Growl.
The ground shook and the proud smirk Glenn had on his face was wiped out in an instant. He turned around to see the Death Lord alive again, and it was getting up.
"What the hell?" Glenn gasped. "This is not fair. I'm sure I defeated it."
"It seems like this battle is not over," the announcer cheered. "The Death Match is still continuing. What will Glenn Adams, our challenger, do now?"
Glenn grunted and had no choice but to fight again. He was lucky he didn't use his Switch skill just yet, so he was still in Black mode and was ready to fight.
"Alright," Glenn sighed. "Let's kill you once again."
Glenn tried to cast Thorns of Roses, but he missed three times. The Death Lord was now more aware of its surroundings and had more capabilities than it had before, which was a very bad news for Glenn.
"I'm running out of options," Glenn grunted to himself. He kept on leaping from one place to another, trying his best to dodge all the attacks from the Death Lord's sword.
"Oh," Glenn finally had a plan. He ran towards the side of the arena while the Death Lord followed him. When the boss was near enough, Glenn rolled his body to the side and he cast the Thorns of Roses again.
"Hah," Glenn grinned. "Got you."
"That again?"
"Boo!"
"You keep on using that. Let it go."
…
Glenn dramatically scoffed after he heard the crowd yell at him. He rolled his eyes ans continued to what he was doing. One by one, he cut all the vines and when he cut the last one, he would fire the Circle of Death skill.
For the second time, the Death Lord fell. Glenn was happy that it was finally over, but his happiness was cut short when it stood back up. He was now frustrated, not knowing what else to do.
His stamina, mana, and even HP bar was still almost complete, but his frustration level had dropped significantly. He had taken down the Death Lord three times now and he was tired of doing it over and over again.
With one last sigh, Glenn clenched his fists. He waved hia hands in the air as he let his hololiths glow brightly. "You really don't give up, huh? Then prepare yourself!"
"Red Maiden!"
A dark red flame engulfed from Glenn's hands and dashed towards the Death Lord. The flames formed a cirlce around the beast before it exploded, burning the Death Lord inside.
–
The Death Match was finally over. The arena was being emptied as the guests left one by one.
Glenn was left standing in the middle of the large round area, still smiling for his victory. He was still feeling high after defeating the Death Lord since it was the first time he felt such thrill for the past decade.
"You should be able to receive the reward for defeating the Arena boss," Diana walked towards Glenn with Patrick trailing behind her. "You sure are strong. Look at what you did to the beast."
"Speaking of beast," Glenn turned to see the rotting flesh of the Death Lord. "What will happen to it? And why is everybody so happy after I defeated the Death Lord?"
Diana sighed. "The Death Lord is actually a self proclaimed name from the true master of the Death Arena. This corpse is merely a representative of the true master of the Death Arena, just a puppet."
"Oh," Glenn was silent for a quick moment. "Wait, so you mean that this creature isn't actual the Death Lord?"
"No," a man clapped his palms together. He was sitting on a floating throne as he approached Glenn. "My dear, dear champion. You have proven yourself worthy."
"The announcer?" Glenn scrunched his face, then turned to Diana. "He's the true Death Lord?"
"My name is Quentin," the Dark Lord introduced. "And actually it's Death Lore, but then people started calling me 'Lord', so I just went with the flow."
"What did the Dark Lord say after he heard that?" Glenn snorted. "I'm sure it wasn't pretty."
Quentin broke out in laughter. He was clenching his stomach as he cried his eyes out for the small joke that Glenn made. "You're not only extremely powerful, you're also funny as well. How is that?"
"I need the rewards," Glenn deadpanned. "We don't need any more formalities between us since I don't really associate myself with the inhabitants of the Dark that much."
"Oh, the prejudice," Quentin pursed his lips and returned to his throne. "Alco, Alca, the chest."
He clapped his hands three times and two large men walked out of a tunnel from a part of the arena. They were carrying a chest and dropped it in front of Glenn.
"As the champion, here are your rewards," Quentin said without any enthusiasm. "You can exit the arena blah blah blah."
"Are you not going to ask about this child?" Glenn pointed at Patrick as Alco and Alca opened the chest. "He was the one you chose to fight the puppet, wasn't he?"
"I don't really care," Quentin waved his hands dismissively. "I only care about the goods, the ticket prices, and the popularity of my Arena. The rest can just kill themselves."
Glenn tilted his head to the side after he felt a confusion, "Popularity? What do you mean?"
"The fights that are held inside the Death Arenas are broadcasted all over the Darkness where the inhabitants would tune in and watch," Quentin said. "The Death Lords, such as me, would compete on which arena would have a high rating."
"That's why you revived the puppet over and over again?" Glenn scoffed.
"You lied to me first," Quentin narrowed his eyes. "Tricking me into selecting this young child under your name and then exchange yourself into the arena. We're the same type of people, Mr. Glenn Adams."
Glenn smirked and had no other choice but to shrug in amusement. "I guess you're right."
"Now, my Arena has the highest rating, you have your reward, here's a special bonus and you can go now, bye bye," Quentin threw a small pouch at Glenn before he exited along with his floating throne.
"So, the payment?" Diana crossed her arms. "The Bow of Lake Sabador, give."
"Jeez," Glenn rolled his eyes. He scanned the chest and found the glove, handing it to Diana who had a satisfied smirk on her lips.
"You happy now?"
"Yes," Diana smiled widely. "You can exit the arena through the main gate. Once you do, you will be transported back into the gate of your town, right where I spawned."
Glenn understood. He nodded and watched Diana disappear into nothingness. Since she was done with her deal with Glenn, she had no more reason to stay.
"Let's go?" Glenn asked Patrick who in responded by nodding vigorously. "Come on. Let's go back to Galaron."