Legendary: Darkness Awakes

Chapter 4- De Dis Proelium (Part 2)

A thunderous, deep voice boomed over the square "It is time!" The Grand Mage announced "The 13th decennial De Dis Proelium is about to commence! First, this year's Dexadus setup is the flat grasslands and as tradition, it is a loop dimension meaning the Dexadus will not have an end." He said, taking a deep breath for his next sentence "All participating fighters, raise your right hand!" He demanded.

People new to the De Dis Proelium, like Hunter were confused by this but went along anyway. Upon their compliance, portals appeared in front of each of the fighters. Hunter was slightly startled, but saw the rest of the fighters enter their portal with no question, so he followed suit. Then there was a bright flash, which revealed bright green, luscious grasslands all the way to the horizon. The only other things there were the twenty six fighters all standing in a wide circle, facing each other. One fighter stuck out though, Johnny Johnny Forest severely stuck out because of the massive trees on his back along with a bow fit for a giant, although the man acted like there was nothing unusual about himself at all. It was clear he was a lumberjack on a level none has ever reached before.

The Grand Mage's voice then boomed from the bright blue sky "Ready? BEGIN!" He shouted, starting the De Dis Proelium off with a literal bang.

Right off the bat, almost every fighter except Hunter had vanished, confusing Hunter. Uh... what just happened? Everyone is gone? He thought as he started to worry.

The plains were silent, only a slight breeze was heard for a minute before he suddenly heard the sound of something cutting through the air, rushing at him, upon hearing this he instinctively put his arms up and his head down. A great force then hit his forearm; he looked up to see the sleeve of his duster was in shreds.

Wha?! A blade? It was so fast I couldn't see them coming! He panicked in his mind for a minute. These guys are giving all they've got. Father was right, they're on a totally different level than me. Forget about winning, I should focus on taking out at least one of these guys. Time to get serious. He told himself.

Hunter changed dramatically, he triggered a type of second-gear-like mode where his fighting is enhanced and based on instinct, he could now see every fighter constantly moving although they were still fast.

"Ha! You think you can make it here? You make me laugh; you're probably the weakest fighter here!" Ivan Krueger said cockily from across the field. "Maybe I should just take you out right now, weakling." He added with a grin consumed in overwhelming hubris.

"You talking to me, street thug? If you think you can take me on come over here and try me." Hunter responded, slightly irritating Ivan. "I don't even need to pull out the big guns to deal with you." He added, pulling out a chain of his kusarigama, instead of the massive sword on his back.

"Don't you underestimate me, peasant!" Ivan replied with a hint of irritation as he charged at him, without any weapons.

"Here's the wind-up!" Hunter then threw one of the mini-scythe blades at Ivan from the side; the chain following close behind. Ivan dodged it and got right in front of him, he dodged his first punch and moved out of the way to the left, but Ivan was quicker than he anticipated as he hit Hunter with the second punch seconds away from the first. To avoid a devastating blow, Hunter blocked it with his arm, causing a sudden pain to shoot through his forearm, the force of the punch moving him slightly, blowing his hair with a sudden gust of wind. What am I doing?! This is the De Dis Proelium, the battle of gods! I can't afford to hold anything back! I gotta give it my all! Hunter thought at the moment. In the brief time space he had, Hunter pulled the chain of his previously thrown scythe and swept Ivan's legs out from under him. He then leapt in the air and stomped on Ivan's back with the full force of his legs as they were enveloped in a blue aura, enhancing the impact and the speed at which he was forced onto the ground. Where Ivan was launched, the ground shattered and repelled back up along with him due to the pure power of the attack. It was a powerful blow, showing in the pure shock in Ivan's frozen face accompanied by his eyes rolling into the back of his head, showing a sort of zombie look to him. Hunter waited for a minute to see if he would get up or get transported out because of his injury, however neither happened so he started to walk away. He then stopped in his tracks because he knew the fight had not ended and Ivan was picking himself back up.