'Eiko, don't attack that man with the gladiator helmet,' Lux telepathically communicated with Eiko as he flew toward Leonidas, who was busy helping his Manticore deal with the Six Manticores that the Baby Slime summoned.
The Fairy Princess, who was about to throw a meter-tall Blast Bomb at Leonidas, stiffened. However, a few seconds later, she recovered and scanned the surroundings, looking for new targets.
"Eyah!" Eiko shouted as she threw the Blast Bomb at a place where several Rankers were congregated, the sight of which made all of the battle-hardened Gladiators scream and run away like their lives depended on it.
After having a taste of Eiko's Blast Bombs, they had learned a very painful lesson.
The bigger the bomb, the more powerful it was.
Although none of those who received a direct hit died from it, they still suffered serious injuries
This forced them to distance themselves from the Baby Slime and resort to using long-range attacks to help their comrades.
Leonidas, who was the strongest among the Rankers, immediately sensed a pair of eyes locked onto his body.
The Mercenary Leader, who had commanded hundreds of men under him and fought in one of the bloodiest battles the Kingdom of Agartha, glanced in the direction where the gaze was coming from.
There, he saw the Half-Elf, who was holding a golden spear in his hand, headed in his direction.
In just a span of a few seconds, Leonidas understood that he was being singled out by one of the targets that they needed to eliminate.
Since he was stronger than Lux by a realm, he was truly sure that the red-headed teenager was only a D-Ranker.
However, Leonidas no longer had the leeway to underestimate his enemy, and he decided to face him head-on.
"Continue to support my Manticore!" Leonidas ordered. "I'll deal with this kid first. Don't worry, if I kill him, I'll give the rewards to one of you guys. You have my word."
Originally, the other Rankers wanted to target Lux as well, but after hearing Leonidas' words, they decided to continue supporting the Manticore to help it overcome the onslaught from Eiko's Manticores, who were attacking it from all directions.
Holding a spear in his hand, Leonidas roared as he charged toward Lux with the intention of going all out.
A metallic ring spread in the Coliseum when Lux's and Leonidas' weapons clashed with each other.
The two exchanged several blows, and with each blow, the Half-Elf skidded backward due to the difference in strength. Even so, the ferocity of his attacks didn't change as he continued to exchange blows with someone more powerful than him.
After their eighth clash, Leonidas backed away as he looked at the weapon in his hand.
The Blade of his Mythical-Ranked Spear was already cracked, which made him frown.
He was stronger than Lux, but the Half-Elf's weapon was better than his.
This difference allowed the Half-Elf to gain the upper hand, making Leonidas start thinking about how he would be able to deal with the Golden Spear in his opponent's hands.
At that moment, a spear embedded itself in the ground beside Leonidas.
"Take it," Michael, who was the organizer of the Battle Royale, commanded. "That is a Legendary Weapon and it has the Indestructible attribute. It's the only one of its kind here in Agartha. I will lend it to you until the match is over."
Leonidas didn't hesitate and threw the cracked spear in his hand away and grabbed the spear that belonged to a retired General of the Kingdom of Agartha.
Although Michael now only focused on organizing Gladiator Matches, he was one of the most famed Generals of the Kingdom before he decided to retire.
"Indestructible?" Lux smiled. "Perfect."
Calypso was a Divine Weapon, so only those with the power to withstand its might could face it in battle.
If the one holding it was a Supreme, then they would definitely be a force to be reckoned with.
However, in Lux's hands, it was only a very powerful weapon, whose true powers were yet to be seen.
After that brief interlude, Lux and Leonidas clashed once again, and this time, the Mercenary Leader truly showed his fighting ability.
In less than five minutes, Lux found himself being pushed back and unable to even counterattack.
'His mastery of the spear is the real deal,' Lux thought. 'His bloodlust and killing intent are also off the charts.'
The Half-Elf understood that he was clearly outmatched when it came to close combat, but he didn't back away.
Instead, he started to use his other abilities to help him stand toe to toe with Leonidas, making the C-Ranker narrow his eyes.
Bone Spikes jutted out of the ground, in an attempt to hinder Leonidas' movement.
However, as if already expecting these petty tricks, the Gladiator calmly stepped to the side and swatted them away as if they were just weeds that were blocking his path.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened.
Two Rankers suddenly appeared behind Lux with their weapons raised for the kill.
Leonidas saw this but didn't say anything, simply thrusting his spear forward in order to create a killing zone where the Half-Elf had nowhere to run.
Lux didn't even bother to look behind his back and simply thrust his spear forward in order to meet Leonidas' attack.
A distinctive metallic ring spread in the surroundings as the tip of both spears met, creating sparks that flew in every direction.
"Die Highlander!" one of the Rankers that had decided to sneak attack from behind roared.
"Your head is mine!" the last remaining Ranker shouted as he swung his sword downwards with the intention to split the Half-Elf's body in half.
At that exact moment, a cold voice filled with killing intent reached both of their ears.
"We can't have that now, can we?"
Draven, who had always been hiding inside Lux's shadow, sprang forth and clashed with one of the Rankers who had aimed to take his Master's life.
"Since you wish to die that badly, allow me to send you to the afterlife."
Diablo, who had also autonomously appeared on Lux's side, parried the other Ranker's sword, preventing it from reaching its target.
At the same time, Lux's ultimate defender, the Corpse God, materialized and lashed out at the two Rankers using the weapons in its hands.
Screams of pain and disbelief reached Leonidas' ears as his two comrades were sent flying by the five-meter-tall Corpse God, who wielded different weapons in each hand.
Diablo and Draven didn't let the two Rankers regain their footing and clashed with them as Lux continued to battle the Mercenary Leader, who had momentarily lost his momentum.
Leonidas didn't expect that his opponent was capable of summoning reinforcements out of thin air, making him wonder why Lux hadn't used them earlier to gain an upper hand against him.
