There was one large arena in the middle of the stadium.
It was large enough to cover half of the stadium, over 500 meters in length.
A certain beautiful woman appeared on top of the arena, and she walked all the way to the center of the arena.
*Whistle*
The sound of whistling echoed in the stadium. The men in the spectator stand looked hungrily at the beautiful woman.
She had long blond hair reaching her waist with big blue eyes, and adorable facial features. She was wearing a pink dress with a skirt, which left her legs wide open. She had a beautiful smile on her face as she looked around the stadium.
She put the microphone closer to her pink lips and opened her mouth, ''Welcome everyone.'' Her beautiful voice rang in the ears of everyone.
*Cheer*
The spectators cheered loudly with energetic expressions.
''My name is Amy, and I am the Hostess of the tournament.'' She said and bowed towards the VIP stands.
*Claps*
The spectators clapped while the people in VIP stands nodded.
''Today is the preliminaries of the Underworld tournament, and two weeks later, the final matches will be held!''
''There are dozens of different Underworld tournaments ongoing currently in different parts of Arya, to determine the fighters for the final matches, today… We will also determine a person to fight in the final matches!''
''Only 1 of these 400 fighters will move to the final matches and have a chance to fight for the Grand Prize!''
Amy looked towards the VIP stands and saw them nodding.
She smiled, ''There are four groups, as you can see! Only one of each group will move to the finals, where the winner will be determined!''
Everyone became quiet and waited for her following words.
She grinned and shouted, ''The format will be Battle Royale! 100 fighters will fight simultaneously to determine the person who will move to the finals!''
*Cheers*
The spectators exploded in cheers. At first, they thought it would be an ordinary tournament format, but Battle Royale is much more exciting!
The young men and women in each group warily looked at each other.
Mathias turned his gaze towards Ichiro and grinned, ''You said losing makes stronger, right?''
Ichiro looked at him with an expressionless face.
''Here, losing means death!'' Mathias looked at his sword with a sickening grin, ''Do you want to know how I was recruited?''
Ichiro stayed silent.
Mathias looked at him, and his eyes became pitch black, ''I killed my family.'' He licked his lips and grinned.
Ichiro looked at him with a frown.
Mathias put his sword in front of him— the blade's reflection showed both of them.
''I stabbed this blade through my little sister's heart, and I listened to her cries of agony— it was the most perfect melody I have ever heard.'' Mathias took the sword back and looked at the reflection, which showed his pitch-black eyes, ''I was chased by the police, and I was about to get captured, but then I was recruited into this tournament.''
''Why did you kill them?'' Ichiro asked without expression.
Mathias shrugged, ''Not sure, I thought it was a good idea at that time.''
''Do you regret it?''
Mathias grinned, ''Nope.''
He pointed his sword towards hundreds of other individuals, ''If you think I am bad, there are people much worse than I.''
Ichiro didn't answer, he turned his head towards others, and some had visible excitement on their faces.
''Most of them are murderers with no other place left.'' Mathias yawned and asked, ''What did you do to get in here?''
Ichiro was about to answer, but then Mathias interrupted.
''Wait, don't tell me! Let me guess!''
He went into thinking posture.
Ichiro looked at him with cold eyes.
Mathias then grinned, ''You used your looks to trick some girls into slavery!''
*Swoosh*
Ichiro unsheathed his sword and touched Mathias' throat with the edge of the blade.
''Waaah, so I was right?'' Mathias grinned and looked at him without any fear.
''Hey, what are you doing?!'' A guard shouted and unsheathed his sword. He was only a few meters away from them.
Ichiro snorted and put his sword back in the sheath, ''I became stronger, that's what happened.''
''Hmm?'' Mathias raised an eyebrow.
Ichiro became quiet—he looked towards Amy, who was about to give the last piece of information.
''A Group will be the first one to be fighting!'' Amy shouted and pointed towards one of the groups, ''Come to the arena, fighters!''
Everyone turned their heads towards one of the groups. Many had pale faces, but some looked excited.
Hundreds of young men and women entered the arena.
''Rules are simple! If you die or fall down from the arena, you have lost!'' Amy shouted and left the arena. She descended the stairs and walked past Ichiro and Mathias.
*Whistle*
Mathias whistled as he watched her hips move in a seductive manner.
Amy glanced at him and rolled her eyes.
Mathias grinned and elbowed Ichiro's waist, ''She likes me!''
''Oh?'' Ichiro raised an eyebrow, ''What gave it away? The face of disgust she gave you, or the fact that she started walking faster to get away from you.''
''Pah!'' Mathias slapped Ichiro's shoulder and said, ''Small details! Today after I have won, she is probably waiting for me in her birthday suit!''
''After you have won?'' Ichiro chuckled.
Mathias snorted, ''Of course, I will win.'' He said with a face that told his incredible confidence in his own strength.
''Confidence or blind arrogance?'' Ichiro asked with a frown.
''Both!'' Mathias grinned and turned his head towards Amy, who was walking towards the VIP stands— he licked his lips and asked, ''Should I tell the story of how I killed my family? Would it turn her on?''
He turned his head towards Ichiro, ''What do you think?''
Ichiro rubbed his forehead and didn't answer.
He looked at the arena, where the Battle Royale was about to begin!
Amy entered her commentator room— she sat down and shouted, ''First round of Underworld tournament begins! Group A, fight!''