Next Morning.
*Creak*
A door to Ichiro's room was opened, and a middle-aged man with a pair of beautiful women entered the room.
The middle-aged man had a stoic-looking face with a stylish business suit and sunglasses covering his eyes.
Ichiro stood up from his bed.
''Kurogami Ichiro, we will leave in 5.'' The middle-aged man said without emotion— it was almost like the voice of a robot.
*Snap*
He snapped his fingers, and the two women appeared in front of Ichiro and started taking his shirt off.
''What is the meaning of this?'' Ichiro was about to send the beautiful women flying.
But then the middle-aged man said, ''You need to have a proper outfit on the arena. It mostly consists of your chest being bare and only wearing shorts.''
''Why?''
The middle-aged man chuckled, which sounded weird coming from him, ''There are all kinds of people watching— some enjoy seeing handsome young men like you fighting to the death while half-naked.''
Ichiro grimaced and let the women do their thing.
First, they removed his suit jacket and put it gently on the bed in neat order. They grabbed his t-shirt next and took it off gently.
Ichiro's explosive muscles, which hold limitless power became visible— they became stunned but soon gathered their thoughts and kept doing their work with small blushes this time.
The second woman took things from her bag and started wiping Ichiro's torso with some kind of liquid.
Ichiro felt uncomfortable and cold as the liquid touched his skin.
''It is to make your skin shinier. They use that in a bodybuilding competition if I remember correctly.'' The middle-aged man said with a small smile.
The other woman removed his pants, leaving him only with his boxers.
''I can do this myself,'' Ichiro said with dead-looking eyes.
She blushed, ''I-It's my job, please let me do this, sir!''
''She needs to add a few gadgets on the shorts as well, let her do her job.'' The middle-aged man said.
Ichiro raised an eyebrow and watched as she put the shorts on him. They were black-colored with A letters in white colors.
''You are Emperor Arkenthym's fighter. These shorts let the spectators identify you.''
Ichiro watched as the woman put two electronic gadgets on the shorts in a way that wouldn't make him uncomfortable or hinder his movements.
''One minute.'' The middle-aged man said.
They started working faster, and half a minute later, they finished.
''Follow me, Kurogami Ichiro.'' He said and left the room.
Ichiro grabbed his two sword sheaths and followed behind him.
All the doors were wide open— each room had the same scene as in Ichiro's.
Some looked nervous, some looked arrogant, and some didn't have any expression on their faces.
While Ichiro was walking, quite many noticed him. Some recognized him.
Some showed their killing intent, some looked at him with a mocking faces, and some looked pale after remembering the prowess he showed in the tournament.
Ichiro walked past the room with number 1 and saw an individual standing while three figures were lying on the ground in unconscious state.
The middle-aged man in front of Ichiro stopped and frowned, ''Mathias, what is the meaning of this?''
The individual grinned. He had short black hair with a dainty nose and sharp eyebrows. His chest was wide open, showing the muscles solely made for combat. He was around 190cm in height with explosive-looking leg muscles.
''They looked at me in a funny way,'' Mathias said with a grinning face.
The middle-aged man furrowed his brows, ''They were supposed to show you the way. Follow me— I will show you.''
''Much appreciated!'' Mathias said and stepped over the unconscious woman and left the room.
He and Ichiro walked side by side while following the middle-aged man.
Ichiro glanced at him and didn't see him holding any weapon, ''You forgot your weapon?''
''Ah!'' Mathias explained and started running back to his room.
The middle-aged man's eyebrow twitched— he stopped walking and waited for him to return.
Soon, Mathias returned with one pair of a sword— he grinned and looked at Ichiro, ''Thanks!''
''No problem,'' Ichiro replied simply, and they started walking once again.
They walked down the long corridors, and at the end of the corridor, pair of doors was seen.
There were two guards waiting— after they saw individuals approaching, they opened the doors and stepped aside.
A spacious stadium became visible.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators were seen loudly talking with each other.
On top of the stadium, hundreds of VIP rooms were also shown.
There were men with expensive suits and beautiful women next to them, but there were also a few incredibly powerful presences.
The middle-aged man stopped and did not enter the arena.
They waited until a crowd of people appeared behind them. They were the remaining fighters.
All of the fighters were holding weapons.
Ichiro took a glance at back and sighed.
All of them were very young, but now they are fighting till death because of some sick entertainment.
*BAM*
A loud sound of three doors opening echoed in the stadium.
The middle-aged man started walking towards the arena— Ichiro and Mathias quickly followed behind him.
Hundreds of fighters came after them.
The spectators didn't cheer— instead, they looked at them like they were nothing but monkeys in cages.
Ichiro looked around the stadium, and then he saw hundreds of more young men walking out of another pair of doors!
'We weren't only ones…' Ichiro frowned.
Hundreds of individuals entered the arena from other doors. Now there were around 400 fighters gathered in the arena!
'How did they even manage to recruit so many?' Ichiro thought.
The middle-aged man stopped in front of hundreds of chairs.
''Sit!'' He said sternly.
Mathias grinned and sat in the first seat, Ichiro sat in the second one, and soon the hundred seats were occupied.
There were 3 other areas, and each one had 100 individuals sitting.
'4 different groups… Why?'
All of them had weapons in their hands and their muscular chests visible— there were also a few young women with sport bras covering their breasts, but the looks they received from nearby young men weren't low amount.
''This will be fun!'' Mathias said with an energetic expression. His eyes sparkled in excitement.
Ichiro chuckled.
''Why are you laughing. Are you laughing at me? Do you want to die?'' Mathias grabbed his sword tighter and was ready to slice Ichiro in half.
Ichiro looked at him and grinned, ''Just curious, what do you think is funny about this? The fact that over half of us will die, or the fact you will lose.''
Mathias stopped grinning and looked at Ichiro with narrowed eyes, ''Me, lose? I have never lost, and I will definitely lose in the hands of a pretty boy who probably has never seen drip of blood.''
Ichiro turned his head away with a grinning face, ''Never lost? That is a death sentence— losing is the best way to get stronger.''