The day passed, and Arlo found himself and the birdmen walking through the town for the majority of the day.
Differently from before, everyone seemed to greet them and treat them as if they were lifelong friends.
It was strange.
When they first entered this town, the people had not so much as said anything.
It wasn't that they were being ignored or ostracized, but rather that the people did not find anything to be out of the ordinary, and as such just went on their usual business.
Now that Dern had introduced Arlo and the birdmen to the others, they treated them as if they were family.
Arlo found himself waving to the people, which gave him a feeling similar to that of his own home.
Once before he was a warrior who was respected by all.
Just showing his face would bring a smile to the people, and perhaps Dern too was the same way.
'I suppose it isn't a bad thing to get friendly with these people. After all, they will soon be our brothers and sisters under their excellencies.'
The day passed without event until the evening, and the four then headed to the arena.
As they made their way through the town according to the directions given to them by Dern, Arlo noticed that there were a whole bunch of others heading in the same direction.
Thousands of people seemed to be flocking together.
'All these people are going to witness the fight? This place is reminding me more and more of my home town by the second.'
In the village of the lizardmen, a battle in the arena was something which everyone would gather to see.
Women, children, it didn't matter.
Of course, in the village of the lizardmen battles in the arena would be to the death.
'Is this a battle to the death? I don't believe so. I didn't specify as such, and if I defeat Dern and he peacefully accepts his loss, there will be no reason to kill him. On the contrary, killing him would be killing a potential subject of their excellencies. If Theo wishes to use him as a pawn, then I cannot allow myself to kill him unless I have no other choice.'
With a nod, Arlo came to this conclusion before he heard the impressed voices of his birdmen comrades.
"There it is..."
"How beautiful it is."
Arlo looked up to see a massive arena in front of him.
It was a dome of compacted soil which had tunnels and entrances all over. It looked like a Roman Colosseum, and people were entering from all directions.
Many insectoids were even flying and entering from the 2nd and 3rd floors.
'I wonder why they have an arena here. The insectoids are weak. The average citizen is only of 2nd tier, so why would their culture be so focused on fighting? And such a large arena at that....'
As Arlo was wondering this, something hit him.
The lizardmen too were weak.
They believed themselves to be strong.
They took pride in their honor as warriors.
Yet in the face of the antiheroes and their overwhelming power, they were nothing more than mere insects.
'Ah..... I see..... regardless of how weak or strong one is....'
Arlo looked up with a grin.
'One can always take pride in being a warrior.'
Stepping forward, he approached the arena with excitement.
'But the one who I will fight.... he is not weak. These people too have someone strong in their midst. I will not disrespect these people. I will face their strongest head on, and I will acknowledge them as warriors if they are worthy of the title.'
Stepping into the arena, Arlo made his way through the halls where he was led by some insectoids who seemed to be acting as guides.
"Go down that hall then take a left, and it will lead you to your waiting room."
When Arlo came to the waiting room with the birdmen, there were a few people stationed there.
One was a female fireant, and she seemed to be waiting for them.
"Ah, Arlo and your companions. The ones who will be fighting Dernie. I'm here to prepare you for the fight. Do you have a preferred weapon, or should we provide you with something?"
Arlo held up his spear with pride.
"This will be fine."
"I see..... then, do you wish to be fitted for some armor?"
"I have brought my own."
"Ah, then that is acceptable. Where is it?"
Arlo took out of his pocket something which looked to be a bunch of bandages.
"This is it."
Laying the bandages on himself, he was covered in head to toe.
"That.... is your armor?"
The ant seemed to be very confused.
"Worry not. This armor isn't something which can be easily penetrated.
Stepping forward, Arlo was waved off by the birdmen.
"Arlo."
Looking back, he saw the three sitting there with serious looks on their faces.
"You are our squad leader. You have been chosen by their excellencies for this task. Do not disappoint them.", Yirald said.
Arlo turned forward and stepped through the halls, puffing out his own chest.
"I would never even consider it."
----
The blinding light of the arena pierced the eyes of Arlo as the gate opened, and he was faced with his opponent across the arena.
His opponent- the humanoid ant- seemed to be so far away as he looked at him from across this distance.
Yet at the same time he could feel it.
He was close.
A step away.
A moment was all it would take to close the tremendous distance between the two.
'I am going to use the power that was given to me by their excellencies in this fight.'
If Arlo was his previous self before coming under the rule of his new masters, he never would have been able to accept using the power of someone else to fight.
But that was when he was fighting as a warrior.
That was when he fought for honor.
That was when he fought for the sake of his own pride, facing strong opponents for the thrill of battle.
Right now, he wanted to experience that one more time, yet he would do it now with the power which he had been granted.
Stepping forward, he heard the cheers of the crowd around him.
Thousands of people.
Their expressions held not the slightest bit of malice.
They were all aware fully that this was a fight which decided the fate of their own leader, and their own village.
Yet they were filled with a thrilling excitement which Arlo had never seen before.
'Warriors. Every single one of them.'
Not a single person was not thrilled at being able to see such a spectacular battle.
Their own leader who had never before been challenged and a strange challenger who appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be a servant of the antiheroes- the beings of chaos who held the world itself within their palms.
This was a battle of legends, and here they were, witnessing it with their very eyes.
They did not boo Arlo, nor did they give him evil stares.
They cheered on their leader, but they did not show even a single sign of malice towards Arlo.
"Dern!!!!"
"We love you, Dern!!!!"
"You are our king!!!!"
Arlo smiled at seeing the blissful faces of the people in the crowds, and continued to slowly walk forward, the distance between the two closing as they made their way to the center of the massive arena.
A referee stood in the center with a smile, and the two walked until they were only a few meters apart, where the referee held out his hands, signaling for them to stop in their positions.
"Today we come here to witness a fight between our beloved King, Dern, and a challenger to the leadership of this village, Arlo!!!!"
A roar of cheers erupted from the crowd as the referee shouted this, and he once more began to speak when the people had quieted down.
"Dern. Are you ready?"
With a nod, the ant spoke.
"I am ready."
He grabbed the sword at his side, fondling the hilt in his own hand, preparing to draw.
"Arlo. Are you ready?"
Holding up his spear, Arlo too nodded.
"I am."
"Then begin."
With the wave of his hands as if he was fluttering a flag, the referee jumped back and at that moment the very ground itself seemed to shake.
The two stepped forward, their very steps creating a rumbling that erupted throughout the entire arena.
And in an instant, the two were interlocking their weapons.
They stood face to face, both smiling.
"You are strong, lizardman.", Dern stated as the two fiddled trying to gain the advantage over one another.
"And you, humanoid ant."
----
An explosion of air pressure was sent through the crowd as the two jumped back from the interlocked position, only to rebound back into attacking position.
Arlo began thrusting his spear with a speed far beyond anything he would have been previously capable of, yet each and every one of these thrusts were skillfully parried and dodged.
'I'm not used to this strength and speed quite yet.... I need to re-calibrate myself....'
Arlo continued rushing however his spear was parried and the ant closed the distance on him, thrusting his own sword forward.
Clang!
The sword which the ant held seemed to be stopped by the bandages which Arlo wore, to the great surprise of not only the ant, but all the people in the crowd.
"Is his body so hard that it just stopped that sword?"
"For a lizardman to have such a hard body..... is it made of scales?"
"Amazing...."
The people were sitting on the edges of their seats as they watched the interaction with great interest, though many of them were struggling to even watch what was going on.
'He's good.... this man is trained as a highly powerful warrior..... it is no wonder that the people love him so...', Arlo thought.
But with a smirk, Arlo grabbed the blade of the sword which had struck his own chest, stopped by the bandages which he wore.
'However.... it won't be enough. Not to stop me when I have been empowered by their excellencies.'
Arlo ripped the sword out of the hands of the ant, throwing it behind him with tremendous force. The sword seemed to explode with a burst of dust as it hit the wall, and the ant in front of him now stood weaponless.
"It's over. I'm beginning to get used to this speed and power.", Arlo stated.
And with that statement, Arlo thrust his spear into the chest of the ant.
"Not so fast."
The ant managed to just barely shift the trajectory of the spear from his own heart, such that it thrust right through his own left shoulder, slicing off his arm.
An explosion of yellow guts erupted from the soldier of the ant as his human arm which was made from chitin fell to the ground, oozing with the liquid.
'He managed to shift his position.... but I'm not done....'
Arlo managed to thrust again but the ant jumped back as he did this.
[Heal]
The entire arm of the ant regenerated on the spot as if it had never been sliced off in the first place.
"Dern!!!"
"You're so cool!!!"
"A one in a million genius!!!"
Arlo was filled with surprise on seeing this, but this did not stop him from barreling forward towards this ant.
'He is truly a genius.', Arlo thought. 'His intuition as a warrior is beyond anything I have ever seen. He has speed and power great enough to shake even myself after I've been granted this power. And yet, despite being such a skilled warrior.... he possesses healing techniques which rival even that of her excellency.'
Arlo closed the distance with a grin unlike anything he had previously shown.
He was truly happy.
Just as he was delighted when he first met the Determined, he was truly happy to have met this warrior.
Yet as Arlo ran forward, he was met with something which he never expected.
It was a ball of light, in the hands of the ant.
[Ray of Light!!!!]
The ant seemed to shout out as the pure white energy formed a beam which bursted forth at the stomach of Arlo.
Arlo felt a heat in his own stomach and stopped in his own tracks.
Looking down, he noticed that there was a hole.
A hole, within the bandages which he wore.
His stomach was singed, however the ray of energy had not penetrated his own body.
Arlo was relieved, but also further impressed.
'He is talented even at attack magic?! Even without his weapon, he was able to hurt me with a spell..... and to completely destroy this armor I wear....'
Arlo rushed forward with an even greater smile, and thrust his own spear into the stomach of the ant, causing him to throw up a yellow fluid.
Pulling his spear out of the stomach of the man, Arlo stood forward.
'It's over.'
As he turned around from the ant, he heard a voice call out to him from behind.
"You.... defeated me..... it is my loss..... blergh.... [Heal]."
Arlo turned to see the ant, sapped of his own energy on the ground.
He was not smiling, but looked disappointed in himself.
"I have no more energy to fight..... I cannot win..... I.... never thought that you could have been this powerful....."
Arlo extended his own hand to the struggling ant, helping him up.
"That is what I would like to say to you. You are by far the most powerful person I have ever met, with my masters aside. If I were to fight you before receiving their power, I would have lost for certain."
"You're only saying that to comfort me. It is my loss.", Dern said. "I will do as you said and keep my word as a warrior.... but Arlo, let me tell you something...."
"What is it?"
"I will not let my people become mere slaves. I will one way or another bring those you serve to the light."
Turning back to Dern, Arlo's expression changed.
While he previously held an expression of impression and delight, he now spoke with a tone as cold as ice.
"Dern. I will say this for your own good."
Thinning his eyes, Arlo bluntly stated a single word.
"Don't."
Arlo walked forward after helping Dern up.
Dern looked forward, seeing the back of the warrior who had defeated him, almost blinded by the power which was exerted by this person.
"What do you mean?"
As Arlo continued to walk, he didn't look back.
"I mean what I said. Do not try to convince my masters to change their ways. They will do what is right in the end, but only for those they consider to be family. All I ask of you is that you do everything you can to ensure that you become a part of that family."
Arlo walked off, and stepping out of the arena was a woodpecker who had a victorious smile.
He held a flag.
The purple flag which carried the demonic symbol of the antiheroes.
He placed it into the ground with pride, and shouted out to all.
"This village.... the insectoid people.... as of today, you are now the slaves of the antiheroes. This was the deal which was stated previously, and it will be upheld."
The people in their crowd were holding their breath, but they all exploded into cheers as this was said.
"That was a great fight!!!!"
"I can't believe it!!!!"
"Someone actually beat Dern!!!!"
"That was amazing!!!!!"
Dern walked back to his own room in shame of having lost, but he was not concerned about his own status.
He would not go back on his word.
Instead, he smiled.
'I will change them, Arlo. You may not think it is possible, but I will show you.'
With a grin, Dern walked back into his own changing room.
The crowd cheered for him as well as he made his way back.
"Dern!!!!"
You did great!!!!"
"You're still our hero!!!!"
"Don't let one loss discourage you!!!!"
As Dern walked back into the changing room, he closed his eyes peacefully.
'I will show you that there is good in everyone. Even in the demons who wish to enslave my people. I will draw it out of them, and present it before all.'
----
Arlo and the three birdmen now sat in their own changing room.
"That's it."
"We've done it."
"Their excellencies will surely be content with this result."
The ant girl who was waiting in the dressing room looked at the four with concern.
"Um.... congratulations! I never expected you to win against Dernie."
Her antennas seemed to be twitching back and forth, just as her eyes were.
"Is.... are...."
She seemed to have trouble speaking.
"Are we really all now going to be enslaved by the people you serve?"
Arlo looked up at the ant girl.
"Are you related to him?"
"Hm? Oh! Dernie is actually my cousin."
Arlo nodded.
"I see... well, let me just tell you this. He put up a fight. He has earned my respect as a warrior. Please keep him on a leash if you don't want him to be killed."
"Killed??"
The four stood up, preparing to head out.
"Yes. Killed. It is as you have surmised. The people of this village, just as we are, are now the slaves of their excellencies, the antiheroes. The difference between myself and you people is that their excellencies have not yet culled you nor accepted you as their slaves."
Arlo turned back with a serious glare.
"That means that right now, you all are nothing more than insects. Prove to them that you all are worth valuing. I will say no more. Do not do anything rash. It would hurt me to see such a great warrior be killed."
And with that, the four left the ant girl alone, her heart filled with worry.
'The antiheroes..... just who or what are they?'