The Greatest in the Multiverse

Round 7: The Chronal Kobold vs the Spectral Sentinel

"WE'RE ALREADY AT THE 7TH ROUND NOW, SO LET'S KEEP THOSE CHEERS COMING!"

The cheers did indeed keep coming. Despite all the violent brawls and intense action that had already taken place, the audience never seemed to have enough of it. Even now their eyes were all glued to the left gate, illuminated by the bright spotlights.

"IN THE BLUE CORNER WE HAVE THE CHRONAL KOBOLD; OUR SECOND REPRESENTATIVE OF UNIVERSE 8 IN A ROW! AT THE AGE OF 34, THIS SCALED MAGICIAN HAS DISPLAYED AN ASTONISHINGLY HIGH INTELLIGENCE FOR A KOBOLD! THIS NOTABLE BRAINPOWER HAS SECURED HIM A SPOT AS A PROFESSOR IN CHRONURGY - OR TIME-RELATED MAGIC - AT THE HARLOW UNIVERSITY OF MAGIC AND SORCERY! WILL HIS IMPRESSIVE MIND OUTWIT HIS OPPONENT, OR WILL HIS TIME RUN OUT? THE ONE, THE ONLY: CONTESTAAAANT PROFESSOR SUSS!"

Somehow, the cheers seemed less loud than usual when the tiny wizard entered the arena. Nevertheless, Professor Suss met the still excited crowd with some dignified bows and nods. Either he hadn't noticed the somewhat lesser enthusiasm or he simply didn't care. Although anyone who knew him would tell you it was definitely the former. As if to wordlessly reinforce this, the more sharp-eyed spectators could see him give a seemingly insulted scowl as the spotlights moved from him over to the opposite gate.

"AND IN THE RED CORNER, SAY HELLO TO THE SPECTRAL SENTINEL OF UNIVERSE 1! THIS CLERIC OF EILISTRAEE SPENT HIS 155 YEARS OF LIFE AS A SLAVE TO THE DROW SOCIETAL SYSTEM, BUT ONE CRUCIAL EXPERIENCE GAVE HIM ENOUGH OF A HEART TO LEAD ONE LIFE AWAY FROM IT! AND WHILE THIS ACT COST HIM HIS LIFE, THE DARK MAIDEN GAVE HIS SOUL A CHANCE TO ATONE FROM BEYOND! AND NOW, 19 YEARS LATER, HE HAS BEEN GIVEN A TEMPORARY PARTIAL RESURRECTION TO NOT ONLY SAVE HIS HOME UNIVERSE, BUT ALSO PUT HIS DEVOTION TO THE TEST IN THIS TOURNAMENT! WILL THE MIGHT OF THE LADY OF THE DANCE'S CHAMPION PURGE HIS FOE, OR WILL THE DIVINE LIGHT BE SNUFFED OUT? HERE HE IS: CONTESTAAAANT VUZRAK!"

The approving cheers were right back to their usual volume as Vuzrak slowly walked onto the field. Although the Drow waved back with his right hand without any obvious signs of stage fright, his left hand was put right above his squinting eyes. The starry void of space surrounding the arena meant that his dark blue skin didn't have to be plagued by any sunlight, but those spotlights centred on him didn't exactly do his sensitive golden eyes any good either. Also, did the announcer really need to bring up the circumstances of his death to everyone? He himself had long since come to terms with it, but that didn't mean he liked thinking about it. But telling Googlorp off had to wait. Right now there was a Kobold with very round glasses looking up right at him.

"Right, uh... good day to you, sir. I hope that none of us will come out of this with any hard feelings, so good luck and let's both do our best", Vuzrak told the scaled professor. The wizard simply responded with a small chuckle before crossing his arms, not even bothering to shake Vuzrak's extended hand.

"Likewise, Drow. You do appear less... malicious than the rest of your kin, so I'll make sure to keep your dignity intact upon your defeat. Now then, I propose we stop wasting time and begin our little engagement, hm?" Professor Suss answered before turning around to get into a starting position.

As a man of the cloth, Vuzrak had been taught to always keep an open mind and treat everyone with respect and honour. But this little arrogant man made that really difficult right now. The Drow turned around as well as he firmly grabbed his ornate spear; surely Lady Eilistraee wouldn't take offence if he neglected to hold back here, right?

Once again, the mass of spectators quickly fell silent as the combatants tensed up. And up in the announcer's booth, Googlorp signalled for the explosion to start off the bout. Along with the golden countdown before it.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"BEGIN!"