Grim Reaper in the Apocalypse: Reaping Immortals

"We'll be tussling with stronger Pseudo Canzers in this competition. We can adjust our strength, but those monsters are programmed to attack anyone they come across," she added.

Once she said that, everyone in the room silently agreed. Even though Atlan could be considered a genius in terms of advancing his power realm, that did not mean that he could fight Canzers. That was simply not the skill set of porters.

At least, that's what they thought.

But then, nobody expected Atlan to suddenly speak up.

"Hmm…I'd like to join."

Good! I can't believe he joined, Obek rejoiced. "Great, then come here and meet your opponents!"

The Olympian girl simply shrugged when she heard that the porter would join. She already warned him about the dangers, and it was his decision if he still wanted to participate. She, and the rest of her team, would not be holding back their power just because they were going against a porter.

"Let's move to the arena!"

Obek guided the contestants outside the mansion and Atlan was surprised to see a large structure made out of stone and concrete right in the middle of the City.

Atlan was sure that he never saw a structure this big back in the real world.

"As you can see, my family enlisted the help of some architect Operators to make this colosseum into our pocket Remedium! Amazing, isn't it? It's the perfect place for our competitors to compete to their heart's content!"

It turned out that Pocket Remediums didn't have to completely mirror the outside world. Operators could create anything they wanted in the Pocket Remedium, especially a large structure like this.

"I can't wait to see who's better: Yasmine or Razer!"

"Seeing the fight in this place pumps up my blood!"

The Colosseum had an intimidating black color in the Remedium that only served to intensify the upcoming competition.

"Spectators, please find your seats while we competitors enter the arena!"

It looked like this was not the first time people went inside the Colosseum as they had no trouble finding their way up the stairs and into the balconies that oversaw the large oval arena below. There were about a thousand spectators in the crowd, all eager and waiting for the competition to start.

Atlan followed the others onto the tunnel just below the arena.

"Our competition is divided into two stages," Obek explained. "First, we will have to show off our skills to subdue these Pseudo Canzers."

Obek pulled down a lever and a few indentations in the wall of the arena suddenly submerged into the floor. After a few seconds, Atlan heard the sound of hoofbeats crashing on the floor. Dust rose from the soil as the footsteps intensified until four-legged monstrous creatures suddenly emerged from the sides.

They all charged out of their dark prisons with anger and fury. But try as they might, they couldn't leap past the bars around the arena.

These Pseudo Canzers all had a similar torso and legs to horses, but their heads were a completely different variety.

Atlan saw a gorilla's upper body connected to the horse's torso, a dolphin in a horse's body, and one just had a chicken's head. There were lots of different animals, but there were plenty more monstrous creatures that didn't resemble any animal that Atlan knew.

There was one thing in common with all of them: their chitinous armor. Every horse Pseudo Canzer was protected by some sort of armor. Some had it on their whole body, some on just their chest and head, while some just had it on the legs.

"Hmm…they look fast," one of the Olympians commented.

"Yes! Precisely. These Pseudo Canzers are specifically designed to mimic mounts. For the first part of the competition, each of us is going to subdue one of the monsters. Careful not to kill it though, as you will need them for the next stage.

After you have all gotten your respective mounts, then you will attach them to your chariots. Now, comes the real challenge.

With your mounts and your chariots, we will race around the City walls and do one lap. The first to cross the finish line is the winner!"

Everyone looked confident. Yasmine and the other Genesians already practiced for this event a few days ago. The Olympians had experience with this competition too as they competed and won against other Cities before they arrived in Genesis City.

Atlan was the only one still clueless about everything. And unlike most of them, he didn't even know how to ride a mount.

Of course, Obek didn't give him a chance for any practice at all. He already felt that it was generous to tell Atlan the rules of the competition.

"There will be no fighting during the first stage of the competition."

"Agreed," Razer said. "It's already too risky to fight against other Saviors while fighting monsters, even if they are only Pseudo Canzers."

Obek then smiled. "But for the second stage, it's no holds barred. You can fight against others, you can kill their mounts, you can destroy their chariots, and you can even injure them to the point that Angels have to save them. Everything is allowed."

Just you wait, you porter. Joining this competition will be a mistake that you will never forget. I'll bleed your SoulTime.

Atlan took a deep breath and readied himself. Unlike everybody here, he couldn't just use all of his powers. He would be limited to only using his physical strength.

That was a major handicap. But Atlan wasn't completely without any weapon.

He looked at the slingshot in his hands with anticipation. As long as he put all of his strength into winding up the slingshot, he reckoned that he could create serious damage.

"Are you guys ready?" Obek's question proved to be useless as he saw the intense look on everyone's faces. Yasmine, in particular, had her eyes on the prize. She was already considering which mount was the fastest.

"On my count…3…2…1…GO!"

Everyone rushed out of the tunnel and into the arena.

Atlan ran with them but quickly halted his steps once he was in the arena.

While hearing the cheers and the shouts around the arena, Atlan heard a cacophony of words coming to his ears.

"Humans…run…"

"Eat…humans…"

"Weak…."