(Dimensional Demon God Kei, you are hereby designated to participate in the Arena of the Gods. The current mode is the "Ten-Thousand-Man True Combat Mode." In True Mode, death is permanent. Other rules will be determined by the Dimensional Demon God.)
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Inside the duel arena, a cold, synthetic electronic voice echoed in everyone's mind. Even those worn, bluish xenos beings were not spared.
Under the brutal assault of Hrud Leader Sheergath and Kroot War Shaper Anghkor, the members of the Steel Legion, now completely battered, collectively swallowed hard.
The previous trial with only a hundred demon gods had already nearly cost them their lives.
And now, it had only been a few days.
Ten-thousand-man mode?!
Even if each enemy spat once, they'd drown in saliva...
Wait?
They didn't seem to be enemies?
The high-level warriors from Commorragh, along with numerous Drukhari Incubi and xenos mercenaries who followed Vect, Drazhar, and others, quickly gathered on the southern side of the arena.
Looking out, it was a sea of black armor and spiked weaponry.
Meanwhile, the Craftworld Eldar drawn into the Arena of the Gods activated their anti-grav units and flew behind Yvraine and Taldeer.
Drazhar, Blackheart, various Drukhari Archons, and even the newly arrived warrior who had just barely entered the Sol System and was also dragged into the arena—hurried to the side of their queen.
"Your Majesty, that mon-keigh! He sits up there and watch like it's a show, let me carve him a new face..."
Clang.
The Drukhari Archon stared with violent malice at the figure seated high in the arena stands, Kei.
But before he could even finish his sentence, Lelith's blade-heel connected with his head, leaving his eyes crystal clear and purged of all wicked thoughts.
"Ignorant fool. No finesse. Don't bother with him."
Lelith flashed a predatory smile and gave an elegant wave toward Kei.
Then she turned around and immediately put on her true face, still fuming, she kicked the Archon several more times.
"Who the hell gave you permission to flap your damn mouth?! Keep that poison tongue locked up, or you're going out first as blood sport!"
She cast a stern glare over her Drukhari subordinates.
Seeing no one spoke up, she swayed her lithe form and, with her warriors in tow, strutted boldly toward Kei's location.
That imbecile, can't even read the room.
They were all forcibly dragged here by Kei, whatever was happening, it had nothing to do with who was sitting the highest!
That's what you're worried about?
"What's transpiring here?"
A newer Incubus subtly approached Drazhar next to him and gave him a questioning look. He had rushed over from the outer reaches, not far from Commorragh, upon receiving his queen's summons, completely unaware of recent events.
"The Dimensional Demon God is the powerful patron our Queen has secured. A being even the Aeldari must show deference to."
Drazhar leaned slightly, choosing his words carefully, and gave a brief summary of the current situation.
"Isn't that rather... pragmatic? Can't defeat them, so we align with superior force?"
A Drukhari Warrior blinked his scarred eyes. His disproportionately cruel smile spread between Drazhar and the Incubus.
"You insignificant wretch, what do you comprehend? This is the Queen's grand strategy!"
The Incubus, blindly loyal to Lelith, dismissed the Warrior with a disgusted look, brushing off the armor he had nudged, and quickened his pace to keep up with Lelith.
A being who even the ancient Aeldari feared to challenge!
Aligning with such power? As expected of their queen!
"What wretch? You're the wretch..."
The Warrior grumbled discontentedly, glanced at the silent Drazhar, snorted, then said no more.
This one always deferred to the Queen, talking to him was pointless.
"Stay close! This shall be glorious battle!"
Celestine, seeing her dimensional savior seated high on the throne, and the opposing forces like Cegorach seemingly preparing to confront him, immediately called out to the Steel Legion.
They, too, moved toward the northern side of the arena.
This kind of righteous melee, was exactly what she lived for.
With the Emperor's light, she could smite a whole host of heretics!
"So this is the so-called Demon God Trial? Most impressive gambit!"
The Chapter Master, who had just been annoyed by the indecisive attacks and retreats of those xenos beings, instantly felt surge of anticipation when he saw all enemies gathering in one place.
Suddenly, no more headache, no more irritation, his whole body felt ready for war!
Time to solve all problems in one righteous charge.
This approach? He approved completely!
"Sicarius, once the two of us advance, you activate your enhanced genetics. The moment his system falters, Voss will flank him, and I'll crush him with this power fist, might just break through!"
"By the Emperor, I have to get revenge. That hit just now nearly scrambled my augmetics!"
"We can do this, as long as the three of us coordinate properly, victory is assured! Voss, your equipment intact?"
Yarrick, Voss, and Sicarius were chattering nonstop.
Just a moment ago, Sheergath and Anghkor had aimed all their attacks at vital systems, and nearly destroyed the Grand Bastion right before their eyes.
If they didn't get revenge for that, they'd remember it for a lifetime.
Not even a full minute after the Ten-Thousand-Man Arena of the Gods began, the forcibly summoned participants had already divided into clear factions.
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"Vect, no matter what you need to do, stall for time. I need to comprehend this space before I can release the Great Game."
Cegorach placed a spectral hand on Vect's shoulder.
With a wave of Warp Energy, he discreetly transmitted his message.
The method he intended to use against Kei first required releasing a reality-entity that surpasses current dimensions, to interfere with Kei's control over the warp.
Then, using the super-dimensional transit technology calculated by the Dimensional Aperture, he'd drag Kei's "dimension" into the static timeless rift between Immaterium and reality.
By leveraging the boundary between the Warp's "eternity" and the real world's time-space, and harnessing the power of the entire galaxy, he would segment and annihilate Kei's dimension.
Now that they had been suddenly pulled here, if he couldn't complete the first step's calculations, the entire performance was ruined.
"Why did I even join your cursed troupe?! You'd better hurry up. If this goes badly, don't blame me for switching sides."
"None can resist the Great Game."
"It had better be so!"
Vect raised his eyes and glared directly at Kei and the others on the high platform, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
If it were just the Dimensional Demon God alone, he wouldn't hesitate to surrender immediately.
But Yvraine, Taldeer, and Lelith, those three were sitting right there, looking at him like he was some kind of amusing entertainment. If there was even a sliver of a chance to crush those fools underfoot, he wouldn't miss it!
"Malys, go. Ask them what exactly they want."
"Yvraine is sitting right up there, and you want me to walk out and die? Pick someone else!"
The Archon immediately refused Vect's order without hesitation.
All three of the major powers were gathered, plus that one being who looked ridiculously overpowered, and she was supposed to walk up and talk?
Even with her enhanced Drukhari augmentations, she didn't have the guts!
"...Kruellagh, you go!"
Vect turned to another subordinate, eyes narrowing dangerously, full of menace and threat.
"My Lord, if I perish, ensure Malys joins me in the afterlife."
Kruellagh swallowed hard, glared viciously at Malys, then activated his jump pack and flew out from Vect's side.
---
Up on the high platform, Kei, using the conceptual power of "existence and nonexistence", formed several smaller thrones beside himself.
Yvraine, Taldeer, Lelith, and Celestine each took their seats, representing Love, Replication, Decay, and Wrath, respectively.
The rest either felt they weren't qualified or strong enough to sit, or, faced with threats like Cegorach, Ancient Evil Vect, and all the Drukhari, Hrud, and Kroot, had no leisure to sit at all.
Seeing this, Kei waved it off and dismissed the remaining thrones.
He ignored Kruellagh flying in from among the Drukhari.
Instead, he continued explaining the many features of the Arena of the Gods to Yvraine, Taldeer, Lelith, and the others.
After hearing their input, a sly smile curled at the corner of his mouth, and he began setting the rules for this Arena of the Gods!
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Rules of this Arena of the Gods:
Team Boss Challenge Mode: Teams must work together to defeat the boss to proceed to the next level.
Swords and Sorcery Only: All energy systems except for magic are sealed and stripped from the arena.
No Flight: Gravity rules are rewritten. Anti-gravity techniques are nullified.
Rule Four: The team members with the lowest contributions in each boss battle will receive the Punishment of Decay.
Rule Five: Refusal to participate in the boss fight will also result in the Punishment of Decay.
First Boss: Replica of Chaos Arcane God, Ancient One
Countdown to Arena Start: 5... 4... 3... 2... 1...