(MC POV)
Hmm… Despite this fight starting with more than a billion people, the number was quickly reduced in less than a few hours until only around ten thousand participants remained.
With a planet this big, I was fully prepared to see the battle royale drag on over several days but it seems like I forgot the people participating could bend and manipulate both space and reality if they wanted to.
There were literally people just blinking around the planet using short range teleportation and eliminating people left and right. Sometimes one would even set off a gigantic explosion that would catch several other parties as collateral damage without meaning to.
Within the first hour of the battle royale, the number of active contestants had already dropped by half.
Incidentally, either by coincidence or design, none of my disciples had come across any of those Origin Wielders who seemed to be the most aggressive or experienced for this batch.
Until the battlefield was shrunk.
The space left behind was about a continent's size so there's actually still quite a substantial amount of space for ten thousand people… If they were normal people that is.
One of the stronger Origin Wielders had already found Eris the moment the space had finished shrinking, engaging her in a fight to the death.
He was obviously more experienced and better than all the other Origin Wielders she had faced so far as he knew to protect himself from being affected by a god's domain before engaging her.
And as though to prove that he was superior, he was even fighting her using a sword as well.
Within a second, Denna was already cut down without being able to do anything while Laverna tried to attack him from behind.
The Origin Wielder didn't even look at her before smashing his elbow into Laverna's abdomen and causing her to crash into the ground below, leaving an imprint of her on the ground.
That was already quite a feat considering the planet was enhanced by the gods to be almost indestructible which showed just how strong he was.
Eris and Bait tried to tag team him, their swords slashing at his neck and ankle at the same time respectively.
The blue glow around him intensified and Bait was kicked away while Eris's blade was blocked with his own blade.
The Origin Wielder then sent a kick towards Eris's abdomen, intending to break past her guard for a follow up attack.
Eris saw that coming and dropped her hand to catch it, her body giving off a blue glow of her own.
With a deft flick of her wrist, the Origin Wielder was thrown towards the ground and he crashed onto the surface of the planet, also leaving an imprint of his figure on the ground.
Eris was definitely not holding back now that she saw him as a threat.
She tried to invoke her domain but the Origin Wielder was quick to shatter it apart even while he was still in the midst of getting to his feet.
He even had time to turn around and parry Laverna's swipe at his head before blasting her away with a pure energy beam to her abdomen.
Eris descended on him and tried to attack him from behind as well but he had swung his sword behind him without looking and also deflected the blow away with ease.
Bait returned from wherever she was to join the melee, her sword wrapped with the concept of cutting the Origin Wielder's 'path' of resisting against them.
He received the blow to his sword and his sword shattered into pieces almost immediately, leaving him open for a follow up stab by Eris.
The Origin Wielder discarded his broken blade away before reaching up in an attempt to slap Eris's sword aside with the back of his hand.
His blue aura clashed against the domain Eris had wrapped around her sword creating a shockwave that exploded out from in between them, blowing everyone away from one another.
While Eris and her two personalities had to struggle to get back their balance, the Origin Wielder merely straightened himself up again before lunging towards Eris once more, his hand turning blue in colour while the space around him started to warp.
Bait tried to intercept him, only to have a hole punched through her body by his fist before disintegrating into nothingness.
The Origin Wielder continued his path towards Eris and I think she realised by now that if nothing was done soon, she would most likely lose to him.
Laverna jumped in front of Eris with her sword raised and her own blue aura around her intensifying.
"Go…" She commanded before flying towards the Origin Wielder.
Eris only spent a split second to hesitate before she flew away, retreating from the fight and leaving Laverna there to fight against the Origin Wielder alone.
Her quietest personality raised her weapon to face the Origin Wielder fearlessly, her opponent eyeing her with a casual air.
She swung her blade at him, pulling it back at the last second when he tried to deflect it with his arm.
Spinning on her heel, she used her body to hide the blade before stabbing it forward at his chest, only for the sword to stop just short of stabbing him as he caught it in between his fingers.
He sneered at her, "Nice try, but I have even fought against other sword Gods who have much better skills than you--"
"Explode…"
The blue aura around her body condensed back inside her before a gigantic explosion ripped through the air, blasting the entire area apart and creating a big mushroom cloud that could be seen for miles around.
Parts of the land had even been torn up from the explosion, leaving a giant crater that reached deep into the ground. I think there were even a few unfortunate Origin Wielders that were caught up by that explosion too.
Laverna wasn't asking Eris to run away from the fight of course, she was simply asking her to escape from the blast zone.
A short moment passed before Eris's face appeared in the sky with her newest kill beside her, showing yet another victory for her.
Well, things are only going to get more difficult for them so I hope they are prepared for it. Although I'm also prepared to go and console them should anyone get dropped out of the competition later on.
Not saying that they would lose of course, just that I'm prepared for something like that.
Now who's next?
