My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 98: An Impossible Challenger

"What the fuck!" Kace blurted out with surprise as the announcement still rang in his mind.

He stepped out of the dark passage into an area that resembled a roman colosseum. As Kace looked around in bewilderment, he noticed that the arena was actually outside. It was surrounded on all sides by high castle walls though. Making it obvious that it had been built in an open area of the castle grounds.

The spectator seats were filled with vampires as they stared down at him with disgust. He got the distinct impression from them that they were here to see an execution rather than a show. On a high platform beside a spectator box which took up an entire area to itself, there was a young-looking vampire that appeared to be full of vigour.

"You may begin to place your bets now!" The vampire announced enthusiastically, using magic to amplify his voice.

From within the box, Kace's eyes met the hopeless gazes of Sophia and Grugda. From the look on their faces, he could tell that whatever was about to happen was not going to be good for him. He could only wait while the vampires called over what he assumed to be bookkeepers. 'Somehow I don't think that they are betting on me to win.' Kace thought with a gloomy look.

"I suggest you try to draw it out," Celia whispered quietly beside him. "The goal is not to win. Instead, you have to impress the queen."

Kace nodded at her words feeling like she was honestly trying to help him. His eyes darted back to the spectator box, searching for the queen's face. After a few moments of searching through the others within it, he realised that the queen herself was missing.

"Wait! How am I meant to impress her if she isn't even here!" Kace demanded an answer to this question as he turned towards Celia.

However, much to his annoyance, he discovered that she had already disappeared without him realising. 'God damn it! She could have at least gave me some hints on how best to survive this!' Kace was mildly annoyed by her carefree attitude. When he cooled off a bit, he began to think about the scenario.

'Vampires are known to have a great sense of hearing. So, thinking along those lines, she most likely could not say too much.' Kace felt that this was most likely the answer. 'I should definitely thank her if I make it out of this. She probably took a big risk just telling me that small piece of information that she did.'

As he was lost in his thoughts, he realised that the colosseum had grown quiet. Glancing around at the faces in the crowd, they all seemed to be looking at the opposite entrance to the arena with looks full of expectation. He fixed his own line of sight to the entrance area. Curiosity filled his mind as to what sort of challenger they would send against him.

From within the passage, a clicking noise could be heard, like heels against the stone. A graceful figure could be seen slowly emerging from the darkness that enshrouded her. The first thing that caught his attention was her grey eyes and long silver hair. For a moment, his mind drew a blank as his gaze shifted to the box. 'Sophia?' he thought.

However, she was still safely seated in her spectator spot. 'Oh, Fuck me!' he thought as he suppressed a drastic reaction from showing upon his face. He turned to study the figure in greater detail. Her lips were even fuller than Sophia's as well as her bust. In fact, it was safe to say that her entire figure was even more alluring than Sophia's.

She looked as though she could be younger than Sophia, and if Kace had not known better, he would have assumed this was her younger sister. 'I didn't expect the Queen to test me personally.' Kace thought as dismay entered his heart.

Now he understood why he only had to do his best to survive this match for as long as possible. There was no telling to what depths Sonja's strength had reached. She had lived for hundreds of years and gave out a sharp aura as if every day of that time had been spent fighting for her life.

He looked over her equipment to see if he could spot any weakness in it. She was wearing tight-fitting silver full plate armour. It accentuated her curves perfectly while allowing ease of movement. 'Any man could be easily distracted by her in battle. I have to be careful.' he thought as he watched the way she moved. Her boots had a four-inch heel on them to which Kace could find no reasonable excuse. An ornate silver and blue stone crown held her hair back from flowing over her face.

On her waist, she carried a spiked mace that had a long handle. 'I thought she'd be the type to use a sword, that thing looks like it will hurt. A lot.' His mind raced to figure out what kind of weapon he would need to counter her the best. His hand played with his own blade that Celia had returned to him during their walk here.

When she was a few feet from him, she suddenly stopped, and with an amused expression, she studied him. Her eyes moved over his body build and his equipment first. When she was satisfied that she had evaluated him properly, her eyes met his golden ones. 'Those eyes could easily draw a woman in, no wonder my foolish daughter has taken a liking to him.'

"So, you claim to have passed my test and top of that. You are claiming to be THE Chimera that we have been waiting for?" Sonja said with a tone full of ice before Kace could say anything. "I hope you have not done anything untoward with my daughter before introducing yourself to me? Otherwise, this weapon of mine will be aiming to crush a completely different head of yours."