The supporters of Vinlan Corp were wild with euphoria. Bets for an early lead had reaped thousands of dollars on the black market, and bookies were out collecting names for the next round. The odds were heavily in favour of one particular contestant…

Felix was frozen into shock. His was not the face of someone who had just won one of the top eight spots in the surprise elimination round. Did he even win his spot? I’ve barely moved! He thought. What the fuck just happened?

Is she even human?

***

Zora had come for Felix. Felix reacted instinctively by swinging his new-found weapon. It was a glaive, swiped from another contestant he had sucker-punched and overpowered. In one smooth movement, Zora dodged his swing and grabbed the neck of the glaive. Her grip was surprisingly strong and caught Felix off-guard. With her other hand, she reached forward to slash her knife across Felix’s neck. His fast boxing reflexes kicked in, and he whipped his head violently backwards just in time, his back curving. The knife missed his precious throat, and instead sliced off a top portion of his hair pouf. Just by a miniscule few seconds, Felix would have been dead.

And with that, the lethal dance with Zora had ended. She had moved on to kill the other fighters. Elegantly, cleanly and with an agility and speed Felix had never seen before. Zora was a lean, mean killing machine. A trained assassin who could predict movements and react quickly.

Felix felt like Zora had spared him. Or were there simply more horrors up ahead? Perhaps Zora believed that she had eliminated all the weak fighters.

***

Dart could not take his eyes off Alex’s decapitated head, but the rest of the tournament had to go on. Finally, Ashley’s announcement that Al Tehar had also completed the round brought him back to reality.

Cerberus’s body had found one of its heads, and it was rapidly healing to reseal its wounds. It could see again. Out of nowhere, an arrow struck one of the talismans around Cerberus’ neck. The force knocked the talisman off the collar and straight into Ginther’s outstretched hand. “Whha…” the words were snatched out of his mouth as he suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. Ginther was the first to be selected from Celtia, and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time!

Seeing the element of luck that had somehow aided Ginther, and with their leader Alex now dead, each contestant in Celtia now knew that it was everyone for themselves. Whether they would try to stay alive and out of Cerberus’ way, or find a way to get to the talismans—the reality was that the more prolonged the fight, the fewer the odds of getting through to the next round.

Dart resolved to fight.

All three of Cerberus’ heads had been restored and completely healed, and it was engaged in battle with four fighters. At its full power, Cerberus’ one swing took out a pair of fighters and left them bleeding on the ground. The other two made a run for it, running towards the edge of the quadrant. The moat separating the quadrants was full of hot spewing lava. There was no escape.

“Please! I quit! I don’t want to die. Just let me out of here!” one of them pleaded. He was calling out to Suez. Suez was watching emotionlessly from his seat. “My wife is pregnant. Please! I made a mistake coming here,” his voice cracked as tears formed a river down his face. His shoulders heaved as he knelt to beg.

Suez refused to respond, his eyes cold and lips tight.

The other contestant, also at the edge, had given up altogether. In slow motion, he tipped backwards, off the edge of the stage and into the lava. He was engulfed by flames and as his body hit the hot liquid. Members of the audience swore they saw skeletal arms reach up to grab his still-alive body.

***

Cerberus was ready to pounce upon the crying man. Dart jumped to his rescue, trying to stop Cerberus with his knife. To avoid being hit by the monster’s powerful sword skills, Dart rolled under Cerberus’ furry human legs, and slashed Cerberus’ ankles, cutting into the tendon. Cerberus fell to its knees, and Dart used as much force as he could to dig his knife deeply into its back, and twisted it. Cerberus let out an agonised roar from each of its heads. With this distraction, Dart reached from behind to grab one of the talismans on the collar.

Another arrow flew out. It took out the very same talisman that Dart had aimed for. Dart’s grip missed, and Cerberus recovered in that same instant to elbow him in the chest. Dart had been flung towards the far end of the quadrant wall with such force that the glass shattered. He slumped to the ground like a rag doll. Several of his bones in his chest felt broken as he struggled to breathe.

The female archer ran forward and picked up the talisman before Dart could even cry out. She vanished on the spot.

Cerberus returned its attention to the man crying at the edge of the quadrant. Dart’s actions to save him had been in vain. It continued its killing rampage. Cerberus’ three heads preferred to finish off the job by taking a chunk out of the fighters it had taken down. Many screamed in agony as various bloody body parts were chewed off. However, Cerberus’ mobility seemed weakened. Even though it had sealed its wound, Dart’s knife was still stuck in its back.

A well-built, bearded man—a Viking—seemed to have found Cerberus’ weakness. Armed with an axe, he exchanged a few equal blows with Cerberus. With a violent hack, he managed to break its sword. Another swing from his axe sliced Cerberus from his neck down its abdomen. With this opening, he grabbed one of the remaining talismans.

There were not that many fighters left by now. Left without a sword, Cerberus resorted to using its vicious dog fangs against the fighters.

***

Dart, still collapsed on the floor, could only watch from afar. As much as he willed his body to move, it did not respond. His skull also appeared to be cracked, and he could feel warm, sticky blood streaming down the side of his face.

Is this how it was all going to end for me? All the hard work I’d put in to reach this point... Was it in vain? Is there no justice here, only luck? Alex was stronger than me, and he died too. How can I compete in this tournament, when I can’t protect anyone? I’m too weak. I’ve always been. I haven’t changed at all. I’m useless. Dying would be so much easier.

“The third country to clear elimination is Xin!” Ashley’s announcement rang with echoes in his head as Dart struggled to keep conscious. He was rapidly losing his vision as he bled out. From out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vincent getting up from his nap and stretching. What Vincent said… was he right?

There were only two talismans left.

A woman was crawling towards Dart, her legs dragged back by Cerberus’ heads. Her weapon had been lost. She was screaming for Dart’s help, her arms reaching out to Dart. Her eyes were terrified and desperate. Dart could not even lift his body. What could he do? There was a loud crunch as Cerberus bit her leg off at the knee, and then came forward to bite off her head. Cerberus would soon find its way to Dart, and he too will be finished, just like her.

Cerberus’ three hungry heads were right in front of him, snapping noisily.

Dart had accepted his fate. His eyes were closed. He was at peace.

“I’m sorry, uncle.”

He felt sharp teeth begin to close around his wrist, which were limp and positioned in front of his heart.

It should have been a fatal bite.

Dart’s eyes fluttered open and adrenaline shot into his hand. He whipped the blade of his knife upright, slicing through the flesh of its mouth. The dagger was stuck in Cerberus’ mouth, propping its jaw open.

What’s the point? I can’t save myself. I’m already dead. Why do I still fight?

In a flash, Cerberus vanished.

“The final country, Celtia, has cleared the elimination round!” Ashley announced.

Huh?

Vincent was covered in blood. He was smiling to himself, as he calmly wiped the blade of his weapon. Two dead bodies were piled up in front of him. They had been the final fighters left in the Celtia quadrant. This meant that the final two going on to the next round would be Vincent and Dart.

Well, not today I guess.

Dart fainted. He had cheated death and qualified for God’s Tournament.