Gladiator Sargeras

"Any bastards want to give it a try?" The short Gan'arg host continued in his shrill voice. "The reward for victory will be incredibly generous—if you can win, that is. Hehehe."

"Ah, these scum of the universe, these bastards beneath the stars are actually scared! Unbelievable. You violent-minded assholes actually have moments like this? I'll ask again: anyone want to participate?"

Watching the little demon onstage, whose irritating speech was nearly on par with Vanidak's, Sargeras frowned slightly. Even now, he did not know why his fellow had brought him here. Was it for the fun Vanidak had mentioned, or was there some hidden truth beneath this seemingly grand gladiatorial spectacle that he did not understand? Compared to Vanidak, Sargeras was still a bona fide "newborn" when it came to understanding the Dark Void.

"Ah, still no response. What a pity. But in keeping with the professional standards of an excellent host, I'll ask one last time: is there really no one interested?"

The little fellow onstage seemed dissatisfied by the lack of response. He made one final appeal to the still-noisy scoundrels in the surrounding stands, hoping some brainless fool would leap down and save him from this awkward situation.

"Fine, then I declare—" Just as the host was about to announce the end of this embarrassing gladiatorial match, a figure fell from the stands into the arena.

That figure was... well, Sargeras. He had been watching the unresponsive scene from the stands, finding the host's final efforts rather amusing, when a powerful force suddenly struck from behind. It seemed someone had kicked him hard in the back. But the strength possessed by Sargeras, once a Titan, was not something native races of other universes could compare to. Clearly, though, the owner of that kick was no ordinary being.

Pitching forward through the air in an awkward posture, Sargeras used his powerful body to perform a forward flip. He finally crashed into the center of the arena on one knee, then rose and looked toward his original position. His fellow was standing there with both thumbs raised, waving at him in a strange pose.

"Fine, I think I know who did it. That damn bastard." Even Sargeras was not slow enough to miss who had given him that kick. At that moment, the host's high-pitched voice rang out:

"Come on, come on, take a look! Another victim—cough, cough, cough—contestant has arrived!"

"Whoa, look at his size! Look at those muscles! Oh, and that greatsword on his back! Scoundrels, bastards, this guy is definitely going to entertain us!"

"Quit talking and announce it already!" A nearby Mo'arg demon kicked the short host again. The little Gan'arg demon was not angered and continued his announcement in that shrill voice.

"Fine, fine, I'll announce it now. Cough, cough. Then let us begin the first trial!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, entering the arena next is the magnificent... astounding... gorgeous... What is this? An eel? I'm starting to doubt the professionalism of this competition."

An eel-like creature suddenly appeared before Sargeras. Unlike an ordinary eel, it had an ugly head and a huge mouth full of sharp teeth. Having appeared from the Void, it stared at Sargeras with its jaws open, saliva constantly dripping from the corners of its mouth as though it were looking at a delicious meal.

"Oh, I've just received word. We great and professional hosts have an important announcement: this isn't one eel, but an entire population of Void Eels! Aha, now I'm looking forward to this match again."

As the host spoke, Void Eels began appearing all around Sargeras in the circular arena. They kept emerging until there were thousands packed densely around him. Every one of those hostile-looking creatures stared hungrily at Sargeras.

"Oh, one hungry Void Eel is disgusting enough. Now it's an entire hungry population of Void Eels. Let's hope this victim at least leaves behind an intact corpse. Now, the match begins."

"Roar!!!" As the host gave the signal, the spectators around the arena erupted in excited roars. But that was not Sargeras's concern, because the hungry predators began their hunt the moment they heard the command.

A ripple passed through space, and several Void Eels suddenly appeared behind Sargeras with their mouths wide open.

"Oh, the Void Eel's signature Void traversal! These cunning predators love attacking your back. Let's see whether this poor victim gets killed right from the start!" Seeing this, the host screamed excitedly.

Sargeras, the target, seemed prepared. He spun around swiftly to face the ambushers, drew his sword from over his shoulder with his right hand, and swung. At an invisible speed, he cut the first few attackers cleanly in half.

Without pausing for even an instant, Sargeras swung the greatsword behind him again. Flesh and blood flew, and several Void Eels attempting to ambush him lost their lives.

Slash, slash, slash. As the sword flashes grew faster and faster, the scene became increasingly bloody. Corpses of Void Eels cut in two were constantly flung from the impenetrable curtain of blade light. Gradually, a ring of flesh and blood formed around him like a wall.

At last, amid the unceasing roars from the stands, the blade light swirling around him like a storm gradually subsided. Sargeras appeared before everyone once more. He did not have a single wound on him, and after fighting for so long, he was not even breathing heavily. He simply stood there quietly with his sword in hand, radiating immense pressure.

"Oh! What a surprise! Look, he chopped all those ugly loaches to death! Perhaps it's time for a... more threatening challenge!"

As the host spoke, a tall figure slowly emerged from a passageway to one side.

"This scoundrel comes from the mysterious Twisting Nether. Well, I suppose most of you scoundrels come from there too. What he does best is use that big blade of his to chop off your head. He is the master of blades... the vanguard of doom... the shameless villain... the Doom Blademaster!"

"Defeat him, and you win!"

The tall figure who finally appeared was about the same height as Sargeras. He had dark blue skin, a bare upper body, and red armor that did not protect any vital areas. Most distinctive was the entirely crimson saber in his hand. Its glasslike red blade differed from ordinary longswords: it had a long, narrow hilt and a broad blade at the end. Waving his saber, the Doom Blademaster roared and charged at Sargeras.

Clang! The two weapons collided violently. The Doom Blademaster roared and swung his long blade at Sargeras again, but his opponent calmly wielded his greatsword, deflecting every attack.

Roar!!! After dozens of fierce exchanges, the Doom Blademaster had failed to touch even a hair on his opponent while receiving wounds all over his own body. He seemed to have been enraged. Leaping out of the battle, he let out a roar as red energy rose from his body, and his frame grew several sizes larger out of thin air.

"Your head will become part of my collection!" The Doom Blademaster finally spoke. Wrapped in red light, he roared and slashed at Sargeras once again.

"Oh, this mad race has used its racial gift, Berserk! This will be difficult to handle. Can our challenger deal with it?"

As the host gave his excited commentary, the ferocious Doom Blademaster collided with Sargeras again. This clash forced Sargeras back several meters. Seeing this, the Doom Blademaster's momentum surged as he pounced again.

Hah!!! Breaking his silence, Sargeras finally unleashed his first battle cry since entering the arena. His greatsword came down in a sweeping slash. The charging Doom Blademaster suddenly halted, then a bloody line appeared atop his head and extended all the way down. Before the astonished spectators, he split into two halves.

Sargeras stepped forward and picked up the beautiful long blade. Seemingly quite satisfied with the trophy, a faint smile appeared on his lips. Then he looked up at the host in the stands.

"The Doom Blademaster has been defeated. What a wonderful show! This bastard can really fight. Let's hope he can keep it up, because the next one—"

"My turn!" The tall Mo'arg demon suddenly shouted and leaped into the arena.

"Yes, yes! Next, he will challenge our great reigning champion... the Prince's most trusted guard captain... the mad demon of the Void Arena... the master of fangs, the mighty slaughterer!"

"Felguard, Satok!"

"I'll twist off your head!" Satok roared at Sargeras as he entered the arena.

"Oh, come on, come on! Take him down, great Satok!"

"Roar, tear his body apart!"

"Smash him! Smash him! Hehehehehe!"

Sargeras paid little attention to the shouts of the spectators around him. Then his keen hearing caught a familiar voice.

"Beat him! Beat him, Satok! Knock him flat! Hahahahaha!"

Following the sound, he saw that his fellow had perfectly blended into the crowd, loudly cheering for Sargeras's opponent. Sargeras's mouth twitched. Casting aside his distracting thoughts, he gripped his greatsword tightly and fixed his eyes on his opponent.

Satok deserved his title as reigning champion. He alone was half again as tall as Sargeras in his current form. He had a pair of savage, sinister wings, two fangs protruding from his mouth, and a longsword wreathed in strange green flames in his hand.

That doesn't look like the green of life Vanidak described. Sargeras silently observed the strange energy. As the host shouted, "Begin the gladiatorial match, bastards!" the two charged at each other at the same time.

Bang! Bang! Bang! After several violent clashes, Sargeras found that the strength his opponent displayed was no weaker than his own, despite the many restrictions placed upon him. His desire for battle stirred, and he decided to have some proper fun with his opponent. Since he was already here, he might as well "enjoy" this gladiatorial match.

Slash! Nimbly evading another horizontal strike, Sargeras was about to counterattack when a faint voice reached his ears.

"Hey, stop playing around. I found something interesting. Defeat him quickly."

While dodging, he swept his gaze across the stands from the corner of his eye. His fellow was already gone from the previous spot. Seeing this, Sargeras helplessly said to the opponent studying him intently from afar:

"Fine. I don't know what my fellow wants to do again, but I'm getting tired of playing too."

"Now, I'll get serious."

"Let's end this quickly."