Novel Full Chapter 137: The Blood Crucible
Chapter 137: Chapter 137: The Blood Crucible
Chapter 137: The Blood Crucible
The roar of the underground Colosseum was absolutely deafening.
Thousands of criminals, illegal weapon smugglers, and rogue mercenaries screamed for blood. In the center of the massive subterranean cavern stood the Blood Crucible.
It was a terrifying, towering cage made of thick, rusted steel mesh. The metal was heavily stained with generations of dried black and crimson blood. The stench of sweat and copper hung heavy in the humid air.
Draven Mordis stood in the deep shadows near the fighter entrance. He wore his pristine white and gold military uniform. The featureless white mask completely hid his face, projecting an aura of emotionless dread. His squad stood right behind him, radiating cold, professional discipline.
"Captain," Aegon muttered over the secure comms built into their masks. He made sure to use his official tournament alias.
"Lancer to Zero. I am still running the tactical simulations in my head. Lord Commander Gunther is a Level 200 Earth Magic powerhouse. Even if Cassian hires a hundred mercenaries from this brutal pit, brute force will never break a Vanguard shield of that magnitude. How exactly does he plan to kill his own brother?"
Draven watched two thugs brutally tear each other apart inside the rusted cage.
"Cassian is not a fool," Draven replied softly over the comms.
"He knows brute force is entirely useless against a Level 200 powerhouse. He has a very specific, highly classified method prepared to bypass Gunther’s defenses completely. But that method must remain a secret for now. We will let Cassian reveal his hand when he feels he has total control."
---
High above the chaotic arena floor, a heavily fortified VIP balcony overlooked the rusted cage.
An obese, wealthy man in a lavish suit sat in a velvet chair. He was the official Recruiter for the underground syndicate. But the true power in the room was not sitting down.
Standing directly behind the Recruiter was a tall man wearing the heavy, dark armor of a standard security guard. A tinted black visor covered the guard’s face.
It was Cassian Stillbane.
The traitorous younger brother of the Lord Commander was personally overseeing the recruitment. He needed absolute perfection. He was hiring an elite strike team for a classified, highly illegal operation.
None of the criminals fighting in the arena knew that the true target was Lord Commander Gunther. They only knew Cassian was paying tens of millions of credits for a secret job.
"Trash," Cassian muttered under his breath, his voice disguised by an electronic vocal modulator. He watched the current winner in the cage celebrate a sloppy, bloody victory.
"All of them are undisciplined trash. I need ghosts. I need reapers. Where are the true killers?"
"Patience, my Lord," the obese Recruiter chuckled nervously, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"The preliminary rounds always weed out the weak. The elite independent mercenary companies are up next."
Down on the arena floor, the announcer’s voice boomed through the screeching overhead speakers.
"Next match!" the announcer roared to the bloodthirsty crowd.
"Gorgon the Butcher versus Wraith of the Eclipse Hunters!"
Nyx stepped forward. She wore her pristine white uniform and her blank white mask. She walked calmly up the steel steps and entered the rusted cage. The heavy iron door slammed shut behind her, locking her inside.
Her opponent was a towering, heavily scarred criminal. Gorgon the Butcher wielded two massive, serrated metal cleavers. He laughed menacingly at the sight of the small, masked girl standing silently before him.
"A little girl in a white dress?" Gorgon mocked loudly. The crowd cheered and jeered in loud agreement.
"I am going to peel that mask off your face and feed it to you!"
Nyx did not speak. She did not even draw her obsidian daggers. She simply stood completely still, her hands resting at her sides.
"Match start!" the referee screamed from outside the mesh.
Gorgon roared and charged forward like a wild animal. He raised his massive cleavers, aiming to chop Nyx completely in half.
Nyx opened her Awakened Mind’s Eye. Her irises turned pure, glowing white beneath the mask. She did not dodge. She simply unleashed her domain.
FWOOSH!
A massive, pitch-black lake of shadows erupted violently from beneath her boots. It flooded the entire concrete floor of the steel cage in a fraction of a second. The temperature in the arena plummeted instantly.
Gorgon froze mid-step. He looked down at the floor in sheer horror.
Dozens of erratic, dementor-like figures materialized directly out of his own shadow. The ghastly, faceless horrors wrapped their skeletal hands tightly around his massive legs. They crawled rapidly up his torso, pinning his thick, muscular arms to his sides.
"What is this?!" Gorgon screamed in absolute panic, dropping his heavy cleavers. "Get off me!"
The stadium crowd went completely silent. The mocking cheers died instantly in their throats.
Nyx slowly raised her right hand. She closed her fist.
The terrifying shadows unhinged their gaping, faceless jaws. They violently swarmed over the massive criminal. They did not just bite him. They completely devoured his life force and his physical body.
CRUNCH.
Gorgon the Butcher was pulled violently down into the writhing lake of darkness. He vanished entirely from the physical world. The chilling shadows sank back into the ground, returning seamlessly to Nyx’s boots.
There was absolutely no blood left in the cage. There was no body. There was only a terrifying, pristine silence.
Nyx turned around and walked out of the open cage door.
---
Up in the VIP balcony, Cassian Stillbane gripped the steel railing. His heart hammered rapidly in his chest.
"Did you see that?" Cassian demanded, his modulated voice trembling with pure excitement.
"She did not even move. She erased a Level 80 Vanguard veteran from existence in one second."
"I saw it, my Lord," the Recruiter gasped, rapidly typing on his holographic terminal.
"Who is she?" Cassian asked urgently.
"Pull up her file immediately."
The Recruiter pulled up the forged Platinum-tier identity chip data Sirius’s men had provided.
"Her alias is Wraith," the Recruiter read aloud.
"She belongs to a newly registered, highly exclusive mercenary company called the Eclipse Hunters. They have zero recorded failures on their combat record."
Cassian smiled viciously beneath his dark visor. This was exactly what he was looking for. He needed monsters who could kill without leaving a single trace behind.
---
Down in the arena, the crowd was completely terrified. Nobody wanted to fight the Eclipse Hunters.
"Next match!" the announcer stammered nervously, trying to reignite the fearful crowd.
"Ironhide versus Zero of the Eclipse Hunters!"
Draven stepped forward. His long white military coat drifted softly behind him. He walked up the steps with the absolute casual confidence of a Warlord. He entered the rusted cage.
His opponent was a massive, heavily armored mercenary. Ironhide possessed a unique defensive legacy. His skin was literally made of impenetrable steel plating. He was known for exhausting his opponents and crushing them when their mana reserves ran dry.
Ironhide slammed his metallic fists together. Sparks flew in the dim arena light.
"Your little friend has a fancy shadow trick," Ironhide sneered confidentally.
"But shadows cannot pierce solid steel. I am going to break every single bone in your body, Zero."
Draven stood completely still. He casually placed his gloved hands inside his coat pockets.
"Match start!" the referee shouted.
Ironhide lowered his heavy shoulder and charged forward like a runaway freight train. The steel mesh cage rattled violently under his heavy footsteps.
Draven did not draw his weapon. He did not adopt a fighting stance. He simply looked at the charging mercenary. He activated his SS-Rank Vector Manipulation.
Draven casually flicked his right index finger.
SNAP.
The sound echoed sharply across the completely silent arena.
Ironhide’s massive, armored body instantly froze mid-charge. The kinetic vectors inside his cervical spine were violently and effortlessly rotated one hundred and eighty degrees. The impenetrable mercenary’s thick neck twisted backward with a sickening, wet crunch.
THUD.
Ironhide collapsed face-first onto the blood-stained concrete floor. He was dead before his brain could even process what had happened. He died completely unaware of how he was killed.
Draven looked down at the corpse. He sighed quietly, incredibly annoyed by the absolute lack of challenge.
"Next," Draven said coldly to the terrified referee.
In the VIP balcony, Cassian Stillbane was practically vibrating with sheer adrenaline.
"Incredible," Cassian whispered, his eyes glued to the white-coated leader standing in the cage.
"No incantation. No magical aura. No weapon. He just looked at him and the man died."
Cassian leaned heavily over the Recruiter’s shoulder. He stared hungrily at the holographic files of the Eclipse Hunters. He read the data for ’Zero’, ’Lancer’, ’Spark’, and ’Wraith’.
"They are perfect," Cassian declared, his voice filled with absolute greed.
"They are ruthless, highly disciplined, and terrifyingly efficient. They do not ask questions. They just execute."
"Should I put them through to the final bracket, my Lord?" the Recruiter asked nervously.
"Cancel the rest of their preliminary matches," Cassian ordered sharply.
"I do not want them wasting their energy on this trash. Bring the Eclipse Hunters to my private backroom immediately. I am going to hire them myself."
---
Down on the arena floor, Draven turned around and exited the rusted cage. His squad fell perfectly into formation behind him as a group of armed guards cautiously approached them.
"The Recruiter wants to see you," the lead guard said nervously, strictly avoiding eye contact with Draven.
"Follow us."
Draven looked up toward the high security VIP balcony. Even though Cassian was wearing a disguised guard uniform and a dark visor, Draven’s eyes locked perfectly onto him. Draven knew exactly who was standing up there.
’Smile while you can, Cassian,’ Draven thought coldly, turning around to follow the guards.