Tony took in everything.
They were in a colloseum, no doubt. It was an exact replica of the ones the Romans and Greeks used for their gladiator battles. It was circular, almost a kilometer wide. The circumference had thousands of people screaming and shouting in pure enthusiasm.
They were led to a stand just below the audience. The only thing separating them from the battle ground was titanium reinforced glass.
A giant screen appeared above them.
"FIRST IS THE THREE MAN ARMY BATTLE!" The commentator announced, making the audience go wild.
The screen began to switch between pictures so fast, until it landed at the picture of two teams, with a giant VS i between.
"THE BATTLE BETWEEN TEAM 12 AND TEAM 14!" The crowd roared, and the ground shook. No one was enjoying this more than them. After all, unlike the contestants, they paid to entertain themselves.
"We'll fight just two battles" Felix leaned in and whispered.
Tony frowned. "Wasn't it supposed to be random?"
Felix just gave him a knowing look. "The digital world is at my mercy" the smirk on his face was irking Drake to no end.
"So you hacked the match setup? Does that mean all the matches will be decided by you?" Iris whispered.
Nobody needed an answer. The smug look on his face said it all. The matches which people thought were random was actually being decided by a robotic maniac that was under their nose. But Felix had more serious trouble to cause. Nobody noticed as a hole was opened in his palms, and from each hole emerged five balls the size of fists. Each of these balls were drones with inbuilt scanners for scanning credit cards for payments. Yes, these ball drones were part of the gambling system Felix created.
The drones flew off.
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"Oh?" someone said as a hologram screen appeared in front of him. Behind the hologram screen was a small ball the size of a tennis ball, and it was hovering in the air like a drone. Talk about futuristic tech!
"All we have to do is make it scan our credit cards?" another exclaimed. The ten balls had already spread out, such that each hologram screen that was projected by each ball could be seen by over a hundred people.
"Hmm....I don't know" of course there would be paranoid people among the audience.
"Its better to be robbed than to miss these odds. They have some amazing odds!" at the same time, there were those who didn't really care.
"I agree. If this thing is real, I'd never forgive myself if I don't stake"
Team 12 had 5.6 odd while team 14 had 6.2. Even the stadium's official betting platform didn't have such mouth watering odds! Immediately, many people brought out their credit cards and and the drones immediately went to work, scanning and deducting whatever the owners said.
" 50 dollars. Team 12"
"100 dollars. Team 14!"
"20 dollars. Team 14"
"Uh...100 dollars team 12 and 100 dollars team 14" an obviously rich business man said. Everybody in the vicinity turned to him. He just shrugged. He wasn't sure which team would win at the same time, he wanted to see how good this new betting system was. It was far better than the stadium's official betting platform where one had to login to their website, manually deduct the money from your bank account, then place the bet.
"HEY! 50 dollars team 12 and 100 dollars on team 14!"
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Felix was giggling like a child. Just like that, he now had 7 million dollars in his account, and his drones were still working. The teams that were called out hadn't even finished their preparations yet. And what was even better was that the audience were still testing the waters. After the saw the results, more stakes and more people would be added. His blood was boiling with excitement!
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In the upper most tower in the stadium. Five figures were seated, looking down at the battle from above. One was the S rank mercenary Claw. He was the owner of the stadium. He had always loved watching battles right from a young age and he wasn't a weakling himself. Although his ability wasn't a pure power type that brought destruction and looked cool, he wasn't weak. Even ordinary Z rank mercenaries had to be wary of him. He had green hair and green eyes, And his tongue was long, like that of a serpent.
"Master Claw. There a quite the number of mercenaries fighting the special battles today, but its not quite what we had last time" A green robed elder said. He was also an S rank mercenary, but he was one of the weakest in the universe. His ability was not suited for battle at all. His hair was also green and he had black eyes. He radiated an aura of life that made everyone around him full of vitality.
"Master Heal didn't you hear? A giant bounty has been placed on Emperor Twilight" a red robed elder said. He was an AA ranked mercenary known as Stain. He was the one in charge of the hundred man challenge. He had red hair and his aura, although faint, was able to make the bloods of those weaker than him tremble in submission.
"Hahahaha" A large man laughed. He was dark skinned and hairy. His gray hair wasn't even considered hair. It was fur. He had it all over his body. He had a large battle axe on his back. It was so large that it would be impossible for three people to wield." Emperor Twilight really had nerve! He actually screwed the only daughter of Sky God" he laughed even more, his large belly shaking around.
"Hm? Heal looked over to the fifth man who was hunched over a hologram screen. "Dickson, is anything the matter?" he asked.
Dickson looked up, adjusting his glasses. "It appears only less than quarter of the audience placed bets" it was strange. Due to the bounty placed on Emperor Twilight, many mercenaries were on the search for him. That was why the participants of today's battles were minimal. But as always, the stadium was filled to the brim. But why had the people not placed bets?
"Maybe they're saving their money for the 100 man challenge?" Stain said. Everyone turned to him. He was afterall the one in charge of the 100 man challenge.
"Someone registered?" Claw was intrigued.
Stain nodded. Then he frowned."Although he's just a kid, barely even considered an adult" he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
The atmosphere in the room became silent once more.
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21 million dollars. That was the total amount Felix had stocked up in his account, due to the stakes of the audience, and this was barely the beginning. The crowd was just testing the waters and he still had more odds to throw out, to entice the audience.
"READY?!?! FIGHT!!" The commentator screeched.
"Infernal Shift!" A busty red head screamed as a wave of fire spread out of her body. This was team 12's leader, Ruby the fire ability user.
"Hulk enhance!" the second member roared. He was bald and was just average. But after that, his build became unbelievably large. He was now like a giant mass of muscle.
The third team member unsheathed his katana and charged forward. This was team 12.
Team 14 consisted of a laser type ability user, another power type and a healer. This team was somewhat more balanced, unlike team 12 which consisted of pure offense , this team had an offensive type, long range and support.
Ruby immediately charged towards the healer. But she noticed the muscular man of team 14 quickly approaching her.
"Infernal shift!" she roared. A strong wave of fire swept outwards. The muscular man immediately retreated as the heat was too much for him to handle.
"Your opponent is me!" Team 12's mass of muscle roared as he charged towards the muscular man. They both collided with full force like bulls, kicking up a small sand storm as the crowd cheered them on.
Team 12's sword man was using his sword to fend off countless lasers. He was using the sword so fast and so well, he was almost a blur. And he was slowly but surely making his way to his opponent.
Ruby clicked her tongue when her 'prey' began to run towards his team mate with the laser ability. Their original plan was for her to kill the weak one, which was the healer, while Brandy, the swordsman stalled the annoying laser ability user. Then she'd join him and finish his opponent, before joining Dylan their mass of muscle.
' I guess its plan B then ' she thought. She changed course and sharply inhaled a lungful of air. Her breasts heaved as she jumped up.
Dylan immediately jumped back, distancing himself from the muscular man. But the latter noticed the trap too late.
Fire Ball!
Ruby breathed out a giant ball of fire that looked like a miniature sun in the small stadium. If not for the array protecting the audience, the ones among them without abilities would have been burned to a crisp.
The muscular man immediately shielded his face as the fire ball descended on him. Smoke and dust obstructed all view. Hissing sounds and the stench of burnt flesh was all that filled the stadium. Soon enough the smoke cleared, revealing a thoroughly burnt muscular man. His armor was even charred beyond recognition.
Ruby immediately coated a fists with fire and charged towards the man. The muscular man, blinded by rage charged towards Ruby. But at the last moment before collision, Ruby channeled fire energy to her feet and blasted upwards like a rocket.
The muscular man immediately spun on his heels and shielded his face as a giant arm made of pure muscle descended on him.
"Where you looking at?!" Ruby screamed as she descended. But the man was trying to fend off the muscular arm on his face. He didn't notice as Ruby came up from behind and thrust her fire coated arm into his chest where his heart was. His heart was roasted then burnt to dust from the inside. He fell to the ground, his last thoughts were regrets that he died a virgin.
Dead.
Dylan and Ruby, without missing a beat charged towards the laser ability user and the healer, with Dylan at the front.
"Destructive smash!" Dylan roared as he punched the air. But a moment later, Brandy jumped away and air pressure descended on the healer and the laser ability user. It pushed them to the walls and almost squashed them.
"Infinite slash!" Brandy screamed as he swung his sword like a mad man. Then one could barely see tiny sword lines rushing to the duo. They were both sliced to countless bits.
The crowd roared in approval. Not only had they experienced the most brutal finish offs, they had all been credit their 'rewards' as the new betting platform promptly paid up.
"WINNER. TEAM 12!" The commentator roared once more.
Ruby, Dylan and Brandy waved at the crowd as the vacated the ring, with Dylan deflating to his normal appearance.
"NEXT TEAM 2 VERSUS TEAM 15!!"
"WAIT! WHAT?!!"