"Check the Arena!" One of the gods yelled as his vassal 'accidentally' died as well.

"We already did! There was nothing in the arena." Yet another one yelled back.

It had been the seventh accidental death. Four vassals had already perished and it looked like now was the turn of the paladins. No one knew what was happening, but it was apparent that something was off with the duels as all of them were coming to abrupt endings. There was no way in hell the vassals would have been foolish enough to slip and fall of the arena, to their doom. 

But that's what exactly they were doing. Either falling on their weapon or the weapons of their enemies. Or they would commit suicide as if it was the best thing to do in front of the gods. 

[Arnold, you should stop for some time now.]

'Yeah, they have started to get suspicious.' Arnold thought while trying to look as surprised as he could, 'Either way, it's Nicole's match next. She's... up against Johnny. I'd rather not harm either of them so let's see who'll surrender first.'

[Still, I'm surprised you even managed to fool Heimdall.]

'Not me, Talos did everything. Who knew he would have mind manipulation ability as the Demon Ogre?' Arnold looked sideways to see Talos sitting in his Demon Ogre form waiting for Arnold's next order, 'Heimdall had his eyes one me every since Talos killed one of those retards. I couldn't risk doing anything.'

___

ASCENSION QUEST (2): Rise to Godhood.

[ TASK ]: Complete the Second Ascension quest and evolve into a lesser god within a couple of years. That's all the time you'll get before the gods would send in their armies to deal with you. Complete the following task before/during [War of the Worlds] event takes place.

• Kill 10 Paladins

• Kill 5 Vassals

• Kill 3 Demigods

[ PROGRESS ] : 

• 3/10 Paladins killed

• 5/5 Vassals killed

• 3/3 Demigods killed

__

[At you got the vassals off your list. Now you need to get rid of seven more paladins and you're set to become a god.]

'That's easier said than done...'

Getting kills was easy but getting kills without raising suspicions wasn't. Arnold needed to rethink his strategy, and Nicole's match was the perfect time for him to sit back, relax and think about his next move. Both Nicole and Johnny walked onto the stage and were ready to fight. However, Heimdall had different plans as he called off the match before it even begin. 

"While I know that the show must go on despite the unusual deaths, I think it's time to do something different... a battle royale."

Everyone was surprised at the suggestion. But they were on board as soon as Heimdall started explaining the rules to them, which were pretty simple. A bit over the top, but simple. All of the remaining contestants would have to fight simultaneously. No holds barred. The only way to eliminate someone was to either kill them or make them surrender. The surrendered fighters would still have to fight either way.

However, they would no longer fight for their victory, but for the victory of their leader. Also, they would still bear the risk of being killed. On top of that, one contestant is allowed to only surrender once. Thus, if someone who had already surrendered to someone else, would not be able to surrender again and hence would have to be killed to get eliminated.

Elimination of those who surrendered would affect the score of the one they had surrendered to. Since all of them would be fighting simultaneously, the rule regarding the aid from companions was also revoked. All of the contestants were now on their own. 

Forming teams at the start of the match was permitted, but nothing was going to stop the contestants in the same team from betraying each other. All in all... it was just like one of those wrestling shows where there eventually would be only one winner. 

The gods readily agreed to this new arrangement as in this battle royale, the probability of contestants dying was actually higher than it would have been in one on one duels. Because in the case of duels, it was easier for the contestants to evade death by simply surrendering to their opponent and their lives would have been spared.

Also, even if their master was defeated, they would have a new master and hence they would continue to live on even if their master died. However, in the battle royale, one could be killed even after they had surrendered to someone. The ones who had surrendered would no longer be allowed to betray their masters. They would be killed immediately if they did.

It didn't matter whether the contestants were their own masters or not, they would have to keep fighting. On top of all the action, the unpredictability of battle royales would entertain the gods even more. 

It was due to these reasons when the voting was held to change the format of the contest, there was no resistance whatsoever from the god's side. Thus, the tournament which should have been a one-on-one systematic duel was turned into a chaotic battle royale. 

But the gods weren't the only ones who were pleased with Heimdall's decision, Arnold had the widest smile on his face as well. A battle royale meant chaos and Arnold could take advantage of the chaos in the best way possible.

If he could have Talos fool the gods in one on one matches, fooling them during the battle royale was no biggie. However, he had to be careful in choosing his targets. he didn't want to accidentally end up harming Nicole or Johnny. 

The following moment, all of the contestants assembled in the arena. It was clear that everyone from the same planet had formed a team to take on the others. The only ones who didn't do the same were the earthlings. 

While Nicole and Johnny joined forces, Sonya and her team made it obvious that they weren't interested in helping them. The four of them were enough to protect each other's backs. However, Sonya's this move made Nicole and Johnny an easy target for everyone else, as while all of them at least had four or more members in their team, Nicole and Johnny only had each other.

'Looks like I know who I am going to have killed next...' Arnold gritted his teeth under the guise of his visor, 'Those fools had one chance to make me forgive them, and they threw it away...'

He then turned towards Talos and whispered, "I want them dead. All of them." 

Talos nodded and waited for the match to begin. While they were doing that, Heimdall turned towards Arnold. He had something to tell him, but rather than speaking his mind, Heimdall decided to use Telepathy to convey his thoughts to Arnold.

"I hope this makes things easy for you." 

"What do you mean?" Arnold acted all surprised.

"Don't get all flustered up. I'm on your side. Technically, I'm on Shiva's side, and he told me about your little quest."

"So you knew all the time?"

"Kid, I can see everything that goes within every realm and the way you were taking care of those mortals, wasn't as subtle as you thought. So I had to do something before the other gods caught wind of what you were trying to do."

"I got busted before it even began huh..." Arnold smiled knowing he fcked up, "Still, you shouldn't be helping me..."

"I'm not. I'm simply repaying my debt to the Immortal one by helping you." Heimdall smiled at him, "We all want that bast.ard Zeus dead, either way."