Chapter 23: The Epic Showdown

It was at dusk on day seven. The sun was about to fully set as Conhadda left his camp at the foot of the mountain. He pulled a compass tracker out of his pocket and used it to find the remaining teams.

He was led into the plains where the ruined buildings were. After walking around, he found himself in what looked like an ancient arena.

It was wide and out of bricks and cobblestone. Some of its walls and pillars fell on the battleground itself, and the overgrowth seemed to consume many parts of the place.

He unlocked a rusty iron gate that leads inside the colosseum, making a piercing, creaking noise as it rises. He then went beyond the gate leading inside the arena.

Before him, were his last two opponents, Creamy and Othr. Othr glanced at the tracker in his hand, and then looked in front of him to see his opponent. He put it inside his pocket, unsheathed his weapon, and walked towards Conhadda. His teammate, as well as his opponent, prompted him to do the same.

"Hey." greeted Conhadda.

"Hello," replied Othr. "I guess there's only the three of us left here. In case you get to kill one of us and survive, just know that we'd rather have other teammates instead."

"Honestly, same."

"Let's have a deal," said Creamy. "If we kill you, you'd have to let Othr in ConCraft, but, if you kill the both of us, I'll move out. How's that sound?"

"Deal."

Surprisingly, Conhadda nodded his head, and shook Creamy's hands, agreeing with the deal.

Conhadda and the duo stepped back, with weapons in their hands, ready to fight.

Creamy aimed his bow at Conhadda pulled the strings back and fired two arrows. Conhadda raised his shield to protect his head from the incoming arrows.

Just as the arrows get stuck on the shield's surface, Conhadda charged at Creamy. Othr stepped in, swinging Himmel at Conhadda, who then blocked the hit with his shield.

Conhadda lunged at Othr, but he sensed Creamy from behind, about to slice his head with the axe. As Creamy swung Vergiften at Conhadda, he blocked the attack with the shield.

To his surprise, the shield cracked and was then sliced in half by the axe's attack. Conhadda got rid of the shield's remains and threw it on the ground.

Creamy swung his axe at Conhadda, who whiffed his attack, missing Creamy as he managed to graze Conhadda's arm, causing him to retreat from the scene.

Conhadda took out his enchanted golden apple and ate all of it in one go. Though he was already feeling sick from Vergiften's poison, it never had any effect on him.

Creamy shot an arrow toward Conhadda, piercing directly through his chest. Conhadda pulled it out and threw it aside as if it was nothing— The wound on his chest closed up in a matter of seconds.

He recklessly charged at Creamy, who then shot arrows in his way. He felt invincible, so he just ran past the arrows without getting harmed. Othr tried to stab him from behind with the sword, but there wasn't any effect on him.

"That won't work on me, Othr."

Conhadda jumped, and lunged at Creamy, swinging the diamond axe at him and cutting his head in half mid-air. He landed on the ground flawlessly just as a cannon fired.

"Seems like we'd have to work together," said Conhadda. "But I still won't let you get a spot in ConCraft."

"There are only three people left in the simulation, just so you all know. Good luck to you, Conhadda and Creamy. Whoever wins will then participate in the Global Games along with the remaining contender— that is if they never dared to interrupt the fight and survive."

Out of nowhere, Cyclosword announces to Conhadda and Othr.

Conhadda and Othr nodded at each other and started to fight head-on. Othr swung his sword from above, which was then deflected by Conhadda's axe.

Conhadda landed another hit on Othr's weapon, knocking his opponent back from the momentum. Othr unsheathed Himmel, using it alongside the Dragon Fish as another sword.

As Othr charged at Conhadda, he unleashed a flurry of slashes from both the swords he wielded. Conhadda, however, was easily overwhelmed by the attacks, getting injured and barely parrying any hits he received.

Suddenly one cut grazed through Conhadda's cheek, and it bled. The regenerative effects of the enchanted apple had already worn out by that moment, so he took a step back and composed himself before his opponent could land two more hits.

The effects are gone now! Conhadda thought, holding the cut on his cheek with his hand. I shouldn't get careless this time. I should knock off both of his swords or get more hits on him so I can finish him off now and win.

Conhadda dodged an attack coming from the Himmel and parried another from the Dragon Fish. Conhadda swept his axe from below, causing Othr to deflect it.

Conhadda raised his axe, acting against Othr's force, lifting his sword. Othr then swung the Dragon Fish at Conhadda, who dodged it by backing off.

Just as Conhadda lands another hit on Othr, his opponent blocked it and managed to slice through the side of his arm.

Conhadda focused on getting one of Othr's swords off. He kept attacking by swinging at Othr, who just blocked his attacks in return.

Othr thrusts the Himmel at Conhadda, dodging it. He swung the Dragon Fish at Conhadda's legs. Before he could even slice them, Conhadda saw an opening to attack and sliced Othr's left hand, which held the Dragon Fish, dropping it on the ground and saving him from the incoming attack.

Conhadda's blade clashed with Othr's once more, who was then weakened from the injury. Othr retaliated and spun his weapon around him, knocking Conhadda back by a few steps.

Othr struck Conhadda twice, with the first hit getting deflected and the next managing to slice through Conhadda's chest. Othr spun and swung his sword from below, with Conhadda dodging the attack by jumping.

Othr lunged at his opponent, who then parried another slash from above. He thrust his sword at Conhadda's chest, who then dodged it by jumping backward.

He charged, then jumped and plunged the ground with such force, knocking Conhadda backward toward a stone pillar. 

Othr swung his blade at Conhadda, dodging the attack as he circled behind. Instead, Othr sliced the pillar in half with his weapon as he missed his opponent.

Conhadda tried to stab Othr from behind, who then turned around, spun, and parried the hit with his sword, but just as he blocked the attack, his opponent's weapon snapped in half.

Othr staggered and dropped to the ground from his back. Conhadda pointed the diamond axe at him triumphantly.

"I win."

Conhadda raised the axe above his head, ready to cleave through Othr's head in one slash.

"Tell your friend to pack up and leave."

Just like that, Conhadda sliced Othr's head in one go.

The final cannon fired and echoed from the distance. Conhadda lay on the ground while facing up the sky, exhausted.

The next thing he heard was feedback from the simulation's hidden speakers. 

"...and the winners are Conhadda and Enchanted! Congratulations to the both of you," Centuria spoke through the intercom, announcing the conclusion of the Selection Process. "The simulation will end in a few minutes. Thanks for participating everyone!"

Conhadda lets out a sigh of relief, as he lay down on the grass. He smiled and closed his eyes as the terrain of the simulation started to render into a simple, unpolished low-poly form.

He fell asleep, just as blinding light shone from the artificial skies, an indication that the simulation will finally come to a close.