Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

With only ten solo combatants remaining and not much leeway, their first order of business was to determine the order of participants. "The previous trend will likely continue, with demons getting progressively with each fight," said Melinoë. "Given that all remaining participants are those with heroic blessings, I would expect the difference between each bout to become increasingly exaggerated.

"There's also a matter of how well-suited each participant is to this sort of combat. Those who are less well-suited should go first, and those highly impacted by their opponent will get priority over the remaining luck in my luck bank."

"I'll naturally be going last in silver class," said Fenrig, thumping his chest. "No additional luck required."

It was Faile from the Atlan Clan, an outsider, who volunteered to go first. "As a rogue, I possess many means to defend myself, but unfortunately, most of my skills are meant for classical dungeon diving. I therefore request an adjustment to my luck as well, just to be safe."

"I should go closer to last, in my estimation," said Joseph, the demon hunter. "I specialize in slaying demons, after all, and arena combat is right up my alley."

"I'll also go near the end," said Owen, a man of few words. "There's bound to be more elites and bosses closer to the end. A single strike each is all I'll need."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm probably one of the least capable in this group when it comes to direct combat," said Bast. "I'll go after Faile if you don't mind. A luck adjustment would be greatly appreciated."

"Then I'll go after Bast," said Onesca. "No luck adjustment required for me, thank you very much."

"Does anyone else require a luck adjustment?" asked Melinoë. "We God Seeds are unable to use them efficiently, so it's best if one more individual with a silver quota volunteers." Sorin doubted this statement was true.

"I'll take it," answered Owen. "Targets with fewer heads and more elites would be preferred."

Melinoë nodded. "Then that covers our strategy for non-God Seeds. Faile, you're up."

The rogue from the Atlan Clan took out a pair of crossbows and flitted onto the stage. Luck evaporated from the golden luck bank as the wheel spun, eventually causing it to land on a silver flame. Faile's wish-fire orb was immediately upgraded to ruby tier.

With the switch to silver grade, there were even fewer normal demon symbols. Each demon symbol now represented ten demons, and each elite symbol represented four elites. There was a total of five boss icons and a corresponding number of silver flames.

Thanks to her upgraded luck, Faile's first encounter was a group of ten demonic bears, each one being equivalent to a fifth forging cultivator. By using her quick, flexible movement techniques and automatic crossbows with anti-demon bolts, she managed to eliminate them all within a single minute.

Her next three encounters proved more difficult as they were all elite combats. Elites were more difficult for the rogue to face off against, as her heroic ability was clearly not a stealth or movement technique. In the end, she was able to come out on top thanks to a few single-use items.

Failes last encounter caused everyone to take in a sharp breath, as the wheel didn't even spin. A sealed floor boss directly emerged to face her. Fortunately, she still had quite a bit of luck to rely on; the boss turned out to be a lumbering crustacean with powerful attacks but poor perception. By repeatedly targeting the same area over and over for an entire hour, Faile was eventually able to break off a piece of the creature's chitin and then insert an explosive alchemical concoction into the gap to shatter its carapace.

The remainder of the battle held no suspense, and Faile was eventually able to secure a silver wish-fire orb. Though the option to continue challenging remained, she decisively left the arena.

"Let's hope I don't embarrass myself too badly," said Bast. He moved onto the arena at a sluggish pace compared to the rogue and immediately began laying down spell formations as the challenge disc pulsed.

Thanks to Melinoë's luck enhancement, Bast encountered normal demons for the first five rounds. Eliminating them using formations was a straightforward task and provided him ample time to layer additional spells over the entire arena.

It was, therefore, an easy task for him to face the elites that came next. All enemies that appeared were instantly reduced to smoldering ash.

"Ironically, he's probably the one I'd least want to face if he had enough time to prepare," Sorin commented.

"He's in a league of his own in his area of expertise," agreed Michael. "That being said, I think I'd rather face him than you. You're not like Charles with his insanely aggressive poisons. Given enough preparation time and information on your opponent, I imagine you'd be able to counter just about any opponent."

Onesca was up next, and Sorin learned a lot by watching her fight. Like Sorin, Onesca caused damage over time using curses. These complicated spells used spiritual, karmic, and luck-based spell elements that provoked steady deterioration in her victims.

Ironically, it was normal opponents she found most challenging, as her spells required time to deal damage. Fortunately, she'd figured out a workaround in the form of decoy puppets. A few well-placed iron maiden enchantments ensured that she destroyed as many enemy demons as they destroyed puppets.

Conversely, the floor boss was her least challenging encounter. As a curse mage, what Onesca needed was time, and she was very conscientious of the fact. Using high-level movement skills, she was able to avoid the floor boss long enough to lay down a critical number of curses before ending things with her heroic ability, Time Adjustment, which caused all her curses to suddenly flare up and deal all their damage over ten seconds.

The fourth fighter that went up was the combatant Sorin most looked forward to watching: Owen Macleoud. It was rare to see Clan Macleoud's Immortal Execution Art displayed because their clan strictly prohibited exhibition matches.

After first encountering a silver flame, Owen was pitted against a group of normal demons that he dispatched with a single strike through each of their necks. His sword strikes looked lazy and effortless, as though he could do this all day.

An elite combat came next, and as before, Owen dispatched each opponent with a single sword strike. At first, Sorin had no idea how he was doing it even with an S-Tier sword, but after comparing Owen's state before and after each match, he concluded that his attacks consumed life force and spiritual energy in addition to mana. This consumption scaled directly with the strength of his opponent.

But it's not as simple as simply expending three resources simultaneously, thought Sorin as he witnessed Owen decapitate several elites, each with a single strike. He's also precisely targeting his opponent's vulnerability, thereby expending the least amount of energy. There's also the fact that he ends things in one blow, completely negating the effects of regeneration.

Unfortunately, Owen's luck seemed less effective than Faile and Basts's, as he ran into a boss monster after his first elite combat. This normally wouldn't pose a problem to the swordsman, but in this case, the boss was the worst matchup possible: a juvenile hydra.

Having no other combat abilities past simple movement techniques and his Immortal Execution Art, Owen could only resort to the crudest method of combat, chopping heads off repeatedly and allowing the creature to regenerate. Eventually, this exhausted the creature's vitality stores, but the process left Owen completely drained, forcing him to withdraw with only a bronze wish-fire sphere.

Joseph Artois stepped up on the arena next. Like Sorin, he made extensive use of poisons in battle and used a combination of crossbows and blades. He adjusted his combat style depending on the type of demon he faced, allowing him to eventually overcome a floor boss with energy to spare.

Following what proved to be a vicious and one-sided boss battle, Joseph surprised everyone by accepting two more challenges. This significantly upgraded his silver sphere and somewhat made up for Owen's failure.

"It's about bloody time," said Fenrig, summoning a giant axe from his hero medallion. "Are you God Seeds ready to see how real heroes do battle?"

Fenrig proceeded to demolish several waves of normal demons using only his bare hands. Several waves of elites fared no better, and eventually, Fenrig came face to face with a power-based floor boss.

Unlike Joseph, who used cunning means to take down his opponent, Fenrig took the floor boss head-on. If Sorin weren't in possession of Patient Viper's Analysis, he would have strongly suspected that the barbarian was a demon in human skin. Demon blood couldn't be ruled out.

"So, it comes to the four of us," said Melinoë once Fenrig concluded two consecutive boss battles. "And by the looks of it, we have a little more leeway than we thought. Any volunteers to go first?"

"I'm fine with anything, as long as I don't go before Melinoë or directly after her," said Sorin.

"Sorin—" started Michael.

"I won't budge on this," said Sorin. "Let's just be upfront about this—she's directly attacked me several times, and I don't expect her to stop. The only safe option is if she goes first or second. I won't accept anything else."

"You're so suspicious, dear Sorin," said Melinoë. "Aren't you worried I'll use my time in the arena to lay traps for you?"

Sorin expected this, but he didn't voice out. "Whatever tampering you might do, it's better than having my luck manipulated," said Sorin. "You say you're out of luck, and you say your ability doesn't work well on God Seeds, but I refuse to believe it."

"While you ladies argue, I think I'll just go ahead and get this over with," said Charles. "Show you how it's done."

The plague mage moved to step into the arena when suddenly, the atmosphere in the second-level catacombs changed. The arena cracked, as did the Statue of Hope, and a storm of energies erupted as both the stage and the statue engaged in yet another fierce battle.

It was difficult to tell which entity was winning or losing. One minute, the icons on the black plate shifted so that only boss icons remained. The next, these boss icons all became silver flames.

This pattern repeated itself several times until finally, the white statue shattered along with most of the black disc. Motes of white flame shot into the shards of the black disc, and the combined forces transformed into four demonic statues.

"What's going on?" said Charles. "This isn't at all like the original challenge."

"By the looks of it, there's one for each of us," observed Sorin. "Moreover, I see no chains on them. Are these fully unsealed three-star demons?"

Michael shook his head. "If they were, this challenge would have no purpose. The aura on these things doesn't even come close to legitimate three-star demons. You could almost compare them to cultivators who broke through to the flesh-sanctification realm through underhanded means."

"I concur with your assessment," said Melinoë. "These creatures are probably the strongest possible challenge this stage has to offer. The price paid by the black disc was completely giving up the seal; regardless of success or failure, we've succeeded in opening the door. Though exiting seems impossible without defeating an opponent, it seems that Lord Hope has allowed us to choose which floor boss we face."

"Should we draw lots to see who goes first? " Michael suggested.

"You three may do so, but I believe it's best if I go first," said Melinoë. "Sorin is clearly suspicious of any tampering I might be capable of. It, therefore, makes the most sense for me to go now to alleviate his worries."

Sorin's eyes narrowed. "How very reasonable of you. Though I suspect you have ulterior motives, I see no reason to object.

Melinoë sighed. "You're still so suspicious. You should work on that, Sorin—it's not an endearing character trait." Having said this, she walked over to a statue that appeared to be made of translucent glass. "Phantom Devourer, you shall serve as my opponent."