For the first time, it felt like someone inside the arena wasn't waiting for snacks, but for those five minutes to end already. Rarely did anyone leave their seats — unless it was an emergency. Every pair of eyes was locked on one thing: A5's maintenance zone.
His entire leg was being replaced with a new upgraded set, and a nasty crack on his chest was being patched up with surgical precision. The damage wasn't light — and fixing it perfectly? Nearly impossible. But the crew? Fast. Sharp. Scarily coordinated. Like they'd been trained for war, not repairs.
Vita leaned in, eyes wide, whispering, "Damn... look at their hands move. They're so fast."
Meldenma, with that devilish smirk, replied lowly, "Imagine if those hands were on you instead... working from the inside."
Vita's jaw dropped, face heating up. "Shut up!" she hissed, glancing around. "People can hear you!"
Meldenma burst out laughing at Vita's reaction — but suddenly, a loud, furious voice echoed across the arena.
A5 roared, "Enough! Move aside — I can do the rest inside!"
(These people… all they want is to see me break. To entertain them. Their cheers, their laughs — it's all fake. But outside this damn arena, there isn't a soul who can stand against me. I won't fall. No matter what.)
Vita clutched her ears, wincing. "Is he always this loud? He's about to rupture my eardrums."
Meldenma chuckled darkly, "And your poor eardrums aren't the only thing he could rip apart..."
The five-minute maintenance break had officially ended.
Both Celestes were back in the fighting zone.
Model A5's body had recovered significantly—almost unnaturally fast. The cracked metal across his chest had been reforged and sealed with high-density alloys, and although some scratches remained, there were no visible weapons in his hands. Only rage blazed in his eyes.
Across from him, the other Celeste—Celer—rolled his shoulders with eerie calm, slowly turning to face A5 once more.
This was no longer a test. It was a war.
Both fighters had now seen each other's strategies. They had tasted each other's strength.
They knew when to defend and when to strike.
They knew where the shields were necessary—and where to aim for the kill.
The playing field was equal now. But only one would leave standing.
The female announcer's voice echoed across the silent arena:
"Second round—10 minutes. No rules. No boundaries. Use any defense or weapon at will."
Vita and Meldenma kept their eyes locked on the battlefield.
Celer stood completely still, his presence cold and unreadable—like silence before a storm.
But A5—he looked ready to strike the moment the signal dropped.
He wasn't just prepared. He was charged.
And then came the countdown.
A booming robotic male voice—amped with energy—pierced the tension:
"3... 2... 1... HAVE SOME MERCY!!"
At once, A5 activated his full-body shield, a faint shimmer glinting around him like a second skin.
His right hand twisted and transformed into a massive drilling machine, while the left morphed into a high-torque sucker grip—designed for holding down enemies like prey.
Without even a second's delay, he lunged.
A5 ran like a storm unleashed.
Metal feet pounding the floor, his glowing eyes locked on Celer—
—who still hadn't moved an inch.
As soon as A5 was about to strike, Celer rolled swiftly, morphing his form into a flat, disc-like shield. Most of his body tucked behind the shield, using it now as a full-on defense.
A5 tried to latch onto the shield with his mechanical suckers and aimed his driller right at its center. But just as he got close—
Celer unleashed radioactive waves from hidden vents across his body. The waves hit A5 hard, pushing him back violently.
Still, A5 didn't stop. He pressed forward again, but something was wrong—his invisible protective shield had already melted away. The radioactive waves were now hitting his metal body directly. Slowly, his armored shell began to melt into a molten state.
Even then, A5 didn't stop. He kept forcing his drill forward toward the same target... until his body collapsed to the ground.
Seeing this, Celer deactivated his waves and instantly extended dozens of long, sharp strings from his disk form, lifting A5's heavy body into the air.
---
The arena fell into stunned silence. Watching A5 in such a broken, vulnerable state sent a wave of fear across the crowd.
Vita and Meldenma had only one horrifying thought:
"Is Celer going to tear A5 apart piece by piece? Is he trying to make sure A5 doesn't even make it to the third round?"
There were still six minutes left. And then—
Celer's strings, now sharpened like surgical needles, shot straight into A5's eyes. They pierced clean through, exiting from the back of his skull. Wires dangled out... followed by a thick, dark liquid dripping down.
---
The crowd gasped in collective horror.
"How can someone be this brutal?"
Some couldn't even look anymore—disgusted, nauseous. Others looked like they were about to leave mid-match.
But Celer... wasn't done yet.
He launched hundreds of razor-sharp strings into A5's body like missiles, puncturing every limb, every panel—drilling through him again and again. The damage was so extreme that even the audience sitting at the far back could see holes through A5's body.
The entire arena now understood—Celer hadn't just come here to fight.
He came to instill fear.
Many spectators stood up, ready to leave—but they didn't. A part of them wanted to see just how far Celer would go.
---
With only 3 minutes remaining on the clock, Celer finally ended it.
He tore A5's body in half effortlessly—like it was paper.
A5 had stopped making any sound the moment his eyes were ripped out. Maybe his brain had already been destroyed.
It was a quick kill. But not painless.
After hurling A5's lifeless body to the ground, Celer calmly retracted all his strings back into himself.
Just when everyone thought the match was over, Celer did something that left the entire arena stunned.
She retracted all her strings—calmly, precisely. It looked like the end.
But then...
Celer transformed.
The disc-like shield she had hidden behind began to morph—compressing into a sphere, just like at the beginning of the match. Within seconds, the ball unfolded—slowly revealing Celer's real form for the very first time.
---
Gasps echoed through the arena.
Standing before them was not just a machine, not a typical fighter. Celer was a female cyborg—fast, fierce, and breathtakingly beautiful, as if someone had spent years perfecting her design.
Her entire body was built with elegant, sharp curves, ending in deadly, smooth edges. Her waist was narrow, and in the center of her stomach gleamed a radiant, green, diamond-shaped emerald.
Every inch of her form resembled a high-tech version of a human female—
Slim legs built for speed, long arms carved for agility, and fingers like sculpted daggers.
Her eyes glowed with a soft pink hue, and her face had sharp jawlines that gave her an almost royal precision.
Though she had no hair, no lips, and no skin like a human, the deep green coating across her metallic frame matched perfectly with the emerald core. The carvings and armor patterns on her body were hypnotic—
And the moment she spoke, the arena fell silent.
---
Celer (with a voice calm, cold, and cutting):
"So... you all relied on that heap of scrap for five years? Huh. He wasn't even worthy to compete with me... and still, I gave him chances."
Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked off, leaving the arena and the audience in absolute shock.
---
Meldenma sat frozen. She had never expected this. Her eyes shifted quickly—first toward the owner of Celer, the man known as one of the DUCES.
He stood there, hands calmly behind his back, watching everything without a flicker of emotion.
Then, her gaze moved to the other DUCES—A5's owner—who now seemed busy... quietly counting the scattered pieces of A5's destroyed body.
Just then, a tall figure walked up beside Celer's DUCES. The same man Meldenma had seen earlier. He whispered something, then left.
---
At that moment, something clicked inside Meldenma. She knew what she had to do. She knew who held the answers to her questions.
Without hesitation, she rose from her seat and began walking straight toward Celer's maintenance chamber.
Vita remained behind—shocked, frozen in her seat—but she didn't try to stop her.
Because she knew...
Meldenma had just won her first bet.