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“You’ve lost” The Pauper smiled amicably toward his distant opponent, turned, and walked toward the Arena’s exit

Constantine clambered to his feet He was by no means dispirited from the loss, however With an indication of his hand, the spear flew back toward him With the massive weapon in hand, he too left the Arena

Metatron’s face was the very picture of astonishment Evidently, he’d not expected to lose this round

“Constantine,” he called

The Demon Hunter simply shook his head “I can’tHe left without a word, addressing no one What they did not see as his figure disappeared from the Reaper Arena, was his hand which had been burned black His victory had not come as easily at it had appeared

The Wine Master’s voice thundered through the air “Second round”

The Pontiff’s Castle had chosen first in the last fight This tis

No words were required, however, for the decision had already been , then with graceful motions rose to her feet and o, brows furrowed She’s actually going in to represent the Avenue? He thought Direct as he was in interaction, he made no effort to hide his dour expression

Lucifer, Fallen Angel of the Dark Citadel, waved a hand as the Pharmacist left A dark shadow separated itself froiven for in the Arena moments later

Lan Jue turned his face to the Gourht?”

The Gourmet responded with a shake of his head “It isn’t serious He’s a very coar In truth both the weapons they eenic powers, but his mastery over it was her level of cultivation The further down the Disciples’ path an Adept treks, the greater advantage a congenital Adept obtains Simply the result of accuure encased in darkness Nothing was clear, and even its aura was difficult to perceive

“I am called the Pharmacist,” she softly proclaimed Be they Citadelians or denizens of the Avenue, all onlookers were surprised to see this beautiful woht At the very least her fine clothing would make it difficult to move!

“I… am… Judas”

The voice that rasped fro through sand

As the nah the Arena, every one of the Pontiff’s men sucked in a breath of surprise Even Metatron, as usually caler and surprised revealed as his aura took on a fierce undertone His eyes, bright and haunting, slowly ard Lucifer who stood a short distance away

Jehova was the name of the man who’d created the Pontiff’s Citadel The man had not been a Pontiff, and was instead reverently called the Father During his reign, he had twelve disciples The first a them had been named Judas, a man who betrayed his master for the promise of wealth It was this treachery that lead to the capture, and eventual murder of Jehova 4 The act completely transformed Judas, and left a permanent, painful scar on the soul of the Pontiffs Citadel

Not long after Judas’ betrayal, he hung himself from a tree So of course, the creature they spied now couldn’t be the real Judas But for him to simply use the name, was an unbearable provocation to the Pontiff’s lare He spoke quietly, nonplussed “He only possesses the iet e came here”

Metatron raised his hand, and little by little the others of his party restrained the the e was interrupted by the sound of footsteps froroups offered their salutes as the Hand of God and King of Deed

Both their faces bore dejected expressions Without addressing their followers, both walked to the end of the viewing platforht had already begun

It had started with the one called Judas, who’d dark for, like a black storm it rolled toward the Pharmacist until it enveloped her

The Avenue’s representative did not round, with that cutting glare in her eye She gently waved her hand, and the ht There was a rureat beast, before a crackling bolt of lightning crashed down fro? This was her Discipline?

The dark figure, largely concealed by the fog, paused as the Phare wave of power shuddered through the arena, bringing with it a silvery light that gli strike, leaving the shadow unhar it away, the silvery light rapidly expanded It grew until it was clear – a silver coin

Every one of the Pontiff’s , for our American audience

2 Note: the translation describes this as the ‘Spear of Judges true to a purportedly ‘real’ religious relic This author’s done a great deal of research, since The Lance of Longinus – which I believe this spear is based on – is a pretty obscure thing, even a Westerners I’ve elected to keep the Western name instead of the translation, due to these facts

3 I was unable to find any reference to a particular relic in Buddhistthe role of fans in Buddhisnize this as the story of Jesus, but TJSS specifically wrote Jehova, gave him the name Father, and set him as the creator of the future Christian faith It is likely fair to assuloue that Jesus is God, the Father, and so Jehova is actually Jesus and vice versa… but that’s a religious discussion for another ti to Jehova