The battle began with a boom. Sparks raged from the lanky man–whom I'd learned was named Ian–'s arms. Topaz-colored bolts encompassed the arena, shrouding it in blinding light and also a sense of dread.
Ian rushed forward, stomping on the ground. A crater formed beneath his feet, and his lightning flung debris towards Oliver's direction.
"It seems you've forgotten who last year's champion was," Oliver muttered, but his voice resounded across the area, etching itself in the hearts of the spectators. Even Leo's eyes widened.
Following his words, darkness oozed from his body, encasing the area in an atramentous mist that clouded all senses and vision. Ian immediately attempted to disperse the mist using lightning, but more than half of his own attack was nullified by the darkness.
"Arrogant Gods of Darkness," Ian spat. "Just because you're at the peak of your realm does not mean you have the right to shit on others."
This incited a chuckle from Oliver, who soon burst out laughing. "Uh, I think it does. Weaklings have no right to resist."
The mist suddenly condensed into a single sphere of pure darkness. Ian's eyes widened as he backed away.
Oliver's true nature surfaced. He let out demented laughter before closing in on his foe. Unsheathing his sword, he swung using all his strength.
Darkness emerged from his sword, nullifying Ian's lightning as if pouring water on a natural fire.
I gasped, and Leo frowned. It seemed things would get bloody, judging by the shock on the faces of the spectators.
Yet, no one dared to interfere.
Oliver's slash connected, slicing Ian's right forearm off. The latter screamed in agony, backing away in an instant as fear corroded his expression.
I had the sudden urge to vomit, caught off-guard by the grotesque scene. It was disgusting.
Blood emerged from the wound as Ian's forearm and hand fell to the ground with a soft thud. Oliver's darkness encompassed the body part, absorbing it in its entirety.
Suddenly, Oliver's darkness grew to unparalleled lengths, surpassing its former potency.
"Isn't that against the rules?" I asked, utterly shocked by the display. Was murder allowed?
"It isn't," Leo replied solemnly. "It's perfectly permissible to torture or even kill an opponent. One's backing usually prevents people from doing so, but this Ian kid does not have one."
My face darkened, imagining Ian's future if Oliver had his way with him.
My hatred for the bulky man grew as I clenched my teeth. I shouldn't have prevented Leo from making a move earlier.
Ian somehow suppressed the pain, encompassing the wound in his divinity. The wound closed, but the body part didn't regenerate.
"Don't worry," consoled Leo, patting my shoulder. "He can be healed and regrow his arm… if he survives."
"Nothing can be done during the battle?"
"There are several divinities that can help regenerate body parts," replied Leo. "Unfortunately, lightning is not one of them. If he were a healer along with a warrior, he would have been recruited into the King's personal squadron and nurtured properly."
I nodded, musing over the sheer brutality of the Divine Realm. It was true. The strong prevailed, and the weak perished.
Ian quickly surrounded the area in lightning, establishing what seemed like a domain. Oliver only chuckled.
"Do not resist," said the bulky man. "There is no point in exhausting your divinity if you're going to die, anyway."
"Shut up!" shouted Ian, mobilizing lightning before condensing it into a single spear. The spear enlarged by the second before growing to the size of several houses.
Oliver's face darkened for a second before reverting to its usual, haughty self.
"He's going to exhaust his divinity in a single attack," said Leo. "Then, he'll compete using magic."
"I thought magic was less effective than divinity," I said. "Shouldn't he have used weaker attacks first and then used his trump card in time of need?"
"Mana is weaker than divinity," chuckled Leo. "That is a premature concept. Many stronger Gods believe it to be true, but mana can be molded to be more useful than divinity. Lord Prometheus taught me that, and I've found it to be true."
"Then why do people use divinity?" I inquired, turning to face the arena.
"Because it is easier," replied Leo. "Divinity is inherited, so it is easier to harness. It is also stronger in its initial stages. It's not a very complex energy. It's plenty powerful, but its depth only amounts to that."
"Is mana complicated?"
"Very. Mana is the very energy that surrounds everything. Divinity exists within us, yet mana exists around us. This world is powered through mana. However, researching its components is nigh impossible, even for stronger Gods."
I grew interested in the topic of mana. However, there were more important things to focus on right now.
My attention returned to the battle, which was escalating quickly.
Ian unleashed the lightning bolt, exhausting most of his divinity in a single attack. The space around his attack bent, allowing the bolt to pass through.
Oliver prepared to tank the attack, summoning a barrier of pure darkness. His expression was solemn, but he seemed as calm as one could be, akin to a lake.
Ian, on the other hand, was reflecting raging emotions. His attack contained a trace of his will, as if it were divine retribution.
Leo and I struggled to peel our eyes away from the battle, watching it rise to a climax.
The sky itself turned dark, and the lightning bolt provided it illumination.
"Who do you think will win?" I inquired without turning my head.
"It depends on the measures Oliver takes," replied Leo. "Ian just drained his entire reserve, so Oliver has to counter with something equivalent. Draining his own reserve will be too much of a loss. He has to be creative."
"So it isn't one-sided?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"It never was," Leo said before breaking into a casual smile. "Ian always had a fair chance, considering he's a Son of Zeus."
My jaw dropped as I heard the name. My eyes widened as I entered a state of shock. "Zeus? That Zeus? The King of Olympus?"
"A Cardinal Rank God," replied Leo. "Yeah, that Zeus. Ian is a son of Zeus, but he has long been abandoned, so he has no backing. Still, Zeus's genes are nothing to scoff at."
I gasped, wondering why I'd been worried about the lanky man. A son of Zeus… I wonder if he had a comfortable life. I wanted to be him.
I watched as the lightning bolt collided with the barrier of darkness. The collision caused sparks of divinity to dart towards the spectators.
However, an invisible barrier forged by an unknown entity deflected the sparks.
Oliver clenched his teeth and swung his sword. The slash of darkness collided with the lightning bolt, releasing a bit of energy.
However, it didn't do anything significant. Eventually, Oliver's barrier of darkness began cracking, causing the bulky man's face to darkness.
Ian was emotionless. He sat in a meditative position during a life-or-death battle, uncaring of external circumstances.
Oliver infused the barrier with higher potency of divinity, yet it still made no changes.
"Fuck!" he shouted, attempting to escape from behind the barrier as it threatened to shatter. Placing the blunt edge of his sword in front of his body, he sidestepped several hundreds of meters to the right.
Yet, the lightning bolt changed directions.
The expression of the bulky man crumpled and he finally seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Ian suddenly opened his eyes. His sclera and pupil were both white, and tiny bolts of lightning hovered around them.
Oliver seemed to be contemplating something. He spent a few seconds stroking his chin before steeling his resolve. Darkness oozed from his body.
Despite being a peak Lowest-Rank God, unlike Ian, he was still losing.
However, I had a feeling that was about to change.
Even Leo was having trouble predicting the victor of the battle, as they were so similar in strength. Although Ian had displayed higher power, not everything was obvious.
With a swift slash, Oliver dispersed the lightning surrounding Ian, regaining even ground. However, the lightning bolt was still approaching, and altering directions every time he did.
Eventually, Oliver's entire body was encased in darkness. He then condensed the divinity, bringing it to a potency that shocked even Leo.
"How is that possible for a Lowest-Rank God?" Leo asked, his eyes widened.
Finally, for what I assumed was a last resort, Oliver exploded his divinity, encompassing the entire arena as a target for his attack.
The lightning bolt dispersed instantly, and Ian fell unconscious, falling to the floor with a loud thud.
As the darkness dispersed, however, it was clear that Oliver had fainted, too. The question was, who had fainted first?
Suddenly, the referee appeared within the arena. He stood in the middle as his robes fluttered due to the wind.
All eyes turned toward him.
"The winner of this battle is…"
"Oliver!"