It's Time to Duel?!

When we entered, the only thing in sight was a large semicircle with a square device jutting out of the middle.

Komoria took the initiative by walking directly onto the contraption and gazing upwards. “Woah! This must be some sort of elevation device. I can spot many different floors above us.”

“So, it's an elevator.” I stepped onto it with her. “If we can get this thing working, I’m sure we can go all the way to the top without any trouble.” I was just asking for an ambush, wasn't I?

“Still, this place is very strange from where I come from. We should really proceed—"

She stepped onto the circular platform which caused it to start its ascend upwards.

“—With caution…”

Guess that doesn't matter now.

I sprawled out over the metal floor and rested my arms behind my neck. “I’m gonna relax in the meantime. This looks like it's gonna take some time.”

Komoria shrugged. "Guess I'm in."

"It can't be helped," Lyra added. 

Surprisingly, the two of them joined me in my lethargy.

It was nice.

After what felt like an hour, we finally made it to the top of this building. We passed a myriad of interesting rooms on our way up with all kinds of high-tech and weird machine creations. The one that caught my eye was a large metal dragon with no wings. It was kinda close to Godzilla which was pretty bizarre. It was like the creator had seen stuff exclusively from my world...unless...

“Yo, Komoria,” I said.

She turned her head my way while slightly shifting her resting position. “What is it?”

“No giant lizard monsters shoot laser beams from their mouths in this world, right?”

She shook her head. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“Nevermind…” I turned my head away from her while adjusting my own position of relaxation.

So this boss definitely knew about my world.

The circle stopped moving, forcing the three of us to finally return to our feet after a short rest.

“Woah.”

That was all that came out of my mouth.

This room is really something.

The place we ended up in was quite spacious with an atrium that was quite long. The room was in the shape of a massive circle. We were smack in the middle. Looking around I saw caged humans every few meters along the walls of the circle—there were quite a lot. At the end of the room, in the only place where there was no jail cell, sat a large machine man on an even larger throne.

Is that a...transformer?

That's what he reminded me of. A giant ass transformer. He had sleek black and white metal skin that reflected off the see-through sunroof. He had three large yellow circular eyes on a humanoid-shaped face. His entire body resembled a massive human except for the fact that he had three arms on each side.

If he held a weapon in each of those then we would be fucked.

Embedded in his chest was a screen that displayed a very large number. It was pushing a few million and imbued me with dread the longer I stared. 

He glared down from his massive throne, a smile across his metal face. “At last! I have been waiting for quite some time for the strong Savior to finally show up. These humans were rather boring, you see.”

He clicked something on his throne and the closest cage to his right opened up for a frail human in clothing that resembled a rogue or thief from a video game to come out.

“My children never truly listen. It is truly a pain. I wish they were more fun.”

He directed his gaze at the malnourished thief, still maintaining the same crooked smile.

Three red beams of light that were akin to the one from my scanner tore through his body as if he was made from paper, vaporizing his skin in a second. Only a skeleton remained.

It dropped to the ground with a thud.

He pressed another button.

This time a metal casing sprouted from the ground around the deceased and engulfed him.

A few seconds went by before the case receded into the ground, revealing a robotic monkey.

“Go to District 4, my new child.”

The monkey nodded and was sucked into a hole that had appeared in the ground below it.

So all these robots...are former humans… What a deranged sci-fi plot. 

That’s pretty fucked up.

“My boredom has been alleviated once more.” He shifted his gaze back towards me. “Now, shall we Duel?”

I activated [[The Rabbit]] and drew my scythe from over my shoulder. Lyra barred her metal gauntlets while Komoria prepared a [[Fireball]] in hand.

Then we all charged…

“What are you doing?” The machine king-whatever tilted his head before pressing another button on his armrest. A large rectangular table of some kind appeared below us.

...And were all knocked on our asses.

The machine man stood up from his throne. “Let’s nerf the three of you. Then we can get down to Dueling.”

The screen in his chest started to shine before the numbers changed. I felt myself getting weaker every time a number went up. It took a total of five seconds for it to stop, but by that time the three of us were all panting, gasping just to breathe.

What the hell did he do? The fight hasn't even started?

“Raze…,” Komoria called out to me. “Check our stats…”

I immediately followed her suggestion.

“What the fuck? All my numbers have decreased by a lot!”

My attack, defense, and magic stats had all dropped by a whopping 5,000, making me significantly weaker.

What did he do? Fuckin' theif!

I used my scanner only to be met with the same feedback shock that the bitch goddess also inflicted on me when I cursed her out in public. “Gaaah!” I clutched my head in pain, a hundred tasers rubbing against my skull. What had he done now?

“I can’t have something made from the same material as I peaking in on my secrets. Now..,” He walked over to one of the two seats on the ten-foot-long table and sat down, “take a seat, Savior, it's time to Duel!”

“What the fuck did you do with my stats, you overgrown piece of junk!”

“Ha-ha-ha,” he mechanically bellowed like a villain. “I heard you were not one to mince your words and can see now that that rumor was indeed accurate. For starters, my name is Sexta IV, also known as the {Machine God King Emperor}. As for what I did to your stats… I used my ability—[[Stat Track]]—to harvest your points and add them to my very own.” He patted his chest.

“What kind of broken nonsense is that! And god is better than an emperor and king! Why did you put them all together?! It doesn't even make any sense!” exclaimed Komoria from my side.

I was surprised to hear those words out of her. I was thinking the same thing myself.

Good job Komoria! I guess my swagger rubbed off on you.

“Moving along, ”Sexta spoke with a lot less vitality than just moments before, “I want to Duel! LET US DUEL!”

She must have hit him where it hurts. He doesn't sound nearly as happy. That cheeky fuck.

I looked over to the vacant seat that was close by. It was a normal-sized chair, unlike the one he sat in. I guess being nearly 15 feet tall made you have to buy XXXXXL furniture.

“You keep saying it, but what do you mean by 'Duel?'” Lyra inquired. “Do you truly not wish to fight us?”

She had a good point. He could have melted the three of us to death when he first laid eyes on us, but he didn't. We knew his stats easily surpassed a million while each of us had barely reached the tens of thousands. He was toying with us. Sadistic fuck! 

“I want to defeat the Savior in a game of brains, not brawn. As the leader, he is most definitely the strongest out of your lot in the game department. I must face him!”

““Huh???””

“Y-you want Raze to play a game with you?” Komoria acted like she couldn't believe her ears. Lyra appeared just as shocked.

What the fuck, girls?! Have some faith in me!

“It's more than just some game, women!” He pounded one of his fists on the table, causing the hairs on Komoria’s neck to stand up, yup, just hers. She nearly yelped like a startled dog. “This is a game I crafted from the knowledge I gained from the human world. It’s called {Duel Machines}.”

Sounds pretty nerdy.

“Okay so…what if Raze wasn't the best at games in our party?”

Huh? Hold up...

I glared daggers at my bat companion. What was she doing? I was a gamer pro, especially at stuff from my world.

Was this buxom tan chick not into me? What happened to all that gusto when she took my virginity? Then what the fuck did that night...and a few others even mean? Does she still have no faith in me?

"Raze..." She returned my gaze with a soft and gentle smile. It was hard to stay mad at her when she looked like that…for some reason.

“What?! Are you saying you are better than the Savior in games?" He paused for a second then continued. "...Even card games?”

Komoria crossed her arms. She kept the same calm smile across her face. She was brimming with confidence.

I fanned my own flames of anger when recalled a similar situation. It was back when we went to that shady casino. When I got out of the bathroom, I watched her annihilate that fish freak in Black Jack. I couldn't believe that she was better at that game than me—miles better even. I didn’t want to believe it.

She’s actually better at a lot of games than me—not video games of course (I hope). I really did wonder what she would do with a game console or PC.

Komoria placed her hand on her puffed-out chest and smirked. It was kinda hot. “I am very well-versed in many different card games. You probably don’t know of him, but I even bested The Angler at his own game of Black Jack.”

A large gasp filled the room. Could you guess who it came from?

“T-the Angler? Boris Fisk himself? F-for real? Surely you jest, girl.”

He looked flabbergasted. If robots could get that way, anyways.

“Ah, so you have heard of him,” Komoria said, her brazenness undulating upward. “Then you should know that I am the real deal...and that I will always die before Raze, no matter what.

Huh? What was that last part? Death flag much. My cheeks flared red. How embarrassing too. What the hell?!

The machine game freak clasped all six of his hands together. “Well, then we must play! Please take that seat and I will explain the rules and let you make your own deck from the hundreds of cards that I have constructed and carefully play-tested for balancing. I hope you like state-of-the-art holograms!”

“I love them! Advanced tech is so cool!”

I leaned over to Lyra while Komoria gingerly walked over to the chair, took a seat, and was boosted up to the large table. “Can you believe these two losers? I thought we were gonna kill him or die trying.”

Lyra had her arms crossed, coming off as lost in thought. She kept a stern gaze on the machine god king-whatever since we were rear-ended by the table. “This game is more than it seems. What do you think will happen to the loser? And will this godless creature even keep his word if she manages to beat him at his own game? There is no way to be sure. I fear what will transpire as this progresses.”

"Yeah, it's pretty sus, isn't it?"

She shuddered. “I despise non-organic creatures. There is no way for them to keep their word due to my poison being ineffective against them. We could be in quite some trouble with such a powerful, emotionless foe.”

I gulped. “I hope this guy is all bark and no bite…” And not a liar or cheat. 

“I feel the same.”

I cast my gaze upward to find Komiria. From where we were I could only see parts of her. That was until the ground we stood upon rose up into the air at the same height as where she sat.

I got a good look at her. She had a few beads of sweat sliding down her face, but her smile was screamed that she was not afraid. 

I had faith in the one that took my first time...even if it wasn't consensual…

The two players looked over at each other from the sides of the table.

“”It’s time to Duel!””