It was the morning of October 28th. Within the cities controlled by the Angelic Order, many citizens gathered in the buildings containing the portals that connected every city-state. Today, a new Gate would open, but only for half an hour.

Their Goddess made many announcements in the past few weeks, including a showing of the Colosseum. The enormous building made of pure Angelic Metal could hold millions of spectators at once.

She, of course, advised her people to stay at home and watch the tournament from to safety of their homes. However, she still asked Vicky to open portals, leading to the Colosseum.

At 8 in the morning, the portals opened and millions of people entered the arena and filled the bleachers. The seating area had special Runes, which prevented any fighting. It came in real handy, since most of Asgard also came to watch the fights.

Also, for fairness, Sera allowed other Factions' citizens to spectate. Soldiers of Heaven came to cheer for the Chinese Pantheon, while the Immortal Warriors solemnly awaited the Hindu Pantheon's victory. Not to mention the thousands of angels and demons.

The people took their seats as the portals closed. The anticipation of the spectators was palpable. However, the opening ceremony wouldn't start until the clock hit 10.

Back at home, people gathered before their holo-screens and watched as multiple stations talked about the tournament. Some hosts spouted the Angelic Order's usual propaganda, while others analyzed the primordial gods, willing to challenge their Goddess.

All around the globe, everyone watched their holo-screen, counting down the minutes until 10. Some felt scared of the outcome, while others' blind faith calmed their nerves.

The clocks continued pushing forward, causing everyone's excitement to grow. Thousands of drones flew above the Colosseum, staring down at the empty plains. They would provide the perfect view of the upcoming fights.

During the past weeks, the Last Angel also announced that the tournament would take at least two weeks to conclude. Today was reserved for the opening ceremony and a few less important fights, to give everyone a taste of the future.

She purposefully stayed silent about the people participating on her side, which meant nobody knew the fighting order. Obviously, Sera rigged the entire tournament, so she also decided who fought whom.

As the time approached 10 and soon all the talks died down as people's eyes turned towards the massive screens placed around the gigantic arena. They all turned on simultaneously, and a few seconds later, classical music began blasting from the speakers.

Nobody recognized the music, which wasn't surprising. It was created in the 19th century, thousands of years after the primordial gods' disappearance, and a millennium before the Apocalypse.

However, Sera couldn't help but feel amused as she rose from the ground and glanced towards the Valkyries sitting in the bleachers. They all looked clueless, even though the music was named after them!

The ground opened in the middle of the arena, through which Sera and every other participant rose a dozen meters above the ground. They each stood on different platforms, so none of the gods could interrupt Sera's speech.

She felt their scornful and anticipatory looks, but she ignored them all and instead stared ahead. The crowd roared as the Last Angel smiled gently.

Sera held the only microphone, which overpowered all the chatter, cheers and booing. Her voice boomed across the arena and, from everyone's holo-screens, it echoed throughout the entire planet Earth!

For this occasion, she fully leaned into her Goddess persona. Her usual golden dress was nowhere to be seen. Instead, an intricate whitish-gold armor covered her entire body, except her perfect face.

On her head, a small crown weaved from vines enhanced her authority and beauty. A single greenish-gold gemstone glowed within, and if one looked closer, they could see a pair of eyes staring from the stone.

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in-between! Today marks a special day in our planet's history! Throughout humanity, we've fought thousands, millions of wars! Everyone thirsted for power, for the chance to rule the entire world, yet nothing ever changed...

"Leaders sent their people to die, while they sat in comfort, laughing at the fools! However, that changes today!"

Sera glanced behind herself with her usual humorless smile. She spread her free hand, waving towards all the gathered leaders of each Factions.

"Today, none of our soldiers will die! Today, we'll decide who's the strongest leader! Who's the best suited to rule the planet! Today, we decide the faith of the world!"

The cheering became louder as Sera snapped her fingers. Suddenly, more platforms rose from the ground below. All the Faction leaders and their most powerful fighters glanced at the newcomers in confusion.

However, while they didn't recognize anyone, the crowd immediately knew every single new arrival.

Sera took a few seconds until the cheering died down, then continued with a genuine smirk brightening her expression.

"Most of you already knew my friends, but for the sake of our guests, let's introduce them!"

First, Sera pointed towards Yvonne, standing in crimson red Angelic Metal armor, her metallic gray hair blowing in the wind as she grinned and waved towards the crowd.

"Yvonne, the Weapon Artist!" Sera could barely say the name with a straight face. Most of her friends were never referred to with public titles, but the watch had given them one long ago, so they used those instead.

After a few second cheer, her hand moved and pointed at a tall man wearing void black armor. His emotionless, somewhat feminine face stayed motionless. A dark piece of fabric covered his empty eye sockets as his void sense examined the crowd in great detail.

"Yannick, the Void King!"

He wasn't as famous as her sister, but Sera's announcement was enough to prompt another loud cheer from the spectators.

While most didn't recognize Yannick, everyone knew the giantess standing near him. She was a late addition to their group, but upon hearing Sera's plan, she couldn't decline the opportunity.

The tall woman wore a darker gold armor with silver embellishments. A small tiara with a crimson crystal held back her long blonde hair. A pair of fierce dark gold eyes stared ahead, at the crowd, her entire body exuding authority and confidence.

"She doesn't require any introduction! Elizabeth, the Queen of England!"

Elizabeth waved once to the drones, then continued standing still. Her stoic expression didn't tremble as the crowd went wild with roars of joy and excitement.

The rest of the group wore their usual outfits...

"Leslie, the Son of Hell!" stood straight with his bat-like wings kept close to the dark crimson armor. His tail swished from side-to-side as he barely contained the rage filling his veins.

"Sarah, the Storm Goddess!" glanced around the crowd with a wide grin. She wore a storm gray armor, which she changed so it would reveal her cleavage... Everybody found this decision either stupid or hilarious...

"Astrid, the Goddess's Shield!" wore her usual golden armor. She looked extremely uncomfortable under the billions of gazes, though. Even Sera looked surprised at the giantess... She never realized she was camera shy...

"Kim, the Petrifier!" grinned and waved with both hands in excitement, making sure to show off her engagement ring. Somewhere in the bleachers, a lucky goblin's face turned bright red in embarrassment, but a similar grin to Kim's spread across his face as he cheered louder than anybody.

"Joan... and Eula!" wore electric blue armor. She purposefully didn't use any title. Instead, she simply asked Sera to say her sister's name too, since in a morbid way... She was still with her...

"Melinda, the Lady of Corruption!" used bright green Angelic Metal armor, made by Sera and Agnes. It supposedly helped the flow of her plague, whatever that meant... She waved towards the crowd, albeit her eyes stayed focused on her girlfriend...

"Cassandra, the Succubus Princess!" wore a flamboyant dress made of some thin, revealing material. Armor didn't matter much to her, since physical combat wasn't her focus... Also, nobody, even David, couldn't convince her, so a nearly see-through dress was what she chose...

"David, the Snake of Inevitability!" just shook his head as Cass shot kisses to the crowd. He wore regular silver armor, which somewhat enhanced his abilities.

"James, the Master of Technology!" wore his usual cyborg armor, which had seen hundreds of upgrades in the past few months... Even Sera could not properly characterize his power level anymore...

"Adam, the Speck of Creation!" had his usual glass-like armor covering his body. The crowd cheered especially loud for him and his wife... "Lilith, the Dreamweaver!" who wore a robe golden robe with the hood down.

"Will, the Leviathan!" smirked and waved his gauntleted hand. Dark blue armor, which was seemingly made of fish scales, covered him.

"And finally... Lucy, the Reaper!" shouted Sera, while Lucy bowed deeply. She wore dark green armor, which seemed to be made of smoke as it danced around her every movement.

For nearly an entire minute, the crowd continued to roar in excitement, until eventually their voices died down and Sera wrapped up her speech.

She glanced at the primordial gods, who awaited their own announcement. However, while Sera was a fair person, she was also petty...

"You already know the other participants' names, so they require no introduction!" a few thousand people in the crowd shouted and booed in annoyance, but the human laughter was overpowering and drowned them out.

"Anyway, enough talking! The fighting schedule will be shown momentarily! For now, the tournament for Earth's faith officially opens! May the best leader win!"

The loudest cheer went up across the entire Colosseum as the platforms began descending...