At this moment, the Queen of the Arena looked extremely grim—this was simply too outrageous!
Just sitting on his chair and snapping his fingers had somehow led to the direct breach of their prison. Without anyone noticing, the prisoners inside had been rescued. Even more terrifying was the phase teleportation technology just displayed, resembling that of the Necrons, allowing the intruder to appear anywhere in the city undetected.
If the enemy wished, they could easily assassinate most of the inhabitants within the Commorragh.
Moreover, the armor the opponent wore was highly advanced. The energy shield on it rendered kinetic weapons completely ineffective, not to mention things like high-polymer daggers.
"You don't think that after you go missing, your subordinates will quickly notice and track you down, do you?" Rhodes said with a smirk.
"Tch! Fine, I admit defeat this time. What do you want? You've already taken your pet back—what else do you want? Don't tell me you have a hobby like Trazyn the Infinite, collecting people as trophies and planning to add me to your collection?" Lelith asked.
To be honest, she had countless fans across the galaxy. If someone wanted to capture and collect her, it wouldn't be surprising at all.
"Heh! Don't misunderstand, I have no such interest in you. I only tracked you down because you took my pet. Collecting you isn't something I'm interested in," Rhodes replied with a chuckle.
Though the Queen of the Arena had an incredibly alluring figure, an exceptionally seductive face, and a sweet voice, she was still a purebred Dark Eldar. If nothing else, she was at least ten thousand years old.
Her personality was fiery to the extreme, and rumors even suggested she had some ambiguous relationship with the ruler of Commorragh, Vect, the leader of the Kabal of the Black Heart.
Additionally, there were whispers that she was involved with the old mystic Eldrad and that she even had a daughter—suggesting she had many lovers.
There were even rumors that she swung both ways, with a not-so-innocent relationship with Yvraine. After all, what kind of good sisters would suddenly stab each other to death out of nowhere?
Rhodes was quite concerned that if he got too close to this Dark Eldar beauty, he might find himself suddenly strangled by her barbed hair or choked out in some deadly wrestling move while he was vulnerable.
"So what exactly do you want? You didn't just capture me to enjoy the sight of my defeated face, did you? Name your terms—what do I need to do for you to let me go?" Lelith asked.
"You took my pet, so naturally, I expect some compensation. I need you to do three things for me, and then we can call it even. Otherwise, you're of no use to me, and I'm sure some of your fanatical admirers in the galaxy would pay a hefty price to buy back their idolized queen… as a slave," Rhodes said.
He wondered if the infamous Collector King would be interested in the Queen of the Arena—after all, she had been a legendary figure for over ten thousand years.
However, Rhodes didn't want to deal with the Collector King just yet. Unless he had enough power to negotiate on equal footing, he'd likely end up as part of that collector's display instead.
Hearing this, Lelith frowned. She had to admit, that her massive fanbase included plenty of people who would pay an enormous sum to own her.
And if one of her kind—the Dark Eldar—were the buyer, things would turn disastrous. She knew all too well the twisted nature of her kin.
If a Dark Eldar loved you, that love could take some truly horrific forms. It was best not to test it.
"Fine, as long as your three tasks aren't too unreasonable, I'll agree to them," Lelith said.
She had no choice. Right now, she was at his mercy. Looking at Rhodes' smug and confident expression, she knew that hoping for her subordinates to come to her rescue was futile.
"A wise choice. I like dealing with smart people. The first thing I need is for you to introduce me to the Haemonculi. I need to buy some things from them," Rhodes said.
If he just tried to rob them outright, his giant monster would probably reduce everything to rubble, leaving him with nothing but scraps.
Besides, the Dark Eldar weren't pushovers. A direct attack on Commorragh wasn't something Rhodes was crazy enough to attempt.
"Oh! So you're looking for those guys? No problem, I can arrange that. If what you need isn't too expensive, I might even pay for it myself," Lelith offered.
The Haemonculi were the true rulers behind the Dark Eldar. Many people came to Commorragh just to seek them out.
"That won't be necessary. I have some things that I think will interest them," Rhodes replied.
His monster gene extractor was specifically meant for these Haemonculi. He couldn't use it on his subordinates since the mutation rate was too high, but it was perfect for these Dark Eldar.
Dark Eldar mutating into monsters? Now that would be interesting.
"Fine. What's the second thing?" Lelith asked.
"For the second task, I need you to introduce me to Yvraine," Rhodes said.
Yvraine was still in Commorragh at this time, living as a gladiator in the arenas, surviving through blood and battle.
According to the timeline, at the start of the 13th Black Crusade, the old mystic Eldrad would attempt to summon the Eldar god of death into the material universe, only to have his ritual disrupted by the Deathwatch.
After that, the god's spirit would wander the physical realm until it found Yvraine. When she was finally slain in the arena, the god would resurrect her and make her its emissary.
This event would shatter the Cadian Gate, allowing Chaos to invade Commorragh en masse. With the Queen of the Arena and her followers supporting her, Yvraine would escape aboard her flagship and establish the Ynnari faction.
So right now, Yvraine was still just a prominent gladiator in the Dark Eldar arenas.
"You—you're looking for that little girl? How do you know her? Why are you interested in her?" Lelith asked, puzzled.
Did this guy have a thing for Craftworld Eldar women? While Yvraine was originally from a Craftworld, her personality was completely in line with the Dark Eldar.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have become a rogue and turned into a space pirate.
She had even willingly joined the gladiator pits of Commorragh and received the sponsorship from Vect.
That little girl was indeed skilled in combat, but compared to Lelith, she was still just a rookie. If Lelith fought her seriously, she could take her down and flay her alive in just a few moves.
The last time they fought together, they had taken down a Tyranid Hive Tyrant, posing as close sisters.
But if they ever met in the arena, neither of them would hold back.
"That's none of your concern. Just tell me if you can do it," Rhodes said.
"Of course, no problem. If you trust me, you can let me go right now—I could have her kidnapped and delivered to your bed by tonight," Lelith offered.
She couldn't think of any other reason Rhodes would be interested in Yvraine aside from sex.
"That's not what I want her for. Don't misunderstand," Rhodes said.
Right now, Yvraine hadn't yet been chosen by the god of death. What would he do with her at this stage?
Keep her as a bed warmer? That big sister was quite fierce.
She only became valuable after dying in the arena and being resurrected as the god's emissary.
Rhodes needed Yvraine—the leader of the Ynnari, the prophet of the god of death.
According to the timeline, the 13th Black Crusade would start in a few months, and only then would the Ynnari form.
Until then, she was of no use.
"I see. So, what's your third condition?" Lelith asked.
"Rather than a condition, it's more of a business proposal.
I heard the Dark Eldar loves gladiatorial combat. But have you ever seen a different kind of gladiator battle?" Rhodes said.
"Heh! Commorragh's arenas have existed for hundreds of thousands of years, dating back to when this was the Eldar Empire's capital.
I assure you, our audience has seen everything. There's no type of gladiator battle we haven't witnessed," Lelith scoffed.
"Then you haven't seen this one. My tournament is called:
Ultra Galaxy Legend: Ultimate Kaiju Battle!" Rhodes declared.