Too Stubborn to Die

“You actually beat Vardus?” Chelias Heptanon said, staring Aaron down from across the board. “Impressive. He was an admirable warrior. Perhaps I underestimated you. Let us put this on pause for a moment. We should parley before things get out of hand. Consider what still remains ahead of us in this dungeon,” he continued, looking between Aaron and Mo’han. “If powerhouses like ourselves were to unite, not only could we ensure our victory here in the dungeon, but we could split the quadrant between us. Perhaps even our entire universe.”

“Parley? No! NOT AGAIN! WHAT DIVINE PRESENCE HAS CURSED ME SO! Please, take that back! We haven’t even fought!” Mo’han moaned.

“Er, what? Is there something wrong with your companion?” Chelias asked Aaron.

“How exactly are we supposed to parley with you?” Aaron asked, looking up at the players. “It’s all on them. They can’t hear a word we say.”

“You didn’t plan for this?” Chelias furrowed. “Brawn without brains, I see. Oh well. Luckily, we did think this through. All I have to do is give a hand signal, and our team’s player will engage yours for dialogue.”

Hand signals? That’s… that’s actually a pretty good idea. Why didn’t we think of that?

“NO A-RAN! We should fight it out! Have glory decide the winner!” Mo’han roared.

Aaron wanted to agree with his friend, but there were a few things on his mind. Namely, what if the next floor was quadrant versus quadrant? If it were, and they went and knocked out all the strongest warriors in theirs, they might find themselves on the next floor with a massive disadvantage. Then again, it was probably best to keep that to himself. Such a revelation was likely only to excite Mo’han more.

Then again, peacing out does mean fewer auction points…

It was a hard decision to make when they had no idea what would be sold at the auction. For all he knew, a few points could be the difference between outbidding a top-tier talent on a multiverse-breaking boon.

“Wait, Mo’han. Maybe we should hear them out. Who knows, we might need their help against the other quadrants on the next floor.”

“A-RAN, NOT YOU TOO! Feel your inner warrior! Let us fight this out!”

“Look, I’m not saying anything just yet. We’ll just let Lord Draxas hear them out.”

Mo’han slumped, and then nodded in defeat after several other teammates agreed with Aaron.

I really hope Lord Draxas knows what they are doing.

“I’m glad you have come to see reason,” Chelias said, and waved up to their player.

“Our leader has instructed me to begin parley after discussion with your team. Shall we go over the details?” The player for Helios said.

“Details?” Lord Draxas looked down at the board, where more of his team were waving and trying to yell.

“Do it! Agree to parley!” Aaron and several others shouted.

Aaron didn’t think there was any risk in parley. They had already taken out the Helios queen and had a clear advantage on the board. There was no way Lord Draxas would agree to unfavorable terms. And if they could get a good deal and secure an ally against the other quadrants, it was worth trying.

“I see through your deception, soft skin! None can fool Lord Draxas! No deal! We fight to the end!” Hissed Lord Draxas. “You cowards think the great Lord Draxas will fall for your trickery? Haha. We have you on the run, and now we’re going to finish you!”

Aaron facepalmed. “I had a feeling we shouldn’t have given so much power to Draxas.”

Mo’han didn’t say anything, but he could see the wide grin on the asura's face.

“At least it's fun alongside you two,” Voidrin chuckled.

“Then we shall let darkness consume you,” Talia said, staring down a couple of enemy pawns with an all too serious look on her face.

“So, it seems diplomacy fails,” Chelias sighed. “I suppose we have no choice but to destroy you. Fools, if only you could have seen reason. You could have had so much.”

Chelias raised three fingers to the sky, and the player above them nodded back.

“If you will not parley, you will be defeated!” The Helios player declared and activated all three of their tokens. “Goodbye,” they added, and moved their king and three others against Mo’han.

But the large asura did not shy away from the challenge. He laughed and pounded his chest. “THIS IS MORE LIKE IT!”

It was three against one, but it was Mo’han. Also, Mo’han was defending, and so he could select a challenge that would benefit his skillset.

We got this. Between Mo’han’s strength and the right to pick the challenge, the enemy shouldn’t stand a chance.

“I select the relay challenge!” Mo’han roared and slammed down his fists.

“Relay challenge? Mo’han! Why?”

“Huh? What is it, A-ran?”

“That challenge is specifically designed for teams,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“BAHA! I’m aware! And I’m excited!” Mo’han said as his brow bent, and he was dragged into the challenge alongside their opponents.

Mo’han

Inside the challenge were two side-by-side arenas. And both teams got an opportunity to select the order of their team, although being by himself, Mo’han appeared instantly.

In the other arena, the opposing team’s rook appeared. He looked like some kind of Frankenstein golem and had a fairly intimidating aura.

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The challenge was fairly straightforward: fight off waves of enemies. But unlike the waves they fought on the previous floor, these ones never stopped pouring out.

Instead of breaks between the waves, the idea was to fight for as long as one could, and the moment you were on your last legs, to tap out, and let a companion take over.

A dong sounded, and gates all around the arena opened, releasing a horde of relentless, roaring orcs.

The orcs were just low D-grade warriors, and Mo’han dispatched them without Skills, crushing them with simple punches that were thrown at an incredible speed between his power and six arms.

The orcs weren’t strong and didn’t particularly have any standout Skills. But they were numerous and relentless.

The fight continued on, and on. Orc corpses disintegrated as they were mowed down by the two sector elites.

Chelias and his two companions watched and waited on the sidelines as the battle dragged on.

And it took some time before either showed fatigue. But soon, the sheer intensity of endless combat caught up, and after twenty or so minutes, the enemy rook finally tapped out, and the knight took their place.

“Get ready to face a true warrior!” Shouted the gargoyle with stone-like skin.

The gargoyle Helios knight was extraordinarily hardy, taking many strikes against their stone skin, and fighting for over an hour. But soon they too grew tired.

“IS THAT ALL?” Mo’han roared as his fists turned orcs to mush.

“I…I…” the gargoyle panted. “I’m sorry, Chelias. Too. Much. Exhausted! They never stop coming!”

The gargoyle let out one more defiant roar and cut down another row of forces before throwing in the towel and swapping out for the bishop.

“DON’T LET HELIOS DOWN!” Roared Chelias as the bishop entered the arena.

Swing around a massive scythe, the skinny humanoid goat fighting for the Helios Sector cut down hundreds with every attack. It was impressive, and they were cutting through the enemies as quickly as Mo’han was. Which was doubly impressive as they weren’t using Skills, either.

“C’mon! This is getting tiresome!” Mo’han roared with delight as the fight continued.

And either the System took notice, or it was a massive coincidence, as seconds later, the orcs were empowered. They grew bigger, with red, fire-like auras bursting out from them. And they came at them with the same unrelenting vigour as before.

The power-up didn’t seem to change much for Mo’han, who kept pummeling his way through the legions of furious orcs. But the Helios bishops were not so lucky. Their scythe struggle to cut through the newly empowered waves, and it took them several swings to achieve what they had been doing in one.

Still, they were clearly one of the strongest warriors in their sector, and they fought on for almost four hours before falling to their knees.

“I yield! Chelias, take for me!”

“Pathetic!” Chelias spat and entered the arena. “You may have bested the others, but I am not the same as they are.”

Chelias was not bluffing. It was unclear whether it was their armor or skin, but the impressive hoplite champion didn’t even flinch as the orcs landed strikes against him.

Both his spear and shield were turned into deadly weapons, and every attack ended in the deaths of scores upon scores of orcs.

And what followed were days of combat. By the end of it, the two exhausted kings were barely able to raise their fists against the endless hordes. But that hardly mattered. They were defiant, and they kept going. Ignoring their bodies’ pleas. Forcing themselves farther and farther. Fighting on, and on. No sleep. No breaks. No nothing. Just the endless cries of combat as wave after wave crashed against the two formidable sector tyrants.

And when Chelias finally fell to his knees, even Mo’han was on unsteady footing, panting, sweating, and covered in wounds that were struggling to heal.

“You finally gave up?” Mo’han gasped.

“Me? I have no idea how you are still going. It’s just straight up stupid. You’re impossible,” Chelias shook his head, defiantly swinging with whatever tiny slivers of strength he had left.

A destructive blast rang out from Mo’han, clearing out another wave of enemies, as he took a chance to catch his breath. “You impress me, Chel’ias! A true warrior you are. You are the first to impress me this much since meeting my friend, A-ran. I hope we meet again at some point in the future.”

“As do I… even if I am disappointed…” Chelias bowed his head. “My arrogance has cost us in this fight. But next time, I will not be so foolish, Mo’han Khan. Do not think me done. I will come back stronger, and next time, I shall claim victory!”

“HAHA! I look forward to it!”

Even completely exhausted, Chelias was no pushover. After that, the fighting continued for a couple more hours. The orc waves could barely draw blood from Chelias’ iron-like skin, while every attack he threw cut down scores of them.

But the outcome was decided. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. Brought down by literal masses of orcs piling atop him. At a certain point, he was too tired to push them off, and with him pinned to the ground, they stabbed at him until he collapsed.

With Helios’ tokens exhausted and Chelias a little broken by defeat, the rest of the match went rather easily.

Aaron and a few others cleared up the rest of the enemy pieces, and Aaron and Chelias met once more in another challenge, this time with Mo’han moving to take his piece.

But it wasn’t the same as the previous one. Chelias knew he needed time to practice and grow, and the challenge itself wasn’t a duel. But by the end, both had earned each other's respect several times over.

“I wish we had been better competition for you,” Chelias said as the match came to an end.

“No! Do not talk in such a manner! You are a fine warrior, and you have been a fine challenger!. Until we meet again, Chelias!”

“Until we meet again, Mo’han Khan!” Chelias growled, a new sense of pride coming over him as he stared down the imposing asura.

Helios was out and wouldn’t see the end of the dungeon, but it was clear that their champions had not given up.

An additional bonus rewarded for objectives completed, and opposing team pieces taken!

62 additional auction points rewarded!

“Woohoo, Mo’han! The big guy never lets us down!” A pawn cheered, throwing their hands in the air.

Mo’han just looked down. He had a mix of emotions. It was a great challenge, and a worthy competitor. But it had also been closer than he had expected.

The System had rejuvenated him, but he still remembered the feeling of his trembling, exhausted body as he fought against the orc waves. He had barely been able to stand. It was pure determination to win that had pushed him over the line. And honestly, he didn’t know how much longer he could have lasted if Chelias had managed to keep going a bit longer.

Perhaps I’m not as far ahead of everyone as I thought I was…

To be pushed so hard was an incredible feeling, a feeling he had longed for. He had been reminded that there were true talents out there, thanks to Chelias, and that was a far more exciting sensation.

You truly were a worthy challenger, Chelias. And I really do hope we can meet again. But perhaps next time, for a real duel.

It wasn’t just Chelias who had gotten Mo’han blood pumping, though. They still hadn’t raced off against the top-ranking team, nor had they seen what the other quadrants had to offer, and he had a feeling that there truly were great challenges waiting for him.

But as much as he respected Chelias, the Helios Sector had been a bit of a disappointment. He’d hoped for more of a challenge against the second-ranked sector.

I want to truly be pushed, though! Chelias was a good dance partner, but not quite at my level.

Mo’han looked around, hoping that they wouldn’t be thrown into another easy challenge. Meanwhile, celebrations were short as everyone prepared for the next match.

Please prepare for the final match on the sixth floor!

Obsidian Sector versus Frostborn Sector!

“Oh?” He brightened.

If there was one team more capable than the Helios Sector, it was the Frostborn Sector.

“AHAHA! Now this should be an entertaining send-off before the final floor!”

In seconds, the System transported them to the chessboard for the final match, and Mo’han was beyond excited to get things going.

“Wait, seven? Only seven? But how…?”

It didn’t make sense. How could the Frostborn Sector have maintained its top spot on the leaderboard with only seven pieces remaining?

Unless…

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