Gladiator Championship.

It was a tournament that started in the Underworld two years back. Even though it had happened only 2 times it was gaining popularity at an alarming pace.

Moreover, the prizes for this year's tournament were donated by the heiress of the Underworld, the Sword Maiden, herself.

Great expectations were held for this year's tournament. Who would win? What kind of epic battles will we see? How much bloodshed will happen?

Everyone was excited, at least until the list of contestants was released.

They felt as if they had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

Why? Because the Vile Reaper was participating.

Vile Reaper was a notorious criminal, famous for constantly slipping through Aegis' clutches. It wasn't uncommon to see a piece of news about a major crime being done by him at least once a month.

Moreover, he was rumored to have 4SP/Lvl talent.

It was all but confirmed that he was the winner of this year's tournament.

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This greatly dampened the crowd's excitement. Yes, they didn't know who would end up as runner-ups, but there was no thrill when the final winner was already known.

Even the betting event that had always been a major part of the tournament was lackluster.

However, despite all this, the crowd was currently excited.

They were shouting cheers, bidding fervently, and feeling their blood pumping in great elation.

All of this was because of what was happening on the ground.

A participant, with golden lighting crackling around him, was holding his own against the Vile Reaper.

The Vile Reaper who kills his enemies silently and quickly like a reaper was yet not able to kill this participant.

A dark horse has appeared!

Ooooooooo-

The crowd shouted vehemently as the participant skillfully struck down the continuous whip attacks of Vile reaper.

"Yato!"

Yato twisted his neck to an unnatural degree, barely dodging the whip.

'30 seconds'

Only half a minute against Vile Reaper, and Yato was already on his last leg.

Vile Reaper's attacks weren't only unending, they were unnaturally fast and strong too. Yato wasn't even able to see the whip that kept attacking him.

Yato would have died in the first few seconds if he didn't have his keen senses that helped him to track and predict the trajectory of the attacks.

He was using his stigma [Full-Frame] to boost his stats and was barely able to keep up with the constant onslaught.

'How much longer?'

Sparks flew in the air every time Yato deflected an attack. He could feel the strength leaving his arms, but he continued swinging his sword.

As the whip clashed against his sword, he felt as if his entire being was rattling.

He glanced around and found that the number of constants was now down to 20.

'Good. Only a few seconds more.'

Right on cue, the magic user battle slave fired a rank 3 spell and killed two people. Now he only needed to defend himself until two more participants died.

Clang-!

He swung his sword feverishly.

Clang-! Clang-! Clang-!

Sometimes more than one clash happens in one exchange. Yet the power behind the whip never reduced. Thus, Yato had to answer in kind and he swung with his full strength every time.

His body was screaming in pain, asking him to let it rest, but he didn't relent.

If he slowed even for one attack, he would die.

Clang-!

And so he swung.

He swung and swung and swung his sword will all his might, straining his mana pool to its limit.

But the end never came.

'Wh..y isn't it en..ding?'

His limbs were paralyzing, and his eyelids were beginning to droop heavily.

If he continued for a few more minutes, then even if he didn't die at the hands of Vile Reaper, he was going to die from mana exhaustion.

He looked around and found that the number of participants was down to..

'18!? Why are still 18 people left?! Hadn't it been dozens of seconds since that mage killed two participants?!'

Clang-! Clang-!

Through the constant clashes and his thoughts that were beginning to shut down, he managed to arrive at the answers.

The other participants were waiting for Vile Reaper to kill him and his partner, Seer.

Now that only two people needed to be eliminated, nobody wanted to risk their lives. They wanted to pass the round by letting Vile reaper kill the last two participants.

He had to do something and do it fast. Otherwise, not only he, but his partner, would also die with him.

Biting his lips until blood dripped from them, he decided to bet everything on the slim chances of survival.

"Sixth Form: Empty Fade"

A large portion of mana was sucked from his core, leaving his core almost empty, and smoke exploded outwards from his body.

Vile Reaper whipped to split the smoke concealing Yato.

The smoke cleared up, but what came out of it wasn't one but three Yato!

Before Vile Reaper could understand the situation, two Yato flanked him from both sides. He slashed his whip in a full circle and hit the two Yato.

But rather than dying, both of them dissolved into smoke.

By the time he realized that both of them were distractions, the real Yato was already nearing other participants.

Yato had decided to eliminate the other two participants by himself. Seer had been trying to kill others, but as a sniper, she needed a tanker to cover her, for her to truly shine.

He could feel his grip losing as exhaustion was taking over his body. But he knew he had no time to spare. Vile reaper will reach him in no time.

Since the beginning of the match, Yato had only swung his sword with the intent to defend. Seer had been the one eliminating others.

He knew he was achieving nothing by not trying to kill others, but he couldn't bring himself to do the deed.

Yet for the first time, he swung his sword with the intent to kill.

This was the last attack and will use all his mana, most probably killing himself in the process. Though at least Seer wouldn't have to die because of him.

"Fifth Form: Thousand Divine Sla-"

Vupp-

Bam-!

Before Yato could complete his move, Vile Reaper appeared beside him through thin air and punched him in the guts.

His body flew and crashed back to his previous position.

"Did you think you could run, kid?"

For the first time since the beginning of the match, Vile reaper spoke. He took slow steps as we walked toward Yato.

"How did it feel when you thought that you had won only to be plunged back into despair?~"

He licked his lips with a nasty grin and spoke leisurely. He was in no hurry to kill Yato.

Yato, who was lying on the ground, couldn't hear anything. The symptoms of mana exhaustion had started kicking him, stripping him of his mobility.

Vile reaper, who realized that Yato already had a foot in the grave, turned his attention to his partner.

Vupp-

Grab-

Bang-!

He suddenly appeared beside Seer and grabbing her by the neck, smashed her head into the ground.

"Your partner is no fun, so I'll be playing with you. Now, which hand should I start with?"

Many in the audience grimaced when Vile reaper raised Seer's left arm.

One more reason no participant wanted to enter the first round with the Vile reaper was that he was infamous for torturing his enemies he found fun.

He would always start with their hands, then legs, the forearms, then thighs, and slowly move towards the person's heart.

Smiling in glee, he increased the strength in his grip and slowly twisted her arm…

"S..stop"

Breathing heavily, Yato was trying to stand with the support of his sword.

His voice was barely audible, and he didn't even have the strength to lift his sword. This scene sent chills down Vile reaper's spine.

"Ah ~"

His gleeful smile stretched to an unnatural extent as he watched Yato struggling against insurmountable despair.

He felt the electrifying ecstasy reaching deep into his bones.

Just one finger. O-One finger should do the work, shouldn't it? These thoughts raced through his mind as he tried to find ways to motivate Yato.

Killing Yato? Or his partner? No, can do that! That could wait until they satisfied him!

His breathing became ragged as they thought of the pleasure Yato would give him.

He grabbed Seer's finger and snapp-

-THE FIRST ROUND HAS ENDED. ALL PARTICIPANTS PLEASE STAND DOWN. THE FIRST ROUND OF THE 3RD GLADIATOR CHAMPIONSHIP HAS ENDED-

"Yawn… I didn't know that they allowed perverts to participate."

A lazy voice echoed.

"Who disturbed my pleasure time!"

"Damn, he's a hardcore pervert, an open one at that. Miller, this is why they say 'A pervert a time will ruin your day thousand times'."

'It's him again.'

These were Yato's last thoughts as he saw the black-robed person, sitting on top of four corpses.

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