"As of right now, Ratella Evergarden has one win and zero losses. Julian Croft, however, has 152 wins with a total of 5 losses. Will Ratella be able to best a tried and true champion of this arena, or will he fall like the rest?"
Julian Croft soon appeared from the dedicated entrance to the arena. He was a heavyset man lacking no shortage of muscles. His hair was albino white, much like the rest of his body; scarlet eyes were embedded in his head, shining with aversion and a dedication to avenge his lost son.
His hair was straight and fell to his shoulders, a single braid twisted into the white field.
Silver gauntlets were mounted upon his monstrous hands, the mechanisms within whirling and whistling, ready to deal whatever damage their master asked of them. The gauntlets were extremely advanced-looking to the makers, who were highly skilled scientists of Creation.
Julian's gaze was fixed on his Edict of Time nestled in his eye.
"Place your bets now! The veteran or the newbie? Who will win? You'll have to wait and see!"
"Three, Two, One, Fight!"
Despite the confirmation of the battle's start, neither of them moved, each eying the other warily, awaiting their opponent to make the first move. Ratella could sense the power emanating from Julius; he wouldn't blindly charge into a counterattack.
Julius raised his gauntleted fist into the air, signaling for their battle to stop, even though it hadn't started.
"Talk with me for a moment, Ratella Evergarden, nicknamed Lord of Death."
Ratella merely nodded, taking the time to inspect his opponent, looking for any potential weaknesses or openings by running through his movements in his mind.
"Alexander Croft was my foster child, and you killed him with intent alone. He wasn't strong enough to resist such a primal attack. How disappointing!"
His attitude shocked Ratella deeply; he didn't expect a father to be so cold to his dead child. Foster or not, Alexander was still family to the man.
Ratella froze for a moment, completely bewildered by his declaration, his eyes growing wide with surprise.
"Tell me, Ratella, would you like to become my son in the place of Alexander? I can teach you everything I know. You'll grow even more powerful than you currently are!"
Olivia and Ratella's eyes locked for a moment, and they looked just as bewildered as each other.
"That woman of yours could join the family as well; her power is impressive as well. I have a team of scientists working under me, whatever you want, they'll make!"
"Um, how can you be so cold to your dead son?"
"Weakness doesn't exist in the Croft Family! He was weak and is no longer my problem. I should have disowned that hate-filled coward long ago!"
"You say you couldn't care less about your dead son, but the hatred and aversion dancing within your eyes says otherwise."
"I'm still furious with that weakling's performance in battle! He couldn't even move when under your murderous intent. How did he expect to defeat a devil! Those constant proposals of journeying into the Realm of War to claim the glory that was rightfully his actually made me proud of my son, thinking he'll work harder to claim his goal, and he doesn't even make it out the door!"
The four wings affixed to Julius' back wrapped around both of his arms, covering the weakness around his arms, allowing him to strike freely.
"You can use your wings as shields?"
"I can! A practice I've mastered over the years, this allows me to not worry about any attacks to my arms disabling my movement."
"I won't kill you. You're interesting, but don't expect to go easy on you. I'm not very good at ending a conflict non-lethally, so if you do die, please know that it's not out of malice like it was with Alexander."
"Bahaha! You'll have to use every ounce of your power to defeat me. That Edict is interesting. If you die, I'll pluck it from your skull and give it to my scientists. So don't die!"
Ratella covered his eyes with the wings upon his head; he knew this wouldn't be an easy fight. The man was approaching Orion's power level, roughly estimated.
"You mock me by covering your eyes! I'll show you the true extent of my overwhelming power!"
"It seems that Ratella Evergarden has limited his combat abilities by blinding himself. He must really look down on Julius. If you placed your bets on Ratella, it seems you are just out of luck!"
The announcer's voice echoed through the arena, signaling the start of their battle. The earth below Julius shattered, scattering to all ends of the arena. He burst forward, the gauntlets impacting with each other as he moved.
Ratella couldn't track his movements, temporarily losing sight of him, but he reappeared at his side, striking him directly in the side between the ribs. The impact was monstrous, sending him flying into the wall of the arena, multiple shards of brick collapsing on top of him.
"Julius Croft has scored the first point for a clean strike. The score is 1-0!"