More individuals began to appear in the stadium from the openings in the non walled off area. The next group to arrive was two men that wore dark blue armor which had a silver trim around the edge.
The group of two men stood by the left side of two seats in the center of the western side of the stadium. One man was to the right and closest to the southern end of the stadium which was currently empty. The other man was to the left and closer to the northern end of the stadium where the royalty was located.
The man to the right had greenish-blue hair and dark green eyes with a sword strapped to his back that leaned to his left side. He was the same height as the man he stood next to. He had a bored expression on his face. On his left arm were four crossed blades which had been engraved into his armor. Two of the crossed blades were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last one was horizontal. On the left side of the four crossed blades was a mask. By the bottom left of the mask were two crossed blades.
The man to the left had dark green hair and dark blue eyes with a greatsword strapped to his back that leaned to his left side. He was the same height as the man he stood next to. He had a very innocent looking expression on his face. On his left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into his armor. Two of the crossed blades were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a mask. By the bottom left of the mask were two crossed blades.
Menelaos looked at the two men that wore dark blue armor with a silver trim around the edge and then looked at Hypatos. He tightened the grip of his left hand around his greatsword and said angrily. "What is the meaning of this? You're only supposed to bring a Fifth! Why did you bring two Guardians?!"
Hypatos said with annoyance. "I heard you were bringing three! So I brought two just in case!"
Menelaos said with annoyance. "Just in case of what? And who did you hear I was bringing three from?" He looked at Kambyses and said, "Did you tell him?"
Kambyses pointed at himself with his right pointer finger and said with astonishment. "Did you just ask me if I told a Westerner about the number of Guardians you were bringing to the Ceremony?" He sighed and said. "Why would I ever do that?" He tapped the right side of his head with his right pointer finger as he said. "Do you even have a brain in that thick head of yours?" He pointed at Menelaos and said with conviction. "I hate the West even more than you do!" He looked at Kapaneus and said, "Those cowards always refuse to fight me because they know they'll lose."
Kapaneus looked at Kambyses and said while annoyed. "Who are you calling cowardly, you Eastern Bastard! I'm two ranks ahead of you!"
Kambyses said. "Two ranks ahead of me, huh?" He began to walk toward Kapaneus as he said. "If you would quit running away from me then you wouldn't even be ahead of me. You would be the lowest rank. You would be below both me and Phobos." He looked at the man with dark blue hair who stood by the seat with a cracked mask engraved into the back of it that had two crossed blades by the left side of the cracked mask.
The man with dark blue hair, known as Phobos, looked at Kambyses and then at Kapaneus. He then looked at the ground in front of him.
Kapaneus said angrily. "You honestly think I would ever be below a right hander?!" He glared at Phobos and said. "You're weak aren't you, Phob?!"
Phobos looked up and said while frightened. "H-Huh?!" He looked over at Kapaneus fearfully and nodded as he said fearfully. "T-That's... r-right..." He looked at the ground again.
Kapaneus walked over and grabbed Kambyses by his neck with his left hand. He lifted Kambyses off the ground and began to tighten his grip around Kambyses's neck as he said with satisfaction. "You'll always be at the bottom! And a filthy right hander like Phob will never be able to beat me!" He laughed loudly. His laughter echoed throughout the stadium.
The boy with light brown hair that wore no armor spotted the man known as Atreus disappear from where he was standing at the top level of the walled off section of the stadium.
Atreus reappeared next to Kapaneus as quickly as he had disappeared. His right hand was gripped around the wrist of Kapaneus's left hand. He then lightly squeezed Kapanues's wrist and completely crushed it.
The sound of Kapaneus's wrist breaking echoed in the stadium. Kapaneus screamed out in pain. He immediately dropped Kambyses onto the ground.
Kambyses coughed multiple times as he laid on the ground.
Atreus glared at Kapaneus and said. "You're too loud." He slightly tightened his grip on Kapaneus's wrist.
Kapaneus screamed out even louder than before. His painful screams once again echoed throughout the stadium.
Atreus looked at Kapaneus's lifeless face and said with a bored tone. "So pathetic..." He tossed Kapaneus onto the ground. He turned and looked at the other royals.
The royals looked at Kapaneus's left wrist which was completely crushed. But, they all remained silent.
Atreus then looked at the people in the sand pit. He stared directly at the boy with light brown hair that wore no armor.
A cold chill went down the boy's spine as he thought. "Why is he staring at me?"
Atreus disappeared from where he stood. He reappeared in his previous spot on the top level. He looked at Aineas and stuck his right thumb up as he said joyfully. "How was that, Brother? They're finally quiet now."
Aineas looked at Atreus and said. "I appreciate it. I was getting a headache from listening to trash speak." He looked at the empty sections of the stadium and said. "Their Guardians also wouldn't want to watch them behave in such a way."
Atreus nodded and said joyfully. "You're always so considerate, Brother! You're always thinking of others. Such a selfless leader!"
Aineas said with gratefulness. "I learned from the best."
Footsteps could be heard from within the stadium as multiple individuals appeared through multiple openings. Two individuals appeared through the openings on the eastern side of the stadium, Two individuals appeared through the openings on the western side of the stadium, and two individuals appeared through the openings at the southern end of the stadium.
The two individuals that appeared on the eastern side of the stadium appeared on opposite ends. One individual was close to the southern end of the stadium and the other individual was close to the northern end of the stadium. Both individuals wore red armor with a silver trim around the edge.
The individual close to the southern end of the stadium was a woman with dark purple hair and two different colored eyes. Her left eye was light blue and her right eye was light silver. She had two swords strapped to her back. One sword leaned to her left side and the other leaned to her right side. She had a happy expression on her face. On her left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into her armor. Two of the crossed blades were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a cracked mask. By the bottom left of the cracked mask were five crossed blades. Two of the crossed blades were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. She stood by the left side of a seat close to the southern end of the stadium.
The individual close to the northern end of the stadium was a man with spiky orange hair. His left eye was closed, and his right eye was open. His left eye had a giant scar across the eyelid that went from the top of his face to the bottom of his face. His right eye was dark brown. Strapped to his back was a spear that leaned to his right side. He had a very proud expression on his face. On his left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into his armor. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a cracked mask. By the bottom left of the cracked mask was one vertical blade. He stood by the left side of a seat close to the northern end of the stadium.
The two individuals that appeared on the western side of the stadium also both appeared on opposite ends of the western side of the stadium. One individual was close to the southern end of the stadium and the other was close to the northern end of the stadium. Both individuals wore blue armor with a silver trim around the edge.
The individual close to the southern end of the stadium was a man with greenish-brown hair and dark blue eyes with a battle axe strapped to his back that leaned to his left. He had a very annoyed expression on his face. On his left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into his armor. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a cracked mask. By the bottom left of the cracked mask were three crossed blades. Two were diagonal and one was vertical. He stood by the left side of the seat closest to the southern end of the stadium.
The individual close to the northern end of the stadium was a man with dark brown hair and light green eyes with a halberd strapped to his back that leaned to his left. He had a very confident expression on his face. On his left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into his armor. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a cracked mask. By the bottom left of the cracked mask were two crossed blades. He stood by the left side of a seat close to the northern end of the stadium.
The two individuals that appeared through the openings at the southern end of the stadium did not appear at opposite ends. One appeared through an opening close to the eastern side of the stadium and the other appeared through an opening in the center of the southern end of the stadium.
The individual that appeared through the opening by the eastern side of the stadium wore black armor with a silver trim around the edge. The individual was a woman with blonde hair and dark red eyes with a greatsword strapped to her back that leaned to her left. She had a cheerful expression on her face. On her left arm were five crossed blades which had been engraved into her armor. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and the last two were horizontal. On the left side of the five crossed blades was a cracked mask. By the bottom left of the cracked mask were four crossed blades. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and one was horizontal. She stood by the left side of a seat close to the eastern side of the stadium.
The last individual to appear was a woman that wore dark black armor with a silver trim around the edge. She appeared through an opening in the center of the southern end of the stadium. She had black hair that was tied up in a ponytail and she had dark silver eyes with a greatsword strapped to her back that leaned to her right. She had an excited expression on her face. On her left arm were four crossed blades which were engraved into her armor. Two were diagonal, one was vertical, and one was horizontal. On the left side of the four crossed blades was a mask. By the bottom left of the mask was one vertical blade. She stood by the left side of a seat in the center of the southern end of the stadium.
Menelaos looked over at the woman with black hair, who stood next to the seat that had a mask with one vertical blade by the left side of it, and said. "You only brought a Fourth, Alekto?"
The woman with black hair, known as Alekto, looked over at Menelaos and giggled as she said. "Oh my. Oh my. Did you actually think I'd bring My Fifth to the Ceremony, Little Menelaos?" She continued to giggle as she said. "Why would I ever bring out my strongest Guardian for something like this?"
Aineas looked at the eastern side, the western side, and then finally at the southern end of the stadium. He then looked at Atreus and said. "Looks like everyone is here."
Atreus nodded and stuck his right thumb up and said. "You can alert his Supreme Majesty now. We don't want to keep him waiting after all."
Aineas nodded and said. "Right." He lifted his right hand up and touched the edge of his white and crimson mask that was close to his ear with his pointer finger and middle finger. He said confidently into his mask. "Everyone is here, Your Supreme Majesty."
The boy with light brown hair that wore no armor thought. "Everyone is here?" He looked back at the empty left side of the southern end of the stadium and thought. "But aren't we missing a Guardian?" He then looked back at Aineas and said. "And what did he just-"
The entire stadium shook. Loud cracks could be heard from the top level of the stadium. Strong vibrations could be felt from the ground beneath the boy's feet. Each vibration was stronger than the last. The boy attempted to keep his balance as the intensity of the vibrations continued to increase.
The boy with light brown hair and no armor looked over at the royals at the northern end of the stadium.
The two royals that were previously on the ground now stood on their feet. They both stood by the left side of their seats just like the rest of the royals.
All the royals stood by the left side of their seats and had their backs facing the people in the sand pit. They all faced the top level of the walled off area and looked up at Aineas and Atreus.
Aineas had moved to the left side of the left seat and Atreus had moved to the right side of the right seat. They both had their backs facing the royals and were facing the opening behind the left seat. They both clenched their left hands and placed it over the center of their chest.
The ground continued to shake as the loud cracks continued to get louder. The boy with light brown hair and no armor struggled to stand as he looked over at the eastern, southern, and western Guardians within the stadium. They all had their left hands clenched and placed over the center of their chest.
The boy looked back at the top level of the walled off section of the northern end of the stadium. He could see the silhouette of a large figure in the opening behind the left seat.
Both Aineas and Atreus bowed as their left hand remained clenched and placed over the center of their chest.
The rest of the Guardians within the stadium immediately bowed after Aineas and Atreus. Their left hand remained clenched and placed over the center of their chest.
Aineas said confidently to the large figure. "The preparations are complete, Your Supreme Majesty."
The large figure continued to get even larger as it approached the light. The loud cracks continued to get even louder. The stadium continued to shake more violently. The large figure's voice sounded extremely deep as it said. "Then let's begin."