It Starts! The Tournament of Death! (101)

The guard that Akasan ran into not too long ago had run off to report to his higher ups.

The news spread throughout Urvenia quickly, reaching the Shogun in no time at all. He sat in a dark room by himself, sitting on the floor with a smoking pipe in his hand. A man slid open the door to his room. He had a sword on his side, and he was dressed as a samurai should be.

"Sir. Have you heard the news yet?" he asked.

The Shogun looked up at him with steely black eyes peering from the shadows. "No. What news?" he said dryly.

"Right. Apparently there's an outsider in the country. He's been identified to be the Honorary Prince from Arbok sir."

The Shogun's eyes squinted. "Arbok..." A deep laugh came out of him. "Ahh, it must be the man Dabi was looking for. So he just walked up on us eh? I'll tell him myself. You can go now."

The samurai bowed. "As you wish."

The shogun personally called Dabi to let him know of the new report.

King Dabi sat in a golden throne atop a floor of red carpet. He was a hulk of a man. He had blue skin, a mass of black hair, and piercing blue eyes.

He stood well over seven feet tall and wide enough to the point where he couldn't fit through regular doorways. He had female servants around him all the time, who often fed him his food by hand. He signaled them to move away from him as he spoke on the phone.

"Yes. This is truly a blessing in disguise. Thank you for telling me. You will be handsomely rewarded, Viper."

Dabi hung up the phone. The servant carried it away. The king rested his hand on his left fist. He glanced at the woman in the corner of the room. She was sitting down and crouched up. She looked almost sad. She had brown hair and pine green eyes. A real beauty. Dabi smirked maliciously.

"Hanami." he called.

She looked up quickly, hearing her name being called. "Yes?"

Dabi curled a finger, signaling her to come closer.

Hanami got up and walked over to him.

Dabi sat up in his throne. "Hanami. There's an intruder in my country. He's a prince."

Hanami politely stood with her arms in front of her. "Yes. Would you like me to kill him?"

Dabi chuckled, showing off his sharp canine teeth. "He is a welcome intruder. He's the son of that kid Jack. Meaning he likely has at least one or two of the ocular powers. But he is our honored guest nonetheless. And the best way to welcome someone is with a game. A deadly one of course." Dabi started cackling.

Hanami had a blank expression on her face. "Is it the Tournament of Death sir?"

Dabi looked with an evil smile. "Of course it is."

Hanami bowed. "Yes sir. I will make preparations right away."

Dabi laughed again. "See? That's why I like you. You're so obedient. More so than the others."

Hanami's expression remained neutral. She walked out of the room and left.

Dabi again place his head on his fist. "Now... honored prince. Show me how long you can last."

--

Akasan walked out further into the town. It was more or less the same as before, just a poor town with hardly any people.

Then he heard an enthusiastic scream from a rooftop.

"WOOOHOOO!!!"

A skinny man with long legs leapt off of the rooftop and landed in front of Akasan. He had blonde hair styled in a duck tail, black shades on his face, and he wore a suit with black pants that had thin white stripes on them. He seemed... eccentric. The man pointed at Akasan.

"You there!! Today is truly a wonderful and joyous day for you!!" The man continued to pose flamboyantly as he spoke.

Akasan was honestly at a loss for words.

"You should feel honored, as you have been chosen, yes you, Prince Akasan of the First Order, to participate in the Tournament of Death!!!" the man exclaimed.

Akasan frowned confusingly. "Tournament of... Death?"

The man nodded quickly. "Yes!! It's a game ran by King Dabi himself in all his glory!! You have no choice but to participate, there is no escape from it!!"

Akasan crossed his arms. "Alright, let's hear it. What's the catch?"

The man grinned from ear to ear. "I'm glad to see so much overflowing confidence! Allow me to explain your situation." He pointed at Akasan's forehead. "A one trillion credit bounty has been placed on your head!"

Akasan's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. "O-One trillion?!"

"Yes!! Exactly that! One trillion credits for anyone in this country to kill you and bring King Dabi your head!! Anyone inside of the country is allowed to partake in this experience! Now, as our king is a very magnificent and merciful ruler, you, the target, is granted just one perk. Your fights can only be one against one. Neither you nor your opponent can have any help whatsoever! The tournament ends when there is nobody left that wants to challenge you!! In that case, you will instead receive the one trillion credits!"

Akasan sighed. "This is gonna be annoying..."

The man continued. "Also, there's a twist!! As there is a chance that our contestant is so strong that the civilians refuse to fight, do not worry!! The shogun, Don Viper, and the mercenaries, the King's Bloodhounds, will participate regardless!" He started laughing. His voice was beginning to get irritating to Akasan.

Akasan waved his hand. "Alright, alright, I get it. So all I have to do is defeat anyone who comes my way right?"

The man nodded as he grinned.

Akasan accepted that and continued on walking. After a few steps he stopped and turned around. "Hey. Weird guy."

The man adjusted his glasses and did a striking pose. "My name is Bullo!"

Akasan ignored him. "Where does the Shogun live?"

Bullo pointed. "Southeast!!"

Akasan ran off in that direction. "Thank you!"

When Akasan left the town, there was only fields of red dirt and rock around him. He started flying to speed up the travel. Soon a figure became visible in the distance ahead. Akasan landed on the ground and waited. He frowned. "Is this my first opponent?"

Akasan was surprised when the person came into view. He was male, with short blond hair, bright green eyes, and a confident smirk on his face. The only problem was, he actually looked like he was only a child.

The boy looked at Akasan when they were close enough. "Man... I'm glad that I got here first. I thought I would be late to the party. I've been itching to kill someone for a while now."

Akasan was confused. "Wait, who are you? You're actually here to fight?"

The boy looked up at him and crossed his arms. "Yeah. My name is Yukio. I'm one of the Bloodhounds."