Lenny heard this and noticed that Victor swallowed hard.
Apparently, he was scared, but he swallowed his fear.
Elder Zod asked again, "Will anyone step forward and back off from this tournament?" His eyes danced around and then settled on Victor for a while before moving on once more.
Meanwhile, Curtin stood with a confident smile beside Riff.
Nobody moved.
"In that case, we will proceed with the binding oath. This oath will bind you to the rules of the Alpha Selection Tournament. If you disobey the rules, you will die."
One by one, participants and their fighters stepped forward.
Zod used the blue blood of the primordial beast on their foreheads.
Yet again, he made another symbol.
This time around, the symbol was a 'U'.
Once marked, both contestants and their fighters were to recite a particular phrase.
Once recited, the mark on their foreheads would instantly change color from blue to red.
Lenny watched well.
One after another, the mark was placed on their heads, and the phrase was recited.
As a result of the system, he could see what happened.
The blue blood mark turned red, and then chains would bind, going about the body of the individual.
Afterwards, they would move to the side.
This was the same thing for everybody.
Curtin and Riff stepped forward, and it was the same thing.
After a few more people, Lenny and Victor stepped forward to receive the mark, while Moses waited behind.
Immediately after the blood touched his skin, he got an alert from the system.
<Alert: Host is about to take an oath linked to a primordial beast. Please note that once taken, the Satan system is not yet equipped with enough power to nullify it.>
This alert was unexpected, but he had already gone too far to back off now.
Lenny thought about this decision one more time. This would mean that he would have to eventually face Riff.
Lenny looked at Riff, not so far away.
The memories of what the half-born were capable of rolled around in his head, but he quickly shut off those thoughts.
After all, he was never one to back off from a challenge.
There was also the fact that the pressure from an opponent like Riff could help him grow.
At least it was either that or he was dead.
The thought of death approaching suddenly excited him a bit.
Like a hungry glutton over a pot of freshly barbecued meat, he could not help but swallow hard at the thought.
The zeal and passion for what was to come bloomed in his head like a sudden symphony of sounds, and every fiber of his being hungered for it.
As a sadistic fire within him suddenly burned, he gave a slight smile.
While this was going on, Victor's aunt, Sam, watched from high up behind a pillar at a corner.
In her eyes, what she saw was different.
Wrapped around Lenny's body were bony ribs with incredibly spiky thorns around them.
It had certain symbols on its body and was connected with a chain made of bones which were connected into the Ethereal.
And the moment Lenny gave that slight smile, the ribs tightened around his body.
Sam saw this and cupped her mouth in worry, shaking her head.
At around the same time, she heard a voice from behind her and a tap on her shoulder.
"Hey!"
This made her jump with a WHELP! as she turned to him.
Seeing who it was, she packed away in panic.
"Sorry for startling you. Hey! I'm Perseus. I was wondering if you..."
Perseus tried to talk, but Sam acted as if she had seen a ghost rise from the grave.
She panicked as she turned and rushed out of the place, like fire was chasing her.
Perseus was left standing there, wondering what he had done wrong.
After feeling embarrassed by what happened downstairs with Lenny and the rhino man, Perseus had wondered around the place a bit and, by coincidence, only seen Sam walk this way.
After a few minutes of summoning his courage, something he had never done before, even against demons, he finally walked up to her, and immediately, she barely heard him talk or even his name before bolting out of the place like Perseus's presence was hot lava.
Perseus stood there, speechless, for a while. He did not know what he had done wrong.
He really held back the urge to punch himself in the face.
Around this time, Zod waved his hands, "The oath has been taken. Let the selection process begin."
Immediately, two big werewolves dressed in silver armor stepped forward.
In their hands was a large golden tray, and on this tray was a crystal stone the size of a grown person.
From the aura that came out of it, Lenny could tell that it was a magic stone. But he had not seen a stone this size before.
"What is that? He asked Moses.
"It's a special kind of magic stone. It was gifted by the primordial beast, peeled off from its body for this particular ceremony.
Although it is to test if one is eligible to participate in the tournament, it is also the starting point.
Zod stepped forward once more, "The first matches will be set by the colors displayed, and the subsequent challenges will change according to the choice of the magic stone.
All you have to do is step forward and place your magic into the magic crystal, and a choice will be made.
If you are, however, colorless, then you are not eligible for this competition and will therefore leave your life behind.
Please understand that the rank of your power is not what matters, but the quality of your magic."
The instructions were clear.
The first to step up was a young girl with a Magi as her fighter.
The Magi looked proud and carried himself with an air of sophistication, most likely promised riches if he won.
He placed his hand on the crystal and pumped his negative magic into it.
At first, the crystal looked as if it would glow, but then it did not.
Instantly, the girl turned to the Magi, "No! It can't be. But you told me you were a senior-rank Magi!"
The man turned to her in confusion, "Erm... cough, the truth is that I meant I will be a senior-ranked Magi one day... I am actually..."
The man did not get to finish his words before the 'U' on his forehead turned inverted.
What happened next, Lenny saw clearly.
The red chains sank into his body like squeezing a wet cloth, tightening around his body.
PUSSHHH!!!
He instantly burst like a balloon, his meat and guts all over the place.
The young girl saw this and screamed. She turned around and tried to run away.
"No! help me. I don't want to die. I don't want to..."
PUSSHHH!!!
"Fuck!" Lenny cursed; after all, he couldn't help but remember the punishment he was suffering from the system.
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