Chapter 1 

A girl named Alice, born out of a poor family she was forced to work at a very young age of 7, the streets of Myriad kingdom is filled with crime and murder, despite the peaceful treaty of humans to other species, it only resulted of discrimination and racism among the people in the kingdom. She's a human, fortunately, since the kingdom is mostly human dominated, it's thanks to her race that she's able to live in this modern kingdom peacefully enough, other than death glares from other hostile species at every block near her apartment.

 

Now that she's 30, working as a professional household cleaner for the rich and noble, she earned enough money to finally be able to go through college and actually get a proper job. In her run down apartment with a cheap rent and a horrible water supply, she stares at her book bank while sipping down her beer, Da Royce, rolls off the tongue easily.

 

"Just a little more..." She smiled. The book bank shows how slowly and steadily her savings increased. After tonight's last job, she'll finally be able to study again!

 

Feeling a buzz in her pocket, she placed down her book bank on top of the counter in her kitchen to grab her circular phone, hooked it on her ear and answered it, not knowing who the caller was.

 

"This is Alice speaking," Alice said then took a sip from her beer after.

 

"Yeah I know, that's why I called this number dumbass, I expect you to be the one to answer" said the arrogant tone from the other line, Alice's bright face turns sour hearing the voice of her nemesis.

 

"What do you want Risq" 

 

"I want nothing from you, but if you don't get your ass here in the next 20 minutes you'll be begging Miss Ford for a new client" "What..." Alice eyebrow furrowed and glanced at the square clock on the wall.

 

"Crap, i-i'll be there! 20 minutes right? I can make it!" The pink haired girl panicked, rushing to grab her bag and jumping over her sofa to grab her wallet and apartment keys.

 

"Dumbass" Risq said, Alice would've said something back but she was too occupied and ended the call, after locking her apartment, Alice practically slid down on the railings of the stairs just to get down faster. When she arrived at the small lobby of the apartment, the pink-haired girl pushed through the waiting people at the receptionist and headed to the exit, where coincidentally the sky bus was at the terminal and was about to take off.

 

"Hey! Hey! Let me in!" Yelled Alice waving her hand to the barker of the bus.

 

"Hurry!" The barker yelled back, Alice gasping as she ran across the streets in front of her apartment building, she climbed the stairs and finally sat down once she's inside the sky bus.

 

The sky bus immediately hovered up to the sky and boosted forward, despite the speed, the inside looked comfortable.

 

Alice's feet started to jump uncontrollably as her anxiety rose, fearing that she might be late to the most important client in her life, a client that can make her bank go "Oh lala" by how much they're willing to pay just to get the place clean up.

 

"Arriving, Sky Arena, Arriving, Sky Arena"

 

Once the sky bus parked at the stop, Alice immediately stood up along with the other passengers, the flow was slow when the elders joined as well. "Aw come on! someone carry that old lady!" 

 

"Oh hush I'm almost there" said the old lady in front of the line.

 

She groaned loudly and waited with a frown, she glanced at her phone, biting down her lower lip seeing that she only had 6 minutes left. "I'm sorry but move!" She forcibly pushed through the passenger, right now she didn't care, why would she if her money depends on it?

 

Finally, she escaped the bus of misery with a little backlash from the other passengers and immediately started running towards the Sky Arena building, this place floating on top of the clouds with the help of technology and magic that came from the elves and demon race. The place is full of people from all kinds of races and species, from beast kin to Dwarves, even the demon and dragonkin.

 

"Excuse me! Coming through!" Alice warned the people around her, she was so focused on running that accidentally she bumped into someone, it was fated to happen anyway by how hastily she was.

 

Falling to the brick floor, Alice let out a grunt, it felt like she bumped against a wall and not a person. "Watch where you're going!" Exclaimed the companion of the individual she bumped into, looking up, she saw two tall figures under dark cloaks, the hoods covering their face, and only their mouth were visible, the companion was a bearded one while the one whom Alice bumped against had a slim and smooth, like a woman's face.

 

But Alice wasn't so sure about it, after all, even Elf men look like women, and dressing up in a dark cloak to cover their identity is pretty normal in the kingdom of Myriad, having said that, they're not the only ones in dark cloaks.

 

"I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry!" The pink-haired girl said quickly standing up, dusting off her butt before running off. The bearded guy was about to make a remark and follow the woman, but his companion stopped him. "We have more important things to take care of," they said, holding him by his shoulder.

 

"I understand" the bearded man bowed his head, the two looked around and slowly blended with the crowd to enter the Arena.

Alice gasps as she finally reaches a small office located on the east side of the arena, there mostly are the catering crew for- of course the food, and the cleaning crew where Alice works is in charge of cleaning up the leftover trash at the Arena, she looked around and saw that everyone has already wore their uniform and gears.

"That's unfortunate, I was sure that I could take your job and money if you can't make it," Risq said, walking to Alice as she handed her a bag that contained all the necessities she needed such as her uniform, apron, and even rubber gloves.

 

"Shut up…" Alice said, gasping, with her hands on her knees. "There was traffic"

 

"In the sky?" Risq scoffed.

 

"A flock of birds got in the way" Alice sighed, pulling herself she looked at the bag she was holding, when she opened it her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes squinted.

 

"Wait, I think you gave me the wrong bag," Alice said to the red-haired girl, but Risq just gave her a confused look.

 

"What are you talking about, there's your name right there" Risq pointed at the bag, a paper tape with Alice's name written on it.

 

"Oh, yeah…huh" the pink-haired girl took out the things inside, instead of a uniform it was a full body hazard suit, usually this suit was for cleaning up a bloody mess. "Oh shit-"

 

"Listen up!" Finally, the leader of the cleaning crew, Log, yelled out and called for everyone's attention. He's a tall blonde middle aged man with a curly beard, wearing a hazardous suit as well, similar to the one Alice is holding right now. "Alright eyes on me ladies and gentlemen and non-binary and…whatever you are, Bob"

 

"I'm Bob," said Bob.

 

"Yeah, so-! I split the crew into two groups, group one would be divided into two small groups, one for the indoor arena and the second for the outdoor, you would mostly be active right after every break of the fight just so you could keep the cleanliness in the benches, his highness is a real clean freak-"

 

"I heard it from a maid from the castle that he washed his hands for an hour straight right after the grand ball last month," Risq whispered, her toothy grin revealing her cute braces.

 

"As for the second group, we'll have to clean up the corpses after every fight in the Arena finish, it's a direct order from his highness, of course, all of us will be paid handsomely" the whole crew cheered at the mention of the great salary.

 

"And Bob" Log looked at Bob, and Bob stared right back at him, it's like staring at the void, and the void stares right back at you. "You're in charge of the toilets…ALRIGHT! go to your groups, the fight is about to start, first group follow Risq, second group on me!"

 

"Well then, good luck not dying," Risq said giving her the finger, with a grunt, Alice rolled her eyes, they're not good friends, but they're not enemies either.

 

Alice hurried and wore the suit, the black fiber covering her entire body making her look like a life-size plushie, she could only see the outside with a small rectangular shape of a transparent plastic fiber. Walking along with her group, they entered the east gate, under the large benches of the Arena at the east side that contained a lot of cleaning tools, such as shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows for the corpse, and of course, a coffin.

 

Log looked around and took a deep breath, only to cough after taking some dust and sand. "Ohh- will you smell that, that's the smell of money!"

 

"I think the sand went through your brain," said one of Log's close friends, a woman with dark hair, wearing the same hazard suit as everyone else.

 

"Anyway, by now the first fight…" Log looked at his wristwatch. "Should be starting in five minutes, the fight usually takes up to 3 to 4 minutes tops so be alert, once the fight ends, the gates will open, and we rush in and clean the ring."

 

Alice felt her heart racing, it wasn't her first time to clean a bloody place, but she's still not used to seeing a not alive creature right in front of her, let alone touching it.

 

The sound of the trumpet suddenly played, signaling that a fight was about to begin, the crowd on top of them cheered loudly, but the war cry of the knights in the ring was louder. The group shook a little as the weapon made a heavy contact with the ground, the crew along with Alice walked to the small window where the ring is presented. 

 

Sandy floor, and brick of ancient walls, surrounded by dozens of crowd cheering and roaring their voice to the competitors. Inside are two knights dressed in their glamorous armor shining ever so brightly, holding each of their own sword and shield, one was dressed in red and black lining, their helmet mimicking the face of a dragon while the other seemingly a new made one with how thin it is compared to the black knight.

 

"Hah!" The white knight swinging his sword down as he let out a battle cry, the black knight only stepped to the side without any much effort, as if they had read their opponents movement and knew what to do. The white knight released another attack and swung it horizontally to the black knight's stomach but just like earlier, the big guy dodged it with ease.

 

"Oh man, this guy is good…" said the guy at the back.

 

Alice watched in awe, seeing how swift and calm the black knight movements were, like a dancer dancing with the blade of death.

 

The black knight leapt back before the white knight's sword hit them on their helmet, a cloud of dust formed beneath their feets.

 

"You coward!" Growled the white knight, catching his heavy breaths. "The only thing you keep doing is dodge my attack yet you never counter any of it! Are you making fun of my skills?!" 

 

The crowd cheered louder, other than a bloody fight, the crowd also loves drama.

 

"You've got nothing to say?! Well, this is making me more pissed!" Yelled the white knight.

 

The black knight wasn't fazed, completely still, almost as if it was a statue instead of a person.

 

Feeling mocked, the white knight rushed towards his opponent, sword thrusting forward, risky yet confident only to be cutted down in half with one swift move of the black knight's sword, the crowd cheered loudly, even having bloody splatter across the field, even when a man was cut in the middle. They all cheered for the winner.

 

The defeated individual bodies fell down on the sand, everything was exposed, with the knights clean cut everything was still in place, every organ and bones, and the blood poured like a fountain.

 

"That's our cue!" Yelled Log when the gates of their station opened and the crew started their job.

 

"Give it up for- The Black Dragon!" Screamed the announcer, Alice was dragging the other half to the body bag when her eyes traveled up to the Black Knight in the middle of the ring, they were unmoving. 

 

Yet for some reason, she felt as if they're looking back at her.

 

"Alice!" The pink haired girl snapped out of it when her crewmate shouted her name. "Ah sorry"

 

With her back to being focused on her work, the two of them immediately carried the body to the wheelbarrow, dumping it with the other half. Her crewmate did the deed of pushing the barrow back inside the cleaning station while she and the others grabbed more sacks of sand and dumped them on the bloody spots all over the large ring.

 

The fight goes on, with the Black Dragon knight kept slaughtering and winning each match, none matches their strength. Yet despite knowing that the black knight will win all the time, the crowd was still enjoying it and would bet on the losing team, thinking that luck might strike for them.

 

Alice couldn't believe what she was witnessing, a hunk of metal with a flesh inside manage to kill 12 people without mercy or hesitation, as if that knight isn't a human anymore, no remorse or regret. What doesn't sit right for the pink haired girl is that each time the fight ended, she could have sworn that the knight was looking at her.

 

"And for our last match! The Black Dragon will have to choose their own opponent!" The crowd cheered once again. There stood 10 strong looking knights with their high equipment and armor, standing in line.

 

"Go and choose, sire!" Exclaimed the announcer.

 

Alice rubbed her shoulder, a human corpse isn't light at all, she stretched them back and flexed that tension off of her muscles. She watches from the window and sees that the black knight is looking down on the crystal sand of the ring. Furrowing her eyebrow, she watched from the safety of being behind the walls.

 

The black knight lifts their head up and gazes at his potential opponent, with their heavy footsteps- they walk to one of the options, that knight in front of them tensed up and grips the handle of his sword, ready to be picked…only to be walked past.

 

There, the black dragon knight stood in front of their chosen opponent.

 

"Huh…" Alice looked up to the black knight looking through the window of the wall, the black knight covering the sun, hovering over the window.

 

BAM!

 

The black knight punched through the wall, but his fist wasn’t balled and clenched, his whole hand pushed through while pointing at Alice, whose head was hit and bleeding from the impact of the bricks hitting her forehead. 

 

“Wh-what a twist folks! Looks like our Black Dragon sees potential on this…cleaner- er…the young lady!” The announcer then placed his palm on top of the microphone and glared at the producer who was beside him. “What is this? This is not part of the script!”

 

“W-we aren’t sure what is happening, Labio isn’t answering through his communication, he's making this decision himself” the male producer said, hiding behind the sheet of paper on his hand, the script of this massacre they called Knights Glory. The sound of the crowd cheering louder, the twist was unexpected and they are all here for it.

 

The announcer looked at the king, who was on a high pillar, above is a roof decorated with leaves and such. He looked back and nodded his head, hands clasped together as he rested his back, seemingly to be fine for a citizen to fight a well trained knight who just brutally murdered his earlier opponents.

 

“Let’s improvise, call out our equipment crew and have her wear our very strongest armor, one that even Labio can’t break” the producer nodded his head and was quick to move his hand to his ear to call out the crew, with a sigh, the announcer removed his hand from the microphone. 

 

“Looks like we’ll have our battle of the century! A lady with no talent whatsoever against Myriad strongest and cold-blooded knight, Black Dragon!...we’ll be right back after 10 minutes!” He then pressed the button to turn off the microphone and turn his chair to face the production team. “Where are the equipment crew?!”

At the pit, Labio stared down at Alice, who also starred back but unlike Labio who’s stoic and cold, she’s trembling and shocked, she didn’t even feel the pain of her wound on the forehead, numb from the emotion she’s experiencing right now. Labio turned around and walked back to the pit, his cape sway, his footsteps heavy. A monster.

 

“Holy shit!” Log quickly held Alice's arm and pulled her back, turning her ‘round to face him. “Are you okay- Oh shit you are not” his eyes glued to the open wound on her forehead, then a crewmember was quick to get the first aid kit take out the bandage, and give it to him, but before Log could even wrap it around Alice, a troop of knights came from behind them and surrounded Alice, needing to push Log away, landing on Bob’s arm.

 

“I’m sorry m’lady, may the goddess of victory bless you” one of the knights said to Alice, on the other hand, the gal was too shocked at what was happening, but when she felt cold and hard metal wrapping around her limbs, she blinked multiple times before realizing that she’s wearing armor, the knight in front of her pulled out his sword, one that has symbols and carved on it that symbolizes it has been granted with its strength and power and is rarely given to anyone voluntarily unless that person thinks it’s necessary. 

 

He offered it and bowed his head. “Take it” was the only thing he said before placing it in Alice's hand, not giving the lad a chance to speak or to think or to even hesitate before she was pushed through the pit, through the gates where she went through earlier to pick up the corpse, but this time, looks like her corpse would be the one who’ll be picked up.

 

The blazing sun struck her red iris, rare for humans, but common for other species. She was frozen in place, the cheering muffled by her heartbeat, beating against her ears, Labio, the Black Dragon stared right back at her, she knew- that his eager, compared to his fights earlier, he wasn’t holding his sword at the beginning, but right now, his gripping it like his life is on the line.

 

“Witness these folks, the fight is about to begin! Place your bets on who you think will win! The lady or our undefeated, Black Dragon!” The announcer yelled, Alice looked around, no one cares, no one cares if she died- she’s just a commoner, a peasant, this is just an amusement for them- these nobles! 

 

UGH! She gritted her teeth behind those chapped lips, her jaw tightened as the announcer started the countdown. Her eyes darted to where she was standing earlier- when she was just an audience. Risq was there, looking back at her, her expression was so readable, that the woman was worried sick, which made Alice have mixed feelings about it.

 

“3…2…1! Fight!”

 

In a blink of an eye, Labio had dashed forward and slammed his sword to her shoulder, instead of the blade, he used his sword like a paddle, Alice flew to the side and slammed against the hard wall, the impact of hitting the back of her head made her vision blurry, despite that, her sword still in hand.

 

“Gahk-” Before she could even fall to the ground, Labio grabbed her by the neck and lifted her, then slammed her down- BOOM- The dust clouded the two contenders in the ring, Alice coughed out blood, her eyes shaking, she was seeing stars- but in a static noise type of stars.

 

“How is she still alive?” one of the nobles asked from the crowd.

 

“Labio is going easy on her,” said the other noble beside him, they were surrounded by a semi-quiet crowd. 

 

Strangled, Alice coughed and gasped, her hand clawing the arm of the person pinning her neck deep into the ground, she couldn’t see his face, but those red-dotted eyes spoke louder. Fight, fight back.

 

It’s almost as if it’s a cry. With little strength and a sword in hand- SWOOSH-! Alice manages to strike her sword a little deep into Labio's underarm, a spot that the armor can’t protect, blood seeps through, resulting in the crowd gasping.

 

“Holy- I mean! Look at that! The lady has inflicted an impossible wound on the Black Dragon! What a twist folks!” yelled the announcer, bewildered.

 

The king squinted his eyes down, he watched as Labio dropped his sword and let go of Alice's neck- who gasped and crawled away from the person whose image represents death itself, Labio wasn’t angered- nor he was anything negative of an reaction from his wound, instead he stared at it, Alice took this chance to grab his sword- which again, made the crowd gasp.

 

No one had ever dared and survived to manage to get a hold of Labio’s sword, other than the fact that it’s his, it’s also because of the overwhelming power it gives to its user to the point of overdose and death on the spot, few of noble stopped her, even her crewmates at the sideline tried to stop her, but it clashes against those who cheered for her.

 

As she reached for the handle of the sword, Labio looked down at her, as if- he wanted this to happen, then looked up to the King, who in return, the king looked back at him- his expression changed to a curios one gradually turning to a realization and immediately stood up from his throne. “Stop her!” he yelled loudly, pointing at Alice.

 

But it was too late, no matter how fast the knight was, she already had the sword in hand, the sword lit up; Alice screamed. “Don’t fuck with me!” she charged, enraged and full of fury due to her dissatisfaction with her current situation.

 

All I want is to go to college! She swung down the sword from above, the crowd gasped as the blood spilled, Labio's left arm dropped along with her sword which was stuck under his armpits earlier, I just want a stable job! She reel her shoulder to the side, along with the sword and the right momentum to cut upward to Labio’s chest, exposing his inside, more red thick liquid pouring out like a chocolate from a fountain.

 

“Wh-what…” the announcer breathed out, mouth agape, eyes wide as he watched the woman slaughter the champion.

 

“What is happening…” the crowd murmurs, their eyebrows furrowed, lips behind those hands as they gossip among themselves, all while Alice continues to butcher the Black Dragon.

 

The king from above watches as the scene unfolds right in front of him, just like the crowds, he is speechless and terrified.

 

The knight couldn't step in as well, scared to be caught in the fight, knowing full well that one strike could end their lives.

 

“Ughk-” every cut was deep, Labio looked down at the small lady in front of him, such a fierce spirit, it held no bounds. Without any strength left, he fell backward on the sanded ground, laying flat on his blood. Grunting, stream of sweats and blood splattered across her face, Alice stepped on top of his chest, the sword in hand and raised it to the air, with one final look at to each other.

 

Labio muttered. “Thank you…” then down strike the tip of the sword through his neck, cutting his head off, the large helmet rolling off his beheaded head, Alice wanted to puke at the sight.

 

And she did. “Urlghh-” she stepped back from Labio’s corpse, kneeling down, her throat felt so dry and itchy, her own saliva had dry out from all the gasping and trying to catch her breath during the fight, she wasn't sure– but all she could think that time was to fight and kill Labio.

 

The crowd was silent. Clap then a person clapped, followed by another, soon the whole audience in the arena showed their admiration to the lady in the pit. Hundreds of people and other species cheering, and clapping for the new champion.

 

“A-and we have our winner!” The announcer voice shakened, walking out of the gate where his tower was stationed, he gave Labio a quick glance before patting Alice in the book. The woman is still speechless.

 

“For the very first time in the millennial , a commoner had beaten a noble, tell us– what is your name, m’lady?” 

 

“...Alice” 

 

“Alice! Such a feminine name for someone who just killed a monster!” He laughed, grabbed her wrist, and raised her hand. “Everyone! Alice! The new champion and the new heir of the Black Dragon Knighthood!”

“...” Alice furrowed her eyebrows. “...wait..what?!”