The first day of the tournament went splendidly for Darkseid and his team. After the free-for-all brawl, Darkseid and Furies had managed to pass on to the next round, which was a round of 1 on 1 fights. Their opponents for 1 on 1 were much weaker than they were; for the most part, nothing interesting had happened there, and they had won their fights easily.
Darkseid had defeated some Thanagarian in the first round. The guy was nothing special; his winged combat was irritating, but highly ineffective. The supposedly heavy nth metal mace that the man wielded was impressive, but not the man himself. Sloppy, he would call him sloppy.
Barda had defeated an Okaaran warrior. Hailed as one of the strongest warrior races of the Vega system, Okaarans were supposed to be masters of close combat. But apparently, what was considered a master on Okaara was on par with a regular warrior on Apokolips. Or the guy was just bad. Darkseid didn't really care which; the Vega system would fall before his armies, martial masters or not.
Aurelie faced some local Warzoon, only this one was weird; he looked like a cyborg. There was probably a reason for that, some local clan that specialised in cybernetics. It was worth looking into; he planned to capture this planet after all.
Tina's opponent was the only truly interesting one. He was called Kryl-Ux. A slave gladiator who was participating in the tournament to free himself. He was a decent warrior who used two blades. Unfortunately for him, Tina's armor was too much for his cheap sabers, he lost easily.
Looking at the slave gladiators, Darkseid had an idea. What of him was to use them as troops in his conquest of the planet? Of course, he didn't need them as he could defeat local warriors all by himself, but strategically holding onto points of interest would be impossible without the necessary manpower.
It would be a hard task to coordinate a slave revolt, so he ultimately decided against it. He had no time to waste on such matters himself. It was faster and easier to smash through Mongul and his Elites himself if needed to. The hard part was getting on Warworld, and the invitations to the tournament provided it. Now that he was on the planet, it was only a matter of several fights to take hold of it.
But before that, Darkseid had intended to use the tournament to scout the local populace and have some fun fighting with strong opponents. If this tournament even had those strong enough to challenge him. For all of his new powers and power-ups, Darkseid was still a warrior in his heart, and he enjoyed fighting.
It was already the second day of the tournament. For now, he was in the lounge for the guest warriors. Although the arena was already packed with viewers, it was time for an opening fight for the second day.
The tournament's management decided to use his Furies as a means to entertain the audience before the rest of the fights began. Apparently, two of the fighters from Warworld were sisters and had a status as local gladiator celebrities.
Two sisters, Otho-Ra and Thao-La, from the slave population, were said to be a formidable two-person team, capable of defeating most of the local warriors. It was rumoured that the two of them were even invited to be part of the Elite warriors of Mongul, but had refused to do so for some reason. True or not, Darkseid was interested to see what the siblings were capable of.
The organisers of the tournament had asked if two of his Furies would be interested in participating in a 2v2 fight against the sisters. Apparently, his Furies were popular with yesterday's audience. Of course, pretty badass ladies were hot; Darkseid understood why people liked them.
Thus, the opening of the second day of the tournament was a fight between Barda and Aurelie and Thao-La and Otho-La. Darkseid was anticipating this fight more than his own. After all, he had spent the better part of the past months training his Furies. He wanted to see how far they had come. And again, the two local sisters were curious about him; through them, he could judge how strong Warzoons were.
Meta knowledge was useless against most of the people that he had met on this planet. From what he knew, the only people of interest so far were Mongul and his sister Mongal. Everyone else had been either unimportant or minor enough not to warrant mentioning in the texts that he got access to.
"Dear people of Warworld and our galactic-web viewers! Good morning! Together with the Crucible's staff, we have prepared a treat for you to start the glorious day of the biggest tournament in the universe!" Mongal's voice roared over the audience's cries of joy and excitement.
"Two of our favorite gladiators, Thao-La…" One of the young girls in the arena bowed to the crowd, while the other stood waiting for her name, which came shortly after. "And Otho-Ra would be battling the mighty Furies, the elite warriors from the distant Apokolips! Grab your snacks, take your seats, and prepare to tear your throats cheering for your favourite fighter! Let the fights begin!"
Barda, clad in her full golden armor with her mace in her hands, stood shoulder to shoulder with Aurelie in her silver half armor.
Their strength came from endless training. And while they were tools sharpened to be terrifyingly efficient, they still lacked practical experience. That was why Darkseid had made sure his Furies took part in this tournament.
He also made sure to upgrade their armor. Now fit perfectly to their bodies, their armors were a masterpiece of Apokolips's smiths. It was made of a layered plate and a chain forged from an alloy of the strongest metals that he had access to.
Barda's olive skin glistened under the artificial glow of the star forges. Warworld had no natural sunlight, and star forges were meant to provide a close match for it. She was in a full suit of armor, meant to protect her from damage that she was meant to take in the absence of Tina, the one who would usually endure the attacks of the enemy. Black and gold motifs coiled across the breastplate like serpents, protection runes that were put by him and Suli, meant to improve the armor's durability. Her helm rose in a jagged crest that made her already formidable silhouette monstrous.
Her war mace also received an engraving of runes from him, improving its performance in battle. In Barda's hands, the weapon was more than brute force; it was meant to be precise destruction, smashing enemies on impact. Every swing threatened to pulverize bones, break armor, and leave no one standing. She fought like an avalanche with no room for escape.
Aurelie's strength was in her speed and viscousness. Slightly smaller in height than Barda, she still towered above most people. And despite being narrower in frame, she moved like a serpent on a hunt, fluid, swift, and utterly lethal. She was a swift striker and used daggers to quickly engage with an opponent, deal a lethal strike, and disengage.
Aurelie's dark brown hair, tied in a ponytail, was fluttering in the wind, which was also artificially created with machines changing atmospheric pressure. Her ashen grey skin was much lighter than Barda's. Her green eyes were sharp; as the captain of the Furies, she was the one who had the burden of battle tactics on her. And that meant evaluating opponents visually, her almost predatory eyes that lingered on the two opponents, not with curiosity but with calculation.
Her armor was light but just as exquisitely made as Barda's. Fitted plates and leather laced with fine mail, dyed in shades of obsidian and emerald. Every piece was designed not just for function but for elegance, ornamented with runic embroidery woven deep into the metallic surface with magic. Her runes were meant to make her movement faster, and her presence to be fleeting as if she was never there.
She carried her twin daggers with pride. After all, they were made by her master himself. They were curved and wicked, forged from the strongest alloy that Darkseid had access to (the same one as was Barda's armor). The daggers were seemingly drinking in light rather than reflecting it. During their creation, Darkseid had used his powers over shadow and flame, granted by his new weapon and command over Apokolips.
The match was designed to be a mismatch. His Furies, regal, terrifying, in perfect amor, taller. And the two sisters, who looked determined but nervous, were in rugged, worn-down armor. Together, the two teams made for quite a contrast, perfect for storylines and entertainment. Local heroes versus foreigners, two trained warriors versus two survivors, two of the Apokolips empire's best against two Warworld slaves. The story practically wrote itself.
Taller, better-armed, better-trained, his Furies entered the Crucible as favorites. Where the sisters were bound by blood and hardship. To the crowd, the match was more than combat. It was a question: could a meager slave defeat the unrepentant power of the regime?
Thao-La and Otho-Ra stood at the other end of the arena. Thao-La, the elder of the two, stood taller and broader than most men; she was 2 meters tall, almost matching Barda and Aurelie in height. Her body, like any other Warworld slave's body, was a tapestry of scars, her years of suffering and unrelenting endurance mirrored by deep scars piercing her bronze skin. Her face was sober, square-jawed, with grey eyes that softened only when they looked toward her sister. Her hair, black and coarse, was bound tightly at the nape of her neck and tucked under her armor.
Her armor was simple but effective, plates of steel, reinforced with bands of blue crystal native to Warworld wrapped across her chest and shoulders. The pauldrons were thick, designed to deflect overhead blows. Her armor carried dents, as if she wore the damage like badges of survival. She bore a two-handed war axe as her weapon of choice.
Otho-Ra, the youngest sister, stood beside her. Where the elder sister was the iron, the younger was the flame. She was lean, her figure built for speed, with long limbs and a wiry bounce to her step. Her skin surprisingly did not share the bronze tone of her sister; she was much paler in comparison. Additionally, Otho-Ra's skin was smoother, less marred by scars, though her muscles carried the same unnatural strength. Her eyes shone like a brazier in the darkness, her gaze could light a fire with the warmth and fire behind them.
Her primary weapon was a medium-sized light spear, the tip of which was made from a blue crystal, the same that was etched into Thao-La's armor. At her side, she carried a short sword, elegant and narrow, reserved for when the enemy came too close for her spear's reach.
Otho-Ra's armor was different from her sister's, less heavy, allowing for faster movement. The scales of her chainmail-like armor caught the light of the star-forges above the arena. She wore light greaves and vambraces, enough to turn aside blades but never to weigh her down.
The only thing that didn't make sense to Darkseid was that Otho-La's head was fully covered with a helmet. The two sisters had a similar setup to the Furies. One was meant to take damage; the other was meant to swiftly deal damage and retreat into safety. So why was the one tanking damage without a helmet, while the striker had one?