"Before we start the duel, let me tell you the rules," Judge Dredd said as he stood beside the two fighters, who were still gazing at each other.
"Both of you had signed a waiver that even if you die, the other party will not be at fault," Judge Dredd stated. "However, we would like to prevent anyone from dying as much as possible, so when your opponent surrenders, or loses consciousness, the battle will come to an end."
"Also, I have the right to interfere when I think that the other party is no longer able to fight. As much as possible, I will hold back in exercising this right, but if I see that continuing the battle is pointless, I will stop it with the authority I have as a judge."
"Lastly, I and everyone here today wants to see a good fight. I hope that the two of you will not break our expectations."
Lux, who was seated on the Golem's shoulder, smirked.
"As long as my opponent doesn't croak early then you guys can expect a good fight," Lux said with confidence. "You won't croak that easily, right?"
The chubby boy sneered at the Barbarian who was also sneering back at him.
"Weaker dogs bark more," Einar replied in a voice filled with ridicule. "Make sure to not die from a single punch."
Lux snorted. "How can I die from a punch coming from you? Just look at your body. You look so skinny that my grandma can easily slap you silly."
Judge Dredd, Bruno, as well as a few of the audience couldn't help but glance in the chubby boy's direction in disbelief.
'Bruh, are you blind? Can't you see how buffed up this guy is and you call him skinny?'
That was the collective thought of everyone in the Coliseum, with the exception of Iris, who was holding her belly with her left hand and covering her lips with her right. Unfortunately, she could not prevent her entire body from shaking no matter how she desperately tried to stop herself from laughing out loud.
A loud laughter echoed from the stands, as the Barbarian King, Amastan Mordosk, laughed without a care in the world.
"Good!" Amastan shouted. "I like this kid. He has guts."
"Father, he is brother's opponent," a young lady, who seemed to be around seventeen years old, gave her father a disapproving gaze. "We came here to support Brother, not to praise his opponents."
Amastan chuckled as he looked at his beloved daughter, Fiora, who was his pride and joy.
"I believe that your brother is strong, but he's not necessarily the strongest," Amastan said in a firm voice. "There will always be someone stronger, a mountain above a mountain, and a heaven beyond the heavens. Such is the way of life."
"Father, who do you think is Big Brother's greatest threat in this tournament?"
"Threats? I am looking at one of them right now."
Amastan's gaze never left the chubby boy who was seated on top of his Rock Golem.
As a High-Ranker, it was fairly easy for him to discern the boy's strength. A single glance was enough for him to know that although his son, Einar, was stronger than his opponent, the presence of the chubby teenager surpassed his son.
As the Barbarian King, he had faced many strong opponents and had overcome adversities through sheer strength. Because of this, his intuition had been developed to such a high degree that he could tell that his son's foe was not as harmless as he looked.
'Einar, be careful,' Amastan said in his heart. 'This boy might be masquerading as a pig so that he can eat the tiger.'
—---
After Bruno's explanation, both fighters backed away until they were dozens of meters away from each other.
Everyone watched with bated breath as both fighters took a fighting stance and waited for Judge Dredd's signal to start their battle.
"Battle Start!"
The moment the signal for the battle began, Einar summoned two throwing axes and threw them in Lux's direction.
Orion was about to step forward to block it, but Lux ordered him to stand down and summoned another Rock Golem to block the two axes instead.
When the Rock Golem appeared and attempted to block the two projectile weapons, the axes swerved, completely evading the Rock Golem and continued to head in Lux's direction.
Orion no longer hesitated and attempted to swat the two throwing axes with his rocky hands. However, as if expecting his action, the two axes re-positioned themselves and slipped through Orion's fingers, before they continued to head towards the Chubby boy, who had a calm expression on his face.
The moment the two blades were about to hit him. Several spinning blades materialized out of nowhere and collided with the two throwing axes, stopping their advance.
Having been repelled successfully, the two flying axes flew back in Einar's direction where the young Barbarian caught them in a firm grip.
'For a barbarian, he sure uses his head well,' Lux thought.
In the beginning, the Half-Elf assumed that Einar would come charging at him like what his younger brother, Rol, did in his fight against him. It seemed that Einar had observed Lux's match with his younger brother, and no longer treated him as an ordinary opponent.
'He's probing my abilities and my Golem's reaction speed.' Lux thought, assuming that this was the Barbarians's plans. He believed that he wasn't wrong in his assumptions.
Einar, once again, threw the throwing axes, but this time, they were faster than before. Lux already knew that there must be some kind of hidden trick in the thrown axes, but he was unable to ascertain them at this point in time.
Instead of defending, he ordered Orion and the other Rock Golem to charge in Einar's direction and engage him in close combat.
With one mighty roar, Orion charged as he activated his Duel [EX] to force his opponent to exchange a blow with him.
While this was happening, Lux stepped forward and summoned Blood Moon and Blood Shield to deflect and block the throwing axes that were flying in his direction. To his surprise, the axes were properly dealt with, and both of them fell on the ground motionless.
The Half-Elf was now assuming that Einar was remotely controlling the two axes, so he decided to do an experiment. After the Barbarian was forced to face Orion, his connection to the two throwing axes were cut, leaving them unable to perform the maneuvers they did earlier.
"Jackhammer!" Orion shouted as he smashed his fist on the Barbarian's body with the intention of turning him into meat paste.
However, to everyone's surprise, Einar didn't back down and also threw his punch towards the Rock Golem's rocky fist, facing it head-on.
Contrary to what everyone expected, it was Orion who was sent flying by the exchange of blows, which made even Lux's eyes widen in surprise.
After dealing with the opponent in front of him, Einar unleashed another punch at the other rock golem, completely obliterating its sturdy arm in the process.
Without missing a beat, the young barbarian spun his body around and delivered a spinning kick, hitting the rock golem's waist, its body instantly shattering in half.
The crowd cheered loudly after seeing such a spectacle, but Einar didn't pay any attention to their cheers.
With one powerful stomp of his right foot, he lunged at Lux and roared like a tiger. The young barbarian's hands slowly transformed until it became the claws of a tiger, with its sharp nails extended in full.
"Tiger Claw!" Einar roared as he extended his hands in a clawing position with the intention of ripping off the chubby boy's head from his body, and put an end to the enemy who dared to look down on him, once and for all.
