Insanely long Chapter!

Over 4200 words! Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 30: The Tournament

"Look what the cat dragged in again."

Makoto said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

Immediately Drake's grin disappeared from his face.

Makoto recognized Dawnwind standing next to him, with a set of new armor and a metal bow on his back.

At the other side of Drake stood a tall and sleek man also in full platemail like him but his looked even more expensive.

"As rude as ever I see.

You better watch your mouth Makoto now that I am one of the Captains of Yggdrasil, wouldn't want your Mommy to pick up the pieces when I'm finished with you do you?"

The laughter of the surrounding participants echoed through the hall and Makoto only gave Drake a cold stare as his reply.

Having this arrogant son of a bitch standing before him again only helped to reignite the flames of anger inside of him .

His eyes must have started glowing red while looking at Drake as the laughter around him apruptly stopped when everyone felt the cold and cruel killing intent that came from Makoto.

Quite a few people tensed up and Dawnwind and Drake even went as far as grasping for their weapons, concern visible on their faces.

Seeing them panic so quickly after only giving off such a small amount of killing intent allowed Makoto to wear the arrogant smile on his face this time.

"So, I see you traded that Mage bitch for a male this time. Can't say I blame you for swinging towards men now after I fucked the 3 of you so very thoroughly. I mean you have to admit, your ass must have been quite sore after i killed the 3 of you alone."

He said with a smirk on his face while looking at the pretty boy.

Dawnwind and Drake are both enraged and a bit embarrassed at his words and fully draw their weapons, only the hand of the sleek man in full armor stops them from blindly attacking Makoto before the Tournament has even started.

"Both of you, enough, don't let his words lead your actions."

The man looked at Makoto, put a hand before his chest and gave a curt bow.

"My name is Norumis, Leader of the first and biggest Guild in Asuria, Yggdrasil.

I have heard quite a bit about you from Drake, some good but a lot of it bad."

He said while giving him a hard glare.

In a way it was unwise to anger the leader of an entire guild, it was already bad enough that Drake hated him but if he angered their leader on top of that he would surely not come out of it unharmed in the long run.

For some reason he could not care less about all of that.

Just knowing that someone like Drake had such a high positions in a supposedly prestigious guild was enough to completely twist the image of Yggdrasil for Makoto.

"Oh I am sure he has spun quite a lot of tales about me but let me reintroduce myself to you, Norumis, leader of Yggdrasil.

My name is Makoto, also called Righteous Demon, Champion of Blood and Slayer of All.

Happy to make your acquaintance."

Immediately whispers started going around between the other participants of the Tournament like wildfire.

Nomuris looked at him for a second before speaking again.

"If I remember correctly a system message went through the entire server saying you were the first player to acquire a unique class, is that true?"

"Yes that is true, I got it shortly after killing little Drake here for attacking and PK'ing me in a Dungeon without any reason."

Quite a few players around showed a disgusted look towards Drake after hearing his words, PK'ers are normally hated by all.

Norumis had a displeased expression on his face.

"I have to warn you, if you have a problem with one of my Captains you have a problem with the whole of Yggdrasil."

Makoto couldn't help the audible chuckle that escaped his throat.

Showing a bright smile on his face, he responded, not fearing the consequences.

"Oh trust me, I am not scared of your 'first' and 'strongest' guild Norumis.

After all, how strong and scary can you really be when I singlehandedly killed one of your Captains together with two of his friends?"

Norumis was now visible offended as anger clouded his face.

"Watch your mouth boy, you do not want us to declare you as a kill on sight target, trust me."

He hissed and Makoto could only show a faint smile for this petty threat.

A few surrounding players seemed to be rather displeased of how the situation turned out to be as they started yelling at Norumis.

"So just for having a problem with one of your Captains you declare him an enemy of the entire Guild?"

"Are you also going to declare us all enemies of your guild so you up your chances for winning the Tournament?!"

The voices got louder and louder, Norumis was clearly not happy how things were turning out to be so after looking at Makoto once more and hissing a "I will not forget this" he stormed of with Drake and Dawnwind shortly behind him.

All he really had to spare for those three and their guild was his silent contempt.

Aggravated a good bit, Makoto shot an angry look at the surrounding players and wished that his number would finally be called so he could do something.

After 15 more minutes he finally heard it.

"Number 4635 and 1831 please come with me!"

Jumping up from his seat and happy that it was impossible for your behind to fall asleep inside the game, Makoto quickly followed the guard.

They traveled through the white marble hallways, turning a few times and finally he and the other player entered the Colosseum for the first time.

Screams, shouts and the murmur of an incredibly large crowd welcomed him.

It was like someone had suddenly turned up the Volume as cheers exploded from the benches and different balconies high above them.

Looking to his right, Makoto saw that one of the matches had just ended in an intense struggle so that would explain the crowds outburst.

It was still the beginning of the Tournament so instead of the whole entire colosseum ground, 16 small circles had been drawn into the sand, marking the boundaries.

Whoever stepped over them would automatically be disqualified.

Generally the rules were, whoever was still left standing won, killing or maiming was allowed as this counted as a Duel so no experience would be lost and a priest could easily restore lost limbs.

Soon enough, Makoto was facing his first opponent, he obviously won a previous fight because a priest was currently restoring the lower part of his left arm.

Done with his work, the Healer quickly ran to one of the many entrances to the ground's and a man wearing a white robe approached Makoto and his opponent.

He was clearly the referee for this match although Makoto was confused why they would even need one if killing was allowed.

"Alright, both of you listen. I want a quick and fair fight, no whining, pleading or crying because it hurts, if any of you do that during the fight, I will disqualify you, understood?"

Well that explained that.

Pretty much, don't be a pussy.

Nodding to show he understood, Makoto drew his sword and his opponent did too.

Luckily for him, the first fight seemed to be against a Warrior, not a very good one judging by the way he always switched position to ready himself.

His equipment and sword seemed to be lacking too but the look in his eyes was quite fierce so Makoto decided to take it seriously, if he was not careful and was pushed even one foot outside the ring, then it did not matter if he was a better fighter or not.

Heightening his concentration, excitement surged through him and the red in his eyes grew stronger.

"Begin!"

Like a mad dog that was released from his chain, Makoto shot forward with a howl and a frightening grin on his face, killing intent exploded forth and swamped the surrounding players.

Immediately he got system window after window saying the same thing.

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Fear: -10% stat reduction until the battle is over.

He did not only inflict this status effect on his opponent but even on his referee and 5 other fights too.

Looking at the guy, his sword trembling heavily in hand, Makoto couldn't help the devilish smile that appeared on his face.

Oh how he enjoyed seeing this grown up man tremble in fear to the point where he nearly pissed himself.

Status effect were a scary thing inside the game as they could even cloud your actual judgement or plant anger and fear inside of you.

It was quite scary thinking that the game was putting these emotions inside of you and that they were not your own.

Wouldn't it be possible to even have a mental breakdown at that point too?

Not having the time to ponder about this sudden thought anymore he jumped forward and with one blow disarmed his opponent.

"I-I yield! I yield!"

The Warrior screamed and jumped out of the ring.

Immediately the referee declared Makoto as the winner and cheers broke out above him.

He could see thousands of people sitting in the crowd, most of them were NPCs but there probably was a lot of players too that just came to watch a good show.

Not even having time to leave the fighting grounds, one of the referees guided him to a different ring with another Warrior waiting, this one was smaller and younger but he had a shield and a short-sword instead of a longsword like the one before.

Shields could be called rare currently in Azalon as even just a good sword alone was hard to find.

Later on when there was more items found from players maybe even a level 10 noob could afford a shield to go with his sword but right now shields were a scarce sight.

Interested, Makoto decided to wield his sword with both hands and waited for the sign to begin.

He had never before actually fought against someone with a shield so his expectations were quite high.

Sadly he was unable to experience any of it as his opponent dropped both shield and sword and jumped out of the ring the moment he felt Makoto's earth shattering killing intent.

"Tsk."

Slightly pissed off he frowned looking after the small Warrior that had given up so easily.

Again he did not even have the time to be angry before a referee guided him to the next ring.

Seeing the longbow and fierce look on his opponent, hope entered his heart.

He was well aware that ranged opponents and especially archers could be called his absolute weakness but maybe he would actually have a proper fight this time around.

The moment the sign to start was given, Makoto sprinted forward.

With a twist of his body an arrow flew past him and nearly impaled the referee that stood next to him.

Letting out all of his killing intent, Makoto was overjoyed to see that the archer still had a steady aim for him.

Now this was an actual opponent.

Making use of his incredibly high Agility he zigzagged inside the ring while chasing after the archer who used the Skill 'Quick Dash' as much as he could.

Changing his direction mid-step, Makoto managed to finally corner the fleeing man and with only 3 quick slashes chopped one of his arms off, officially ending the fight as an Archer was unable to draw a bow with only one hand.

Satisfied with this short bout, Makoto gave a respectful bow towards the archer, an action somewhat unfit for his personality but he was in an excellent mood right now and it was a good fight after all.

Finally, Makoto was able to take a quick break in the waiting room with all the other players that were left before his number was called again.

Already used to the cheering crowd above him, Makoto did not even feel a slither of nervousness anymore.

It was like the sound of a radio, at some point it just becomes background noise.

His 4th fight was against a Mage.

It turned out to be a rather boring battle as this guy only spammed one Skill without even moving.

Seeing this, Makoto decided to mock him even more and approached at walking speed.

Every time a fire ball flew in his direction he stepped to the side and continued walking towards the mage.

He could clearly hear the laughter in the crowd above him as people realized what he was doing.

Makoto was not the only one who heard the crowd because soon enough the stock still Mage actually moved for the first time and started to circle him, still only throwing fire balls at him.

With a fake, big and juicy yawn, Makoto mocked the Mage even more which finally seemed to give him the courage to use different spells.

Fire, Ice and Earth was hurled his way and he dodged all of it while standing completely still, his concentration stretched to his utter limit.

Feeling that it was time to finish it as he was unwilling to let a lucky hit lose him this match just because he was acting cocky, Makoto quickly ran forwards.

With one quick slice he beheaded the shocked Mage and kicked the airborne head out of bounds.

Right away the Mage respawned outside of the ring and threw an angry glare towards Makoto which he simply ignored.

It was not his fault that the only kick he got out of this fight was the Mage's head.

Smiling over his own play of words, Makoto decided to concentrate on the here and now.

The fights all around him ended but no new players entered the fighting grounds.

Slowly but surely every one of the 16 fights finished and NPCs came to guide the winners back to the waiting room while preparing the stage for the quarter finals.

The winners, still numbering around 500 players including Makoto, all sat on a table in the gigantic hall while servants served different dishes.

It was a custom to give hospitality to whomever survived until now, serving food and drinks.

At the same time it was also explained that from now on they would shout out the participants names before fighting in one of the 4 matches held inside the Colosseum.

Makoto was able to enjoy some good wine with roasted pig before they started calling names and his own rang out.

Standing up from his chair, Makoto walked past the remaining players until he saw her.

Wrapped inside a tunic and only wearing armor at the most important places, Veronica stared at him.

Naturally she was called Ceila inside the game but it was still her.

Completely stunned and with an agape mouth she looked at him, still wearing the same blood red cloak like back then.

Quite a few things probably fell into place for her but Makoto did not have time to discuss this with her at the moment.

Showing a small smile, he walked past her and left the waiting hall.

Thundering cheers and shouting was now audible even before entering the fighting grounds.

The entire crowd was buzzing with excitement to see some real fights and together with the setting sun, Makoto entered the Colosseum grounds for the 5th time.

The moment he saw his opponent he could feel how a stupid smile appeared on his own face but he didn't care.

Seeing Drake inside one of the 4 rings waiting for him was enough to give him butterflies inside his stomach.

"Oh I'm gonna enjoy this one."

He said more to himself than to the referee that gave him a disturbed look after seeing the bloodthirsty smile on his face.

Makoto was practically getting a hard on just thinking about slaughtering this piece of shit.

Drake on the other hand did not look happy at all, his face was an empty mask, the polar opposite to his usual self.

"What's wrong Drake, no last words?"

He shouted towards his opponent, happy to see his brows furrow.

Licking over the flat side of his blade, Makoto could already imagine how it would feel to cut through this bastards flesh and bone.

"You know that you are goddamn freak right?"

Drake asked in a calm and collected voice.

"I know, I'm nearly jizzing my pants thinking about shoving this sword down your throat just like before, don't forget to swallow this time please, no spilling."

Giving the disgusted Drake a wink, Makoto grasped his sword with both hands.

The jokes and taunts aside, real excitement and maybe for the first time ever, real desire to kill someone, both rushed through his veins.

"Makoto and Drake, are you both ready?"

They nodded at the same time and with an incredibly loud "Begin!" both jumped into action.

Immediately Makoto noticed the drastically improved movements from Drake as he was running towards him and he decided to use 'Aura of the Beast' in conjunction with 'Curse Blade'.

He knew a real threat when he saw one.

The former weakling who did not know how to use a sword was gone, this man in front of him was neither arrogant nor foolish.

Drake's hands were steady and the poker face he was showing gave no way of knowing what he would do next, the complete opposite to Makoto's own fighting style that was mainly fueled by emotion.

He could clearly see the effort that went into those sharp and precise movements, even before clashing swords they were incredibly apparent.

With a mad howl and letting his entire killing instinct explode, Drake and Makoto both clashed swords.

It felt like both his arms went numb for a moment as if he was hitting against solid rock, unyielding.

Clearly impressed he nearly did not see the sweeping attack and only leaning to the far right saved Makoto from losing his own head.

Ducking low in the same motion he executed a quick slash to his opponent's left knee but Drake's blade seemed to appear out of nowhere as he blocked this strike.

"Not bad!"

He couldn't help but say while jumping away, noticing the slight smile on Drake's face.

"Don't get cocky now pretty boy!"

Makoto shouted while feinting a stab, twisting his body and kicking Drake squarely in his side.

He could feel how at least one rib cracked beneath his boot and judging from Drake's darkening facial expression it had been more than one.

231 Damage dealt!

With a quick forward step, Drake covered the distance between them and his blade shot forward while his entire arm started to rotate, following a corkscrew movement.

Thanks to this rotation, the sword in his hand gained some extra torque and practically leaped the last few inches towards his chest.

Unable to do anything else, Makoto leaned to the left before the sword pierced his right shoulder.

Critical hit!

You have received 589 Damage!

Your arm has received a status effect!

Destroyed: Unable to use 'right arm' until the battle is finished

It hurt like a motherfucker and it didn't help that the blade was still rotating inside his shoulder from the initial momentum.

Grunting deeply, Makoto used the sword in his own shoulder as leverage as he twisted his body.

Drake clearly did not expect that as he was holding tight to his sword, this small window of time allowed Makoto 3 clean attacks, all aimed at Drake's neck and infused with 'Curse Blade'.

Only on the second strike did his 'Bleed' trigger and on the third he was lucky, the status effect 'Poisoned' from his sword was also inflicted on his opponent.

Clearly shocked about both of those status effects that would easily take nearly 800 hp in the next 30 seconds, Drake started to panic.

A few small damage numbers appeared before Makoto as Drake tried to dislodge his sword but he firmly twisted his own body left and right to deny him this possibility for as long as possible.

Finally his opponent had enough and with a quick kick to his chest, the wretched blade left his shoulder with a disgusting sound.

Growling at Drake, he held his sword in his left hand now, unable to move his right arm even an inch without experiencing excruciating pain.

That this was only 10% of the actual pain he would experience with the same real injury was one scary thought.

"Talk about tenacity, I gotta hand it to you, you are hard to kill."

Drake said as he watched Makoto's health regenerate at a rapid pace thanks to 'Blood Rejuvenation'.

At the same time his own health started to reach rock bottom from both status effects that Makoto had put on him.

"Guess I have to play my big game today, Healing Light!"

Drake's shout clearly reached Makoto's ears but he was unable to believe what he heard and saw as a light descended from the sky and restored a big chunk of his opponent's health.

"You went and got a fucking Paladin class?! Motherfucker!"

Clearly amused after hearing Makoto's angry shout, Drake's face became solemn again, a mask that did not reveal anything.

Seeing the calm and collected Drake like that showed that he had drawn the short end of the stick in that one exchange, his health might be full again now but his right arm had become completely useless, limiting his own options quite a bit.

Now that he knew that Drake was a Paladin, the entire fight took a different turn.

He could hear the crowd scream and cheer behind him, clearly excited to see such an intense battle.

His mind was racing, searching, trying to find a way to win.

In the end the final result was an extremely risky plan but it was worth a shot.

With only a few steps he shortened the distance between them.

He saw the sword coming from a mile away, twisted his body rapidly to let his own useless right arm whip forward it flew exactly beneath the chopping attack from Drake.

Critical hit!

You have received 651 Damage!

You have lost a limb!

With a disgusting sound his right arm was practically blown off, he could see Drake's utterly surprised expression and that was the moment he had been waiting for.

With a roar he whipped his body around and stabbed Drake into the side, directly where the heart should be while activating 'Curse Blade'

Critical hit!

704 Damage dealt!

You have put a status effect on your opponent!

Bleed: 30 hp every 2 seconds for 22 seconds.

Stunned: Unable to execute any action or movement for 2 seconds.

The 5% chance to inflict a random status effect from Curse Blade finally triggered for the first time and there could not have been a better moment for it.

Now that Drake was unable to use his healing Skill, Makoto used all of his power to execute 3 slashes in those 2 seconds, dropping his opponent's health finally to 0.

"Winner, Makoto!"

The referee shouted and the crowd behind him exploded into a chant while Drake fell to the floor, still a surprised expression visible on his face.

Gasping for breath he watched the man respawn next to the ring while a Priest came running to restore Makoto's lost limb.

"Good fight."

Was all he was able to say to Drake while breathing as heavily as he did.

They were true words, in the end, it had been a great fight.

Sure, he still hated Drake's guts and attitude but he truly enjoyed their little bout of life and death.

Makoto could clearly see how Drake's expression darkened as he looked at him for a second before turning around and leaving without saying a word.

Amused by this childish attitude he couldn't help but shout after him in the same childish manner.

"You sore loser! Could at least smile when you enjoyed a good fight!"

Naturally Drake did not turn around so Makoto was unable to see the grin that appeared on his face as he left the fighting grounds.

Completely exhausted, both mentally and physically he was about to leave for the waiting room when he heard a referee shout for him.

"Next up, Makoto against Ceila!"

The crowds around them clearly showed their joy while he stood there and looked at Veronica that appeared from the tunnel leading to the waiting room.

She really would be his next fight in the Tournament...

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Such a long Chapter :O

Hope you all enjoyed!

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See you all tomorrow! :D