Tsukuru grit his teeth seeing the message.
'I'm never going to get any XP in here!' he thought in annoyance.
He then systematically shot the two remaining Goblins in the head, immediately killing them, and causing the same System message to appear.
Once the final Goblin had been killed, a silence filled the arena.
Then, the sound of electronic interference could be heard again.
On the other side of the arena, five groups of pixels appeared. They clustered together into humanoid shapes. There were five consecutive flashes of light, and soon, five Hobgoblins appeared.
The middle Hobgoblin smirked when she saw Tsukuru.
"Well, look who finally decided to come back," she taunted. "We were beginning to think that you had given up on this place after constantly being thrashed by the Minotaur!"
Tsukuru gritted his teeth.
He hadn't been back to the Battle Arena in quite a while. Between being stuck on the Red Portal Planet, and all the stuff with Logan, he hadn't been back here in a solid week.
Tsukuru tightened his grip around his gunblade, and made a mad dash towards the Hobgoblins.
The Hobgoblins all smiled.
They tightened their grips on their spears, and did the same.
Once Tsukuru was within 30 feet of the Hobgoblins, he activated his Video Glitch Skill.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and his body took on the form of a light-blue hologram, and it began to glitch out of existence.
Seeing this, the Hobgoblins' eyes all widened, and they came to a screeching halt.
A moment later, the sound of electronic interference could be heard again.
Instantly, the Hobgoblins all snapped their heads to look behind them.
That was typically Tsukuru's strategy. Teleport behind them and perform a sneak attack.
However, as they were all busy looking behind them, Tsukuru appeared in front of the center Hobgoblin.
While they were still distracted, he jumped up to Hobgoblin's upper torso. He pressed the release switch on the back of the body of the Scordana Gunblade, causing it to turn back into a dagger.
He crossed his arm over to the left side of his body, and performed a wide, horizontal arc to the right.
The Hobgoblin's eyes widened, as she felt her throat being cut.
She let out a gurgle, as she choked on her own blood, before falling on her back. A moment later, she exploded into pixels.
A System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Hobgoblin. Video Emperor Battle Arena-Exclusive Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 425/8000]
Tsukuru's eyes widened in shockas he saw this message.
'Wait, my new Title has an effect that only activates in the Battle Arena?' he thought. 'And, isn't this a repeat wave? Shouldn't I have only received a portion of that amount?'
It was then that Reiju's voice popped up.
"Yeah, I got rid of that restriction," she replied. "In hindsight, maybe that was a bit too harsh. Especially seeing how HARD it is for you to gain XP in the first place."
Tsukuru glanced back.
'Alright, well that explains my second question,' he thought. 'But, what about the first one?'
As if to answer him, a new System message popped up in front of him.
[Video Emperor Battle Arena-Exclusive Effect: You will always gain XP when killing Video Summons in the Battle Arena.]
Tsukuru smiled seeing the System message.
'Well, that's nice to know,' he thought.
However, he had more pressing concerns.
The moment the Hobgoblin's body had fallen backwards and shattered, the other Hobgoblins had all snapped their heads back at Tsukuru.
One of the Hobgoblin's face turned into an evil smirk.
"Oh, you sneaky little devil!" she replied.
She thrust her spear forward towards him.
Tsukuru's left hand lashed out and grabbed the spear by the shaft, freezing the Hobgoblin in place.
He then turned the Scordana Gunblade back into its "gun form", and aimed the barrel at the Hobgoblin's head.
He pulled the trigger.
Another gunshot rang out across the arena, and the bullet pierced through the Hobgoblin's skull.
Her grip loosened on her spear, and she too fell backwards. She hit the floor with a thud, before them promptly exploding into pixels.
Another System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Hobgoblin. Video Emperor Battle Arena-Exclusive Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 485/8000]
The three remaining Hobgoblin took on more aggressive, albeit wary stances. They would not be caught off guard as easily as their fallen comrades.
Tsukuru smirked, and opened his left hand.
He then activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference filled the area around him, and pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered together into the form of a cylinder with some sort of nozzle coming out of the top. Attached to the side, there was a large ring.
There was a bright flash of light.
When it faded, Tsukuru was holding some sort of silver canister. However, there was an image on the front like a label. It depicted a long, slender, red, CARTOONISH chilli pepper with a green stem. The pepper also had a face, one which was twisted into a grimace, with it's teeth clenched, and its eyes wide. It also had tears welling up in its eyes, as if crying.
Tsukuru reached his thumb over, and curled it around the ring. He then pulled it out. As he did so, the Hobgoblins could see that there was a small pinattached to it.
Tsukuru's smile widened, and he dropped the canister.
The Hobgoblins glanced down at the strange canister with narrowed eyes.
"What the hell?" one of them asked.
She was quickly answered, as a crimson-red fog began pouring out of the attached nozzle, a "hiss" being heard.
As soon as the fog began to appear, Tsukuru smiled, and he used his Video Glitch Skill to teleport away from the gathering fog.
The fog soon filled the air, forming a red smokescreen surrounding the three Hobgoblins.
Seeing as how the strange, red fog had completely replaced the oxygen in the area, it caused the three Hobgoblins to begin coughing. But, that was the least of their problems. Each time they coughed, they unintentionally inhaled the red fog, which burned their throats.
Worse still, was what the fog was doing to their eyes. The Hobgoblin's eyes became red and inflamed, and it was hard for them to see.
"Agh!" One of the Hobgoblins screamed, tears running down her face. "What is this?!"
The three Hobgoblins desperately tried to rub their eyes to make the pain go away. But it was having no effect.
"It burns!" another screamed.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.
A burst of wind soon followed, slightly disturbing the smokescreen.
One of the Hobgoblins felt a sharp, piercing pain in her forehead. She then fell to the ground, dead.
She exploded into pixels.
***
Outside the range of the fog cloud, Tsukuru pressed the button on the side of the gun, causing the cylinder to pop out. Inside, there were six empty cartridges. He held the gunblade upside-down, and shook the five expended cartridges out. They clattered and bounced on the concrete floor of the battle arena.
Tsukuru then activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and pixels began to appear in his hand.
The pixels clustered together into the shape of what looked like a thick wheel with a cylinder coming out of the back. Protruding from the front of the "wheel" were six identical bullets.
There was a flash of light, then the strange device fully manifested.
The "wheel" appeared to be made out of a thick, black plastic.
Tsukuru placed the wheel on top of the empty cylinder of the gunblade, and it fit like a puzzle piece. He then twisted the knob counter-clockwise like a dial.
As he did, the "wheel" jerked up slightly.
Tsukuru then pulled the wheel away from the cylinder. And when he did, it was filled with six new bullets.
'Really should have made a bunch of these before coming in here,' Tsukuru thought to himself. 'Hindsight's a real bitch.'
This was a "Speed Loader", a mechanical device used to quickly refill the cartridge on a firearm. Or in this case, a cylinder.
Tsukuru then pressed the cylinder back into the main body, and it clicked into place. He pointed the barrel at the next Hobgoblin in the smokescreen, and fired.
***
Back in the smokescreen, another gunshot rang out.
Another Hobgoblin was shot between the eyes, causing her to fall to the ground, and exploded into pixels.
A few moments later, a final shot rang out.
When it did, the third Hobgoblin was shot in the head, and fell to the ground. Like the others, she too exploded into pixels.
***
Back with Tsukuru, a new System message popped up in front of him.
[You have killed an Infantry-Rank Pawn-Grade Hobgoblin. Video Emperor Battle Arena-Exclusive Effect: 60 XP received. XP: 665/8000]