The waiting area beneath the colosseum was a dark and depressing place when compared to the festival atmosphere of the streets above. Surrounded by the muffled excitement of those above a few hundred warriors huddled in the torchlit darkness awaiting the call to action. Some spent this time in mental preparation, some training their skills until the last moment, a few could even be seen conspiring amongst themselves. And some spent this time outcast from the others.

It had only taken a single glance at their representative symbol for every mercenary around to shy away from the monsters. Accustomed to such treatment the monsters began making plans of their own while occasionally meeting the glances of those around them. In their eyes many held resentment or hatred with a minority bearing some semblance of pity. All of them knew one thing though. It wasn’t worth it. No matter how strong they were allying with monsters in the first match was a path that assured an early elimination. Willingly aligning oneself beside the largest targets in the arena would be foolish. So, the monsters were isolated even by their quiet supporters.

Upon understanding their situation Almar gathered together all his allies and after ensuring no one would hear them addressed everyone “I feared this would be the case but it seems we really will be entering the first match with a disadvantage.”

A yellow scaled lamia named Zita asked “Just because the humans won’t ally with us? I hardly doubt that will matter with so many of us.”

Almar clicked his tongue “You mean just this many of us. We’re just 22 people including me. I estimate around 500 mercenaries, soldiers, and other representatives down here with us. Meaning we each need to eliminate somewhere around 20-22 of them. Ideally there will be some infighting amongst them but... we’ll assume worst case scenario here and say it all falls to us. Only the final 50 will move on to solo matches, for all of us to pass on we’ll need to be just under half of those left standing.”

Aki interrupted “Don’t you mean 23? Sure Ms. Mulan isn’t going to fight with us but she won’t come after us right?”

“Right, Little Bird...” Almar sighed looking over to see the [Named] in question leaning against a stone support pillar with a strange engraving on it “She’ll be going all out up there and I doubt she’ll think twice about coming after us. Knowing her she’d try to leverage our hesitation towards fighting her to her own advantage. Should it come to that I’ll do my best to hold her back while all of you whittle down our competition. Avoiding direct confrontation with her is our primary objective as that’s her specialty. Hell if you see an opportunity take her out in the first round while I’m buffing you. All our odds of winning go up the more injured or tired she gets before the one on one battles.”

The green scaled lamia named Olive gestured to their surroundings “I guess the next question is about them. I think they’re planning a massive alliance against us from the beginning. We could potentially get overwhelmed if they all rush us.”

“That’s why we’ll begin with a speed buff formation. While everyone down here can fight I sense some pretty glaring discrepancies between them. I’d estimate only around 150 of them can stand with us toe to claw while the rest are just lackeys. Your goal will be to decimate that initial wave of lemmings as quickly as possible. After seeing that the big players should abandon the plan and start fighting one another. Once we see that start moving as a cluster around the arena ganging up on smaller groups one at a time. I’ll switch to a defense buff at that point and we’ll try to fight sparingly. Anyone truly powerful shows up leave them to me.”

Iori the blue skinned oni laughed “A “truly powerful” human? Stop kidding around man this’ll be a breeze.”

A flash of lightning brimming in his eyes Almar glared “Don’t underestimate humans. While many of them are indeed weaker than us they’ve also survived much longer than us. Each of us has only existed for a few months at most while they’ve been training for years. Don’t think you can succeed purely on the Boss’s gifts forever. Some of you know that all too well now.”

“Mr. Almar is right.” Iseri said with a sigh “Best temper your confidence friend. Humanity certainly has its warriors. Thankfully this isn’t a battle to the death. Looking back I see I was easily overwhelmed when my opponent began pushing back against me. Don’t let the same happen to you by thinking you won’t have to push yourself today.”

Just as Navy was about to add to Iseri’s words a loud voice interrupted her and dove towards her for a hug. Lucky for the nobleman dressed in an obviously just purchased set of armor in pristine condition Navy realized who he was and put away her blade of water. Had she taken a second longer he’d have been on the floor bleeding out.

"MS. NAVY!!!” Ezekiel cried with arms outstretched before being sidestepped. It took him but a moment to seamlessly recover though at which point he created a flaming bouquet and knelt down on his knee to offer it to Navy. In response the unnerved lamia hesitated for a moment before accepting with a forced smile.

“H-hello again Ezekiel... good to see you...”

Ignoring the stares of those around him the lovestruck man’s eyes glimmered “Rest assured it my absolute pleasure to bask once again in your radiance as well Ms. Navy! I had been hoping you would observe my skills from the safety of the stands but I suppose I must give you a more up close and personal demonstration! Do not worry though! I shall not come after you or your compatriots with my full strength. I’m looking forward to a healthy competition my friends!”

Having the greatest amount of familiarity with the man Aki gave a polite smile “Sure, looking forward to it. Are you fighting by yourself?”

“Ah, I suppose I am fighting for house Hadraas this year. My family usually refrains from participating but dear father was more than happy to let me participate long as I gave it my all. I only hope my mother’s cries of worry don’t reach your ears.”

“Well good luck to you. You’re in for a long one on your own.”

Ezekiel frowned “Yes I fear as much. Anyone not joining the “Hunting Season Alliance” is being labeled a target by association. Personally I feel they aren’t being very sportsmanlike, ganging up on their fellow competitors like that. Iduc is a downright saint in comparison.”

“Iduc?” Almar asked “I’m afraid I haven’t made their acquaintance yet.”

The young noble pointed across the space to a short man dressed in plain leather armor with a shield on his back. The man would have been rather indistinct from the others if not for the crate he carried in his hands and emblem matching the colosseum organizer’s pendant. He seemed to be in the process of handing out arm bands to other fighters though Almar felt something was off in the man’s smile.

“He’s been a fighter here for years so apparently the organizers trust him to hand out the Miracle Bands. Be sure to get yours. The only one’s responsible if you get hurt are yourselves.”

Wishing he could use Noire’s detection skills Almar asked nonchalantly “Who is Mr. Iduc representing out of curiosity? I’d love to know what brings him here to fight for someone else.”

Now standing beside him Mulan suddenly answered in Ezekiel’s place “He has been hired by Ringley Nelner. His other representatives are being loud in the corner but that man is hiding his own symbol under his sleeve. There is also the evidence that his official badge is of a different color fabric yet bears the same design. I’ve already refused his generous offer as a result.”

“Thought you were flying solo on this one Little Bird?”

“I just don’t want Milord’s subjects to be made out to be fools in front of such a large audience.”

Watching the exchange Ezekiel narrowed his eyes “D-do you suspect foul play?”

“If you do not believe my observations go ahead and try to remove your band.” She answered gesturing to his arm.

Audibly gulping Ezekiel tried to tug the iron band only to find he couldn’t remove it. Whenever he applied excess force the metal would tighten down around his arm making removing it painful. Observing the phenomena Mulan sighed and motioned for her lord’s acquaintance to hold out his arm. Soon as he obliged she severed the band in two with a flick of her sword. Fortunately for Ezekiel the band produced no explosive results and simply fell to the floor with a loud clang.

Rubbing the section of his arm the band had been attached too Ezekiel said “T-thankyou ma’am... I almost lost the chance to show off my skills. What do you think it would’ve done?”

Sheathing her blade Mulan answered “Couldn’t say. Knowing Mr. Nelner nothing good.”

Picking up the band and inspecting it Almar noticed something peculiar. Within the cross section Mulan had created he could see several layers of rings similar to that found in wood. Considering who was likely behind the plot Almar made the obvious connection and realized the “metal” bands were actually a product of the Dungeon of Oak. As to what function they served he couldn’t say. He wasn’t nearly as gifted in magic tools as Lila or Noire so it would remain a mystery for now.

One of the indigo scaled lamias in back asked “Why would anyone bother with foul play here? This competition is mostly just a spectacle for nobles to vent frustrations. Maybe he just really wants that egg like the Chairman?”

Handing the wooden band back to Ezekiel as he stood Almar answered “Bastard’s agenda being what it is he’s likely hoping to put us in our place. Since the announcement of N.A.S.A.’s formation I’d imagine a few of his supporters are losing faith. As our deal focuses heavily on our military he is likely hoping to make us appear weaker than we truly are. Convince them they are on the right side with a show of force.”

Walking away towards the stairs leading up to the arena with quiet anger in her eyes Mulan murmured over her shoulder “Then it falls to us to prove him wrong.”

And so the monsters began constructing a plan of attack. For perhaps the first time since entering the city walls they would be allowed to properly fight back as their instincts desired. Today they would do just as their creator commanded and demonstrate their power to all those watching. Humanity would understand monsters deserved to stand on the world stage just as much as any other race.

Little could they have known as they were called up the colosseum steps, that today would go down in Illian history as one of the most exciting battles the colosseum ever saw. Both down on the field and out in the stands.