The words had barely left his mouth when another silvery vortex carried the concordium representative back to wherever he had come from. Moments later the creature was replaced by another vortex which left behind his first opponent.

  His opponent had green skin, sharp teeth and was armed with a rusty looking spear and buckler. The creature might have looked fearsome if not for the fact that it was barely taller than his knees.

  Milo glared up at the sky with indignation.

  “You’re pitting me against children?!”

  No answer came from the sky, his opponent on the other hand shrieked with fury and charged. Milo rolled his eyes and easily stepped out of the green childlike creature’s path. Once the creature was past him he kicked it in the back sending it sprawling face first into the sand. Milo bent down and disarmed the struggling creature.

  “Stop fighting! Just forfeit!”

  The green creature snarled and tried to bite him. Milo lifted the creature up by its neck and shook it.

  “Give up!”

  Another snarl was his only answer. The creature seemed rabid, and he doubted it would give up no matter what he did, with a sigh he broke its neck. The creature went limp, and Milo tossed it to the ground. He bent down and looted the corpse. Aside from the spear he got his hands on a rusty dagger, he tried on the buckler, but the grip was too small for his hands.

  Still naked aside from the crude weapons Milo started the next round.

  “I’m ready!”

  Another silvery vortex came and went leaving behind a tall yellow skinned create that was almost of a height with him. Tusks protruded from its lower lip and its body rippled with muscle. It wore a shabby looking set of mismatched leather armour and carried a huge axe in its hands.

  “Finally, someone my own size.”

  The creature roared and charged. Milo shifted his grip on the short spear and then spun in a circle gathering momentum for a throw. Unfortunately, the spear was too short and poorly balanced for a killing strike, but his opponent still raised its arms to protect its face. Milo darted forward and lunged with the small dagger extended. The dagger struck home in his opponent’s throat but was too dull and rusty to deliver an instant kill. The creature collapsed to its knees clutching at its bleeding throat.

  Milo kicked the gurgling creature onto its back and then bent down to retrieve the axe. He walked over to his opponent and brought its own axe down on its throat ending its struggles.

  Once again, he set about looting his opponent and this time the yield was far better. His opponent had been broader in chest and shoulders than himself which meant its armour didn’t really fit him. Normally that would’ve bothered him but at the moment he was just happy to have found a solution to his unfortunate nudity.

  Aside from the loose armour the creature’s corpse yielded him with another dagger as well as the axe. Of the two weapons the axe was by far the most fortunate find. Two handed axes might not be as versatile as a greatsword, but to a master like him it was a treasure in his current situation.

  He walked back to his end of the arena and once again gave the ready command.

  A few seconds later he found himself looking at a tall man with blonde hair and pointed ears. The man looked so much like the fantasy elves he was used to from video games and books that there was no way it could be a coincidence.

  The elven man was wearing a full set of glittering steel chainmail with a winged helmet. In his left hand he held a kite shield while his other hand was wrapped around the shaft of a steel tipped spear in the shape of a leaf.

  The elven man looked slightly surprised, almost as if he hadn't known what to expect upon being summoned. Milo could only imagine what the scene might look like to his new opponent. Across him stood an absurdly tall man with deep blood red eyes wearing a poorly fitting set of leather armour. In his hands rested a blood-stained axe, and on the ground between them lay the decapitated corpse of an orc and a dead goblin.

  To his credit the elven man didn't panic, instead his face firmed with resolve. The elf clearly didn’t want to be here and yet he looked resigned to his fate. A new and completely chilling thought just struck him.

  He had been operating under the assumption that like him his opponents would be reincarnated once the trial was over. But the look on the elf's face told a different tale. Milo decided to simply ask the man.

  “Greetings stranger, I don't suppose you have a moment to chat before we start trying to kill each other?”

  The elf looked from the Milo to the dead bodies of the orc and goblin.

  “You mean before you cut me down without taking a single wound?”

  Those were the words of an experienced fighter who had assessed the state of his opponent and come to the conclusion that he was hopelessly outmatched. The elf had better eyes than he’d expected.

  Milo shrugged didn’t bother trying to play coy.

  “I understand if you don't want to talk to me, I was just curious, why are you here?”

  The elf never relaxed his guard and for a moment Milo thought he might refuse to answer, then he sighed and with a single sentence confirmed Milo’s fears.

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  “I am here to honour the deal I made.”

  This man had come here to die.

  “You made a deal with the guys who arrange this contest? The... Concordium?”

  The elf nodded solemnly.

  “If I may ask, what do you get out of this deal?”

  “They healed my daughter.”

  There was a sob story if he'd ever heard one. Still, that sounded like half the deal.

  “And in exchange you were sent here to fight me?”

  “You and two more, If I win all three fights my life is my own once again.”

  As far as deals went it was pretty much a death sentence. He knew nothing about the other champions, but he seriously doubted this elf was capable of besting even one of them, much less three. Suddenly Milo wished he hadn’t asked the elf any questions at all. Killing the mayor and Crystal’s husband hadn’t bothered him, they had both been rotten to the core, but this man was here because he’d made a bad deal to heal his daughter.

  For a moment he seriously considered throwing the fight. Then he thought of Ivy and all the rest who were bound to his cause. If he lost the contest they would all die, including himself. This event was likely the best he could hope for in terms of an advantage, giving it up could cost him the entire contest.

  Milo sighed.

  “I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm afraid I can't let you win, I've got people that depend on me.”

  The elf didn't beg for his life, he merely inclined his head in grave acceptance.

  “To the death then, let's finish this.”

  Milo didn't waste any time, he kicked the goblin’s fallen buckler up into the air and then snatched and tossed it in a single fluid motion. The elf raised his shield to block. The buckler bounced off harmlessly, but Milo’s axe did not. The elf grunted as Milo’s axe cut trough the shield and into his hand. The elf tried to counterattack but Milo knocked the spear aside and then brought his face down into his knee. The elf’s nose crunched, and he fell face first into the sand.

  Milo retrieved his axe and then took a few steps back. The elf groaned and then slowly struggled to his feet. The man was done for, and they both knew it. When he spoke, he sounded far away.

  “Some 'fight' that was, just who are you?”

  Milo saw no reason to deny doomed man a final conversation.

  “I'm the champion of a god, and I was one of the best warriors on my world before I came here. Don’t be disappointed, you never stood a chance.”

  The elf didn't look surprised.

  “They say the deals offered by the concordium are always poisoned...”

  Milo couldn't help but ask the obvious question.

  “Was it worth it?”

  The elf smiled.

  “Of course, my daughter will live a full and happy life now, in the end that's all a father can really ask for.”

  He took one last look at Milo's face and then closed his eyes.

  “I'm ready.”

  Milo swept his axe around in an arc severing the elf’s head from his body. As far as death went it was the cleanest, he could offer. He felt slightly sick as the stared down at the corpse of his opponent. The man truly hadn’t deserved to die in this place.

  His guilt didn’t stop him from looting the elf. Most of the man’s armour was too tight to fit Milo except for the leg part. He also took the man’s spear and shield

  His next opponent was a clear step up in difficulty. Milo stared at a huge creature which had the upper body of a man attached to a giant horse. The horse part was covered in chainmail while the human part was covered in heavy plate armour. The creature looked at him with obvious curiosity, but Milo wasn’t about to make the mistake of bonding with another opponent. Instead, he threw the elven spear at the centaur’s head. He expected the creature to block the throw with its armoured arms, or the giant greatsword it carried. Instead, it leapt to the side losing track of Milo.

  Milo cast fire sword on his axe and the magically enchanted weapon swept along the ground into the centaur’s front right hoof. The creature clearly expected its armour to halt the blow because it was already preparing a counter strike. Milo’s axe went through armoured hoof as if it were butter and the centaur collapsed with a shriek. Milo drew his dagger and approached the centaur from behind, avoiding the wild swings of its sword. He then bent down and rammed the dagger into the gap between its neck and helmet. The creature kicked one last time and then went perfectly still.

  Milo started looting the corpse and was overjoyed to discovered that many of the plate pieces fit him quite well. It took him a while to get it all on and once he was done, he felt far better about his chances in this tournament. He was now armoured and had finally gotten his hands on his favourite weapon.

  He stepped back and readied himself for his next opponent.

  Another silvery vortex answered his call. And this time Milo threw the elven spear before it even finished manifesting his opponent. He expected the throw to land and so he was quite surprised when his new opponent deflected the spear with a shortsword.

  The newcomer looked like a cross between a lizard and a human female. Her body was covered in scales, and she had a tail and clawed hands. As for armour she wore leather and in her hands she wielded a dagger and a shortsword. His opponent closed her eyes and a moment later her weapons started glowing with a faint green light.

  This was the first opponent who had used magic and Milo felt certain that the increase in difficulty between this lizardwoman and the centaur was huge. She started circling him and Milo responded in kind. Her hunched stance looked awkward and was clearly unique to her people. He tried a few feints which she completely ignored. Then she tried a feint of her own which he in turn ignored. By this point he knew for certain that he was dealing with an experienced fighter.

  They continued circling each other for nearly a minute before his opponent finally launched an attack. Milo was so surprised by her superhuman speed that he nearly lost in the first exchange. Whatever magic the lizardwoman was using was clearly enhancing her speed and reflexes. In fact he could barely keep up. The exchange ended when the lizardwoman landed a shallow cut on his cheek and she retreated.

  She went back to circling him and as she did so she kept looking at the cut on his cheek. Milo finally realised what was happening. She had cut him with a poisoned dagger and was waiting for the poison to take hold. Unfortunately for her hybrids were highly resistant to poison.

  Milo lunged in and launched a vicious series of attacks which ended when he landed a deep cut in her left arm. She looked down at her arm and then frowned at him.

  “My blade is dipped in nightbloom poison, you should be dead long ago.”

  Milo launched himself into another attack and the woman was barely able to keep up with him. She clearly realised that she was outmatched because she did something he didn’t expect.

  Rather than attempting to dodge a strike on her left shoulder she leaned into the blow and landed a counter to his own shoulder. Her blade slid trough his armour and Milo felt his entire left arm go dead. His own blow took her arm off at the shoulder and she went down in a shower of blood. She tried to recover with a roll, but Milo finished her off with a thrust.

  He looked down at his shoulder and saw that her dagger had penetrated trough armour, flesh and even bone. His entire left arm was dead, and he had no way to heal it, worse it was bleeding heavily. He looted the elven warrior’s undershirt and used a dagger to tie a crude tourniquet. Unfortunately, he was unable to completely stop the bleeding which meant he was now on a timer.

  With a sigh he started what would undoubtedly be the last fight of this event for him.

  Another vortex came and went depositing a hulking creature with cloven hoofs and the head of a bull. Its massive body rippled with muscles and aside from a breastplate the creature was completely nude. In its hands it held a giant axe. The creature lifted the axe above its head and roared when it passed the axe was covered in a red glow.

  Milo closed his eyes and wisps of shadow and flame sprang up to surround his body. Moments later his body was covered in the exoskeleton of the metamorphosis spell. Then he raised his sword and cast flame sword on it. The minotaur roared and charged him.

  Milo met the charge and tried to deflect the creature axe with his axe. Unfortunately, he had once again made the very same mistake he’d made with Nero during their duel. Milo’s sword was ripped from his grip and the minotaur’s axe severed the limp remains of his left hand. Even though the arm was dead Milo still screamed with pain. Yet that didn’t stop him from counter attacking. He cast flame sword on his right hand and then punched straight trough the minotaur’s chest plate with his clawed hand.

  The minotaur screamed and its eyes blazed with red magic as it lifted Milo up by his throat. Milo’s hand tightened around the minotaur’s entrails, and he squeezed hoping to do enough dmg to kill the creature. Amazingly the minotaur seemed to ignore the fact that Milo had a literal hold on its guts. Milo felt his feet leave the ground and then suddenly found himself flying. He felt his body break as he struck the wall of the arena with enough force to break every bone in his body despite the protection of the magical exoskeleton surrounding him. His mind was full of mud and by the time he managed to open his eyes the metamorphosis spell had run out.

  The part of him still focused on the fight rather than survival was wondering why the minotaur hadn’t finished him off yet. The answer revealed himself when he finally managed to open his left eye. His vision was partially obscured by blood and yet he was still able to make out the fallen minotaur across the arena. The creature was laying on its back and had a giant red hole in its stomach. Milo tried to laugh but only ended up coughing more blood as he realised what had happened. His opponent had committed suicide by throwing him with such tremendous force while he had a hold of its entrails.

  Milo could feel himself fading and knew he was moments away from death. And yet he still wanted to know what his next opponent looked like. He was barely about to rasp out the words.

  “I..i’m rea…ready…”

  Another vortex came and went leaving behind a tall woman in beautiful white armour. Both her armour and the longsword she unsheathed looked magical even to his unpractised and partially obscured eyes. Their eyes met but before she could make a move his consciousness faded into black.