped I’d be dead or defeated before their turn to fight have picked up on my strategy. They are sticking close to Bahamut. The one I have been trying to avoid most. I crack my neck before throwing myself back into the fray.

  I sprint full speed at Bahamut and she sprints at me, forcing her tagalongs to join her. I see wind and three mana aspects I haven’t encountered yet, in addition to Bahamut’s white mana. As I run, I retrieve four more scales. They know I want to pick them off while keeping my distance from Bahamut, so they are keeping close to her. But they aren’t used to working together, and I can use that.

  Our warpaths collide and I quickly step to the side as the axe swings into the space I’d occupied a moment before. That white mana even erases the ground wherever it touches and the axe is already prepared for another swing. I flash light in Bahamut’s eyes, dodging to the side and pulling the wind mage to me with force mana. Some kind of slick oily liquid is fired from one of the other mages, but it collides with my force shield and falls to my feet. I easily knock my captive out and leave him with a scale. Bahamut, recovered now, swings again, and again, and again. Each time I side step it, I'm grateful she isn’t firing this mana on its own. Thanks, I suspect, to her allies being too close.

  I realize something as the remaining unfamiliar manas dissipate, no attack coming from those mages. Markus sent his best gladiators out here to kill me. Or at least, his best gladiators who have mana. I have seen far better fighters but having mana is often a huge advantage. But the fucker didn’t ask them their aspects. He just used the strongest eleven who had a lot of mana. Or maybe he did know their aspects but was hoping I’d get crushed under their collective pure mana. Or maybe he doesn’t care if I win so long as I put on a good show. Whatever he was thinking, these three, maybe all four, have never fought with magic before. That’s not what they used magic for, before they were slaves.

  Which makes Bahamut the only dangerous one here. They are sort of protecting me, actually, as they stumble over each other. I have to avoid the occasional swipe from a sword but with my compound eyes, even as they circle around me, I see every move coming long before I am in any danger. They have to take turns or hurt each other, and at least one seems to be struggling to see clearly. And Bahamut doesn’t want to kill, if she can avoid it. Otherwise she’d just fill the arena with that white mana and delete me.

  Bahamut is growing more desperate and her attacks more erratic. I actually have to push the mage with the black liquid out of the way to save his life when she misses me. This only makes her panic more, and she screams as I easily dance around all of them. I jump, propel myself with force, and turn to the side with perfect timing and impossible reflexes. Aside from that weird mana, my plan was perfect. I should have been fighting like this for years. There is a reason I like ‘Bloodborne’ more than ‘Dark Souls’. If I can’t win with power, I’ll win with speed. Lord help these fucking sages when I get both at once.

  “Please,” Bahamut begs, realizing the same thing. I am going to win this fight. They stacked the odds against the wrong version of me. “I won’t let you make this worse for all of us than it has to be! I don’t know what you are planning, but I won’t let you leave these people to Markus! I won’t!” she screams. And I see the change in her face. When she decides she can’t win. When she decides she has to save everyone else the only way she can. When she decides to kill all of us. To spare us from Markus’ cruelty. I grab the cuff on my right wrist, digging my claws into the hinges and pulling with all my strength. I can feel death, seconds away. She is more dangerous than I expected. What the fuck is that mana? It doesn’t matter, I have to stop it. I feel the change in the air. The cuff bends and breaks, leaving an ugly, twisted end where it was once clasped. Just as she is about to cast, I stab it into her free arm with the dispersal cuff. Immediately all the white mana disappears.

  There is a moment of silence, then I kick at her leg, hard, forcing her to the ground. As she takes a knee, she is still barely shorter than me, and I punch her in the throat, catching her other arm and squeezing her wrist until she drops the axe. As I force a scale into her face, the three remaining gladiators back up, nervously holding their weapons in shaking hands. Three bursts of force pin them to the ground as I wrap Bahamut in steel. I have to fire the remaining scales like bullets, as Bahamut kneels and Markus waits for me to look for his ruling. Aiming is a bit odd with such small projectiles, but they are close and I manage to tag all three. That’s all of them.

  I look up to Markus’ box, waiting for the expected response. He stands as I wait in front of Bahamut. He holds his hand in front of him, thumb out to the side. He then tilts his head, grins, and turns his thumb up, toward the throat. He has officially broken our agreement, and ruled in favor of death. He just doesn’t know whose.

  “Please, Lillith,” Bahamut begs. “Please just do it. I’ve tried to spare people before. I don’t want to die like that. I can’t die like that. I refuse to. Just do what he asks. Just end it here. It will be better for all of us.”

  I look up toward the sage and smile sweetly. I then slap my left hand onto my right bicep and raise my right fist in the air in a single motion. “I won’t give you blood, Markus. But I can offer you my ever honorable arm.” Bahamut starts sobbing behind me, collapsing to the ground with her face in the dirt. Still I feel no grief from her. Even now. Which means these aren’t tears of grief. They are pure, unadulterated fear.

  “Even if I fail, you will be okay,” I promise. “Maybe I will die here and Markus will live. But he will be in no shape to hurt anyone at all.”

  “I hope you burn for this,” she yells at me. Markus smiles before floating down to the arena. He has one of the most smug smirks I’ve ever seen. He lands in front of me and holds his arms behind his back. I stand firm, between him and the terrified woman behind me. He approaches, getting closer and closer, until he is stopped by the force on my armor. He looks down at me, and I look up at him. He wears a shit eating grin and I set my jaw. We can each feel the other’s breath as we face off.

  “She is going to suffer so much. And for so long. Because of you," he says. “She’s begging for death and I haven’t even started yet. Demon Queen indeed. How pathetic. But your games are over now. Impressive as that fight may have been to the rabble. Based on that gesture you just made, among other things, I think you might know the old proverb?” He pauses as if in thought, then widens his grin, showing me his too white teeth. “Oh that’s right, it’s ‘fuck around–’” I cut him off, uninterested in his monologue or posturing. I dig my claws deep into his gut, releasing every ounce of venom I have in that arm. I can already tell it’s not going to be enough. I am still going to have to fight him, but it will be a lot easier now, and I’m not done. At the same time, I release gallons of mana with a brand new aspect, flooding the entire combat area with it. The very same I gave up water to make room for.

  “Find out,” I finish for him. Blood bubbles through his smile.