"After so much waiting, it’s finally ti to start the competition! Are. You. READY?!"
"YESSS!"
"WOOHOO!"
"FIGHT!"
"FIGHT!"
"FIGHT!"
The arena was as wide as a whole village, and the observers were in the thousands, protected by a barrier that separated them from the inside of the arena.
They cheered and scread in happiness and excitent, listening to the narrator who had the Sound Aspect.
The competition was about to start.
The mont all those people had been waiting for finally arrived!
They paid their precious mana crystals and coins to watch the competition, giving tons of supply to the city.
That was why the competition was never a waste. It was a big source of profit.
The narrator raised his voice and asked: "The champions are waiting in their rooms. Can you guess what the first stage is going to be?"
Without waiting for them to respond, he quickly added: "FREE-FOR-ALL!"
The narrator paused for a mont, letting the people cheer. After a minute, he began to explain: "The rules are simple. The champions will all be in the arena and fight against each other for 30 minutes!"
"It’s their only chance to reduce the competition before the 1v1 stage starts, and a good chance to show off their capabilities in the arena. Even if they fail, they might get a good opportunity from showing their power. A lot of nobles are watching."
"However... the only rules of the fight are that they can’t use more than two external artifacts and relics, and that they aren’t allowed to intentionally attack soone who had already surrendered."
"In other words, if a champion doesn’t surrender in ti, death is a very likely outco!"
A lot of the observers seed excited upon hearing that, craving the sight of blood and brutality. Only a few of them felt uncomfortable, but they kept that to themselves.
The narrator clenched his fist tightly and lifted it up: "May the most worthy WIN!"
¢¢¢
’Why the hell is that guy here?’
In a preparation room, Fafnir stared suspiciously at the masked man who sat in the corner, rubbing his hands and shalessly glaring at Fafnir.
He was Adrian!
Why was that person here?!
’I see. That bastard planned to kill my master in the competition!’ Fafnir gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to choke Adrian to death.
So that was why Adrian t him face-to-face before the competition. He was mad that Dante was suddenly replaced and didn’t return!
’He likely wanted to kill my master long ago, but couldn’t do that in this city. Maybe he decided to gamble and join the competition, assuming that it was the only reason why my master didn’t leave.’
’But why can’t I find his wife and pet? Where did they go?’ Fafnir scanned the room, finding only two people other than him and Adrian.
The first stage of the competition was a free-for-all fight. Obviously, they couldn’t put all the people in the sa room. But Fafnir was certain that he didn’t see or sense Adrian’s wife anywhere.
’Had she died?’ A dark theory ford in Fafnir’s mind.
His master had waited for them for days, but they didn’t appear.
What if sothing in the White Abyss killed her? Maybe the misfortune that Dante had poured into them had a good effect.
"I recomnd that you all give up now if you value your lives." A woman in the room said arrogantly, sharpening her daggers: "I’m Rank 2 and I have filled my Existence Essence already. That’s my last warning, as I’m not willing to show rcy to anyone. I will be the winner of this competition."
"Just ignore then." Adrian said indifferently: "I’m not here to win. Once I finish what I want to do, I’ll surrender willingly."
"Oh, you think I’m going to believe that?" The woman smiled charmingly, bringing the sharp edge of one of her daggers to her own neck: "I warned you. Whatever happens to your neck next isn’t my problem."
"Fair enough."
Fafnir ignored them and examined his weapons and full-body armor.
He wielded a silver one-handed longsword with the ability to absorb light, and wore shiny silver armor that could reflect light.
As a living shadow, he found they were essential for his power. Using them, he could have a higher chance to defeat the light users.
And Adrian had the Fire Aspect. He needed them the most now.
The sword was a relic that he had gotten from killing a bandit, while the armor was sothing that he had bought using Ruby’s money. They were durable enough to survive a Rank 2 fight.
"OPEN THE GATES FOR THE CHAMPIONS!"
The sound of the narrator resounded throughout the whole place despite being in a closed room. The next mont, the heavy gates opened gradually, revealing the arena in which they were going to fight.
With no hesitation, Fafnir stepped forward and scanned the arena.
Countless other gates were opening simultaneously, letting all the other competitors in.
The area was made of durable rocks and was built in the shape of a circle. It looked completely safe if the hole in the middle was ignored.
Yes, a hole!
Fafnir could easily see it from the edge of the arena, and using Shadow Detection, he was certain that the hole was so deep that the bottom couldn’t be sensed.
The observers watched them from upward, sitting on seats and eating food with their families as if watching a kids’ show, not a fight that would leave pools of blood.
And at the highest point, there was a room with only two chairs and a table, leaving a lot of empty space inside. The table was filled with food, and three people were inside.
One of them was Count Anas, a person Fafnir was familiar with. He noticed Fafnir’s gaze and smiled at him.
And the other two...
’Oh, I see now why they always talked about her beauty.’
They had skin as soft and white as the fragile winter snow, making people wonder if touching them would break them like glass.
Their silky pink hair cascaded down their shoulders like a waterfall of flowers as they sat comfortably on their seats. However, they didn’t focus on the sa things.
The older one was staring coldly at the competitors with calculating pink eyes, whispering sothing to Count Anas and analyzing the behaviour of the competitors.
She was Morgana, the only Duchess in the whole kingdom.
Sitting next to her, the younger one had her face...
’Is that a waterlon?’
Fafnir couldn’t see her face clearly. Her face was dipped into a waterlon!
The only thing he could see was the red juice and the seeds that kept splashing and scattering across her arms and pink dress, but neither Anas nor Morgana seed to care.
After a mont, she threw the eaten waterlon away and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, revealing her face that looked like an identical young copy of Morgana’s face before dipping her face into the second half of the waterlon.
"..."
That was obviously Lady Emilia, the woman who was the reason behind this whole competition.
’Why do they look very much alike? Was the father dominated even in genetics?’
Fafnir shook his head and focused on sothing more important. It was the floating flaming number that kept changing every second.
And now, it was at ten.
BAM!
The gates finally closed behind the competitors, closing their only escape.
"ALL THE CHAMPIONS ARE IN THE ARENA!" The narrator’s voice rose enough to shake the air: "TEN SECONDS BEFORE THE FIGHT STARTS!"
Upon hearing their remaining ti, most of the competitors moved across the arena, either trying to find a weak-looking competitor or finding a safe spot.
Fafnir didn’t move and kept staring at the flaming tir, hearing the narrator who kept counting.
"FIVE SECONDS!"
"FOUR!"
"THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!!"
All of a sudden, the whole world darkened around Fafnir. The colors disappeared, turning into a world of shadows.
And in that world, the shadow of the daggers woman appeared behind him like a gust of wind, slashing his back in a diagonal attack.
Another shadow cut her arms.
More shadows aid for his legs.
There were countless possibilities that almost made him feel dizzy, but he endured the exhaustion and continued observing the shadows.
But most of them severed his neck, and the shadows at that point were the darkest.
Shadow Technique — Shadows Of Future!
"ZERO!"
The colors finally returned to the world.
Without a second thought, Fafnir turned around with three slashes, two with his physical body and one from two mimicking shadows that erged silently from his back.
Slash!
His sword swiftly sliced through blood and flesh, sending a wide arc of blood onto the floor.
The daggers woman watched in horror as she lost feeling in her lower half. At the exact mont, a shadowy sword cut off one of her arms midair, and the second shadowy sword stabbed her chest.
Thud!
The woman fell motionless onto the floor. Fafnir imdiately stomped her head, exploding it like a waterlon and making sure she’d stay dead.
’I expected more after your warning.’ Fafnir sighed in disappointnt and ignited her body with shadow flas.
And just like that, the first "Champion" lost her precious life in front of thousands of people.
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