BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1431 Ten Cities At Once!
"Looks like everyone is here."
Ravager commentated calmly as he walked through the Colosseum\'s wide open gate leading to the arena and saw that all the fighters from other cities were spread out on the stands.
Each zone in the stands seemed to be occupied by a city\'s qualifiers, creating a pressuring aura to push everyone from daring to encroach on their zone.
Since there were more than ten cities\' representatives had arrived today, the atmosphere was quite electric.
"This will be fun." Goliath smirked as he cracked his knuckles, walking right beside him.
Just like they had noticed them, the other contestants\' focus was immediately drawn to them.
"Long time no see, Ravager." Rhael Stormchaser greeted from a distance with a faint smile.
With hair that resembled a gusty storm cloud, he was famous for summoning electric currents, leaving static in the air wherever he goes.
He was the champion of Paradisa City and this was his third time participating in the heavenly plane\'s tournament, which wasn\'t an easy task in the slightest.
"Rhael, I haven\'t thought you will be foolish enough to seek an early elimination," Ravager replied, his tone as cold as ever.
"Early elimination? Hohoho, strong words coming from the second runner." Nadira Flameheart interjected with a mocking crackle.
Nadira was a medium-build alluring woman with wild fiery curls cascading down her back, her amber eyes danced with mischief.
She was clad in red leather armor that seemed to be burning up...At her left and right, sat the second runner and third runner from her city, Valorielle.
"I thought you wouldn\'t bother showing your face after getting your ass whooped at the hands of a newbie." Thorn Briarwood joined the conversation with a deep rough voice, sounding like two metallic boards clanging against each other.
He had dark green eyes and a rugged appearance as his skin seemed like it was made out of a tree-Burk.
He was a master of flora manipulation and other elements, striking fear in Nirvanis City\'s fighters and earning his qualification for the tournament the second time in a row.
"A newbie?" Ravager smirked coldly, "I hope you will have the same confidence when you land against him."
"We saw his fights, he is strong, but he hasn\'t shown anything that can\'t be handled...Though, his utilization of sound element is quite intriguing." Elara Moonshade replied softly, but her voice still traveled across the entire arena.
She was a tall slim beautiful tan skinned lady...She possessed silvery tattoos that glowed depending on the moon\'s phase.
She was the champion of Luminaara City and considered the goddess of it as almost all companies were using her as a model for their products.
In fact, she was the only one with multiple powerful sponsors behind her back, working together to push her image higher and higher to secure better opportunities for advertisement.
"Even you, Elara?" Goliath narrowed his eyes coldly, "Didn\'t we ally with your team last year and managed to bring down eight cities under our feet? We promised we will become allies in this year\'s tournament."
In the Great Filter Stage, while the rules didn\'t enforce the fighters to create teams from each city, the fighters still did it for their own benefit.
After all, there could be a bit of trust between fighters from the same city since they would be representing all of its citizens and if someone betrayed the team, his reputation would be damaged immensely in his hometown.
Ravager, Goliath, and Avalanche were the known Astralis team for the past years and they had gone through too many battles together in the great filter stage, either alone or allied with other cities.
Last year, they allied with Luminaara City\'s representatives and managed to get decent results even though only Ravager and Elara made it to the final top sixteen.
"That was before we knew that Ravager was weak enough to fail to become this year\'s champion." Elara replied with the same gentle tone, "Plus, your champion is an unpredictable variable and it\'s best to not associate ourselves with him."
"Haha! As expected of our goddess, you never sugarcoat your words." Ironforge, the second-runner, laughed out loud with his head facing the sky.
The remaining champions and their second/third in line seemed to be sharing the same mentality as Elana.
None of them stepped in to offer a hand to Ravager, making it clear that they have absolutely no interest in becoming allies with them.
\'This is a bit problematic.\' Goliath frowned, a look of distress started to show on his face.
He was confident in his strength and Ravager, but he knew that it would be tough for them to take down thirty capable fighters.
Since everyone was forced to accept challenges from other fighters or it would be considered as an automatic forfeit, it meant that they would be left with two options.
Either stay in the Colosseum and accept all the challenges with short windows for a break, or leave the Colosseum and avoid the challenges entirely.
The only issue with the second option was that the Colosseum would be declared as conquered and it would be used to host fights of other cities in their own city!
\'I will never let such a shameful scenario happen under my watch!\' Goliath growled.
"Looking a bit intense there, Little Goli. How about we start with a quick warm-up?"
Jorvik, The Earthshaker suddenly jumped from the stands and landed in the center of the arena with a loud booming thud!
His feet were seen digging deep into the ground while more than ten meters around him was turned into a cracked wasteland.
As his name suggested, his appearance resembled the very mountains he commanded, his skin seemed made out of rocks and rubbles kept falling from him.
With the golden hue surrounding him akin to a cape, no one would think that he was the third runner from Paradisa City.
"Don\'t mind if I do."
Goliath joined him in the arena, allowing his hot lava to pour out of his skin and create a pool of lava around him.
Suddenly, the host Mr. Sogrus flew into the arena while yelling into the microphone.
"Waaaaitt! There won\'t be any fighting until the city\'s champion arrives and give permission!"
"Tsk, then where is he? He should know by now about our arrival."
"Pfff, did our numbers scare him?" Nadira Flameheart chuckled.
"Most likely, he is still new to all of this and he must have not expected that he will be fending off ten cities right on the first day." Thorn Briarwood uttered calmly.
Everyone knew that the moment cities attack one another, the champion would be given a single day to make his decision of whether he wanted to accept their challenges in the Colosseum or hand over the rulership to the second runner.
If the second runner refused to accept the challenges, the third runner would be given the right of command.
Only after he reject them would the Colosseum would be considered a free for all place for battles in the great filter stage.
Since the capital had most of the population and influence in the heavenly plane, turning its arena into a public space meant all contestants would honor their sponsors\' wishes and fight under the highest viewership.
Goliath and Ravager were obliged by their own sponsors to never make this happen as they wanted to advertise their products to other cities, not bring outsiders\' stuff into their own city.
This was one of the reasons they wanted to either bring Felix to their side or get rid of him. Without him being sponsored at the moment, it could be uttered that he was making it harder for them to keep the metropolis under their reigns.
"If he isn\'t going to show up in the next two hours, I will return to my hotel."
"Hotel? I came all the way here, it will be a shame if I didn\'t taste the city\'s cuisine." Thorn Briarwood uttered as he licked his tongue.
"Disgusting perv." Nadira gave him a nasty side glance, knowing exactly that he wasn\'t implying food.
The rest of the combatants seemed to have made the same decision to take a hike after a few hours since they knew that Felix was in the metropolis through their GPS.
If he didn\'t show up, it only meant that he cowered up.
Speaking about the GPS, many combatants pulled their devices, wanting to see if he was still in his original place or if he had made his move.
"Huh?"
"Mmm?!"
When they noticed his new location, all of them lifted their heads instinctively.
"What\'s the matter?"
The other combatants were left confused at their teammates reaction and looked up as well, just to be left stunned at the sight before them.
There, hovering above the center of the Colosseum, was Felix, astride his majestic two-headed crimson lion. Its wings, vast and powerful, beat the air with rhythmic grace, holding them both aloft.
The lion\'s tail, aflame with brown flames, waved majestically, leaving a trail of sparks...The sight was awe-
inspiring, a fusion of might and elegance!
For a moment, time seemed to stand still...The once noisy arena was plunged into stunned silence, broken only by the soft beat of the lion\'s wings.
Whether it was a victor or not, none of them managed to escape from showing an astounded and awed expression at the divinity of the Crimson Lion.
Even from afar, they understood deep down in their hearts that this beast was absolutely priceless.
"Is that the Traveler? How did he get his hands on such a divine creature?!"
"What the...Didn\'t the information say he is a newcomer-
talented spirit? How can he gain enough money and network to buy such a beast?!"
"Did he hunt it on his own...That can\'t be, the permits take decades to be released!"
"Maybe his master lent it to him to make an entrance..Forget it, his master is that broke cheapskate witch."
Everyone was left absolutely clueless about this situation, trying their absolute best to make sense of it but to no avail...Even Ravager was taken aback.
"Traveler...How can one change so much in two weeks." Ravanger muttered, his heart started beating out of his chest the moment his eyes landed on Felix\'s expressionless expression.
He could feel it, he could feel that Felix had gotten much, much stronger than he could have ever imagined!