The Last Legendary System

"Lady Alana."

She hummed. The sound was a deep, consistent tone.

"Come in."

The screen faded into drifting embers, returning to a plain cave wall. Benign stared at the wall. That lady was certainly not Lyra.

The resemblance lingered in his head, but the eyes were colder. Lyra’s eyes had been easier to read.

’Why am I comparing them?’

"Let’s go." Tuff motioned deeper into the cavern.

Benign followed him through a narrowed passage. The path widened into a circular chamber unlike the caves before it.

Smooth stone formed a perfect arena thirty metres across with strange blue slimes resting around its edges. Benign’s boots stopped an inch from them.

"They’re... alive?"

A second figure waited opposite him. He continued inside the room, sparing a second to look around and confirm there wasn’t an overhead sniper. Habit.

His eyes dropped to the figure, standing oddly still. Short sky-blue hair that defied gravity was her only feature visible.

Bandages wrapped around her forehead, eyes, neck, forearms, and calves until she resembled a warrior wrapped into becoming a mummy.

If he judged her by human development, she couldn’t have been much older than he was. Despite the blindfold, Benign felt watched.

"So you’re the human," she said.

Benign scratched his cheek. Humans should exist in this world, but they aren’t as common as the other races. He shrugged, feeling the answer should be obvious. He looked nothing like any other race.

He regretted that gesture the next second.

Two metallic star-shaped boomerangs appeared beside her. "Humans rarely ever receive a blessing."

A third star-shaped weapon came into existence. "You are crude." A fourth one appeared. "Proud." A fifth appeared. "Selfish."

Benign stared blankly. He rested the Blade over his shoulder. For the second time since he arrived in this world, he was slapped with an accusation stemming from bias.

However, this situation made more sense than the last. In web novels, other races tend to look down on humans too.

He straightened his back. His eyes shifted to the beautiful elf on the throne, watching him.

"Greetings, Lady Alana."

There was a slight raise in her brows. She nodded.

Benign returned his eyes to the blue-haired mummy. "A very enthusiastic start. You know nothing about me, and I know nothing about you."

He stretched a hand. "How about we start with our names? My name is Benign Cross. Yours?"

Behind him, Tuff stifled ‌a chuckle.

Benign wished he hadn’t. The blue-haired mummy might think he was being rude.

As he guessed, the blue-haired mummy turned away from him and fell to her knees before the elf Lady.

"Grant me your blessings for this duel, Lady Alana."

The soldier lowered his hand and returned his gaze to Lady Alana.

"Go easy, Rox," she whispered.

Benign frowned. ’Go easy? Insulting.’

"I will." Rox rose from her kneeling position. "Thank you, my Lady." The floating star-shaped boomerangs multiplied to nine. They slowly circled her body as she faced Benign.

The soldier’s frown deepened. That didn’t look easy.

The surrounding air grew stale. The chamber walls dissolved into nothing, giving way to a vast stadium beneath an open sky. Only then did Benign notice the circle etched beneath his boots.

Yelp. Yelp.

The blue slime jumped awake. They climbed the walls, stretching upward until they joined overhead with a sizzling sound. A translucent dome sealed the arena. Benign looked up.

Tuff’s voice echoed outside the barrier. "Destroy the prison and defend yourself."

His voice faded as the entire environment became somewhere else. The tree to Lady Alana’s throne was gone.

"That’s all?"

Rox shrugged. "If you survive."

Benign drew the blade. "I’m ready."

So was she. Nine boomerangs exploded outward, circling him from every direction without attacking. Watching and calculating like vultures.

But Benign ignored them and walked toward the nearest slime.

Poke. There was no reaction. Time Slash didn’t break down the defense. The first boomerang struck.

CLANG!

Benign blocked with the blade. The second boomerang came before the first had even bounced away.

CLANG!

Then the three boomerangs came together.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

They arrived where she already knew he’d dodge. One slipped boomerangs beneath his guard and clipped his thigh. It went back the moment he reacted.

"Argh." He looked at the tiny cut. She finally managed to get her weapons to reach him, and it was disappointing.

She wasn’t trying to kill him. Just measuring him. ’Insulting.’

He slashed the elastic wall around him, and the ’dome’ yelped. "It’d be a shame to use Hell Rain to destroy them."

He lowered his head. ’’Sick thought, but that works.’

"Hell Rain?" she asked. "That is from a lost realm. How did you get blessed with it?"

Benign barely had a clue how a blessing could be designated to a realm, but he knew the answer was ’no’. "I don’t know what you mean."

He looked back to the slimes.

They never whimpered, so his shot was nothing to them. There was no way to ascertain if they felt pain or absorbed kinetic energy.

She raised a brow. "Are you feeling hopeless already?"

Benign zoned out. His brain created different paths and plans within seconds. His chances of surviving with just physical skills were low since she’d attack as well.

He found two paths to explore. The first and best plan would be to break out as soon as possible. Strike the slimes as hard as possible.

He hacked at the dome. Nothing.

He tried again. Nothing happened, and behind him—

CLANG.

A boomerang nearly took his shoulder.

Defending himself from her attacks while hitting the slimes would be difficult. He wouldn’t know what she could send his way.

That brings the second and easiest plan.

Nine boomerangs revolved around Rox in three distinct rings. An outer, middle, and inner parts.

Benign’s eyes tracked each orbit, ignoring the blur until he found a pattern. The outer ring accelerated whenever she stepped with her right foot, while the inner slowed each time she turned.

’Got it.’

He burst forward and slid toward the narrowest gap between the circling blades. In one motion, he knocked two boomerangs aside.

A third boomerang curved behind him. He shifted left before it reached his back, the spinning blade slicing through empty air instead.

"You read trajectories?" Rox muttered.

"I hate getting shot," Benign replied, driving his blade into another slime.

Again and again he struck. Each slash sent faint ripples across the dome surrounding the arena, but the barrier refused to yield.

He clicked his tongue. Then he noticed. Rox vanished.

Every instinct he possessed screamed to the left. He twisted just in time to see her, but not in time to avoid the kick that crashed into his ribs.

The impact hurled him across the stone, his body skidding before finally grinding to a halt.

"You hesitated."

"You are faster." He rolled back to his feet, his breathing even as he studied her once more. "Aren’t you supposed to go easy on me?"

He sighed. She wasn’t stronger than Tuff. Simply precise. She struck where she intended and herded him into the position she wanted.

’That’s what experience would do for you.’

Planting his feet on the ground, he prepared for another strike. She didn’t move.

"If my speed is a problem..." She unwrapped the surrounding bandages with her left hand. "Let’s try something else."

Benign’s eyes widened. Her skin, if he could call it that, was made of slime. It detached from her body and fell to the ground, then stretched upward until it grew to human size.

"What?"

Features formed on its frame. Hair, eyes, and then a small face of a crying little girl.

Benign froze.

The girl reached toward him.

"H-Help..."

The soldier stepped back, narrowing his eyes at the girl. This wasn’t like the embers of memories.

It looked real.

"Kill it," Rox ordered.

Benign hesitated. That was a clear order.