Chapter 102: ~A brawl?~ (1/2)

***Sphere of Sous***

***Jazira***

*Bam!*

“~Headshot! Mwahahaha!~”

I love this rifle!

The feeling of handling it is great!

One shot and the opponent is dealt with!

“~This weapon is marvellous! Nyhahahahaha!~”

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

The world turns black and we are back in the arena. “Aw! That was too fast! They didn't even try to evade! I was even using the weapon at its lowest setting.”

Lidith growls. “The recent fights were too anticlimactic! We just stood back and watched Jazira executing them!”

Celestial kicks a pebble on the ground. “You are right! This isn't funny. Why don't you try to change the settings? I want to see what happens at full power!”

Ascathon shakes his head. “I strongly advise against that. It looks like Jazira's mind can't handle the full power of the weapon.”

Huh? What is he talking about? “My mind can't handle it?”

Ascathon sighs. “The weapon uses the caster's mana and his mind to generate the necessary spells and curses. The more power you use, the more you strain your mind. Aren't you feeling wonderful while using it? That's the sign of a beginning mental breakdown. The weapon reserves certain areas of your brain while stimulating others.”

I grab the rifle tighter. “It's interfering with my brain!? What happens if I have a breakdown?”

Lidith gasps. “Why are you giving such a dangerous tool to her? She can't become more simple minded than she already is! Her personality is strange enough right now!”

“Hey!” I protest! I am not simple minded!

“Don't worry. A mental breakdown will only cause her to fall unconscious. I tried it already myself. She shouldn't do it anyway. An unconscious team member would cause us to lose points.” Ascathon says.

Lidith gnaws at her nail. “I am more worried that the judges would forbid us from using the weapon!! We are breaking the tournament with it. Up until now the tournament was like a boxing fight between the participants. There weren't any rules needed because nobody had a real weapon. It's like we went to a martial arts tournament and brought a gun with us!”

Celestial nods. “I thought about the same thing. But nobody said anything. Even the commentator is just rambling his random thoughts.”

Ascathon pulls a sheet of paper from his pocket. “We should concentrate on our last two fights. There is just a minor difference in points between Aneth's group and ours. We are slightly ahead though. If we manage a draw, we win.”

“I am amazed that they managed to keep up with us. Jazira's rifle decided all matches for us until now. We got a perfect score every time.” Celestial puffs her cheeks up.

Lidith's expression turns sour. “They have Nergal the Mind on their team. His sniping skills are on par with Jazira. They must've paid him very well to get him onto their team.”

“Paid?” I ask amazed.

Lidith nods. “Of course. They aren't exactly friends with other gods. So they must have bribed the other members of their team to fill the empty slots.”

I take the sheet of paper from Ascathon and look at it. We went over the enemy team composition several times.

There is Aneth the Vile, who has good close combat skills and devastating area of effect spells. And it looks like he can really accelerate the growth of his body. We watched all of his matches and every time he got a little bigger. Right now his body should be that of a teenager.

Charon the Dead is relying on his curses while hiding behind strong barriers. All he does is watch his opponents slowly wither away.

Wynne the Green turns the battlefield into a zoo of magical enhanced plants. All of them pose a real danger to gods because they are fuelled by her mana. She herself is trying to avoid combat while hiding inside her creations.

Manalie the Big is the bunny girl who was with them earlier. The stupid guy who gave her this title should be flogged! Apparently one of their mercenaries. She is relying on her combat aura like Celestial. But in addition she has some strange spells to summon weapons of different elements.

The big thin guy with dark skin and a bald head was another mercenary of theirs. His name is Sergain the Worried. His speciality seem to be barrier spells. They are no joke because he is able to protect himself and seal his opponents in them. It's the perfect skill for crowd control.

Zacharias the Swift is a dagger user who seems to rely on speed. He hasn't much offensive or defensive abilities besides stabbing people from behind. Seems like they just recruited him because they didn't find anyone else.

Nergal the Mind is a user of telekinesis and the reason for their victories. Whether it's accelerating a pebble to punch a hole through his opponent's barrier, or crushing them outright. Nergal is able to do it. He may be the most dangerous fellow of their entire party.

Ascathon breaks the silence. “I think you should turn the power output to the maximum and snipe Nergal at the start of the game.”

Lidith frowns and waves at my rifle. “Didn't you just say that she'll take herself out by doing that?”

Ascathon nods. “That's true. But it would be a good trade. Jazira's sniping abilities aren't restricted to her person. Maybe we manage to pick up her weapon. If Nergal is gone, our enemies have lost their most dangerous asset.”

“We would still be outnumbered.” Celestial points out.

“There is no chance of fighting them if they still have their sniper. Maybe you are right. Probably Nergal will go for Jazira too. They'll surely seek to take out our most dangerous asset first.” Lidith takes a sip from her juice.

I scratch at my cheek. “So it's either him or me?”

A faint distortion of the space around us relocates our group to the arena.

“Oh, I wish they would warn us at least.” Lidith drops her glass with juice to the ground.

The commentator starts his speech while we wait and stare at the group across from us. At the end of the speech the familiar white bubble encloses us. There is still no word between us. Just silent staring.

I focus on Nergal. He is the only guy who wasn't present when they made their declaration of war. Nergal has long black hair and yellowish skin. Two black angel wings are at his back and something like a totem is in his hand.