The warriors in the battle games were grouped into three. The first were normal people who came to the tournament for fame and glory.
ThIs group of people could leave the arena at any time and even withdraw from matches if they felt it was too dangerous.
Apart from that, the tournament organisers would also attempt to stop a match if the warrior was at risk of death.
That doesn't mean they rarely died, the tournament was so dangerous that a lot of times the organisers were left powerless or were just too slow to respond to critical cases.
The second group of warriors were the prisoners. People who had either been sentenced to the arena to pay for their crimes or had chosen it themselves to atone for their sins.
Naturally, this group could not leave until the power games were over, they could not also withdraw from matches.
Their performance in the tournament would determine if they would be released from prison or given a shorter sentence.
For the prisoners, although less enthusiastic about it, the tournament supervisors would indeed try to prevent their deaths.
And finally the last group were those on the death roll.
Reserved for only the worst kind of criminals in the city, those on death roll were sent to the arena for one simple reason…
To die while entertaining the people.
They had no rights, were treated like trash by the organisers and of course were not given any aid even at the point of death.
'It seems the queen thinks it will be a good idea to put me in that category.'
Not like it mattered to Wise.
He did not plan to lose and neither was he going to withdraw from any match.
Nothing had changed.
He tapped the old man on the shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine."
The man stared at him, looking rather confused before shaking his head and turning his attention to the match.
"Good luck kid."
"Same to you old man."
The first warrior, Astera was a confident looking guy. He was dressed up in full plate armour which made it easy to confuse him for a knight or hero.
The Ork walked over to the gacha wheel and spun the wheel with his hands, after which a small ball emerged from it.
A lady next to the machine picked up the ball and cracked it open, revealing a piece of paper which she unfurled and read.
She then made a hand sight at the announcer who watched her carefully before bringing the voice amplifier to his lips.
"This is quite an interesting match up folks. The valiant warrior Astera will be facing off against an Evil Grand Eagle!"
Astera smiled and pulled out his golden sword, lifting it in a way that it caught the light.
"It seems Astera is completely unfazed by his opponent, could this be pure confidence in his skill or foolish underestimation?" The announcer commented.
"Well, we are about to find out. Bring it in boys!"
Reinforced metal gates at the side of the arenas suddenly groaned as they were slowly elevated.
Behind the gates was a deep darkness that could not be perceived and then out of that darkness a monster emerged.
This beast was nothing like its name. Its wings were made up of black leathery feathers so dark that they stole the light, its silver beak was unnaturally long and appeared tougher than steel.
Instead of regular bird feet, this beast possessed hairy legs that resembled that of a bear, and at the end of it were six wicked claws.
"T-that is no ordinary beast!" The old man Wise now knew as Stanley said, his voice shaky.
Wise nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is a demon."
Letting out a thunderous shrill, the Evil Grand eagle locked its red eyes on Astera and took off into the air.
Thankfully, there was a barrier that prevented the beasts from reaching the crowd so there was a limit to how high it could fly.
Astera's form wavered for a moment but he kept his composure and brought his balde to his side, getting ready for a thrust.
The Evil bird remained in the air, flapping its massive wings to keep itself afloat and then it lunged, speeding forward like a lighting bolt.
Astera kept his eyes on the beast and moved, throwing his body into a roll just as the Demon approached.
Boom!
The earth cracked as its legs exploded against the ground, scattering dust into the air.
Astera immediately pivoted, lifting his sword high up and bringing it down in a viscous thrust.
Clang!
His sword was met with the terrible beak of the eagle, unleashing sparks as they made contact.
Astera darted to the side as the demon attempted to peck his head off and struck again towards the neck, only to be intercepted by that same beak.
His muscles tensed and he pressed his attack, darting from place to place with stunning speed and delivering strike after strike.
Yet the demon was unfazed. Whatever attack Astera threw it would swiftly block, evade or dodge.
That was until the beast began to tire from the relentless assault. The demon slashed with its long claws and Astera defended, his sword screaming as the adamantium claws of the demon dug into its blade.
With one desperate push, the demon finally created space between itself and Astera and turned tail to run.
It lifted its massive wings, ready to shoot up into the air where it had the advantage, when Astera dove after it.
"No you won't!"
'Fool!' Wise screamed in his mind. "You're walking into a trap!"
It was hopeless, Astera could not hear him and it was already far too late.
The demon suddenly pivoted and swung its wings in Astera's direction.
Whoosh!
A heavy gale of wind flung the Ork several meters into the air, and then the demon lunged at his helpless form.
Springing into the air like a missile, the demon shot right at him, its deadly beak pointed forward like a horrid spear head.
Astera swung his sword at the demon but without any footing, his strike was weak.
Swoosh!
The sword exploded out of his grip on contact with its beak and clashed against the barrier above, leaving him defenseless...
The demon tore right through his gut, scattering blood and viscera into the air, and splitting his body into two unequal halves.
The arena became deathly quiet.
But five seconds later—the crowd roared.
"WHHOOOOOOO!!!! POWER GAMES!! POWER GAMES!!! POWER GAMES!!!"