Capítulo 41: The Next Stage
"The first return to the arena is… Cyborg Ninja!" Donatella announced.
The coliseum was instantly filled with the cheers of the audience. Their celebration was accompanied by confetti raining down on the arena and Cyborg Ninja's masked face showing up on all the screens floating in the air.
At the same time, the zombie marching band near the very top seats — because no one wanted to sit next to them — began to play celebratory music that matched the audience's mood.
"Way to go, girl!" someone yelled from the upper seats.
The Audience began to chant, "Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!"
In response to all the praise, Cyborg Ninja awkwardly raised her fist to the sky, and this action caused everyone to go wild with cheering.
From his seat in the announcer's box, Leo could sense the growing excitement in the audience as Donatella continued to announce the name of each challenger who made it to the finish line.
"Bully the Kid! Argonaut! Iceheart! Sirius Blue! Annabelle's Dolly!" she shouted. "Narukami! Lyghtning! Thorminator! Ath3na! Don Coyote! Bulldog Alfie!"
The first stage did not disappoint, and the crowd continued to go wild as the top forty players each reentered the arena. Some waved excitedly back at the crowd while others looked disappointed that they hadn't finished higher. One player was actually screaming obscenities in the air. Of course, Don Coyote had every right to feel frustrated. He did get first place stolen from him after all.
"I thought for sure that either Lyghtning or Narukami would get first," Morgana noted while she too had her hand enthusiastically raised high like everyone else. "That was quite an ending, Leo."
"This was just the beginning, kid," Leo chuckled.
After the cheering had died down somewhat, Leo disguised as Maestro, went down to the sands, and proclaimed the first stage finished.
"Let's check the results!" he pointed up to where a list had appeared on every screen.
[1st – Cyborg Ninja, 2nd – Bully the Kid, 3rd – Argonaut, 4th – Narukami, 5th – Lyghtning, 6th – Ath3na, 7th – Iceheart, 8th – Sirius Blue, 9th – Anabelle's Dolly, 10th – Thorminator, 11th Don Coyote, 12th – Bulldog Alfie, 13th – Wunderkid, 14th – Ser Galevant, 15th – Wundergurl, 16th – Nikku, 17th – DarkHawk, 18th – Trickman, 19th – Mr. Phantasm, 20th – Wotan, 21st – Red Sparrow, 22nd – Junkyard, 23rd – BraveBro, 24th – Moonpie, 25th – Serenity, 26th – Firefly, 27th – Dragon Joe, 28th – Av@lance, 29th – Liberty Belle, 30th – Ereborne, 31st – Kab00m, 32nd – Maverick, 33rd – Skeleteen, 34th – Vulcan, 35th – Dreamer, 36th – Terracotta, 37th – Iron Maiden, 38th – Cornucopia, 39th – Oh!siris, 40th – Selezenda.]
"These are the forty who made it through the first round!" Maestro announced. "And you'll notice some of them switched places from their actual spot on the roster, but these changes are due to the golden coins that lessened the challengers overall time."
The band music continued to play in the background while the audience continued to cheer.
"The other sixty challengers who lost this round also lost their time to shine," Maestro chuckled. "They've been sent back to the locker rooms underneath the hypogeum so they can lament the loss of their equipped gear in peace…"
The crowd laughed at Maestro's explanation.
"From now on, the next stage will begin!" Maestro pumped his fist in the air. "So get more excited, guys!"
While the audience cheered, a new word appeared on the screens, [HACK AND SLASH].
Immediately after the second stage's name was revealed, a large black hole appeared over the sand at the center of the arena. And to those challengers who were closest to it, they all felt the biting chill that emanated out of it.
"Beneath the depths of this dark portal is a prison which is home to a hundred powerful shadow beasts," Maestro explained in an ominous voice.
In his mind's eye, he recalled the frightening creatures that Crimsonback had caught for this event. And just the memory of them nearly made Leo shiver. He definitely didn't envy these players their next task.
"Each of the forty contestants will go down into the prison by order of their current ranking and slay as many shadow beasts as they can," Maestro explained. "A point will be awarded for each kill."
Several of the players were looking very confident indeed after Maestro's announcement, and this made Leo laughed inside. If only they knew how difficult their task would be. Perhaps then none of them would look so smug.
"And although some shadow beasts are more powerful than others, they are all worth the same," Maestro explained. "None of you will get any bonus points for beating the worst of the lot, although I daresay the audience will cheer you on even more for giving us a good show."
A hand came up. Predictably, it belonged to Ath3na.
Maestro nodded at her. "Yes?"
"Is there a limit to the number of shadow beasts in the temple or do they respawn with each challenger's turn?" Ath3na asked.
Maestro shook his head. "There are only a hundred shadow beasts inside the temple."
At his pronouncement, many of the challengers exchanged nervous looks at each other. They all realized now just how important the last challenge was.
"But there are forty of us… what if there are not enough shadow beasts for everyone?" Thorminator complained.
"Then you should have tried harder in the Dungeon Run," Maestro chided him. "But I wouldn't worry… it's not like any of you have the power to defeat all hundred…"
He sent an icy glare at each of the challengers and almost dared them to refute him. No one did.
"Make no mistake, you're in for the fight of your lives," Maestro warned. "Your turn ends when you die or give up. Those who die in prison automatically lose. Those who wisely know their own limits will have their points tallied up when they return to the arena."
"In other words, one would need a battle strategy to avoid the more powerful shadow beasts while aiming for the weaker ones," Narukami mused out loud.
Narukami was easy to read, Leo thought, as his skin-tone changed to reflect his mood. Currently, it had turned a dark blue with forks of lightning streaking up and down his arms like a thundercloud pondering where to strike.
"And last as long as possible inside the prison before turning in the towel," Argonaut added.
He was a tall, well-built, blonde man with high cheekbones and a chiseled jaw that gave him quite the action star vibe. His voice was manly too, full of confidence without a hint of arrogance in his tone. Only the glow of his blue irises and the sickly blue veins on his exposed fleshed marked him as an evolved, the first of the Eldritch Champions.
"Dying's a no-no," Wunderkid said.
The boy who looked no older than fifteen had short-cropped dark hair, scarlet eyes, and two pointy fangs on his upper lip that reminded Leo of Masamune.
This was quite literal a comparison for Leo knew that to become a blood bard one had to ingest a large amount of vampire blood while in the midst of absorbing essence. It was one of the recent strange discoveries that both shocked and awed the forums.
"Definitely a no-no," his partner, Wundergurl, added.
She, like Enka, had a pair of gossamer wings strapped to her back. And with her pixie-bob haircut, she looked much like a fairy to Leo's eyes.
"So it'll be bad to be too greedy then?" asked the skeleton in the heavy plate armor.
"No, Oh!siris, you can be as greedy as you want… as long as you can back it up with skill," Maestro chuckled.
He clapped his hands together.
"We'll be taking a short thirty-minute break to give the challengers a chance to rest and reequip their preferred gear," Maestro said.
This pronouncement caused a lot of challengers' brows to furrow. On one hand, having their best gear equipped increased their chances of scoring more points. On the other hand, losing now would mean losing their hard-earned equipment.
"Don't worry about it," Maestro waved off their concern. "As of the second stage, the Reaper's Curse is null and void… it was only to weed out the weaklings anyway."
"Nice of you to accommodate our needs, love," Lyghtning laughed.
Maestro pointed a finger at the gathered challengers while he beamed at them.
"You guys have already proven your strength… So go out there and give us an even greater show!" he ordered.
REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES 
GD_Cruz
GD_Cruz Greetings, fellow reapers!
Hope you enjoyed that second half of today's double chapter release.
Now that it's Monday, I hope I can count on your votes to help increase exposure for the GMofS! :D I need your help to spread the word some more.
Also, how do you like the descriptions for the different players? All of them are pretty clear in my mind's eye. Some adjustment is needed, but it really is starting to feel more like an x-men story rather than a straight up LitRPG. ;p
Are you guys excited for the next challenge? I am, and if the first stage was any indication, this one will surely have interesting twists. :D
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