The lights kept swinging around till they finally all fixated on one single point in the middle of the arena. There, a man had appeared out of nowhere and stood alone, staring at the chaotic crowds around him.
He was clad in a weird, almost ceremonial attire and carried a large stick in his hand. He had a large white beard that reached the lower parts of his chest and he wore a long hat on his head. He almost looked like a religious man from a church.
“Now, for a word from the ‘Divine Caller’.” The loud voice said. Almost immediately, the entire crowd went silent in one moment. They all stared at the man addressed as ‘Divine Caller’.
“Who is that person I wonder…” Arthur muttered as he rested his hand on his cheek. He could see that something was different about the man.
Isla simply remained silent as she watched the man with attentive eyes. She was also very curious about his identity.
A few seconds passed quietly as the main remained in his position, his eyes completely closed. Then, he slowly opened them again as he opened his mouth.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, clasp your hands together for a moment of prayer.” He said. Slowly, people followed the man’s order as they put their hands together and closed their eyes, looking serene and calm. Arthur and Isla watched the scene curiously.
‘A prayer huh? Should we even follow that? Hmm, Isla doesn’t seem to have any intention to do that. I will just do the same.’
“Oh True Divine, for this great day of ours, protect all of us! Protect your people and your devout followers who dedicated their lives to continue your legacy. Oh True Divine, protect those who seek to be your greatest pawns. Those who are fighting for your cause and giving their lives for what you sought. Oh True Divine, we shall do everything we can to restore order in the Divine Realm.”
The man’s voice was high yet also filled with a deep sense of power and mystery. As he spoke those words, people muttered after him, praying for what he was saying. Arthur listened carefully to each word the man was saying and he could only find himself even more confused.
‘True Divine? What is that? Is he talking about the ‘Entity’?’ The boy frowned. He had never heard that term before in his entire journey across the Divine Realm so far. However, he knew enough lore to link one and one together.
‘If that’s the case then what does he mean by continuing the legacy? What legacy? And restoring what order?’
Those words were grandiose and yet also filled with a lot of mystery and intrigue that Arthur had no idea about. He still didn’t have the full picture of the history of the Divine Realm so he couldn’t really tell.
“Are you hearing what I’m hearing, Isla?”
“Yeah…” The girl nodded her head. “We don’t really know anything about this. It seems there is a religious connection between the people here and the Entity.”
‘That is within the realm of expectation. After all, we were told that everyone knew of our imminent arrival. That could’ve only been some kind of Divine Prediction of sorts.’ Isla thought to herself as she tapped her finger silently.
“For a great season, and for another warrior to emerge amongst the people!” Lifting his hands in the air, the man shouted.
“Amen!”
The crowds followed him with one loud voice as if they were one single person. Then, cheers erupted again. The man took that moment to admire the scene before he slowly turned around and left the arena.
“Thank you for the Divine Caller for blessing our night! And now for an explanation of how the season works! We have 100 different contestants. Some came from the stretches of the Empire and some we have brought here today to try their chances at glory! All those 100 contestants will be put into different groups of 4 and each one will have 6 matches to qualify for the next stage. Three of those matches are against the other gladiators in his group and the other three are against monsters.”
‘Interesting. It’s like a tournament of sorts.’ Arthur squinted his eyes.
“Each win garners you three points, a draw is one point, and a loss is no points. The two with the highest points in the group will move to the next stage of the season! The knockout stage where they will face one another in two matches.”
“Woah!!!”
“Let’s go!!!”
“Start the fights already!!!”
“I can’t wait!!”
Impatient cries echoed across the entire Colosseum as people could barely stay in their seats from anticipation.
“With that being said! Let the show begin!!”
Continue your journey with empire
The light scattered away again as the place turned dark.
“For our opening fight of this year, we have a very nice surprise for everyone in this crowd! Something many had asked for and wished to see. The fight that will break your minds!”
“Here it is!”
“Holy!! They’re going to do it!!”
“On one side, we have a man who came from the rural villages of the desert! He was raised in a very dangerous environment, learning how to fight monsters and survive against all odds! His physical power is unmatched! The ‘King of Dunes’ as they call him! Please welcome, Vernil!!”
Then, the light focused on a silhouette that appeared on the right side of the arena. The man appeared like a giant, with a towering height and an impressive build. His tanned body was clad in simple armor and a sword.
He had a wild grin on his face as he took in all the cheers from the large crowd around him.
“Hahahahaha! Where is my enemy?! I will tear him apart!” He yelled loudly as he tapped his chest.
‘Damn, that man looks menacing.’ Arthur thought to himself. ‘He also seems very strong. I don’t think I can beat him easily.’
Arthur could feel the strong aura emitted from the man and he was certain that he would be a tough foe to fight at his current level.
“On the left side!! We have a mysterious warrior! People call him a monster and an abomination! His origin is unknown and his techniques are shrouded in mystery! But, it is certain that he is a true disaster upon his enemies! He is the sole warrior to never lose a fight in the history of the Gladiatorial Battles! Please welcome, the myth, the legend, the monster with a thousand names! GINJO, THE MONKEY WARRIOR!!!”
Then, what ensued after that was perhaps the most interesting thing Arthur had seen ever since he stepped into the Colosseum. Extremely loud cheers that almost chook the sky erupted everywhere.
‘Ginjo?’ The name was instantly familiar to Arthur as he heard it from the carriage man. ‘So this is the man he talked about? Wow, he is extremely popular.’
“GINJO! It’s actually Ginjo!”
“I can’t believe they did it! They’re opening the season with Ginjo!”
“We have gotten what we wanted boys!”
“I’m about to cry!”
The way people reacted was simply insane. What made it even more impressive was that the person they were talking about didn’t even appear yet.
The lights focused on the left side where he is supposed to appear. Everyone waited eagerly. Then, they heard it… The footsteps.
Even though the entire arena was about to explode, somehow, the sound of steps overthrew it all, someone was walking through the tunnel. His steps were slow mixed and steady.
A few seconds passed like that before the silhouette emerged into the light. The man was clad in simple black clothes and carried a sword and a shield. He was of average height and weight. However, the most eye-catching thing about him was his hair…
The man was covered in hair from head to toe as if he was some kind of ghoul. There was so much hair that even his facial features could not be discerned except for his cold eyes and the weird-shaped nose. All in all, the man looked indeed like a monkey.
Immediately, Arthur found himself leaning forward as he stared at the man with a curious look on his face. Unlike everyone else who was cheering and yelling, Arthur was quite shocked.
‘Wait… That’s not a human…’ He thought to himself. ‘That aura… That appearance…’ ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
For some reason, the first image that appeared in Arthur’s head was of Nina and Miro. Ginjo’s entire presence was very similar to those two in more than one way.
‘It can’t be… right?’ Arthur frowned. A cold sensation filled his heart. The same feeling he would have whenever something very eerie happens.
“Arthur?” Isla noticed that weird look on his face. She hadn’t seen Arthur that shocked in a while.
“… Fuck…” Arthur threw himself on the chair again. “Fuck…”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3