Jensen’s POV

Entering the arena, Jensen immediately noticed the vast amount of people in the stands. The audience was no less than 20,000 people crammed into a relatively small stadium. Their cheers echoed through Jensen’s ears, and he begun to get a headache.

Looking towards the top of the stadium were four people on different thrones. The seats were a clear indicator of high status. Focusing on the people on the seats, he noted their appearances.

The one on the far left was an enormous man with a large sword on his back. With his pink skin and angry eyes, he gave off an ominous feeling.

The middle left was a slender figure that appeared to be a teenager. His appearance resembled that of a regular human other than the extra set of arms that were crossed.

The middle right was a woman with blue skin and long antennae. Wearing extravagant clothes, she appeared to be a favorite of the different creatures in the crowd.

The man on the far right was particularly strange. His face resembled that of a dead mans. With skin as white as a ghost’s and jet-black hair, one might think that he was a vampire. ‘Well, I suppose in this universe, that’s not impossible’ thought Jensen.

The pale man spoke to the antennae woman.

“I saw that he has the dark ability on the broadcast. Is he perhaps your only purpose for coming here?”

“Perhaps he is. What about it?”

“Well, not that I don’t understand your confidence in training a Dark attribute user, considering your home’s personnel. However, don’t expect to get him without a fight.”

The pale man chuckled to himself. The woman ignored his words.

“I will only buy him if he proves himself in today’s match. After all, I have no need for celebrities. I need warriors.” The woman said her final word on the matter and turned her attention back towards the teenager in the pit.

The voice thundered throughout the arena again.

“His opponent for today is an Orc from the South Galaxies. He is a trained warrior and was only captured when three of our Agents surrounded him and defeated him through teamwork. I give to you, the one and only, Brogdosh!”

A large green monster walked through the gate opposite to where Jensen entered. Looking his opponent up and down, Jensen came to the conclusion that this beast was rather… ugly.

‘Still, judging by his bloodlust, he is clearly strong. I don’t think I’ll survive if I don’t start off full strength. Also, I’m not completely healed from the Hooved man’s attacks, despite the increased regeneration from Awakening.’

“Begin.”

The orc charged forward towards the still Jensen. Jensen observed the speed and mobility of the robust creature. ‘It’s deceptively fast for its size.’ Jensen remained unmoving.

“What is he doing?” The large man with the sword questioned.

The man with for arms countered.

“Use your head. A frontal assault on an orc that size would be suicide.”

The man pouted at the insulting words, and muttered curses to himself.

The approaching orc was getting faster in its charge. The more time it built up its speed, the harder it would be to stop it. Considering the orc weighed roughly 300 pounds of pure muscle, the rampage was nothing to sneeze at.

Even as it approached within 10 yards of Jensen, he remained still. The crowd had become quiet in anticipation of the flattening of the celebrity.

Once Brogdosh was within five feet of Jensen, he begun to move. He darted forwards, sticking low to the ground. Shadows burst from his back and were brought forward in front of him. Jensen slid on the ground at the last minute, using the shadows to hook one of the monsters feet. In his mad charge, he was unable to stop in time and plummeted forward. He was running at roughly 40 miles per hour, resulting in his 300 pound body slamming into the ground with great force. With rocks flying into the stands from the impact of his fall, the crowd exploded in excitement at the cunningness of Jensen.

To stand still and keep a calm head when an orc is charging at you is like standing in front of an oncoming train. Making the correct movements at the critical moment shows incredible focus and willpower. With these observations from the audience, the crowd begun to scream in excitement.

However, the fight was not over. The orc had taken damage, but Jensen was still in a disadvantaged position. He decided that he must end the fight quickly, before the orc caught onto his tactics.

Shooting forward, Jensen regrew the 3 shadows from his back and formed them into a spearhead in front of him. With the spiral formation, the damage would be significantly worse.

As the orc stood up and shook his head in an attempt to clear his vision, Jensen pierced the orc’s abdomen. In his disoriented state, and due to the quick decision by Jensen, Brogdosh had no time to react.

‘I succeeded. That could have been tough if the fight continued.’ The crowd boomed in support, and without removing the spear from the orc, he glanced at the support of the crowd. A sinister and satisfied grin cropped up onto his face. ‘This is me. I am Jensen Livelot- your future ruler of the-’

A hand suddenly grasped Jensen’s throat. In complete shock, Jensen stared at the still breathing orc.

“Brogdosh… don’t lose… Brogdosh… never lost in fair fight… Brogdosh always kill…”

The orc tightened its grip on his throat. His other hand gripped the shadow spear in place. Blood was pouring out of his abdomen, and it was clear that he would only be able to last another minute or so. However, one minute is plenty of time to strangle someone.

The shivering hand lifted Jensen off of the ground. The spear remained in his abdomen with blood spurting out.

Jensen’s mind was in disarray due to the extreme pain. However, he held onto his sanity for long enough to come up with a strategy.

Jensen used the rest of his strength to squeeze out another shadow. While three was normally his limit, he attempted to form another. The stream of darkness collected out of his palm that he pointed towards the wound of the orc. The shadow that formed was extremely thin and quivered in an attempt to reach the wound. ‘The strength of this shadow isn’t strong enough to pierce his skin, but it is more than enough to scramble his organs!’ The shadow reached the wound and penetrated the blood and meat that was coming out.

Jensen begun to leak out blood from his mouth. His neck was being crushed, and he would only be able to last another few moments. The markings on his body begun to stir stronger than ever.

He frantically swirled the quivering shadow throughout the orcs organs. Brogdosh begun to spew blood out of his mouth like a fountain, and his eyes grew weak. However, he had not yet let go.

At this point, it was a match to see who would last longer. Jensen, with his throat being crushed and choked, or Brogdosh, with scrambled organs and a pierced abdomen.

Jensen begun to wonder if this was how he would die. ‘Dying to an orc as a slave after declaring my future conquest… How embarrassing.’ He did not enjoy this kind of life or death struggle, as he didn’t think a desperate struggle as a slave was fun at all.

Continuing to scramble the inside of the orc, he glanced at the sky. He hadn’t noticed it before, but it was actually nighttime. The lights around the stadium just illuminated the pit. He looked into the stars, where his hopes and dreams belonged, and felt his mind grow weaker and weaker. As his eyes begun to close, he wondered if the afterlife would be fun or not. ‘Probably… not as fun.. as this world would have been…’ His eyes slowly closed, but just seconds before dying, the hand let go of his throat.

Dropping to the ground, Jensen coughed up blood and gasped for air. With each breath came pain, but he had never been as happy to breathe as now. He looked over Brogdosh, who was still standing. His eyes, however, had closed. He also held no breath in his lungs or pulse through his body. He had died standing up, with his legs locked in a battle stance. His arms drooped at his sides, and the crowd roared at the outcome. The wind from the yells was enough to tip Brogdosh’s body over. In a pool of blood, Brogdosh, who had never lost a fight on his planet, had fallen in the arena.

The crowd begun to chant his name. The dramatic life or death struggle gave the audience an excitement that they hadn’t witnessed in a long time. Jensen begun to stand up and looked at the audience. He was focusing on not passing out due to the amount of energy he had consumed. The crowd saw the look of tiredness on Jensen’s face and mistook the look as indifference. This excited the crowd even more. ‘Even when moments from death, he doesn’t waver!’ The announcer saw the opportunity to increase the popularity of a gladiator and took the chance.

“Jensen Livelot… The master of the Dark attribute, wielding the even more rare Shadows… He truly resembles a Death God. I hereby announce his title as Reaper! The Reaper of Night!”

This was how Jensen Livelot began being referred to as ‘The Reaper of Night’ throughout the Cosmos.