Myth//OS - Chapter 80 (Patreon)

It took a while for the technicians to drag Rodrigo off the stage. The massive man wasn’t light… he was still alive though. Although he’d definitely have severe brain trauma after the hit I gave him.

While the arena was cleaned up, I joined the other two combatants behind the stage. The fennec foxkin’s large ears twitched toward me when I approached, and then went back straight like he hadn’t noticed me. He reached up to adjust one of his earbuds and continued to stare at the floor 

The vampire though—he was definitely interested. His eyes seemed to gleam in the light, and his pale skin contrasted sharply against it. “Nyx, right?”

”Yep.” 

“You’re kin? No… not quite?” He frowned and eyed me from head to toe like that’d help him figure it out.

”Close. Enough.” I shrugged lightly and turned away from him to settle down after my fight with the walking armory.

“I was worried this would be too easy. I look forward to our fight.” The vampire grinned, exposing his long canines. He didn’t see the foxkin as an opponent in the slightest.

”…” I nodded once and sat down on a chair nearby. My hand lightly traced my side where I could feel my Ebonshroud writing against the injury. I closed my eyes, blocking out the rest of the world, and focused. The dark ooze penetrated deeper into the wound and slowly pulled the jagged tear back together like stitches.

The rest of my wounds were shallow, but they got the same treatment. In no time, I was fully patched up and ready to keep going. Mostly, anyway. Those arcanite rounds… they were so much more deadly than basic bullets. Some healing magic might’ve been nice this time around.

“Next two! C’mon!” The announcer approached us and dragged away the other two fighters.

I settled back in the chair and took a deep breath. A shadow peeled off from the wall and dropped down into a small blob of darkness just next to me. Umbra’s voice spoke from it, “nicely done, Nyx. I was worried for a minute there.”

“No need.” The initial onslaught took me a little off guard, but I wasn’t too worried about the fight against MirroSynth’s Dreadnought.

”They were so boastful about their little monster, too.” A clicking noise came from the deep shadow. “You should’ve seen his face when you KOed Rodrigo in one hit. He looked like he ate a lemon peel and all.”

”Who?”

”Ah, no one important.” A bitter feeling spread across me. Another lie. He wasn’t even trying to hide it even more. “Keep up the good work, Nyx! I’ve got a lot riding on your victory.”

The unnaturally deep darkness merged and disappeared into the ambient shadows all around the back stage. I rubbed at my side gently and shook my head. This had better be worth it. I’d much rather be running a rift or staying at home. Or even using that Evo core I got from Sky Skipper. 

The two moved onto the stage and split to either side of the stage. The announcer took the central position and waved toward the packed theatre. The lights narrowed onto him, and the theatre dimmed subtly.

”On the right, Hemogoblin! Blood’s dread and Warden of red!” The announcer broke into an epitaph for the vampire. Cheers broke out amongst the crowd. They were much louder than before. It seemed the vampire had quite the following.

“Thank you! Thank you!” Hemogoblin shot his hands up into the air and waved around to the crowd. Blood flowed out of his skin and formed a massive set of fangs above him. The lights flashed, and the arena was half illuminated red by the light shining through the blood display. 

So he was a Warden, huh? Then was Rodrigo supposed to be a Warden equivalent too? It looked like they were going for a Warden vs Anarch type style. At least, assuming the foxkin wasn’t a Warden too.

“On the left, Schizofennec! Vl’Keith’s doom and anarch of gloom!” A wave of boos spread across the theatre. It seemed the foxkin wasn’t particularly liked. I should’ve done more research before coming here.

For the first time since I saw him, the fennec lifted his purple eyes and looked out at the crowd for a moment. Only for a moment though. Then he looked back toward the ground and carefully pulled the earbuds out of his large fennec fox ears.

”Fighters ready!” The announcer left the arena, and the ward started to flow back into place around the arena.

Hemogoblin took a low stance and flicked out his wrist. Much like how I used my Ebonshroud, blood flowed out and formed a large greatsword of crimson. It hardened into a steel like substance, and he pointed it forward to Schizofennec. The tip of the red blade gleamed brightly in the stage lights.

Schizofennec didn’t have any transformations or posture changes. He simply reached a hand up to brush his shaggy locks of pale blonde out of his eyes. The casualness in which he treated the battle seemed to irritate the vampire. He gripped his hands tighter around the blade until his knuckles turned white.

”Three! Two! One! Fight!” The lights flashed, and the theatre went dim as all focus narrowed onto the arena and the fighters on it.

Hemogoblin twirled his sword and charged forward, making the first move with a brutal overheated slash to cleave the fox into two. Schizofennec back stepped the slash and simply flicked his hand up. A playing-card looking bolt of blue dark purple ether flicked out and slammed into Hemogoblin’s chest. 

The two people on the stage froze entirely, like some kind of freeze magic had been cast over them. Hemogoblin’s sword dropped from his hands, and he stood there like a brainless fool. Schizo, for that matter, likewise went stock still and stopped moving.

A minute passed while they both stood there like marionettes with their strings up. Two. Three. Some kind of paralysis? No, not quite. Hemogoblin’s hand twitched on occasion. Not to mention he’d likely still be able to use his blood constructs even if paralyzed. He just stood there without doing anything. 

Just as bored chatter started to fill the theatre, something finally happened on the stage. Schizofennec staggered back away from the vampire and half crumpled against the edge of the arena. His ears lowered flat against his head, and a shudder went up through his body.

”GAHHHH!” A scream of agony laced out of the vampire. The pale man collapsed to his knees and crumpled into a ball while curling his arms over his head. In just a few minutes, he turned from a confident combatant to a kid-like defenselessness. 

Schizofennec forced himself back up to his feet and shuffled toward the vampire with a heavy expression on his face. Ether condensed in front of him, and he summoned out a large hammer. The head was the size of a watermelon, and it looked like one of those clown hammers I’d seen in the past. It even had the black and red stripe patterns across it.

“——“ Schizo mumbled something that I couldn’t quite make out, and he hesitated with his hammer raised above the vampire’s head. The hesitation lasted a moment longer before he dropped the hammer into an admittedly light blow. The screams instantly cut off, and Hemogoblin collapsed entirely. 

“Winner, Schizofennec!” The announcer cheered and the ward disintegrated.  The man jumped up onto the arena and threw Schizo’s hand into the air.

Unlike after my fight, there were only a few applause. No one seemed interested in the lackluster fight between the Anarch and Warden. There was a certain apathy that radiated off the theatre, and I could definitely see why. Boring gladiator fights were never as good as climactic ones. 

The announcer seemed to pick up on that, and coughed lightly. “Shall we just get into the next one? And then Lotus’s auction will begin! Nyx! Come on up!”

I went back through the fight and analyzed the details. As long as I dodged that card thing that Schizofennec threw out, it should be easy? He didn’t seem like a super great fighter. What was that, anyway? Some kind of mental attack?

The foxkin stared at the downed vampire, and only looked up once I approached the stage. His hooded eyes met my own for a brief moment before he turned away and stared back at the floor like I wasn’t there. An uneasy feeling washed over me like he was still watching, though.

“Next up—Nyx verse Schizofennec! Which of our two legendary Anarchs will win tonight’s fight?!” The announcer clapped his hands, and jumped off the stage. A duo of heavily chromed out guards grabbed Hemogoblin and dragged him off just as I got on.

”Fighter’s ready!” The announcer cried. This time, he didn’t even wait for us before he started to seal the ward. “Three! Two! One! Fight!”

”Nyx.” I thunked my fist to my chest.

The foxkin froze for a moment and eyed me. His large, purple eyes flickered with something, though he copied my motion and returned the salute. One of his ears flicked toward me, though the other remained rigid and tall. His voice was surprisingly soft and weak sounding. “Schizofennec.”

After the brief salute, Schizo flicked a dark purple card at me first thing. The air faintly trembled around the ether card, and a small pressure built up in the back of my head from just proximity to the thing.

I easily sidestepped the relatively slow moving card, and pushed forward. I used Sky Stride while moving across the floor to give me a slight speed boost and instantly closed the gap. Ebonshroud flowed out into a shortsword that I immediately shot forward.

Clang!

Schizo’s heavy two handed clown hammer appeared just before I could stab him, and blocked my attack. He surged forward with ether billowing off of him, and he brought the bottom tip of his hammer toward my head in a back hand strike.

I brought my arm up to block it, and another shortsword formed in my other hand. I slashed down toward his leg, which overextended when he tried to strike back.

My sword easily cleaved down into his leg, though he pulled away just before it could do any serious damage. Still, bright red blood flowed out onto the arena floor and he staggered back with a shout. “Agh!”

I followed it with a spin-kick to his chest. He barely managed to bring his hammer up in just enough time to block it, but was still sent flying off his feet by the force of my blow. The hammer slipped out of his hands and thunked against the ground as he fell onto his back. 

The foxkin struggled and lunged for his hammer. A tendril of Ebonshroud flicked forward and shot a simple dagger out. He pulled back a moment before it could skewer his hand into the ground. Schizofennec instead pulled into a roll and flicked a purple card at me once more. 

“…” I watched the card for a moment and then slashed at it with my sword. Just as it connected, the panicked expression on Schizo’s face pulled into a small, sad smile.

I tried to flick back and avoid the slash, but it was already too late. Too much had been committed to simply pull into a faint. The purple card slammed into my blade and the dark purple blended into my black. 

The ether surged down my weapon and up into my hand before I could drop it. A heavy pressure built up in the back of my head. The arena fragmented and fractured around me. The last thing I saw was the foxkin’s eyes glowing a sinister purple.

— — —

AN: I’ve had Schizofennec’s name at the bottom of my notes for, like, three months. You have no idea how excited I am to actually use it for a character.