The Final Four Decided

Disguises, gliding, claws, whips, tentacles…

These incredibly familiar abilities left no doubt as to the identity of the Tentacle Child in the arena.

Kyle was immensely surprised.

Venom! It had actually appeared in Sakaar’s Duel Arena, symbiotically attached to an alien child.

He had thought they would be separated by a vast span of time, so he had chosen to establish himself on Planet Sakaar first and search slowly for Venom’s whereabouts later.

Yet Venom had apparently arrived on Sakaar far earlier than he had—and had even made its way into the Duel Arena!

Alongside his surprise, Kyle harbored even greater doubts.

"If it’s Venom, why don’t I feel the connection that comes with a creature summoned by a Creature Card? And as a symbiote under my command, Venom should have tried every possible means to find me. Why is it in the Duel Arena?"

Kyle considered it from every angle, yet could not come up with a reasonable answer.

Creatures summoned through Creature Cards retained a faint connection to their card owner. Even when separated by half the globe on Earth, he could still sense their presence.

Yet now, sitting barely a hundred meters away in the stands, Kyle felt no connection whatsoever with Venom in the arena. If not for the Tentacle Child’s excessive abilities and techniques bearing heavy traces of his usual fighting style, Kyle would not have detected anything even if it had walked right past him.

"How long before me did Venom arrive on this planet, and what happened to it?" Kyle frowned uneasily. This had already gone beyond the scope of what he could control.

Within the Duel Arena, two black tentacles detached from the stone man’s eye sockets. Having seemingly absorbed enough nutrients, they fed them back to the alien child serving as their host.

The alien child’s injuries healed at a visible rate. Once fully restored, he opened his eyes, got to his feet as if nothing had happened, and stood expressionlessly at the edge of the battle.

"This feeling… a puppet?" Kyle quietly clenched his fists, slightly startled.

It was not merely mental guidance. Venom had tyrannically treated its weak host as a shell-like puppet, completely seizing control of the body and moving it as it pleased.

During the battle in Tokyo, Japan on Earth, Venom had vaguely displayed this innate ability before. Kyle simply had not cared at the time, trusting that with his own strength, he had no need to fear Venom turning against him.

"Until I understand what happened, I shouldn’t speculate too much. As long as I get another chance to make contact with Venom, all the answers will come." Letting out a soft breath, Kyle’s brow relaxed. He leaned back in his seat and watched the remaining challengers fight.

Hopefully, things were not as bad as he suspected. Otherwise, Venom… clearly had not been disciplined enough.

After killing the stone man, the Tentacle Child stood at the edge of the battlefield in perfect condition. No one dared provoke him.

The duels in the other three smaller zones were also drawing to a close.

Scythe Man won cleanly. With supersonic speed and razor-sharp hand blades, he toyed with a Six-Eyed Monster as though it were in the palm of his hand. Rather than swiftly beheading his opponent, he seemed like a beast enjoying the thrill of hunting and battle, slowly driving his enemy toward hell.

Known for dynamic vision and flawless 360-degree defense, the Six-Eyed Monster failed to touch Scythe Man even once. Scythe Man circled it at high speed, leaving thin wounds all over its body. Blood sprayed through the air until it finally died in despair, reduced to a corpse.

"So strong! I’ve decided—during the Champion’s Match, I’m supporting Brother Blade! I hope he makes it to the end and shakes the reigning undefeated champion!" Bai Bo exclaimed admiringly.

Kyle nodded. This alien creature, Scythe Man, was practically a combat species born for battle and slaughter.

Even Kyle, as he was now, would have no way to deal with him if they met. He would only be able to flee. With supersonic movement, Scythe Man could reach your back in less than an instant and swing his hand blade to take your head!

No amount of combat skill could withstand a supersonic slash.

Elsewhere, the Giant Two-Headed Snake was even more savage and brutal. It treated a semi-mechanical creature as a meal, wrapping its bucket-thick body around it before swallowing it alive into its belly.

Even after swallowing it whole, the mechanical creature could be seen violently writhing within the Two-Headed Snake’s belly. Only after half a minute did it finally settle, as if it had been digested.

Finally, a brawny minotaur with twin horns and a werewolf fought a bloody battle. Relying on his extensive combat experience, the minotaur won a narrow and miserable victory.

By then, only four challengers remained alive in the corpse-strewn Duel Arena: the child symbiotically bonded with Venom, Scythe Man, the Giant Two-Headed Snake, and the minotaur.

The final four had been decided, marking the end of the Warm-up Match selection round.

As more than a dozen miniature flying machines entered the arena, the Grandmaster’s holographic projection appeared above the field once again.

Rubbing his palms together, the Grandmaster said with a smile, "Gentlemen, ladies, our beloved final four contestants have emerged. I wonder if you’ve enjoyed yourselves enough. If you have, give the winners your applause and congratulate them on surviving another three days."

At once, applause and cheers surged through the stands like a tide.

"And if you haven’t had enough, that’s fine too. In three more days, our Champion’s Match will begin! Then these pitiful challengers will face an invincible creature—the champion king who has dominated the Duel Arena for half a year! The Devil King!"

The moment the Grandmaster finished speaking, most of the alien spectators flushed with excitement and shouted frenziedly, "Champion Devil King! Champion Devil King!!"

This spectacle nearly rivals my fame in New York on Earth.

Kyle silently mocked, then asked thoughtfully, "Who is the Champion Devil King?"

Bai Bo drew a deep breath and said solemnly, "He is a man codenamed ‘Devil King.’ He came to the Duel Arena half a year ago. No matter what opponent he faced, he mercilessly crushed challengers with terrifying strength. He is a symbol of power and bloodlust, an invincible existence who has defeated creatures of every race across the cosmos!"

"An invincible existence…" Kyle frowned. That description was far too unreliable.

Still, he knew that Hulk would also become a long-reigning champion here in the future, practically undefeated throughout the stars as well—though the scope of those stars was limited to creatures lost on Planet Sakaar.

Later, when Thor fell into this place, he had still barely managed to take down Hulk while only half-awakened…

"Either way, a creature with strength on Hulk and Thor’s level can truly be called a powerhouse of the universe." Kyle sighed, equally looking forward to the Championship Match three days later.

Was the champion, "Devil King," truly the original owner of that divine axe?

"And Venom…"

Thinking of this, Kyle felt a slight headache. How to make physical contact with Venom truly required careful planning.

"Then I hereby announce that the Duel Arena Warm-up Match has concluded. In three days, please return to watch the Champion’s Match!" The Grandmaster laughed heartily. The light dimmed, and the holographic projection quickly vanished.