The arena was massive as it almost was as big as Kommando's castle itself. He had it built at the entrance of the valley made by the mountains flanking his castle as he had made its walls of Darkstone and Bone as it had towers sprouting from it, two gates with one facing the entrance to the valley and the other facing his castle and the town before it.

And now there was many, many of the Alf Outcasts and spirits of Hel pouring into it as Kommando293, with Sanginium, Thaxae, Medusae, and Theodosius, simply trotted his horse towards it as he watched the many Bone Princes being summoned up and escorted by his many skeleton units.

He was quite thankful that he had enough generals with him to be able to assign the more menial tasks to them, like improving buildings, recruiting units, and sending them out to attack Reaper294 and the others.

As he trotted his Darkness horse along, Theodosius said to him, "My lord.. you must realize that tomorrow is the day of the invasion? Surely we must be preparing the defenses and bulwarks around the Portal instead of having a game?"

"Ah, Theodosius... you're wisdom for defense is still unparalleled... I also see that new DarkSteel Shield is proving to look good on you." said Kommando to him as he pointed to the large tower shield on Theodosius's left arm. 

"But, I will be needing the Bone princes from here to help defend the Bulwarks.. I cannot simply split my forces to attack and defend.. such an attack would simply fail against even a small force made by the Alf Lords..." Kommando told Theodosius.

"As such.. we will also be ridding ourselves of many of the more.. problematic of Bone Princes anyway.." said Kommando as then he gave a small yawn.

And then they reached one of the gates and as two of the guards opened up one of the doors next to the large gate that many of the NPC's were pouring through and as Kommando got off his steed and watched as the guard soon tie it up nearby next to some feed and water and as Kommando went up first, soon followed by his handmaidens, suddenly he heard a groan and looked behind him to see Theodosius putt his shield and siege hammer on his back as Kommando then said, "Need me to shrink you, General?"

"No, sir..." Theodosius managed to scrape through and as the group continued to go up the stairs.

The stairs soon came to a large, sectioned off balcony as there was a single throne as well as several smaller seats around for Kommando's handmaidens and generals. Rek Raiden was already awaiting for him as he gave a bow as Kommando293 walked around and then came to the edge as he looked around and into the arena.

The Arena itself was as big as a football stadium as the entire middle of it, where a football field would be, was completely covered in the grey, black, and bone ground that was Hel's terrain. Already, about half of the total seats in the stands were filled up with Alf outcasts and spirits while the arena itself had over a dozen Bone Princes standing down below waiting to be given orders while several units of the more experienced Skeleton swordsmen were lining the arena walls.

And almost as soon as he appeared at the edge of his balcony, the shouts, clapping, and cheers of the many spectators reached him and he smiled as he gave some waves just as Rek said, "My Lord, the remaining Bone Princes are slowly coming into the arena.. the goddess Hel herself also sends her word of doing a fine job of this arena in such a short bit of time."

"Thank you. I will soon send a message to her about my appreciation.. how many Bone Princes in total?"

"We have maybe about 24 in total coming... all of varying skills, however..." said Raiden as he stood next to Kommando.

"Mm... well, the strong ones tend to stay alive anyway.. have they been adequately prepared for combat?" asked Kommando293.

"Yes, my lord... They now use the BloodSteel weapons while our units are slowly switching over to DarkSteel items.." said Raiden.

"Good... see to it that Skull Crusher and Silver Eyes continue to help that process along." said Kommando293 as then he walked back and then sat down in his throne as then his hand maidens and Theodosius also did the same.

As more and more spectators began to flood in still, Kommando293 watched as the last of the remaining Bone Princes slowly filed into the arena, he was pleased to see that all of them had relatively good equipment for armor next to their bone, skeleton masks.

The masks that were made from the front of a skull were what gave these minor necromancers their names. It also came from how most of them wore slightly stylized armor that looked like it had bones on it and as Kommando293 watched them all shuffle around in the arena, he was merely hoping that this battle turned out better than most of the battles he watched.

It took only a few more minutes for the seats to all be full and as soon as they were, Kommando293 stood up again to the cheers of the spectators as he then held up his hands for silence.

"Welcome, all who have come to join us on this grand occasion..." Kommando293 said as his voice echoed around the large arena.

"Today, I have called for a tournament amongst the Bone Princes for but one reason... I need necromancers who could hold the line in a defense against a horde of enemies."

"Of course, " said Kommando293 as he looked at them, "Not everyone here will make it out of this arena in one piece... and so you will have to kill to earn your place within the ranks..."

"Now... prepare yourselves for combat, Bone Princes.. and if any of you think about getting any funny ideas... you will regret it deeply.." said Kommando293 as then he sat down.

"And now... begin."

Kirito walked with Asuna as Yui was hovering around their shoulders as a few Guardians were around them in the garden but only around the edges and were respectfully standing guard to let the two talk in private. The garden had been recently built within the small village they had just captured and the benefits from it was that the village now had a boost to its Happiness stat, which if it got low meant a rebellion would happen.

But at the moment, they were simply in it just to be together since Asuna was suppose to be leaving the next day.

"You know, its going to be hard not having you around for a bit." said Kirito with a small smile as he looked at her.

"Aww, Kirito-kun, are you trying to make me feel bad because even Yui could tell you that its not working.." said Asuna with a slight roll of her eyes.

Kirito gave a small smile as he had figured as much was going to happen but he could still try and see her reaction as then he said, "Still, it will be a bit more difficult without our primary healer with us.."

"There cant be just us alone going against it.. there are bound to be hundreds of others in this event. You'll find adequate healers all around you." said Asuna. "Besides, the monsters on the other side will likely have predictable movement and attack patterns.. we'll catch on quick anyway.."

Asuna then gave him a small hug as she said, "Just do me one favor and take care of the others, 'kay? no complaints from the generals to the lords lady, okay?"

"You hear that, Yui?" asked Kirito. "Are you going to keep me in check while Mommy's gone?"

Yui gave a warm smile as she nodded and then she floated down onto his head and sat there as she said, "I got it, daddy!"

Both Asuna and Kirito both gave some small giggles as then both of them gave a hug as Kirito stroked Asuna's hair with a hand as he said, "Do me a favor... and don't get married..."

"If I think I'm about to... I'll take something sharp and use it as a makeshift rapier." said Asuna with a small smile.

And then she gave him a small kiss on his lips and he gave a smile as he held her hips very lightly and said, "Till you return..."

"Till I return.. and by the way, don't think I haven't seen you moving those troops around without me knowing.." said Asuna as she then raised an eyebrow.

"But Eugene-" began Kirito when Asuna then said, "I'm currently trying to get both Lady Sakuya and Lady Alicia on our side as it is and you're trying to move troops around without realizing potential consequences? You are not going to do us all a good favor.... especially since many of the lords and ladies in the beginning are already wiped out because of these stupid mistakes."

Kirito sighed as he said, "Fine... fine.. I'll just have them patrol... but if Eugene attacks us while you're away and wipe us out, its your fault."

"Fine." said Asuna as she then turned away before saying, "I have to go now.."

"Alright.. take care of yourself then." said Kirito just as she then logged off and disappeared.

"Daddy, please try and not anger mommy." said Yui.

Kirito shook his head as he then said, "Alright, lets get back to the castle... and get some stuff done.."

The sounds of clashing blades and metal meeting metal as a din that could be heard even over the roars of the cheering crowds. Kommando293 watched within only 10 minutes that 4 of the weaker Bone Princes were downed from either blades, magic spells, or summoned undead as the remaining 20 were duking it out in various duels with blades and spells while some sought to use their weaker skeletons, zombies, and other summoned minions to crush those around them.

As Kommando293 watched one Bone Prince tried to slam his blade into the face of another and only to be blocked by his opponents own BloodSteel blade, he then watched as Newblood appeared next to him with his katana on his belt as he said, "My lord, I have a report from the bulwarks and defenses near the Portal."

"Tell me it, then." said Kommando293 as he looked at the general.

"We have successfully implemented the Hwatcha turret alongside the ballista and catapult turrets. We currently are making trebuchets and awaiting for the... Bone Princes to be placed there." he said with a bow.

"Good... good..." said Kommando293 as then he said, "How do you think of these Bone Princes?"

Newblood walked to the balcony as he looked down and as two Bone Princes then died, one from a zombie horde and the other from a firebolt to his face, he then said to Kommando293, "I think I see only about... 15 of them that hold promise of holding the line against powerful foes..."

"Mark them." ordered Kommando293.

Newblood, like all of his generals, had one special ability that made him extremely useful in combat and his was simply called "Paintball". He took a ball of paint made up of various berries, crushed items, and more that he solidified using ice and would throw it at a target to "mark" them give a +5% accuracy bonus to anyone attacking them with a ranged weapon. It made his unit of Skeleton warriors a perfect match with a large force of Skeleton archers.

And as all 15 paintballs hit their marks, then Kommando293 held his hands up as suddenly all of the fighting stopped almost miraculously.

"Step forward all who got hit with a paintball." Commanded Kommando293.

All 15 very slowly took a step forward as only 3 of them did not.

"Swordsmen!" Regardless of what they were called anyway, all of the Skeleton swordsmen took a step forward.

"Kill the unpainted ones." ordered Kommando293.

As the skeletons rushed the remaining Bone princes not marked, he then looked at the survivors and said, "Rejoice, my Princes of Bone.. you shall be the ones who defend our home of Hel from the Alf lords when they invade. I will have you escorted to the barracks, where you will be given new gear and be able to learn new spells in preparation for the coming battle."

"And with me," said Kommando293, "you shall usher in a new age of Darkness."