God of Destruction: Living Among Mortals

Nova and Adam stepped through the door, a white light blinding them as they entered. After a brief second of blindness, they opened their eyes to see another spectator box, with a couple of dozen people in front of them. There were still many slots open for anyone to grab. It was honestly anyone's game at this point.

Then Nova and Adam walked forward, away from the door, as even more people stepped through. There were still thirty-two slots left, and seeing that there were still more than half a million participants in the maze trying to navigate their way through the horrendous death trap.

"There are still many left," Nova spoke up, cautiously assessing everyone. His gaze turned towards a very unique-looking individual. It was a man with his hoodie on, wearing cargo pants, with a color preference that felt muted. Gray and black that seemed almost intentional, like he was trying to act like a normal person, blending into the background while standing out.

The man wasn't scrambling for a slot like the others. He leaned against the far wall of the spectator box with calmness that didn't belong in the tournament.

"He is an interesting-looking guy," Nova kept staring at the man, Adam, looking to see who Nova was talking about. "I feel like he isn't going to be an easy foe to deal with. You have to be careful if you interact with him. Got it?"

Nova looked serious, as Adam just nodded, keeping silent. They went back to staring at him, which eventually caught the man's attention, but they didn't care. The man turned his back even more, not letting them see what his expression was, as if he had any readable expression to begin with.

After a couple more minutes, the spectator box was filled with 128 participants. Then another announcement rang, the mic echoing, which gave a slight burn to the ears. Which was fixed in a second, and I apologized to the contestants.

"Sorry for that, folks." The girl said nervously, but then began the real announcement. "For the next challenge, you will be split into groups of four; it will be a four-versus-four, and whichever group manages to grab the other team's flag first, wins. The teams can deploy any method; there are no rules."

Everyone teleported to the second round, equally splitting into thirty-two groups of four. Nova found himself with people he didn't even see in the spectator box, which happened with Adam as well. They weren't facing each other, which was splendid, as Nova would have let Adam win.

But, fortunately for him, on the other team was a person whom he recognized instantly. In front of him was a big screen with eight people, including himself, who were going to play Capture the Flag.

The two teams split into red and blue, with Nova being on the red team. And he had read somewhere that the color red had a slightly higher chance of winning a match than the blue team. So, he wanted this to be one of those matches where red absolutely dominated the field.

The teams had five minutes to prepare, so they were all aligned near the flag to strategize.

Nova spoke up first, his voice commanding like a natural leader: "I need to know what everyone is good at, or if you have awakened your ability, and if so, what is your ability?"

One of the girls spoke up, as it was two guys and two girls, her voice was low, soft, and respectful: "I have awakened my powers. I can manipulate shadows. But only in a low radius. I am only an F-rank, but I can help with stealth and stop enemies in their tracks, though it would require me to have low light."

"Ok, that can be arranged. Thank you for telling me." Nova said with a smile, the girl was about his age, maybe a couple of years older, and blushed, as she finally felt useful. Then he looked at the two, first at the guy, then at the girl. "What about you two?"

The guy spoke up, his voice slightly high-pitched: "I haven't yet awakened, but I am good at scouting. Been in the military as a scout and stealth operator, and I would say I am pretty agile."

Nova nodded sharply, then told him, "You should be the shadow girl, and patrol the area, do not let anyone get close." Then he thought for a minute longer and decided, "You should be in the center. I need to get the flag, so I need you to help me. We will use codenames, got it?"

The man nodded as the last woman spoke up, her voice shy and nervous, but Nova rested his hands on her shoulders, gripping them slightly, to ensure that they would win. "I-I haven't awakened my power yet, but I can help you distract the enemies."

Nova nodded sharply, signaling for everyone to move into position. The girl with shadow manipulation melted into the dim corners near the flag. She was omnipresent in the room, listening and seeing everything in the shadows.

The scout moved silently toward the center of the field, ready to intercept or relay information. The shy girl lingered near the edge, prepared to create distractions at Nova's command. She was nervous, but took deep breaths to calm herself down. Her expression cleared, the sigh of hesitation leaving her frail body.

Nova took a deep breath, exhaling from his mouth, feeling the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins. He felt his temple and body heated, which meant his nervousness was slowly dissipating. He wasn't used to groups, since he could get one-shot the enemy, no matter who it was.

He glanced at his teammates, eyes meeting every single one. He nodded to each one of them, then, like a leader, commanded them: "We move fast, we move smart. I go for the flag, while you cover me. No hesitation. Remove that word from your vocabulary."

The announcer's signal blared, echoing across the arena: "Match start!"