Charles, the beast, and Calen, the hero stood face to face.
The arena was electrifying as people were dying to already see their match.
"You look puny for a hero!" The big man scoffed, looking down at the kid.
"And you look big for a dead man," Calen replied, staring straight up at the big brute with a confident smile.
"Let's see how much you can talk after I plow through you like a man with no brains," the man retorted, gritting his teeth.
"You ready?!" The announcer bellowed through his lungs, a mixture of excitement and nerves coursing through him as he awaited the inevitable battle between Calen and Charles.
"Yes!" The crowd roared back.
"Today's first match. The tournament's first official match. Our very own Calen versus our very own Charles!"
"Begin!"
Charles, a mountain of a man, let out a roar that shook the arena walls.
He grabbed the hilt of his axe and held it firmly in his hand. He charged forward, and the earth quaked under his massive feet. He closed the distance between himself and Calen with great speed.
Calen looked at Charles nonchalantly like the big brute was not even a threat. He yawned and pluck his ears.
Seeing this Charles's rage intensified, veins popping from his head, he raised his axe and brought it down in a furious overhead swing.
Calen just simply sidestepped, allowing the axe to fall gracefully to the side.
Charles didn't stop, though. He kept going, letting out another deafening roar as he spun around. He kicked the ground and jumped straight at Calen, trying to crush him underneath the weight of his body.
The arena burst into a frenzy of excitement as they watched the first match, the tension building between the two as each man prepared their attack.
Calen watched the beast fly through the air like he was nothing, but Calen had a plan.
"I know you're good, but I'm just too strong for you," Charles said, his voice thunderous as he hovered over Calen.
He brought his axe back, preparing another blow, and then he thrust forward, letting out another deafening roar.
Luther was silent as he watched the match, the other nobles who bet on Charles? Not so quiet, but rather they are cheering seeing all the cracks and booms and seeing the scrawny little guy running around.
Calen paced back as the axe drove down, creating a vortex of pressure where it connected with the ground, cracks forming in the earth all around it.
As the axe began to dig into the earth, Calen leaped up at the beast. He brought his elbow around and into the side of the man's head, knocking him off his feet. The beast went tumbling, and Calen landed gracefully back on the ground.
Charles tried to shake the dizziness out of his head. He rolled around, groaning and grunting.
Just from an elbow? Charles can't believe what was happening to him.
The arena burst into a frenzy of cheers and boos, a mixture of emotions among the audience members.
He stood up again, shaking his head once more.
Calen paced over to Charles and grabbed him by the shoulder. He punched the beast square in the face with his free hand.
The audience was silent, and they watched as Charles's head spun like a top before falling back into place with a crack.
He fell to the ground like a bag of potatoes, completely out of commission.
"HOLY FUCK!" Someone shouted in the audience.
"OH, MY GOD! YOU DID IT! YOU KILLED HIM!" Someone else shouted.
Calen slowly paced toward the unconscious Charles. He looked at his limp body with a smile on his face.
"Good riddance." He kicked the man one last time. "That's what you get for being so greedy."
Charles's body rolled over and faced up toward the ceiling. His mouth was open, and blood was gushing out.
"Charles is out. Charles has been knocked out. It looks like Calen will be our victor!" The announcer shouted, trying to recover from the shock of what had just occurred.
The crowd burst into cheers, some of the people shouting that it was rigged. Others said that he cheated, and some were cheering and calling for more.
Damien smiled watching the young hero kicking the corps not because he won the gold coins but because of the simple rule that he just broke on the very first match of the tournament. The no-killing rule.
"He killed him! He bloody damn put the beast down." He murmured, shifting in his seat. The nobles around him were silent, eying the gold coins as Damien reached out picking a single coin with his two fingers and rubbing it.
"He just altered the rules."
"Won't he be disqualified?" Luther asked, he was terrified watching the simple twist and crack of the neck. It was so simple that Calen didn't even try anything fancy.
"No," Damien answered, eyeing the healers rushing toward the unconscious Charles. "Calen is a fan favorite, someone backed out by the entire Autumn kingdom. You think they will allow the judges to disqualify him? No, no, if they do so, the tournament for unity would be over before it even begins."
"So they are going to just let this pass? Like a one-time thing?" Luther asked, trying to understand the stand this tournament is going to play out.
"Nah, a one-time thing? No. From now on, killing would be allowed for the rest of the rounds. Chaos is going to rein."
They watched as the judges-kings and the Grandmaster- discussing the issue at hand.
The Autumn king flayed his hands, and spit flew from his mouth as he argued with the others. The Autumn King and the Summer King were arguing like an old married couple, but the others were talking amongst themselves, their heads nodding up and down as if they were thinking.
The audience grew restless, everyone waiting for the outcome.
The dead body was then lifted off the stage by four guards after the healers made sure he was really dead. Calen stood by the side and watched the scene with a smile on his face. His sister was beside him, nagging him with questions about why he did it.
Damien had sweeped the table off the coins and put them in his purse. The nobles gulping beside him eyed him but remained silent.
After several minutes of discussion, the judges called the announcer to the panel, where they discussed for some more time before the announcer jogged back to the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of this match, Calen of Aldmoor," the announcer's voice was drowned by the roaring of the crowd as they applauded the young man's victory.
Calen, still having his cocky smile, raised his hands to his chest as he walked off the stage. The applause only grew louder, some even throwing coins at him and whistling at him.
"Settle down, settle down folks, there is more to come," the announcer motioned to calm down. After a moment he continued. "After discussing profoundly, the judges- the esteemed kings and our own Grandmaster- have come to a conclusion that is going to make you more electrifying. A rule that will be changed for just your happiness and entertainment."
"They are going to make killing legal," Damien bit on a grape, watching the scene unfold with curiosity. He can use this chance. A chance the hero himself gives him. A chance of a lifetime. His crimson eyes glowed as he gazed at the young hero laughing and smiling with his sister. He was going to change the route of the entire story. He was going to fuck the author up.
"As you may have guessed already, a limitation to the full power is pitiful to watch so from forth, killing is now allowed in this year's tournament," the announcer spoke loudly as he looked at the crowd.
The crowd erupted into cheers once again, and many of the audience members began chanting the hero's name.
"Oh, I do hope the other kingdoms are going to join this new rule," Damien thought, chuckling to himself. "How many of them are going to fall? When is this going to become a tournament of death?"
"Thank you, thank you, my dear friends, for understanding such a hard decision we had to make," the announcer said as he bowed his head. "Now, let's move on to the next match."
"Isn't it...just going to be a massacre?" Luther asked, the truth drowning in him. "The strong will prey on the weak, they will kill them."
"Not everyone is idiotic and bloodthirsty like Calen," Damien said. "Majority of the fighters are noble but of course, there are expectations. Now that killing is allowed, many secret weapons and arts, designed specifically for killing are going to be introduced in this year's tournament."
"I don't want to know how many people are going to die because of that." Luther shivered.
Damien chuckled, his eyes glowing brighter. "That also means, the weaker ones, who are cursed with weak bodies can now utilize their hidden poisons to snuff the life out of a beast. It's simple as that."
Luther gulped, the reality of the situation dawning on him.
"This is going to be a war between kingdoms," Damien said, taking a sip of the red wine. "But this also means, the contestants are free to kill anyone, and I mean anyone at all. Be it a fan favorite or a young hero."
He had already formed the perfect plan to end this book. To end his suffering and a chance to meet the author.
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