"Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry for the wait but it's finally time for the Annual Shinobi Marriage Competition to begin!" The announcer said with excitement as his voice reverberated throughout the entire Coliseum as he stood in the center of the arena.
However, before the announcer could continue an elder of the Shinobi Clan appeared beside them and whispered something in his ear before they returned to the first Elder's side.
"Will do," The announce nodded as he redirected his attention to the crowd, "Sorry once again but it seems there's been a change in this year's rules."
The announcer said before clenching his fist causing swirls of light and dark energy to revolve around his fist. Before he lightly punched the ground and shot into the air, generating a shockwave that spread throughout the entire coliseum.
The moment his fist connected with the arena floor and awoke something buried deep beneath the coliseum, unleashing a surge of black mist that engulfed the arena.
Destroying the original layout of the arena which was split into five stages that could each accommodate twenty to thirty participants. Meaning only a total of a hundred people could fight for Gabriella's heart, mind, and soul and the chance to earn a drop of Void Blood if they won.
In the time it took for a cup of noodles to be made the entire arena was remolded as the five stages were destroyed and replaced by a barren mass of land. That was surrounded by a barrier that covered an all-around distance of 850 meters to both protect and safeguard the lives of the participants and viewers.
'Sigh, just what is taking so long?' Rin and everyone else thought, as this was starting to get annoying.
"Bro, this got to be a joke… why haven't the matches started yet?" Someone in the audience complained as they did not come here to watch some weird black mist reshape the arena.
"Who knows, but I hope it starts soon?" Someone near them said as they could already see people were beginning to leave.
"Silence!" Eveline shouted as she stood up and nodded for the announcer to start the competition.
"Sigh, could all the contestants who want to fight for Gabriella's love please enter the arena and thank you," The announcer said as he waited for all the participants to enter following the disappearance of the black mist.
***
"Good luck Rin and remember don't overdo it as this is only meant to be a slight spar against some children," shouted Maze with a wink as she smiled innocently.
'Fuck this day, just keeps on getting better and better...' Rin thought as just him breathing the same air as everybody else made him public enemy number one, "I won't… but do be ready for my triumph return."
He said with a wry smile as he walked down from his family's booth and jumped into the arena, bypassing the dim fluorescent light screen, which isolated the contestants from the outside world. That allowed those in the audience to view and hear the actions of the participants but not vice versa.
Thud.
"Sigh, maybe I should've just played the role of a sheep to consume the wolf," Rin muttered as the moment he stepped into the arena he noticed everyone staring at him intently as if they were starving wolves who just found their next meal.
"Tsk, truly just why can't my life be peaceful," Rin sighed as he cracked his knuckles and chuckled before releasing a trace of his bloodlust causing everyone within the arena and even those with higher cultivations to stand up with shock.
Considering bloodlust was not something you could just acquire by slaying a couple of monsters.
***
Within the arena…
"Sigh, it seems he might just live up to his title as Emperor," A person with red eyes smiled as they gazed at Rin with a hint of lust and excitement at the discovery of a new sparring partner.
Before having to calm the broadsword holstered on his back which hummed ever so lightly with the same excitement and thirst just as its master, 'Shh, Demise… you will be freed soon buddy, just stay with me and be quiet for now.'
"Tsk, showoff…" A girl with rainbow-colored hair whispered with a pout as she sat down and began to meditate.
"Welp, it seems this should be ending sooner than expected," A guy wearing an anime t-shirt with black shorts commented as they yawned before taking a glance around the arena.
Which was littered with teens who could not survive the release of some bloodlust and were unfortunately eliminated in a matter of seconds, before the competition even begun.
***
"…" Everyone outside the arena watching these once proud daughters and sons of Heaven fall unconscious.
"Damn… um, yeah he's way more powerful than the rumors claim," Someone muttered with shock and utter disbelief at how such a person could not have been born in their family.
"Rin Kurama Jasper… Hmm, maybe the upcoming National Dive won't be so boring after all?" Zack muttered as Dante kept his gaze focused on the guy wearing the trench coat who had a broadsword.
***
'Sigh… truly my generation can't be this weak right, Rose?' Rin had to ask as this was disheartening to witness.
[Rin you do realize this is but the lower realms of the Cosmos… so do please pipe down and do not get too cocky! As there are plenty the same age as you that could kill you before you even realized you died.]
'I know that but is it wrong for me to hope and wish maybe someone out of these 150 contestants could match my might?' Rin asked as while he sensed a couple of people who could give him a challenge, no one stood out to him as a threat.
[Sigh… and that is why I will never understand battle junkies, but anywho here is the list of people who should watch out for Rin:
[Name: Wendell Stone / Age: 18 / Cultivation Sealed - Known Cultivation: Demonic Cultivator [Level 7] / Elemental Affinity: Fire [99%], Water [99%], Wind [99%], and Earth [99%] / Law: The Four Elements / Bloodline: Elemental Goddess / Skills ???]
[Name: Ghost / Age: 18 / Cultivation: Demonic Cultivator [Level: 4] / Affinity: Fire [25%] and Darkness [25%] / Bloodline: Nether Crow / Skills: ???]
[Name: Cory Ken/ Age: 19 / Cultivation: Demigod [Level 0] / Affinity: Chaos [5%], Time [5%], and Space [5%] / Bloodline: ??? / Skills: ???]
[Name: Jack Wang / Age: 15 / Cultivation: Angelic Cultivator [Level 3] / Affinity: Darkness Tier 1 [0%] and Light Tier 1 [0%] / Law: Blood, Light and Darkness / Bloodline: Vampire of Dawn / Skills: ???]
[Name: Tyler Fang / Age: 16 / Cultivation: Demonic Cultivator [Level 0] / Affinity: Destruction [15%] / Law: Poison and Illusion / Bloodline: Seven-Headed Colorless Demon Serpent / Skills: ???]
[Name: Franz Black / Age: 15 / Cultivation: Demonic Cultivator [Level 7] / Affinity: Light [10%], Fire [10%] & Wind [5%] / Bloodline: Angelic Flame / Skills: ???]
[Name: John Curry / Age: 16 / Cultivation: Demonic Cultivator [Level 7] / Affinity: Fire [99%] & Water [99%] / Bloodline: ??? / Skills: ???]
'Hmm, so even a Demigod and a Vampire would participate in something like this, huh?' Rin thought a bit surprised to notice a newly ascended Demigod would be interested in Gabriella. After browsing through the list and taking note of Wendall, Jack, Tyler, and Cory.
A couple of minutes later...
After, the announcer came back to his senses and realized what happened he called the medic team over to carry the constantans who had fallen conscious to somewhere safe. Before he gazed at Rin who led to the elimination of seventy-five participants from the original 101 who registered and the forty-nine unregistered participants who chose to try their luck.
"Sorry for the earlier inconvenience, however, the show must go on..." The announcer said after sighing as he lightly bowed to the audience before continuing, "So as you can see instead of the typical bracket competition as conducted in the previous years, this year he thought it would be more fun and less time-consuming to conduct a brawl! I know barbaric, but what better way to evaluate a person's abilities than through a grueling and strenuous fight where the winner takes all? And with that let the competition commences!!!"