Chapter 392 - Interlude - Iona - The Gladiator Gauntlet VIII (Patreon)

“Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.” Mormerilhawn’s voice was loud and clear as a bell, and Eira Barnett stepped forward. The Rolland’s team strategy was clear - put their casters in early, and give them enough time to regenerate mana for the teamfight.

Iona stood where she was, basking in the light of her patrons. The two moon goddesses had shifted the moons in their orbit to cause a solar eclipse, then shone down beams of light from the illusion-shattered moons onto Iona, spotlighting her for half the world to see.

Just about everyone who could was watching Iona, and the skies were getting crowded as more and more people flew in to watch.

Eira was low level for the event - waiting on her 256 class evolution, probably waiting to become a [Duchess] before evolving to get the improved class as a result - but she was also a wizard. Iona’s usual trick of reading skills to know what was coming was completely useless here.

Iona hadn’t studied wizardry like her genius girlfriend, and wouldn’t be able to instantly figure out what kind of spell was being cast just by seeing part of the mandala. She’d need to wait until the spell was cast. A tiny time differential, but it could be important.

However, just because she couldn’t see the spells didn’t mean she couldn’t abuse her ability to peek at skills.

Eira had a high mana regeneration stat, excellent control, low power and low total mana. The Barnetts were famous - possibly worldwide, although Iona hadn’t traveled the entire world to know - for their wizardry, and had an ancient legacy of practice. Iona expected extremely efficient, well-placed spells. Running Eira out of mana wasn’t an option, Iona was going to need to take her out.

While Iona couldn’t tell what wizardry the [Heiress] was going to cast, the Valkyrie’s ability to peek at status sheets wasn’t entirely useless. Barnett’s skills revealed interesting information. She was heavily focused on her wand, with skills like [Maestro of Magic], [Conductor], [Wand Mastery], [Bind Trigger Spell: Wand], [Fractal Wand] and [Channeler of All the World’s Mysteries]. It was practically an artifact of power with how much she’d put into it and while she was holding it.

Iona hadn’t gotten a chance to look, but she’d bet there’d be dozens of sockets for gems on the wand, the spell-storing items removed for the event. Crucially, she didn’t see any skills that extended Eira’s vitality to the wand, unlike what most [Warriors] had for their armor. It was a rare skill for [Mages] in the first place.

She also wore no armor, but had a longsword at her hip.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!” Mormerilhawn decreed, and Iona had no more time to plan.

She conjured up her bow and arrow, snapping off a trio of arrows. It wasn’t likely, but it was always worth checking if Eria lacked the skills or reflexes to handle arrows, and Iona would snag a quick victory.

The Valkyrie almost did. Eria flicked her wand as the fight started, but not quite fast enough. One arrow took the wizard in the gut, before the remaining arrows disintegrated around her.

Iona could try to simply wait things out from here. Gut wounds were nasty, and Eira was more likely to yield early to get treated, than risk death for a simple game.

The emerald-eyed Valkyrie wasn’t going to wait though, and was already blitzing down the field, the moons continuing to spotlight her. Eria flicked her wand a few more times as she started to half-run, half-limp away.

In a dozen different directions, as mirages were conjured up. They were eerily accurate, each one bleeding and limping, the blood splatters remaining on the field. A heavy mist filled the field, trying to obscure Iona’s vision.

More dangerous was Iona’s sudden inability to breathe. She inhaled and gasped as no air entered her lungs. It was one thing for the Valkyrie to hold her breath, it was another thing entirely for her to exhale and there to suddenly be no air anymore.

She was on a short clock.

Eira’s mirages faded into the Mist, and they were good enough to fool Iona’s skills. They weren’t good enough to fool her blessing, and it only took a heartbeat of rapidly scanning the fakes to find the real one. Iona turned in her charge, mentally reaching out with [Telekinesis].

Eira wasn’t going down without a fight, and discordant screeching, like the worst nails on chalkboard imaginable, filled the air. Iona staggered slightly, but kept going. Vines sprouted from the ground, trying to wrap around Iona’s ankles but the Valkyrie simply plowed through them.

Finally, she mentally latched onto Eira’s wand with [Telekinesis], and simply yanked it out of her hands.

“I yi-” Eira started to say as the wand snapped into Iona’s hands, where the Valkyrie promptly snapped it in half before Eira could finish her sentence.

“-ield.” The [Heiress] slumped down as Iona shattered her wand - and the likely months, if not years, of preparation that had gone into making it. Iona took a deep breath in, air finally filling her lungs.

The advantage of wizards was they could prepare things ahead of time, and have a massive arsenal. The downside, of course, was the preparations getting thrown into a fire - or snagged and snapped in half.

Eira was promptly teleported off the field, and Iona walked over to the Rolland’s team side while the [Referee] declared the end of the match. They glared at her suspiciously, the moonbeams continuing to follow the [Paladin].

“Here. Hope Lady Barnett is able to eventually repair it.” Iona handed the shattered remains of the wand back to Prince Elric.

He studied her silently for a moment before taking the pieces.

“Thank you.”

Iona turned and strode back to her side of the field, looking at the crowd.

Elaine was still front and center at the middle of the arena, waving and cheering wildly. Iona shot her a thumb’s up, and noticed some of the vendors had seized the moment, swapping to selling little blue and yellow candies.

Iona wanted to roll her eyes. Whatever got people interested in the moon goddesses.

Almost instantly beat her! What a shame! Selene commented.

Snapped that wand. Good going! Classy move to return the pieces. Lunaris added.

“Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.” Mormerilhawn decreed, and Iona wanted to curse as Annora stepped forward.

She was a Crucible [Knight], but more importantly, the element she was focused on was adamantium. The metal was practically indestructible, and her class was focused around using it. Her armor looked normal, but Iona was willing to bet that it had a nail-thin line of adamantium inside of it.

Annora’s skills supported that. She had a [Shock Absorption] skill, which would negate Iona’s attempts to rattle her around inside her armor like a die in a cup until she yielded. Her armor was cleverly made, with the straps and buckles on the inside, requiring another skill to put it on - but preventing anyone from taking it off. [Telekinesis] would lose in a heartbeat to her armor-reinforcing skill, Iona would simply burn mana to no effect if she tried. Lady Argent had a skill like Iona’s that let her wear a helmet with no holes in it. There wasn’t a slit for Iona to jam a knife into or anything.

Her second class was almost entirely focused on being a [Lady]. The only combat-applicable part was it was a Wind element class, with the ability to make air. Trying to drown, choke, or use gas was an exercise in futility.

She was a turtle inside an indestructible shell. A nearly-perfect defense.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!”

The two fighters sprinted at each other, Annora wielding a longsword and shield to Iona’s glaive. The two met in the middle, and Annora attempted to run Iona through with her sword.

There was a risk when an unbreakable weapon met breakable armor, and Iona wasn’t going to try and directly take an adamantium weapon to the chest, even if her superior stats and skills suggested it’d be harmless.

Almost contemptuously, Iona battered the sword out of the way with her glaive, the follow up move smashing into Annora and causing her to tumble and roll. It didn’t hurt her, but Iona could easily move her around.

Iona began a deadly [New Moon’s Dance], not giving the Crucible knight a moment’s reprieve. She smashed and battered at her, demonstrating her clear superiority, and trying to break Annora’s [Shock Absorption] skill.

It was also cathartic to be able to beat Annora up to her heart’s content. She had voluntarily entered the arena. She was trying to fight Iona. She could yield at any moment.

All the smug looks and snide comments Annora had ever made - Iona was paying them back. With interest.

Iona did try to break Annora’s joints and bones however she could. The armor was well-built, and it would lock onto itself before Iona could pull or twist a joint far enough to break.

The insufferable warrior refused to yield, and Iona could continue to smack her around as long as she liked. Punches, kicks, throws, slashes, shield bashes, and more. Iona threw Annora up and tried to impale the lady on her glaive, then smashed the handle down onto Annora’s helmet when she landed. Iona picked Annora up by the ankles, and used her as a sledgehammer on the fort’s walls. She grabbed the [Lady] by the shoulders and held her underwater.

Annora struggled the entire time. She was like a tiny kitten to Iona’s tiger. Her blows and attempts at resistance were entirely futile - the only thing she had going for her that could possibly compete was her toughness.

Eventually one of Annora’s skills would have to give, and Iona would win. The Valkyrie was a little concerned about the damage her weapons were taking, and stuck to using her fists and body more.

Her heart sang in relief. It just felt so good to beat the stuffing out of one of Rolland’s [Nobles], and as a massive bonus, it was the snooty, obnoxious, Annora.

Iona dragged her to the top of the tower, the woman still trying to fight back against Iona’s iron grip. Iona threw her off the top, then immediately jumped down after her.

Iona was a big woman to start. Taller than most men, and wider to boot, nearly every inch of her raw muscle made even denser thanks to her anatomy’s biomancied modifications. That was further amplified by [Lunar Mass], and every single kilogram of the weight and momentum crashed down onto Annora’s head.

It would be enough to kill even a 4-digit Classer. Annora’s adamantium armor absorbed it all, not even denting. Iona ended up doing more damage to her legs than she inflicted, the shock traveling through her body and rattling down to her bones. She swear she felt something crack.

It was almost the same issue she had against the bunnykin in the first round. Iona was almost hurting herself more than she was Annora as she beat on the woman.

She still wasn’t yielding, taking the moment to throw a weak punch at Iona’s leg. It harmlessly bounced off her [Star Forged] boosted armor, and Iona grabbed Annora by the neck, dragging her back to the center of the arena. The moons continued to spotlight her every action, and Iona lifted a struggling Annora by the neck in front of a crowd baying for blood.

The Valkyrie grabbed Annora’s head and tried to snap her neck by twisting the helmet, but no. Another clever latch saved the [Lady’s] life.

Iona slammed Annora to the ground, and walked a few steps to pickup her long-dropped longsword. She walked back over to Annora and punted the knight as she tried to stand back up, causing her to fall back to the ground. Iona wrenched her arms behind her back and knelt on her, pinning the lady.

She held the longsword up on two hands, an offering.

“Oh Selene and Lunaris, greatest goddesses of the pantheon. I wish to offer you this weapon, the spoils of war. Please accept this offering in the spirit it was offered.” Iona grandly stated, pitching her voice loud enough to be carried.

Annora struggled even harder under Iona, but she was no match for the Valkyrie’s weight or leverage.

Yoink! Lunaris gleefully shouted in Iona’s ears, as the blade vanished.

Hey! No fair! I wanted that one! Selene complained.

Iona wanted to laugh at their reaction. If only people could hear them like she did. She grabbed Annora’s shield, and kneeled on her back again, offering up the shield in her hands.

“Oh Selene and Lunaris, greatest goddesses of the pantheon. I wish-”

“We yield!” The Shining Prince called from the sidelines.

“Is that the team’s consensus?” Mormerilhawn correctly asked back, the rules requiring more than one teammate on the sidelines to surrender for a participating member.

“We yield.” Godwin confirmed.

Iona threw the shield down in disgust, got off of Annora, and walked back to her side. She ignored the dirty look Annora was surely sending her way. Losing an adamantium blade? Annora was going to be screwed when she got back home and her family found out.

“Round 4, winner, Team Iona.” Mormerilhawn pronounced. “Current points are 8-0 in favor of Team Iona.”

Wooo! Loot! Selene crowed in Iona’s ears.

How much more do you think we can shake out of them? Lunaris wondered.

Dibs on the next one! Selene called.

Whoever gets it gets it. Lunaris was all prim and proper, completely betraying her words.

Iona took stock of the situation. She was starting to feel a little light-headed. While Annora had been a crushing tactical victory, it had come with numerous benefits to the Rolland team. Namely, Iona had continued to leave a trail of blood all over the arena, and the fight had taken time. Enough time for Grimwald to regenerate some of his mana for the upcoming teamfight.

“I-O-NA! I-O-NA!” The crowd was chanting, celebrating her victory. Iona thrust a fist up in the air to the adoring crowd, and they loved it, cheering and screaming. The moons continued spotlighting her, showing off that she was the clear star of the show.

I can’t ever thank you two enough. Iona prayed.

Well, win three more then say that! Selene laughingly reproached Iona.

Don’t worry about the teamfight. Lunaris reassured Iona.

“Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.” Mormerilhawn had been doing this a while. His voice and intonation was exactly the same each time.

Godwin stepped forward.

“I must profess my profound disappointment in you and your order.” He sniffed before the match began. “It was your duty to protect, shelter, and nourish, and you abdicated it entirely. I find it hard to believe…”

Iona shot a pleading look - hidden behind her helmet - to Mormerilhawn, begging him to start the fight and shut up the sanctimonious idiot.

That, and the blood loss was starting to get to her. She mentally readjusted her mallium, clamping down on the injury. She didn’t need the Rolland team to win via stalling out.

Mormerilhawn was no idiot.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!” He declared, cutting straight through Godwin’s speech.

Iona had studied his skills, and her opponents were dwindling in number. She sent off a round dozen arrows Godwin’s way, reloading and firing as quickly as she could.

He wasn’t wearing heavy armor, and he was focused on empowering others, not himself. The [Buffer] wasn’t entirely defenseless, and his personal barrier flared as arrows hit it, the man trying to run and dodge out of the way.

One, two, three, four arrows broke against it before the fifth punched through. The sixth missed him, but Iona had adjusted her aim as Godwin started to move. The rest quickly feathered him, and he crumpled in a spray of blood.

“YIELD!”

“WE SURRENDER!”

“WE GIVE UP!”

His team was shouting and roaring, and Mormerilhawn promptly teleported him off the field. Iona wanted to shake her head.

Supports. Best thing ever in the teamfight portion, a complete liability in the singles part. The current thinking had a single support on a team as optimal, but they were free wins as far as she was concerned.

“Round 5, winner, Team Iona.” Mormerilhawn pronounced. “Current points are 10-0 in favor of Team Iona.”

That was almost disappointing. Selene remarked.

What were they thinking, sending him out now? Lunaris said.

“Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.”

Annora’s griffin stepped forward. Not as high-level as Annora herself, the beast still had solid levels. Iona noted that it was missing its usual armor, and she suspected the team weight limit had come to bite them.

The griffin could breath fire though. Fire and Gale were its elements, and it had a strong anti-projectile skill. Arrows would be a waste.

Iona frowned to herself. The only plan she could imagine was a powerful, decisive strike as the griffin dove onto her. With her glaive and stats, she was concerned that it would be an immediately lethal blow.

The animal hadn’t signed up for this fight. He hadn’t asked for this.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!”

Iona took off sprinting for the fortress as the griffin, egged on by Annora, took to the skies. Iona leaped over the moat, climbed over the rubble that used to be the fort’s walls, and jogged up the tower. She grabbed the waiting flag, and tied it to the pole.

It looked terrible, but looks weren’t the point.

“The fort’s flag has been raised by Team Iona. Rolland has five minutes to contest before the round ends.” The Black Rose announced.

Iona crouched down into a ready stance, hands on her glaive, slowly rotating to keep the griffin in sight. Blood pooled in her gauntlet, and Iona opened a tiny hole to let some of it out.

The half-eagle, half-lion grabbed some of the boulders lying around and took off with them. He flew above Iona’s head and dropped them down.

She contemptuously side-stepped the attack with plenty of time left for it to keep falling, and gave a derisive snort at the awful attempt. The stalemate continued, the clock ticking in Iona’s favor.

“One minute left until Team Iona’s victory. Rolland, you must dislodge Team Iona from the tower in order to prevent their win.” The Black Rose clearly announced.

The griffin shrieked, but Iona didn’t break her stance. She didn’t believe Annora’s steed would just let it be, not with the advice she was yelling.

“Thirty seconds.” Mormerilhawn declared.

The griffin, egged on by Annora, dive-bombed Iona. He had a skill relating to it, but Iona held firm, angling her glaive.

He would either have to break off, or impale himself on Iona’s weapon. She didn’t want to potentially kill the griffin, but she wasn’t going to pull her weapon either.

His beak opened, and flames washed over Iona as he curved, unwilling to impale himself on her glaive. The temperature inside Iona’s outfit jumped sharply and uncomfortably, but she held on.

“Victory! Team Iona! Rolland, please recall your member.” Mormerilhawn said.

Boooooooo! Boring! I wanted a show! Selene complained.

Stupid bird. Lunaris said.

Iona walked back to her side, while the griffin returned to his.

“Round 6, winner, Team Iona.” Mormerilhawn pronounced. “Current points are 12-0 in favor of Team Iona. Please send forward your last contestant.”

Isabeau Lakewood stepped forward, and Iona tensed.

Most nobles in Rolland were given extensive resources and opportunities as they grew up. The chance to level and learn under the best. Some of them took to it and succeeded, letting the System fulfill their full potential. Others squandered the opportunity, and were usually left on the side. Everyone sent by Rolland were people who’d seized the opportunity and done well for themselves.

Then there was Isabeau. She’d taken the resources and opportunities, and done things with them. She’d been hunting from an early age, and simply didn’t stop, constantly going out to hunt bigger and bigger game, leveling the whole time. She would’ve gone far in life, rising up to a high level, even if she started with nothing.

She had started with far more than nothing.

Iona looked over her stats and skill. Lakewood had fairly evenly distributed stats, working on both her skills and physical abilities. Nearly everything was dedicated towards hunting, and the majority of the skills transferred over to combat like this.

There was an [Oath] that Iona couldn’t exploit, but it couldn’t be brought to bear against her either.

The [Lady of the Hunt] clearly favored spears and arrows, although Iona would need to be careful with the [Instant Trap] skill. The [Apex Predator] could fire off powerful arrows, although Iona bet if she could get in close it’d be over.

Honestly, that was the case with all of Iona’s fights. Get in close, and she won. Elric had been the only challenge in that respect, and he’d been first.

The [Bloodsoaked Stalker] had numerous concerning skills. [Prepared to Kill Everyone I Meet] was frankly alarming, and Iona was wondering if it was worth a quiet word with Prince Morgans after the event. [The Most Dangerous Game] further implied unsavory tactics, although it could be reasonably applied to the deadliest animals in the forest.

She only had two skills relating to being a noble. [Blue Blood], the utterly useless skill that let [Nobles] identify each other, and [Polite].

The rest were combat and hunting related. [Barbed Arrows]. [Penetrate]. [Instant Reload]. [Head Shot]. [Splinter Shot]. [Rapid Fire]. And so many more.

Her bow was nearly as tall as she was, and her quiver had arrows that were closer to ballista bolts than the regular arrows most [Archers] used.

“Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!”

Lakewood took a knee and began firing, each arrow as long as Iona’s arm and as thick as her thumb. She was forcing Iona to sprint across the entire distance of the field under heavy fire.

It was only going to take Iona a few seconds to make it across the entire field. Most of the time would be spent on accelerating, and Iona had no issues going though Issabeau if needed.

At the same time, Lakewood’s skills let her fire dozens of arrows per second, each [Rapid Fire] shot [Instantly Reloaded], then split into a multitude of arrows with [Splinter Shot]. It let the [Lady] fill the air with a storm of wood and metal, a deadly barrage Iona needed to endure.

[Selene’s Grace] wasn’t going to cut it. It could slightly nudge the arrows out of the way, but they were reinforced with multiple skills, each one far higher level than [Selene’s Grace] was.

[Trick Shot] was fantastic. Iona unleashed arrow after arrow into the incoming barrage, one of her arrows striking the incoming bolts and fouling them into two more shots.

Even with a three-to-one advantage, Lakewood was simply able to fill the air with more arrows than Iona could. The advantage of more skills dedicated to a single art.

Not all of Lakewoods shots behaved the way Iona expected them to, different skills on different arrows causing a chaotic barrage. Iona fired a [Blizzard Shot] into the storm of arrows, hoping the changing conditions would send them off course.

The Valkyrie’s honed reflexes helped her snatch an arrow out of the air, a fraction of an inch away from her faceplate. She twisted to dodge a second one, a third arrow glanced off her armor, but a fourth one thudded into Iona’s chest, [Penetrate] helping pierce Iona’s gear.

Iona wasn’t a healer. She didn’t have perfect anatomy knowledge like her girlfriend did. The arrow might’ve clipped her lung, it might not have. Either way, it wasn’t a through and through, and Iona didn’t let it stop her. She kept racing towards the [Lady], intent on finishing the fight sooner rather than later. Iona repositioned her shield, protecting her head and chest.

As Iona got closer, she had less and less time to react to each arrow, and more and more skills came into play. She took an arrow in her arm, two in her gut, then one more in her shoulder. Arrows punched through her shield, but lost enough power and bounced harmlessly off her helmet. More arrows glanced off her armor, denting it or ripping pieces off. [Allure of Winter] kept the pain at bay, letting her keep moving.

The skill didn’t stop mechanical issues, and Iona took an arrow in the thigh, knee, and shin. Bones broke, and Iona was forced to clamp her armor down like a makeshift splint.

And kept going.

Every footprint was filled with blood as the unstoppable juggernaut charged, yelling and screaming. Arrows flew fast and thick, the [Apex Predator] realizing she wasn’t going to make it, and backing up, trying to get a little more space.

Hoping Iona would fall before reaching her.

Nothing could dissuade the makeshift pincushion from her goal though. Death or victory, there was no middle ground for Iona. Not when her goal was so close. Not when she could taste victory.

Not when Elaine was watching.

Not when the goddesses had spotlighted her for half the world to see.

A half-dozen more arrows slammed into Iona’s body, puncturing through her armor.

The Valkyrie was slowing. Bleeding profusely, internally and out. Half her organs were shutting down, ripped in half with metal barbs stuck in them.

Iona had no time to be playing nice. Her glaive came down like divine judgment, splitting the [Lady of the Hunt] in half from her shoulder to her groin.

She instantly collapsed, her eyes rolling up into her head, and Iona stepped forward to finish her off.

Instead, Iona blinked as the world shifted around her, and she appeared in a sterile white room filled with shimmering shields and white-clad [Healers] with a faint pop.

Healing magic washed over her, the arrows falling out of her like a tree shedding autumn leaves. Iona jerked back, turning the executioner’s blow she had been about to perform into an awkward move. Her heart fell into her boots.

She’d been so close. Being teleported out meant the round was over, the [Judge] having made his decision.

Mormerilhawn teleported in a moment later. He cleared his throat, and projected his voice.

“I have executed my discretion as the [Judge] to determine the winner of the Rolland vs Team Iona round, in order to preserve the lives of the contestants. Round 7, winner, Team Iona. Current points are 14-0 in favor of Team Iona. Team Iona has won the singles portion of the match.” He declared.

[*ding!* [Skybound Paladin of the Moons] leveled up! 130 -> 180. +70 Strength, +70 Dexterity, +112 Vitality, +70 Speed, +60 Mana, +60 Mana Regeneration, +140 Magic Power, +140 Magic Control from your class! +1 Free Stat for being Mostly Human! +1 Mana, +1 Vitality from your Element!]

Iona ignored the rest of her level up notifications, shooting her fists up in a triumphant roar, not caring that her glaive went through the ceiling.