Johanna took a few seconds to get back into the fight, trying desperately to shake out her astonishment, but after some ‘gentle’ encouragement from everyone in the arena, who were watching the fight with renewed interest. She had discarded her larger weapons and was trying a less direct approach with a set of arming swords, taking a page from Jack’s book and keeping her distance.

It was relatively easy for Corvus to keep her blades at bay, as this clearly wasn’t her usual style of fighting. The rest of the group were watching, in various states of boredom at the predictability of the fight, especially Jack, who seemed to be going insane with how much he wanted to call out Johanna’s lacklustre form. The rest of the arena agreed, shuffling restlessly.

Daeden was the first to crack, standing on his seat and calling down to the arena.

“Come on! Fight! Summon already!” He sounded deeply offended, which the rest of the audience caught up on, adding their own voices to the growing chant.

“Summon! Summon! Summon!” Even Lanya joined in on the contagious chant.

Corvus exchanged a glance with Johanna, who chuckled slightly.

“You first?” Corvus shrugged, sheathing his cutlass.

“Very well.” Johanna shrugged back, returning her blades to her long leather jacket.

Emerald light filled her hands, extending over her left arm. It was long, round and fairly stocky looking.

“Is that…” Corvus had to squint. He recognised it from somewhere, but he couldn’t place where.

A round shot of ethereal steel flew from the barrel, with an incredible, thundering roar. Corvus ducked, letting the shot fly an inch from his face and cracking the black stone at the side of the colosseum. Corvus turned to the crater in the wall, then to Johanna, who was smiling sympathetically.

“You’ve got a cannon?!” Damian was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement. Henrith whistled, obviously impressed and slightly nervous about making jokes about her. Aria and Lanya both chuckled nervously, showing that, despite their differences, they were still scared by the same things. May was standing speechless, hugging Lanya for comfort.

Jack was plainly terrified. His legs were shaking, and a cold sweat was spreading across his forehead. His expression was stuck at ‘get me out of here’ and his hands were attempting, and failing, to clutch his rapier defensively.

“Sorry. I shouldn't use this.” Johanna lowered her head sadly, but looked back up in surprise when Corvus spoke.

“No worries. Have to make it fair after all.” He shrugged, cracking his back and flexing his left arm.

“Wha—” Johanna began to speak, but stopped when Corvus started running towards her. She raised her cannon again, magically reloading it and firing, aiming to kill.

Corvus summoned his anchor, deflecting the shot into the sand with his abnormally powerful swing, sending a fine plume of particles into the air. The entire arena let out a collective gasp that Corvus ignored, instead throwing the object forward, hooking it over the top of the giant firearm and yanking the chain down.

Johanna stumbled as she was pulled to the ground, trying to take her arm out of the underside of the heavy anchor, with little success. She turned her head to face the tip of Corvus’ cutlass and an apologetic shrug from him.

The arena went berserk. Though it was a short exchange, it was incredible to them. The largest object that they had ever seen summoned was Cleo’s tiger, but this anchor outclassed even that.

Alex and Odere exchanged unreadable looks, before turning to the group and whispering to all of them. They all looked slightly stunned but nodded excitedly. The two teachers waved for the crowd to be quiet, and motioned for Corvus and Johanna to listen.

“Clearly we have someone of great skill among us. We believe the best way to explore the depths of this talent is to also explore the talents of his new brothers and sisters.” Alex motioned to the entire group.

“This group will attempt to defeat that man.” Odere pointed at Corvus, who sheathed his blade and picked his anchor off the ground, resting it against his shoulder. “With our lord’s permission of course.” The head of everyone in the colosseum turned to Gregory, who was stroking his chin thoughtfully.

He stood up, clearing his throat.

“It is true that he seems to be powerful. This will be an interesting exercise, so please proceed.” He smiled warmly to the arena, nodding slightly to Corvus.

The room erupted in applause, with Daeden barely stopping himself from tumbling to the centre of the arena with excitement. Corvus sighed. It would be a pain to fight them all at once, and he didn’t want his hand to get damaged, so he wasn’t exactly thrilled. Then again, he never was.

The group formed a circle around Corvus, while May helped Johanna to her feet. Henrith broke ranks almost immediately, raising his pickaxe with an ecstatic grin on his face. Corvus ducked out the way of the sharp tool, pushing Henrith to the side with his elbow, causing him to slip on the soft sand and collapse in a laughing heap.

He got back to his feet, holding his heavy pick in one hand, and summon an ornate green sabre into his left. Corvus tilted his head. The sabre didn’t fit his personality or his build at all, and judging by the look on Jack’s face, he wanted it badly. Or maybe he didn’t want the sabre, but Henrith’s—

Corvus barely dodged the slice from the ethereal weapon, snapping him out of his overthinking. Corvus raised his anchor, tossing it straight forward. Henrith’s smirk fell as he jumped to the side, only getting hit in a glancing blow, but plenty enough to wind him badly. He lay on the ground, his pickaxe digging into his back, with an incredibly uncomfortable look on his face.

“Ow.” He managed, shuffling to his knees.

Even Corvus could tell that he was no longer in any condition to fight. He pulled his his anchor back to himself, turning his gaze back to the rest of the group.

Aria was storming forward, an angry look on her face. Lanya joined her, but kept herself as far back as she dared. Aria drew back her whip, snapping it towards Corvus.

He dodged to the side, catching the blow on his left cheek, a deep cut left in its place that vanished seconds later. Corvus swung his anchor again, trying to take them both out in a single blow. Their teamwork was second to none, Aria ducking down and letting Lanya jump off her back to get over the ethereal object.

They both summoned their weapons, a long pole in Lanya’s hands and a crescent blade in Aria’s.

They both ran forward, one aiming high, the other aiming low. Corvus blocked the blade with his anchor, and took the blow from the pole on his shin, shattering something. The two switched, making Corvus constantly follow the path of the blade so his clothes wouldn't get destroyed again.

They threw their weapons to each other, switching places and their line of attack. It became impossible to tell whigh was which by their constant switching. The blade flew down, the pole flew up and Corvus was caught in the middle. He jumped back, barely missing the impact from both twins.

“They really are difficult to tell apart when they’re fighting.” Gilgamesh muttered, looking closely at the two girls, who stepped right through him, much to his annoyance.

Corvus swung his anchor around his head, keeping the twins at a distance. They exchanged a look, then brought both their weapons together. The green ethereal steel bound itself together, fusing the two into a wicked looking scythe.

Corvus raised an eyebrow, grabbing his anchor and charging forward. The twins ran to meet him, tossing the scythe between them. One of them ducked back, pushing the large weapon forward with all their might, giving the other one extra power on their strike. The scythe rocketed down towards Corvus’ neck, the steel rippling in the green light.

It met Corvus’ anchor, bouncing off uselessly. The expression of confidence on the twins’ face turned to shock, as Corvus threw his weapon aside and wrapped his good hand around the girl's neck, doing his best to restrain her with one hand. She struggled, kicking and waving the massive weapon feebly.

“Yield! We yield!” The voice of the other twin echoed through the arena, steeped in worry and desperation to stop her sister from getting injured. Lanya, Corvus guessed.

He let go of Aria, catching her before she fell to the ground. She was gasping for air and taking deep lungful of air. She shot Corvus an angry look, but it subsided when she sighed and chuckled.

“Good scrap.” She pat Corvus’ shoulder, limply walking back with Lanya.

Corvus turned to look at the rest of the group, but was immediately met with an iron bar smashing into his face. The audience audibly winced in pain. He stumbled back, feeling several bones in his face broken. Alex raced forward to check to see if he was alright, but Corvus waved him off, cracking his neck.

May had a furious expression on her face, the bar shaking in her hand. Damian stood beside her, trying to calm her down, to little effect. She drew her pistol, pointing it at Corvus with a shaky hand. He snatched out Raven, pulling her left hammer back and returning the stare. The colosseum went silent with the tension.

“You don’t get to hurt her.” Her voice was shaky with rage.

“Sorry. It is sparring, so that kinda comes with the territory.” Corvus tilted his head, shrugging slightly.

Her face flared up with baseless anger, pointing her pistol more steadily. Raven fired, the bullet meeting the wood of May’s flintlock. She dropped it, shaking her hand in pain and cursing at him.

She threw her iron bar to the ground, clattering it slightly against the remains of the firearm. She ran forward, sparking an ethereal green war-hammer into her arms and swinging it in a predictable arc out of fury. Corvus sighed as he blocked the blow with his anchor and pressing his foot into May’s stomach, pushing her to the ground with a gasp.

Damian rushed forward, swinging one of his shields at Corvus. Corvus caught it easily, tossing his arm aside. Damian span around, springing a set of green, bladed high-heels onto his feet and slashing up at Corvus. Corvus ducked back, putting some distance between him and the pair.

“Nice heels.” Corvus raised an eyebrow at Damian’s new footwear.

A blush came up in Damian’s face.

“Quiet, you!” Damian shook the red out of his face and helped May back to her feet. He raised his shields in front of May, who took a few breaths then raised her hammer behind him.

Jack stormed forward, angrily raising his rapier.

“Damn you! I’m fighting you now!” Jack shouted indignantly, summoning a green wood axe into his other hand.

May and Damian looked over in surprise as Jack was fuming. The audience set themselves on the tension, eager to see this fight.

Corvus sighed, raising his anchor towards Jack. He wouldn't be too hard to disable, especially if he was this angry.

“Take this!” Jack sprinted forward, rage and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He threw his axe forward, which Corvus dodged easily.

When he turned back to Jack, he was close. Too close. His rapier was touching the soft cloth of his sling.

“No.” The word escaped Corvus’ lips quietly and terrified.

The sharp point of the blade pierced the sling.

Purple light flooded the arena as Jack’s blade was set alight, crumbling to ash shortly after. Jack screamed as the fire spread up his arm, burning away his clothes and singeing his arm. The flames dispersed from his body and he fell on the ground, writhing in agony.

The purple flames leapt around Corvus, sending the sand around him up in smoke. Corvus couldn't move. His breathing accelerated as he tried to cover the hole in the sling, trying to avoid the plumes of fire.

His hands were shaking and his eyes unfocused as he saw the purple fire expand, getting brighter and angrier. It would end him. End everyone.

“Corvus!” Gregory’s voice boomed out through the arena, as the audience were gasping in astonishment. Corvus looked around in terror, unable to see anything. “The door! It’s safe by the door!” His voice was desperate, as he pointed towards the door by the infirmary, where Helsay was frantically motioning.

Corvus scrambled to get there, but the soft sand beneath him made him slip and fall as the flames flared more and more. Corvus tried to pull himself up, but he wouldn't move. He couldn’t. He was frozen to the spot, unable to function. The image of that void, that terrible void that he saw when the bullet went through his head, flashed in his mind, keeping him fixed to the ground.

“Let me.” Gilgamesh’s voice filled Corvus’ head.

Suddenly, he had strength again. His body began to move on its own, summoning his anchor and slamming it into the ground, piercing the dark stone beneath the sand. He pulled himself with all his might towards the doorway, sending him flying through the air. He collided against the stone with his shoulder, cracking the wall and shattering every bone in his back.

The fire faded into nothingness. Corvus lost all his strength, laying in a heap on the ground taking long laboured breaths as the chaos of the colosseum quietened around him.