"Please everyone, all of you will be able to place your bet before the match starts, don't break the line!"

"huuu…."

Rubbing his cold hands together Tristan closed his eyes.

He was waiting in line to place his bet for the last match between Mr. Pepe and Mother Mash.

The betting for the matches only happened after the last match ends, and that match is next.

"Who are you going to bet on?"

"Are you an idiot? Is that even a question? Mr. Pepe crushed Vile reaper with a single word. Of course, he will win!"

"Yeah, back then I felt as if death was staring at me, even though he never looked at me."

"He is built differently! We can't even comprehend why he chose such a unique alias. But there must be a reason why someone great like him will choose that name."

Tristan overhead the people behind me talking and he shook his head.

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'Noobs, they don't even understand the basics of gambling.'

Tristan was going to make his bet on Mother Mash winning.

So, what if he lost his money when Rumbling Yato won, as everyone had predicted? He was still going to bet on the participant that has a low chance of winning to make it big, rather than betting on someone guaranteed to win and earn marginal profit.

Just thinking about the money that he will get if Mother Mash wins made him drool.

'But if I lose…"

Tristan looked at the money that was his last saving, but he shook his head and steeled his mind.

'Risks and gambling, go hand in hand!'

Finally, there was only one person left in front of Tristan before his turn came.

"I want to bet 100,000B on Mother Mash."

The lady in front of Tristan placed her bet.

"Someone bet 100,000B on Mother Mash?"

"Hahaha, it must be a snob-rich lady who is flaunting her wealth. Even an idiot knows that Mother Mash will lose."

The crowd insulted the lady.

100,000B was a large sum of money, more so because Gladiator Championship was a small tournament, and she was throwing all that money down a rabbit hole.

"Miss, you seem rich, but it isn't safe to roam in Underworld with that much money. Let us escort you."

A group of people with wicked expressions gathered around the lady.

The lady didn't react to their provocation, but this only further increased the hooligans' courage.

Tristan didn't move to help and moved back. The lady had nothing to do with him and he had a bad feeling about this.

The hooligans walked up to her and grabbed her wrist-

Swish-!

-and the hooligan's arm was sliced off from his shoulder.

"ARghh!!!"

The lady ignored the screaming hooligan and kicked him away.

Nobody saw when she moved, let alone how he cut off his arm.

She wiped the blood that had splashed on her arm and turned to the person sitting at the counter.

"He was the first to attack. So, my response was justified self-defense."

The person behind audibly gulped and nodded.

The lady was leaving after placing her bet when Tristan, mustering his courage, blocked her path.

"You also want to get a 'handicap'?"

"No, can I ask why you bet on Mother Mash?"

The lady, who looked normal at first sight, was at least Tesla rank. How did he know?

It was because of the golden shield emblem on her overcoat. Only officers of Aegis are allowed to use the golden shield emblem. If someone is caught impersonating an officer, they are given capital punishment.

Putting the name 'Gwen Hunt' that was written under her emblem aside, as he didn't know her, all officers of Aegis are above Enma rank.

Above Enma rank, in other words, a 'real' awakener.

There has to be a reason someone like her placed such large money on Mother Mash.

'Was I right? Mother Mash will win?'

Tristan wasn't worried about losing his limbs if he pissed her off.

As a vampire, as long he didn't die, he can regenerate his limbs. Nevertheless, he sighed in relief when the lady wasn't angry and answered him.

"Mr. Pepe will lose. Isn't it obvious that I should bet on the winner?"

Tristan left after hearing her answer, but others flocked to the lady.

They wanted to know why Mr. Pepe will lose and then maybe change their bet.

They had also noticed the emblem and knew the lady above Enma rank.

Underworld was a neutral organization. It was a common sight to see criminals or famous awakeners roaming here.

Weirdly enough, the lady patiently answered them.

"Is there anybody here who wasn't affected by Mr. Pepe's pressure the first time?"

"Yes, for some reason, I wasn't affected."

"Me too"

"It didn't work on me too."

Three people came forward. The lady nodded her head.

"Did his pressure affect you three the second time he released it?"

The three people took time to ponder before answering.

"The second time it was difficult to breathe, but I didn't feel fear or oppression like others."

"Now that I think about it, I also didn't feel fear like others said they did."

"I don't think I did."

The crowd noticed the abnormality. The lady smiled and turned to the crowd.

"Mr. Pepe's pressure doesn't work on everyone. Or he purposely left the same people untouched both times, among the hundreds of spectators, when he released his pressure."

The crowd was surprised.

Thinking now they could see not everyone was affected by Mr. Pepe's pressure and both times they were the same people who weren't affected.

"But that doesn't mean Mr. Pepe will lose."

The lady shook her head.

"His pressure did not affect Mother Mash. He can't win by making her faint. He will have to fight, and Mr. Pepe is a mage."

The crowd shut up at the revelation.

Mage and aura users have distinct advantages over each other.

Aura users are superior in close-quarter combat, while mages deal massive damage from a distance.

The arena of the tournament had a fixed area and nothing to be used as a cover.

An aura user can easily defeat a mage before they even chant their spell because of the venue and setting of the tournament.

"He used Grimoire to create the hole in the 1st round. The flashbang he used was to hide the grimoire he bought out."

As a high-level awakener, the lady had better senses than everyone here.

She was able to notice Nathan bringing out Grimoire moments before the flashbang detonated.

"We haven't seen him using any spell. It doesn't make sense if he is hiding his ability as a mage when he has already shown that he is the likeliest participant to win."

"But that pressure and how did he cross that mana barrier?"

"The pressure is probably some kind of skill. This explains its restriction of working on only some types of people. The barrier crossing too."

The lady left while leaving a few parting words.

"If I had to guess, he is purposely posing as strong. He is going to bet on Mother Mash so that when he loses, he earns a lot of money because of the high divined."

Many were put in a dilemma by her parting words.

Indeed, it was weird Mr. Pepe was trying to hide that he was a mage, and the lady's made sense.

Her words greatly affected the betting, and the dividend became 1:2 for Mr.Pepe: Mother Mash.

The main reason people trusted the lady was that she was a high-level awakener, and she herself bet large money on Mother Mash.

But Mr. Pepe's feats were undeniable.

Originally, many were going to bet on Mr. Pepe. The dividend was predicted to be at least 8:1.

But now, if Mother Mash wins, the return will be only double their bid.

Tristan, who was standing at the back, looked at the scene with a glint in his eyes.

'Weird. Her words make sense, but why did she tell everyone this? Wouldn't she earn more if the majority of people bid on Mr. Pepe but Mother Mash wins?'

His gambler's senses were telling him that something was up.

"I will bid on Mr. Pepe."

Trusting in himself, Tristan changed his decision and bid on Mr. Pepe.

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