Arpious of the Planes

"Huh…"

"I-I mean if I say that you, the queen, proposed it, they will definitely agree," Mia says.

"Okay well now that, that is settled I think I'll be going back now," I say while opening the door.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here and have some food? It would be rude to let you into my house and not provide some hospitality," Mia says.

"It's fine, I have something to do anyway. Just make sure to tell your parents and once they agree, come to the castle so we can discuss our plans," I say before hearing her answer and closing the door.

It was currently late afternoon and I decided to not waste any more time, so I flew right back to my castle.

Landing right in front of the entrance of my castle, I created a spider web below me from the force. I drew a lot of attention but paid no mind to them as I entered the castle and quickly told my maids to gather the recruits at the venom jar.

They haven't left their rooms since that one dinner. Whenever they were hungry, the maids would bring them food. If they needed to use the bathroom, they would use the temporary toilets in their rooms. This was to make sure they don't try to escape or kill anybody.

Not that they are strong enough to actually harm my maids. The only one who could potentially die would be Aika since her lack of combat experience.

Walking up the floors of my castle, I finally made it to the top. It was slightly windy with a clear sunny day. It was a peaceful sight because there were no trees in sight. Just pure grass that waves with the wind… unless you turned towards my kingdom.

"Are there seasons? If there are, then I got really lucky since hunting in the cold would probably be my worst nightmare," I ask myself.

In my past life, I hated the cold. It would make your fingertips go numb and if you ever hit it on anything, the pain was excruciating. The worst winter days were when it was gloomy and freezing cold, with a wind that makes the temperature drop below freezing.

I felt like shivering just from the thought of it.

As I sensed some of the kids were on their way here, I decided to walk down the steps to the venom jar. Taking a right I then go to the spectating ring that surrounds the top of the jar.

I saw Homura and Kumo already there so I stood next to them, leaning over the edge of the thick, stone, railing. The ring was dirt and only dirt. Its diameter was about 150 feet which was enough for them to fight without feeling cramped. The wall was smooth and went up about 50 feet to where the spectating ring is. Some light was able to come in because of the open roof which only shone on part of the arena.

Tump Tump Tump

The recruits entered the ring with cold expressions. It seems they were already aware of what they were about to do, some had already picked their prey, ready to slice their head clean off.

"Maids, bring in some daggers for them to use," I say.

The maids quickly bring out iron daggers that were about the size of my forearm. The recruits all snatched them out of their arms making the maids give them a cold glare before leaving.

My maids could probably kill them instantly if they wanted to.

All of the maids soon disappeared from the main stage and left only the recruits with 2 iron daggers in hand.

"There is only one rule, you can't leave this place until 5 of you remain. You can torture your opponent to death, cleanly cut their head off, have them bleed to death, do whatever you want! I expect much from you guys so don't disappoint me,"

They didn't even give me a nod as they got into a fighting stance. I checked around the arena for shadows and only saw an eighth of the arena was covered in shadows. This will force them to become proficient in daggers if they want to survive.

Silence overcame the arena as nobody moved, looking to counter and instantly kill them...

Suddenly, one of the Amazonians made the first move, instantly aiming for the neck of an elf. Once the silence was broken by those two, silent chaos ensued as you could only hear the clashing of metal daggers.

The first one to drop dead was the amazonian who started the fighting. A girl elf looking the age of 17-18 wiped the blood off her face as she aimed for her next target.

I was intrigued, so I decided to watch her next moves. This time she aimed for a fire harpy who was currently battling another fire harpy. She was able to catch them off guard slitting one's throat but almost died due to one of the fire harpies' quick adjusting.

They were right next to the shadows, allowing them to clash with their [Shadow Control]. Both made blades made of shadows that aimed for their throat and only their throat. Every blade was precise.

The fire harpy switched up his moves and tripped the elf who thought they were only aiming for the neck. The slight stumble was enough to immediately slice off the elf's head.

"Disappointing," I muttered before changing my target of observation.

I found an Amazonian who was battling a fire harpy. He had very quick reflexes. In fact, they were so fast that he didn't even need to parry any of the blades that aimed for his throat.

Ducking down and dashing right into the fire harpies chest, he stabbed one of his daggers into the back of the fire harpies head while the other sliced straight up his neck, nearing the chin.

He reacted quickly when he soon got third partied by another amazonian. Pulling both of his daggers out of the fire harpy's head, he barely dodges a blade to the throat.

Flipping his grip on the dagger to where it was against his forearm, he punched the Amazonian's elbow, instantly breaking it. The amazonian barely flinched as he soon flipped the dagger in his broken arms hand into the air before the pain settled in.

Catching it with his mouth, he swung the dagger in his other hand towards his opponent's throat.

CLANG

His dagger gets deflected out of his hand causing him to stumble and only have one dagger in his mouth.

Knowing he was at a great disadvantage, he sprinted towards the shadows. With the shadows, he will have level ground again because the daggers will essentially become useless in the face of most magic.

He uses [Shadow Control] but his opponent was right on his tail already using [Shadow Control] with him. The blades that they make extend from the ground, aiming at each other throats.

Both shadows clash without a sound but suddenly the shadows that were controlled by the severely injured amazonian disappear. Looking towards where he was, I saw a dagger right through the side of his head.

His body dropped to the ground with a thud, as an elf steps over his body targeting the dead Amazonian's opponent.

*sigh*

This is truly a battle royale.

"MASTER!" I hear a cry out from the entrance to the spectating ring.

It was Yin. I completely forgot about her...

"Master, why didn't you invite me?" Yin says pouting.

"I forgot," I say before looking back at the arena.

There were currently 7 recruits remaining and each was practically bathing in blood. 2 elves, 2 Amazonians, and 3 fire harpies. I thought the elves were going to be all eliminated but it seems I was wrong.

"They all suck," I hear a cold voice from beside me.

"Their use of [Shadow Control] is so slow, and they are only making blades from the shadows. If some of them made spears at the right time, they could've skewered their opponents,"

It was Yin and her persona practically did a 180. Her eyes right now were that of a true assassin, cold, no bloodlust leaking out, and most of all she was looking at the recruits like prey. A grin crept onto my face from her sudden cold and merciless demeanor. I was glad I picked her as the leader.

I was only able to see the assassin in Akitos party switch to her assassin's side once when Akito asked to show me it, but I do know Yin is leagues above her. Her cold gaze was enough to freeze anybody in their path, even without bloodlust.

"You're not killing any of them," I say.

"Yes, Master!" Yin says, switching back to her normal cheerful self.

Suddenly all noise stops in the arena as I turn my head to see what happened. There were 5 recruits left, 2 elves, 1 amazonian, and 2 fire harpies.

I needed to check something before I congratulate them so I asked the maid behind me, awaiting an order.

"Did the masks arrive,"

"Yes, Master. Would you like me to get them?" The maid says.

"Yes,"

The maid walks away which I then jump down to the arena. Thankfully I wasn't wearing a dress today, otherwise, they would have been able to see my underwear.

BAM

My landing caused a crack in the form of a spider web to appear below me.

Walking up to the recruits who were covered in blood I said,

"Yo,"