Chapter 21: High Noon's Feast

The noon sun shone over the Cornucopia. A gentle breeze blew towards the west, as leaves from the forest's trees could be heard rustling. The birds that nested in the trees chirped and flew away into the skies. Other than that, it was dead silent. 

Arianna gripped her sword with her right hand, as she made sure her other hand would be able to easily reach for her fireworks.

Sterloin holds his netherite sword low and in front of him, maintaining his defensive stance, while Pixel edged closer and moved to the side, aiming his fishing rod in Omega and Conhadda's direction.

Gyrra used up a Swiftness Spellbook and drank the entire bottle of a strength potion. He throws it aside to the ground, as he grabs his two daggers. His teammate, Scissors, went closer to him, gripping his poison-coated axe in front of his face with both of his hands.

Omega spun his diamond axe as he took it out, gripping it tightly with both hands and having it rest atop his shoulder. Conhadda then unsheathed his now enchanted blade, eyeing and focusing on Sterloin and Pixel before the fight commences.

Just as they all inched slowly toward each other, Scissors and Gyrra charged at Omega first, initiating the fight. Pixel reeled his fishing rod and caught Gyrra instead. His legs were tied up by the fishing line causing him to trip and fall to the ground. He got pulled towards his captor, but he cut the strings with his dagger, breaking himself free and rendering Pixel's fishing rod useless.

Omega readied his diamond axe in front of him as Scissors was headed towards him. Scissors jumped and lunged at him with his weapon, striking at his head, only for Omega to parry the blade and lead it aside, tossing Scissors to the ground from the momentum.

Arianna jumped from a boulder and took off with her elytra, propelling herself with the fireworks as she tried to attack Omega from behind. He immediately noticed, hearing the rustle of the wings behind him, so he ducked.

Arianna, knowing how small and light Omega was, grabbed, and carried him from the ground and up into the skies with her. She tried to fly higher as she continued to propel herself upwards despite the combined weight of her and her opponent.

Conhadda saw the state his teammate was in, so he took out his crossbow, lit the arrowhead on fire, and aimed it at Omega's captor, firing it. It hit the wings of Arianna's elytra, burning them up.

As Arianna started to fall, Omega grabbed her by the neck, and headbutts her on the nose, impacting the bridge and causing it to deform. Her nose started to bleed profusely, just as Omega threw another punch on her jaw, dislocating it.

"Stay put!" Omega turned to the side in mid-air, causing her to hit the ground first, absorbing the impact for her opponent. "It was an honor fighting you, boss. You should focus on your business for now."

Arianna landed on the ground, unable to move, as well as Omega, who was unscathed. He then slices his axe through his opponent's heart, making a cannon fire shortly after.

Gyrra headed straight to Conhadda, with his daggers ready in his hands. Omega immediately noticed this, so he stepped into the way, only for him to be circled by Gyrra and get repeatedly stabbed from behind. Omega fell to the ground but was able to withstand the pain, so he went on, trying to chase Gyrra as a last resort.

Before Conhadda could even load his crossbow with another arrow, Scissors caught his weapon with his fishing rod, catching it with his hand as it flew toward him. He then aimed and fired the weapon at Pixel, who was charging toward him on the side.

Gyrra however, insisted on going for Pixel next, without knowing that Scissors fired an arrow in his direction, causing it to go straight into his heart, killing him from behind. Another cannon fired.

After Gyrra dropped down on the floor, Pixel charged at Scissors. Scissors' weapon completely overwhelmed Pixel's– in two hits, the Vergiften was able to snap the sword in half.

As Scissors was about to cleave through Pixel, a lasso wrapped around both their bodies, rendering them immobile. It was Omega, who then effortlessly took Scissors' life. Before another cannon fires, and before he could even try to kill Pixel, Sterloin stepped in, deflecting the hit from Omega's diamond axe with his netherite sword

Sterloin then stabs Omega through the side of his stomach, causing it to bleed uncontrollably. Omega pushed Sterloin aside and set his sights on Pixel, who was already fighting against Conhadda.

As Pixel somehow managed to knock off Conhadda's weapon, he then started to unleash a rapid flurry of punches against his opponent. As a response, Omega threw his axe at Pixel, causing it to cut through his head from behind, ultimately killing him.

Omega ran for his diamond axe and retrieved it as Sterloin chases him down. He tries to hit Sterloin with an axe but is immediately parried with his netherite sword. He was already weak, so he fell to the ground after his opponent's parry.

Sterloin was about to stab Omega into the ground, but his opponent crawled to the side and got back up while staggering. By then, the cut was more apparent, and the grass around Omega was already drenched in red.

"You… wouldn't." Omega muttered, just as he tried to hit Sterloin for one last time. As expected, Sterloin blocked the attack against him.

In return, Sterloin swung his dark blade against Omega, who struggled to keep up with the pace while still managing to block most of the attacks. By then, he received four slices from the ominous blade: the one on his stomach, one that cut off his right arm, one on the face, which sliced through his left eye, and one on his right leg.

Sterloin wasn't surprised one bit. He knew that his opponent was something, after all. Omega was the most experienced opponent in the simulation, after Simartar's death.

"I admire your perseverance, Omega," Sterloin complimented him and gave a salute. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you well after this. Maybe we should train sometimes."

"It was nice, Sterloin," said Omega, but before he could even continue…

Twang, woosh!

Sterloin was shot through the head with an arrow.

Twang, whoosh! Twang, whoosh!

Two more arrows went straight into his chest. Sterloin fell to his demise, and a cannon fired. Omega couldn't help but feel bad, though he felt relieved after knowing Conhadda saved him.

"Con, thank goodness!"

Conhadda rushed to him, looking concerned.

"Omega! Oh… He really got you, huh?"

"Yes, but I can still go on. The apple, Conhadda, go find it."

"There's no way you would still survive after that!" Conhadda was in disbelief. His teammate had already taken so many hits for him, and the grass that he laid on was redder than before.

Omega handed over his prized axe to Conhadda. "You know what, take this with you just in case I die on the spot, but please, try to find it…"

Conhadda went through the chests, trying to find the enchanted golden apple. Before he could even find it, a cannon fired.

"Ah, what a shame," said Conhadda. He leaned, reached out for one of the pockets inside his jacket, and then looked at Omega's lifeless body.

The enchanted apple that they were both looking for, was with Conhadda the whole time. It is now in his hands, admiring the glimmer against the afternoon’s dappled sunshine.

"Thanks for your help, Omega."