As the six men prepared, each of them muttered incantations related to their Bend. They were all convinced that their power and Bends were stronger than that of anyone else on their rings. But it was a question of who won first. Six winners would come out of the battle royal, one from each ring, but only four would be considered for the next round - the ones that finished first.
The six men were confident they would win their group competition, but every one of them was trying to finish ahead of the others. It was a battle against time.
Because of all the ruckus on the rings, no one paid attention to them as they recited incantations. The contestants wanted to succeed to save their brothers, sisters, children, friends, and parents from slavery. Their failure would make their people slaves. All the people they contributed to the jinzidal would be given to another country as slaves.
That was why they fought so hard. That was why they were so desperate. All they could do was kill each other, spill some blood, and sever some heads. As if they weren't killing humans, the audience cheered and jumped from their seats around the arena. It was exciting but certainly not new.
The young man in Group E clapped his hands together. A blue light rose from his body, which attracted the attention of the contestants and some of the spectators. The next thing that happened shocked everyone who watched the competition inside the arena or outside through ayrid broadcast. They opened their mouth in awe.
Everything happened in a blink. The blue light from group E increased so much that it blinded the spectators. And then a fiery red light came from one of the rings and mixed with the blue light to give a sparking color that was terrifying.
After it calmed down, the spectators saw the six rings again. Each ring had only one man standing on it.
In group A, a young man held a long, double-edged sword. He was fair with a lot of black hair, dressed in a yellowish outfit. His eyes were fixed on the ring and when you looked into them you could see nothing but the agony of hatred and resentment as if all the hatred, anger, and grief in the world originated from him. His face was pale and strained, looking like he hadn't laughed for years. He was a handsome boy at a point, and even then, if you looked at the shape of his nose and face, it was the kind of face that was ruined by sorrow and grief. He was the kind that could be described in one word: merciless.
And you would agree to it if you looked at the people lying on his feet. They all had their chests pierced with spears, swords, and arrows, and it was their hands that did it. Another thirty of them had fallen off the ring and were lying dead on the ground.
This young man was Ikenga O. Bayajidda. The ring lit up and showed twenty-nine seconds. Ikenga had finished in twenty-nine seconds.
As the light shone, Ikenga raised his head and smiled broadly, revealing a large scar on the side of his neck.
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In Group B, a young man held a sword no longer than his arm and a scarf on his forehead. He stood alone. This young man was Armad Wilberforce. The scarf made him forget about losing an important part of him for a moment.
Lying on his feet were the other members of the group being crushed by so much force that they couldn't stand. The ring glowed with thirty-two seconds, which was three seconds later than Ikenga.
In Group C, there was no one left on the ring. All the contestants were on the ground, alive but confused at what happened. It was like they were swept off the ring with a broom or something.
A young man with long, silver hair stared down at them from the ring. He held a curved scythe in his hands. The ring showed 30 seconds.
He was fat, so even though he wasn't that short, he was often looked down on as short. So he always looked down on his enemies after defeating them so they could see how tall he was.
His face had freckles but it still managed to look cute with the high cheekbones and ear ornaments of a prince. His eyes looked to be starving for war. He was Deniz Bizaya. The eldest son of King Deniz Iluru.
He was said to be constantly on the lookout for rivals, and that was how they became friends with Ikenga. He would often send for the other man to come to the underground empire so they could fight. Even a few days ago, he was seeing battling with Ikenga. It appeared that both of them had survived it.
In Group D, however, a young man held a spear in his hand. He looked sad, almost like Ikenga. His face had no hair at all, not even an eyebrow, but he still looked handsome with his red hair and girly physique that didn't seem to fit.
Lying on his feet were a bunch of blue people. The spectators frowned at the unexpected outcome. Of course, none of the contestants were blue before the match. The only people not affected were black. They seemed to have gotten darker instead of blue. The ring glowed with thirty-two seconds, like that of Armad.
In Group E, the contestants screamed in agony as they burned. Red flames chased them on the ring and it burned even those who ran off the ring. The ring glowed with twenty-eight seconds, a second earlier than Ikenga.
And despite everything, the winner was smiling. He was Han Amuru. A boy of fewer than sixteen years who came from the third world. His body burned in the flame. But it was no more than an itch for him.
In Group F, a young man was standing with a bright sword, it looked like lightning because of the way it shone. Everywhere on the ring was crumbled into powder, and all his opponents were on the ground. They could do nothing but stare at him. He was Kiru Sisiyu, Nostalgia's brother. He used the white blade to destroy his enemies.
Kiru didn't smile or look happy at all as if he didn't care about winning and was just doing it for the sake of it. His ring glowed with thirty-two seconds.
The audience's mouths went wide open. Even the commentator opened his mouth, his eyes filled with fear.
"They... they have won! Ikenga - 29 seconds, Hán'Amuru - 28 seconds, and Deniz Bizaya - 31 seconds. These three have all advanced to the semi-finals. Armad, prince Kiru, and prince Niyashi have all gotten the same score of thirty-two seconds, therefore, according to jinzidal law, the Alkadar will be used to choose one of them."
It was time for a break. After that, the Alkadar would be used to determine the last of the four contestants that would fight in the semi-finals.
The representatives of these six winners who were mostly in the VIP room were allowed to come and talk to their contestants.
It was at that moment that the representatives of King Bihanzin from Sisiya came into the arena. What could have possibly made them come late for such an occasion?