Big Mom.
A titan of a woman.
When she stepped out, she raised a massive hamr glowing with streaks of purple black light.
Cheers and roars erupted from the audience packed around the arena, so screaming at the top of their lungs.
"You can hug to death if you want, Big Mom!"
"Mom! Mom! Mom!"
The voices were chaotic and overwhelming, drowning out any applause Damian might've gotten.
His gaze remained calm as he studied the heavy hamr in Big Mom's hands.
Yeah. He'd really prefer not to get hit by that.
Not even with the augntations Kitsuul had given him did he want to test just how thick his skin was now.
The little beast on his shoulder? She was staring up at the towering woman in awe, then glanced at the other won in the crowd and compared, and eventually, she shook her head like as if saying- nope!
In the middle of the rising noise, as Big Mom stomped into the arena, the voice of the Hostile Arena Operator crackled to life.
"Now, now—we know this matchup might not seem fair. I an, who expects the glorious Big Mom to do anything other than squash Little Therion like a bug, right? So, to make things a bit more exciting—and let you addicted freaks bet even harder—the stakes have been raised to TEN! Whoever wins gets their current Credit Wins multiplied by ten, not three! And the odds on bets have been adjusted accordingly!"
...!
The announcer's voice was sharp and filled with gleeful malice. A new roar surged through the arena, louder than before.
Damian didn't need to turn around to know Anastasia's eyes were shining like crazy. She'd probably bet every last coin she had on him with those new odds.
She had to.
If he didn't win, he was dead—and everything they'd co here for would be dust.
"Ladies and gentlenuts, ARE. YOU. ENTERTAINED?!"
HAO's voice bood as drones zipped wildly above the arena. Big Mom stepped fully into view.
Damian tuned out the noise, focusing only on her.
Her Multi-Optic Scanner Unit overlapped her pupils—her eyes glowed red. With that implant, she had thermal vision, night vision, facial recognition...probably more.
Her forearms were thick, massive, and housed piston boosters for brutal lee strikes.
This towering woman was coming right for him.
Her crimson eyes sparked with electricity as she rumbled through the noise:
"Little boy, co to Mommy..."
Her eyes shimred with nace as her thick, piston-reinforced arms looked ready to crush anything in her path.
And that hamr? Enough to fold a car!
Damian looked at the whole package and very calmly decided that being within ters of her was a terrible idea.
He steadied his heart.
Reminded himself why he was here.
Why he couldn't lose.
He still had to make sure a certain person died—the one who took his wife away and left him drowning in this endless dread and fury.
That thought hardened his gaze.
He gripped the spear in his right hand and spoke to Kitsuul in his mind.
"Can you give a big strength boost? Just like before?"
The little beast blinked, then nodded.
Energy bubbled in his body as her six tails pulsed with light.
He really didn't want to be anywhere near the incoming 1,200 pounds of reinforced steel as he planned to-...!
VOOM!
As if soone flipped an engine switch, Big Mom surged forward with unreal speed—speed that absolutely did not match her size or cybernetic fra.
Sohow, she was already in front of him before he could react. Her massive hamr thundered down, pistons in her arms churning and pulsing. The hamr left a trail of purple light as it crashed down to smash him to pieces!
...!
Brutal. rciless.
Big Mom wasn't here to play gas as that swing was ant to kill!
The hamr was as big as Damian. It lood like a steel cloud above him—then ca crashing down.
In that life-or-death mont, his blood ignited. The furry little beast on his shoulder had her tails flash with silver light as she let out a piercing little roar.
And suddenly...he felt light.
Feather-light.
He took a single step to the left and—
BOOM!
Big Mom's hamr slamd into steel—not flesh and bone.
Because of how light he felt, that one step had pulled him just inches outside the hamr's path. He watched the reinforced arena floor dent—then shatter.
BZZT!
Purple light. Gears grinding. Pistons firing.
His mind scread at him, working in overdrive.
Even while steam hissed from Big Mom's monstrous form, he had just enough clarity to act.
He swung his spear with every ounce of strength in his right hand, aiming for her nearest massive arm—the one gripping the hamr that had nearly flattened him.
A flash of red and purple.
CLANG!
Sothing heavy hit the floor.
A massive arm, pistons buzzing...was half-cut.
At its end was a hand still clutching the hamr.
Damian's strike had cleaved through steel, bone, and muscle.
The whole thing had to be a ter thick.
Silence fell across the amphitheater.
Even the annoying voice of the arena operator cut off, mid-word.
Big Mom stared at the stump of her severed arm.
Her crimson eyes flared.
Her jaw opened with a thunderous roar as her remaining hand lunged at him—intent on crushing him into at paste.
But Damian's mind was a storm of strategy and raw survival.
He couldn't die.
Not yet.
Not until the man who took his wife was dead at his feet, blood pouring from his body.
So his other hand moved.
Fueled by the strength of his Interstellar Beast, he raised his shield just in ti to et Big Mom's piston-powered punch—
While his spear whipped in a clean, horizontal arc aid right at the neck connecting her massive head to her equally massive body.
BOOM!
His shield t her blow.
The impact sent fractures spiraling across the tal.
SAA!
The spear t synthetic fiber and dense flesh...
And then sliced through.
Ti felt like it froze.
One second later...
Her massive head, locked in a look of fury, shock, and horror...slid off her neck and hit the floor!
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