Thump. Thump.
As the rules of the Gods' Arena officially took effect...
The Drukhari who had been using their anti-grav units plummeted to the ground like broken dolls.
The rising dust forced Vect, Malys, and the others to cover their mouths and noses.
In the vast arena, on the northern clearing, a clone of the Ancient One appeared slowly, dressed in a mysterious yellow mage robe and sporting a shiny bald head.
She brought her right hand to her chest and gave a slight bow to the more than a thousand enemies before her.
"I shall show you the true charm of magic."
"Who the hell are you?! You think we'll fight just because you said so?! Let me outta here, I'm done with this!"
Like an enraged beast, the xenos mercenary Gordreg, wielding a massive spiked club, pointed his weapon impatiently toward the figure high on the platform, Kei.
The moment the words left his mouth, a decayed concept that accelerated the notion of time enveloped him.
Before his arrogant expression could even fade, his body withered and hunched in seconds. In the blink of an eye, he became a foul puddle of rotting flesh, slumping to the ground.
"Emperor's blood—"
Those xenos mercenaries who knew of Gordreg's strength staggered back in horror!
Gordreg, codename "Skull Crusher,"
Possessed enhanced bio-augmentation, controlled two high-level warp-powered devices, immense strength, capable in both offense and defense.
His strength was rumored to rival Yvraine's wraithbone constructs.
Yet under that so-called "Judgment of Decay," he didn't even last five seconds before his corpse began to rot?
"Mirror Space."
The Ancient One clone raised the corner of her mouth slightly, a kind and gentle smile spreading across her face.
She drew a line in front of her with both hands.
The space in front of everyone began to twist and flip like a mirror!
The ground stood upright like a wall, the sky appeared where the earth used to be.
Gravity was redefined.
The surrounding walls split into countless mirrors, chaotically reassembling and spinning through space.
Among the thousands of troops, quite a few, caught off guard, fell "upward" into the "sky" and were smashed into meat paste within ten seconds.
Most others, thanks to exceptional physical capabilities, barely managed to grab onto anything nearby to avoid a fatal fall.
All stared at the scene before them in horror and shock.
"Winds of Watoomb."
The Ancient One pushed her hands forward, and violent gales swept toward the enemies barely keeping their footing.
"What the hell are you all standing around for?! Test out that bald witch's strength already!"
Vect glanced anxiously at Cegorach beside him, urging his subordinates into action.
He had just tried something quietly, his warp energy, normally at his beck and call, had completely vanished. Even the soul-engine inside him had nearly ground to a halt.
Without warp energy to support it, the thing wasn't even usable as a melee weapon
Let alone triggering a reality tear!
Now their only hope was for Cegorach to crack this strange space!
"They said this was just the first boss. There must be more after this..."
"You think surrendering means you'll be spared?"
"Come on, we're just hired guns. Can't we just quit the mission?"
"Gordreg's not even dust now!"
"Fight, we've gotta at least contribute some team damage or we'll end up as rotting flesh too."
After a brief exchange between the terrified xenos mercenaries, seeing the Drukhari, along with Cegorach's Hrud and Kroot warriors, charging toward the bald-headed mage using the rotating terrain and structures like puzzle pieces, they stopped hesitating and joined the fray.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Many Drukhari, led by Malys, raised their splinter rifles.
A storm of crystalline shards whistled through the air, hurtling straight toward the mage Ancient One!
"Redirect."
With a flick of her finger, the Ancient One opened a portal sparkling with golden sparks, instantly devouring all the incoming projectiles.
In the next moment, hundreds of spatial portals opened behind the ranks, precisely targeting the Drukhari in the rear.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Blood splattered as the sound of shards piercing flesh rang out continuously.
Many Drukhari, whose souls hadn't evolved in millennia, were impaled by the very crystalline projectiles they had fired themselves!
"Flames of the Faltine!"
The Ancient One crossed her hands in front of her, forming a strange and intricate spell gesture.
Flames surged out around her, sweeping across the battlefield, instantly incinerating the Drukhari, Hrud beasts, and Kroot warriors who had charged toward her, turning them all into black ash.
The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, the Flames of the Faltine, the Curse of Ice and Fire, the Images of Ikonn, Energy Whip, Scarlet Chains, the Holy Sword, the Bolts of Balthakk, the Rings of Raggadorr...
It was as if she were demonstrating the dazzling heritage of arcane magic.
She never cast the same spell twice, nor did she even bother to use them at full power.
Yet, those casually cast spells, with only a fraction of their potential unleashed, effortlessly nullified wave after wave of attacks.
Whether it was the Hrud and Kroot from the outer systems, or the Drukhari of the old empire, they were all swiftly annihilated in a torrent of spells.
"Cegorach! How much longer?! That's not even the real boss, it's just a clone! And she's about to wipe us all out! If you don't hurry up, we're all dead meat!"
Vect clung to a floating relief sculpture, barely managing to stay balanced.
Hearing this, Malys, Kruellagh, various Archons, and the others all turned their gazes to Cegorach.
"This space we're in isn't located anywhere in the known galaxy. We're in his dimensional realm. The calculations of the Dimensional Aperture take time. You'd better focus on defeating her first."
Cegorach was barely maintaining his connection with the Dimensional Aperture.
Though he appeared theatrical, his essence was churning with cosmic anxiety.
With no warp energy support and spatial rules in disarray, his manifestation was flickering and distorted like a corrupted hologram.
If Vect was anxious, Cegorach was even more so!
The Dimensional Aperture had been running calculations for quite some time, but still hadn't found a single breach point in this dimension, which lay completely outside the known galaxy!
"Screw this! I'm gonna gut you like a fish! You think I can beat that bald witch?!"
Vect raised his soul-blade, just about to stab Cegorach in rage.
But Malys grabbed his arm tightly.
"Wait!"
Malys's expression was grim. Grabbing Vect with one hand, she motioned for him to look toward the side of the battlefield.
There, the xenos bounty hunter Skarex, hands bound by unknown scarlet energy chains, suddenly kicked off with explosive force.
Using the energy chains as leverage, he yanked the Ancient One clean off the ground, dragging her toward himself.
And beside Skarex, dozens of mercenaries charged forward, weapons raised, to strike at the Ancient One.
Then, the Butterflies of Bushman!
A swarm of butterflies filled the air.
The attackers and the weapons in their hands were transformed into colorful butterflies, scattering throughout the space, then, just like snow under sunlight, they swiftly melted away and disappeared.
What should have been a beautiful, dazzling spectacle... Instead made everyone who had tried to attack the Ancient One gulp in terror.
"Maybe you really should stab Cegorach with that blade."
Malys let go of Vect's wrist.
Skarex might not have been a famous figure, but he was undeniably a top-tier enhanced warrior!
And just like that, in the blink of an eye, Skarex turned into butterflies and vanished!
Gone!
That was a peak-tier augmented body, not some fragile little flower!
Damn it!
Forget the fact they couldn't use warp energy and that their soul-engines were in a state of total failure, even in their prime, this bald witch never looked like someone they could defeat.
Team battle?
First-stage boss?
If they all die here, who the hell is gonna live to see the second stage?