TO THE ARENA!!!!

I gazed at my partner in the ring with a frown. He was but armor and bones—hardly fit to hold the great sword strapped to his back. 

Our opponents were some sort of Hell horse ridden on top by a large black minotaur. He held a long axe in each hand that could easily crush my entire body. Steam or was that fire oozed from his nostrils as his menacing yellow gazed down on us with disdain. 

"Isn't this matchup a little unfair, Vido?"

"Yeah, for them," he replied, his arms shivering as he held his black sword in both bony hands. He had more strength than I thought a skeleton could muster.  "Finally can use my buff."

A swathe of flames surged up from the middle of the Colosseum, signaling the start of our fight. Minotaur man made the first move, charging at us with an axe trailing on the wind at his sides. His rough skin makes it difficult for something like a [[Fireball]] to get through, I'm sure. Should I unleash the Eldritch? Or else I won't be practically useful at all.

However, before I could finish formulating a plan, Vito leaped from behind me, bringing his massive sword above his head and cleaving downwards with enough force that it seared the very air around us. The minotaur stood no chance as both him and his steed were cleaved cleanly in half. 

Vido landed with applause from the crowd, cinders burning at the ends of his cloak. My jaw dropped as I watched the whole thing unfold. Both that this was life or death and that this yapper of a skeleton was actually strong. But how did he fail every time then?

"I'm so fortunate to finally have a woman by my side. Now I can finally wield the full power of my class, Love Knight!"

"Oh brother...," I sighed, following behind Vito as he triumphantly left the arena.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Idle Punishment was boring as fuck. "How long till we reach Endless Onslaught?" I complained. "I wanna see the Crucible."

"And how would I possess that knowledge?" The slime asked at my side as we walked by dudes getting flayed and ripped apart over and over again. Really wish they would shut the fuck up with all that whining. 

"You're smart, right? Former researcher or whatever. You knew about the Layers as well."

"Something my Clan Elder loved to talk about. His son loved telling me stories about people who fell down here by mistake. Oh, how I miss my spouse..."

She looked crestfallen, her glasses nearly sliding off her nose. "It hadn't even been five minutes since she devoured two of my body parts. Why is she looking like that?

"This Lord of the Layer... Do you think we could win?"

She looked up and cracked a smile. "The Great Raze Havok is asking about chances to win? Am I hearing this correctly ?"

"Watch your mouth, bitch. I'm simply getting better at curbing my expectations of my useless teammates who always seem to weigh me down."

"Is that so? Well, I look forward to our first duel as a team. There is no information from my Clan on the LOLs but I don't doubt our chances."

The fiery terrain became more rocky and rigid as we progressed closer to the end of the Layer. It really felt like we had already traveled for a day or two, but it was impossible to even tell time down here. Man, I hope Lyra and that crazy unicorn bitch are doing alright. Wonder what's going on up there?

————————————————————————————————————————————

Blood flowed from my shoulders as I held my fists up to block another incoming blow. The newly-revived Imp Lord's power was simply unparalleled. At the same time, I spun my tail around to wack the Basilisk Queen's serpentine maw in the face, slightly giving me room to back away. Fione was still out cold, and I had been fighting off this pair for hours. I didn't like my odds in this war of attrition despite it being my usual strength.

I have to get her awake so we can flee, pride be damned!

"What's the matter, scorpion? Having trouble keeping up?" 

"You dare say that while fighting as two against one?" I hopped into the air and brought my gauntleted fist down on top of the Imp Lord. The power of my blow knocked him back, but he was still far too durable for it to cause significant damage. And his healing was off the charts.

"We Generals no longer care about what the Lord of Calamity desires. We simply burn with the passion of revenge, awaiting for Raze Havok and his slutty bat to return," the Basilisk stated. "You will be a good snack in the meantime."

She lunged at me once more, while the Imp Lord launched his bloated body my way like a cannonball. I dozed his attack first by taking on my true form of a large azure scorpion, watching him sail over me, before shifting back and coating my body in crystalline armor. 

The Basilisk Queen easily tore through it, her long fangs piercing my skin. Her venom had little effect on an Azurespine, but my movements seemed to get more sluggish each time she dug in as if my very strength was getting sapped away.

She morphed back into her human form and frowned. "This would be so much simpler if you possessed mana. My venom would have made you explode from the inside out then."

I grit my teeth and smirked as sweat dripped down my forehead. "There have been many times recently where my curse has become a boon. How fortuitous."

The Imp lord recovered from his spot in the wall and prepared a wave of flames to launch my way. "Did you know Raze Havok unloaded his liquid waste onto my burning corpse?! I watched as my spirit was dragged into the underworld, my soul filled with despair! That wretched man!"

"Your anger is misplaced. You should only blame yourself for losing to such a man. You cannot be a true warrior without humility and reflection."

"Fuck that!"

A long, barbed whip of the Basilisk Queen latched onto my arm. Her spikes dug into my skin, but I couldn't help but crack a thin smile. I had been in many fights with a whip before. 

"A folly." Using my temporarily enhanced strength, I pulled my arm back towards me and jumped back, forcing the Queen to be yanked forward right into my waiting fist. It dug deep into her skin and bones, demolishing all in its path. She fell idly to the ground.

I shook the blood from my fist just in time to block another of the Imp Lord's attacks. It wouldn't be long before the Queen revived. This had been the sixth time I had killed her, but I could never seem to finish her off.

The Lord brought his bloated fists as his body basked in his flames towards my chest before I could react, causing me to crash into the wall right next to Fione. The blood from her head that had pooled out when debris had fallen on her had dried, and her breathing seemed to have steadied. Now she would just need to wake up.

I feel terrible about using my oath poison for this, but it is life or death. I jabbed my stinter into her chest as the Queen fully revived.

"Putting your pal out of her misery? How noble of you," the Imp Lord sneered as he prepared to launch another rain of flaming fists. The Queen transformed back into her basilisk form and gathered at his side. I braced myself for another bombardment when I heard a weak voice at my side.

"Where's...Raze...?"

"Down the chasm. He and Komoria our help but we must face the two who want to kill him first."

Her multicolored eyes fully opened as she took it all in. 

Then the world around us changed completely. 

"YOU WILL NOT HAVE MY RAZE."