“Well… I can answer both your questions by explaining the arena. As you’ve already assumed, we Admins search for the strongest beasts and Lords that come to the Upper Realm to participate in a monthly tournament hosted by the demons.”
We silently walk through the black sand desert in a line with a heavy black block of ether commands wrapped around our wrists, while this Demonic Servant walks behind us and continues.
“They usually use it as training practice and to test out their new creations.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Creations?”
“Yes, a lot of the strongest 1st Class Wild Beasts that come through here are always registered into the system and oftentimes transported elsewhere to be tested on by the Royal Families. They create stronger demonic beasts and have them fight for the Inner City’s entertainment.”
He pauses but quickly continues.
“But that’s not to say there aren’t many opportunities for Grand Citadel Citizens to participate and enjoy the shows. On your file, it says you only entered the Wilderness days ago… that must mean you heard about this place from Ellipsia.”
I nod. “I did, but there is not much information available…”
“Yes, most that come here don’t leave… and if they do, they forget because their crown cycles—”
I immediately turn around as his speech slows, and I watch the eyes of this Demonic Servant gloss over.
Even with a link of loyalty connecting us and the restrictions in his avatar released, the same wave of cold energy, reminiscent of the single meeting I had with Miriel Vermillion, washes through him.
It comes from deep within this Berserker’s soul, something that my simple sealed ether commands can’t alter, and something I didn’t even sense was present.
“What was it I was saying…?” he replies, making me stare back toward the open desert and choose my words more wisely moving forward before I understand this curse.
“You were going to tell me how you received a position as a Demonic Servant in the first place.”
“Right, well, I lost the wrong match in the arena…”
Ava butts in and asks, “You lost one match and you were enslaved?”
“Yes… You still do not know a lot about this Citadel, it seems. Every month’s event is different. The rewards and punishments are quite extreme. I participated in quite a few. Sometimes they even let us spend time in Ellipsia and Mensa in between matches. Though, you’re playing with fire… you’d be better off trying to escape right now.”
The Admin looks upward, but I shake my head.
“I could leave now if I wanted. It’d just put a bigger target on my back than I want just yet. Trust me, we want to enter this tournament, and I know the risks. Getting to the core of this Citadel without the demons knowing we’ve entered will be a great help. So much so, that if you have other Admin Lords in a similar position, I can free them too… We just cannot make things known for a few more days.”
I grin as I watch the message boards of the worldwide connectivity system light up with hundreds of thousands of messages from 1st Class Berserkers from this Admin’s home world, as this is the first time in thousands of years they have received any kind of update on their Lord in the Upper Realm.
“If that is what you wish, your words are my commands.”
“Good. Once we make it past the Great Wall, I want you to submit two other Lords into the Arena event. They’re two wolfmen that are currently receiving avatar upgrades from a crown cycle. My location trackers on them have dulled significantly, but I can share their last known location and their exact appearance and avatar specs.”
I begin mentally sharing the data with the Admin, then request a list of other Admins this Berserker knew before getting trapped, and then request as much information on past arena events he’s participated in.
At the same time, Ava smiles and walks forward beside me without a care in the world.
Ren, on the other hand, is extremely confused, on edge, and fearful; and as we’re making physical contact to keep our mental link steady, my purple ring picks up on these growing emotions more and more as we walk all the way through the desert.
–
Meanwhile, Ember calmly sits in his Dark Room of the High Orc Tower.
The Berserker Giant by his side now lets out a very light red glow, signifying that his assimilation with the new avatar upgrade has worked, and the aura they trained so hard to awaken has successfully been maintained, as it comes from deep within the soul.
Ember’s eyes watch as all of the generals climb past the 500th floor of the tower as well. Abby is even close to surpassing the 700th.
All of them are fighting their own mental and physical battles and in a state of total concentration. He doesn’t want to even congratulate them on their progress so far, as even this may be enough to throw off their entire processes of mutation.
Instead, he admires their progress from afar, but his calm gaze does move away from the tower and off in the direction of the Fortress Citadel.
Earlier, before the Realm wave even struck, when Randel and Syl, the Red Ogres, carried out a pickup for supplies to make new avatars for the Warlords, Ember gave them a small item to leave behind.
This small box has been lightly pulsing white on the outside, with untraceable amounts of silver threads rotating within it, waiting and monitoring the entire Citadel for the presence of Noble Vibrations to trigger its array.
Finally, the time has come, and the information Ember receives back is alarming but not unexpected.
It starts off as one or two pings in his consciousness every few minutes, then becomes a few dozen, then hundreds with growing strength.
‘If they awakened that army… Seraphel’s aura was certainly picked up. Nothing else could kill him in his Celestial Form…’ Ember thinks to himself while receiving full-body scans of hundreds of Demonic Creatures waking up from a long sleep.
Then, he looks back toward the Mensa Citadel, even though it is too far to see without activating his advanced visual technique in his human form.
–
Just outside of his perception, Sisco Vermillion has followed through with the orders that his old family head in the Cyan Zone gave him.
There has been a Citadel-wide announcement, alerting all Berserker Giant Lords and any affiliated business partners in the Citadel to turn themselves in and come to the central tower to be interrogated.
Thousands of Demonic Servants have been sent out to enforce this order and bring in the lingering Lords.
Even though the hierarchy of strength is very clear and no rational Lord in the Citadel dares to disobey a Noble Demon’s orders, there are many Berserkers that were in the middle of training sessions or have lost their temper for various reasons.
A handful of fights have broken out across the Citadel.
To combat this, Sisco does not release his aura, nor bring himself down to the status of lowly 1st Class Lords to take control of them.
Instead, he watches with a straight face from the top of his tower, messaging two 1st Class Demons that do his bidding to come out of their peaceful resting chambers.
One has two long red horns, while the other has a single black horn. Both of them stand nearly ten meters tall, and both they and their dragons put out such a calm and domineering aura that if they were present on the Ellipsia Citadel, even the Warlords would question if they were Nobles or not…
Sisco doesn’t even turn around when they enter his room through the back door. He just takes a deep breath in and out.
“This is what we get for letting those insects roam freely in this realm. We should have turned every last Berserker into Servants once we took Ellipsia…”
The white-horned Noble Demon scans the Citadel and shares the data instantaneously with his two trusted guards.
“Bring them all in for questioning. Separate cells, and don’t neutralize their power or suppress their avatars. I need to see each one of them at their full strength. The Scarlet Clan is good at hiding…”
A green and white glimmer shows in Sisco’s eyes, and his horns start to vibrate as he whispers under his breath.
“Though… not good enough. I caught one before I came up to the Green Zone. I know what to look for.”
Both of the 1st Class Demons resonate with their Citadel Lord as the blood flowing through their veins wants to unseal instinctively when Sisco’s horns vibrate. However, they keep their composure and bow to his back.
The massive door behind them opens automatically, and they turn to leave, but Sisco’s voice rings out one more time.
“Oh— and once you’re done, could you take a visit to Ellipsia? I do not have a direct contact line to Drako yet, and all of my messages to the 1st Class Guards are not going through. Have them round up all of the Berserkers for interrogation as well.”
They reply in unison, “It will be done.” And the door shuts behind them.
Sisco’s horns vibrate with more intensity as he remembers the Scarlet Red Outline of a 1st Class Monster that carried two long swords. This pushed him to his limits even while using his unsealed Noble Form long ago in the Lower Realm. While humiliating at first that a Lesser Race took him so long to defeat, it was an event in his past that opened his eyes to the potential of what system users can become. In fact, it was the catalyst that awakened his path to becoming a High Noble where many other Demons stagnate.
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