After Amon finished his presentation, the spheres went up for a wider view. The endless crowd was standing on a giant, square platform. Nothing could be seen beyond, meaning it was either elevated or floating like the host himself.

To make it more visually appealing, four huge statues were placed in each corner. The smallest one, resembling a pixie, was the size of a tall human, while the one depicting an elf was half the size of the Statue of Liberty.

Even so, all four statues were dressed pretty much the same. They all had the same baggy pants, even though the elf and human statues were women. Each one wore a shirt and a fluttery jacket with identical patterns. Furthermore, a spiky regal crown was placed on their heads as if they were the kings and queens of their respective species.

‘Is the similar attire supposed to symbolize unity?’ thought Alric while trying to absorb every detail.

“Why is our statue the smallest?” Timofey complained.

A moment later, all four spherical cameras returned to the center and refocused on the host.

“Excited?” he asked then paused for a moment as if waiting for a response. “Well, you should be. There are exactly 1.000.000 contestants in this century’s tournament, a new record for our channel. For your entertainment, each and every one of them will fight to the death in the Universe’s largest competition!”

“Oh, hell no. We’ll do no such thing!” an angry shout was heard from afar. There were so many people on the platform that if a person from the left side shouted until his throat went sore, those in the middle wouldn’t even hear an echo. Despite this, so many of them started complaining the uproar reached everywhere.

Tim wanted to say something too, but his voice was drowned out by the insults thrown by his comrades. Numerous humans joined as well, and even a few dwarves.

Amon Grigori visibly flinched. But then, he quickly rolled a finger and carried on like nothing had happened. A purple light crossed the barrier in the sky, but nothing else seemed have changed.

“Some of you may be unfamiliar with these species. You might be wondering why so many of them have taken the risk to come here.”

“We’ve come to kick your ass!” shouted a pixie.

“Yea, come down here and let us have a grab at those horns!” a particularly large human added to the chant.

As more and more curses were thrown his way, the host’s voice could no longer be heard.

“Stay quiet,” Alric advised the scowling fellow on his shoulder. “Remember the demon’s threat.”

From what the youth could pick up, Amon was talking about each species in particular. He was pointing towards groups of humans, elves, pixies, and dwarves, though his words were now a mystery.

“Shut up, you morons!” While some were shouting at the host, others were yelling at them in return.

“We can’t hear a damn thing!”

If Alric was a bit braver, he might have joined them in calming the horde. However, what could one kid do against a pissed off mob, especially one that was larger than the populations of some countries?

“Enough!!” Suddenly, the booming voices of a crowd of people resonated across the entire platform. Troublemakers in the middle of heated arguments and even those about to fight each other stopped in their tracks and looked on.

Pillars with stern faces and sharp ears were making their presence known. About a hundred feet away from Alric, an elf grabbed a burly middle aged human and lifted him three feet off the ground.

“If you children don’t stop this behavior, we will be forced to educate you,” he said while shaking him like a plushy. “Understood?”

After the human nodded with a pale expression, the giant stopped for a moment, probably thinking whether to throw him off the platform, before changing his mind and putting him down. “Sit,” he ordered as if to a toddler, and his target silently complied.

Similar scenes were occurring all around the square. In some places, it was a human or dwarf being lifted, while in others, a pixie was grabbed in mid air before getting lectured by a giant wiggling finger that threatened to squash it.

“Thank you,” Timofey whispered towards Alric. The pixie’s eyes held a mix of curiosity and interest. Then, he crossed his arms, smiled cheekily, and nodded to himself.

“… while humanity doesn’t have a central reason for joining the competition, they must not be underestimated!” While the boy and his friend were exchanging a glance, Amon’s voice had finally returned. “They are skilled creatures capable of creating fascinating tools which you will hopefully get to see put in action.

This is all we will disclose for the time being. If you want to learn more about our contestants, then tune in to next week’s episode when the first round of the Species’ Tournament will officially begin!”

After these lines, the spheres turned black in unison. The transmission was over and Amon sighed heavily. Then, after taking a deep breath and contorting his face into something sinister, the goat horned demon slowly turned towards the crowd.

“How dare you?”

…………………………………………………………………………

It wasn’t the first time someone had cursed out the host during these tournaments. In fact, it was more likely to happen than not. Unfortunately, even thought it was the third time it happened to Amon, the demon was still terrible at controlling his anger.

“Ungrateful bugs!” His deafening shout struck the crowd like a hammer to their eardrums. “How dare you accept the invitation and then curse me out?

Did you not want power? Time? The chance to change your fate? Well, now you’ll get none of it!”

After doing his all too familiar finger twirl, bursts of white appeared on the platform. Before Alric could figure out what happened, a person to his left exploded into thick white smoke which soon scattered into nothingness. Above his head, numerous pixies were sharing the same fate.

‘Crap!’ The boy panicked and ducked while clutching his head. Timofey hid within his blouse and started shaking as well.

‘Is he killing all of us?’ Fortunately, it soon became apparent that Amon was only snipping the troublemakers. The elves had minimal casualties, while everyone else was appropriately trimmed.

“This is a show meant for audiences of all ages!” the demon chided while people popped like piñatas. “Such disgusting language will not be tolerated.”

Upon realizing the beautiful white smoke was censored guts and blood, a cold shiver rand down Alric’s spine. The onslaught eventually stopped but not before shaking the remaining contestants to their cores. Satisfied with their pale expressions, Amon turned towards the spheres and twirled his finger.

“Matriarchs and Overlords, Enchantresses and Warriors, welcome back to the Species Tournament!” The spheres reflected the crowd once more, and this time, everyone was paying attention. “In this episode, we’ll begin the very first round. However, before we can do that, I believe our contestants are eager to hear the rules. Am I right?”

The demon turned towards the platform and extended a hand.

“Yes,” a few quivering answers were heard here and there.

“Am I Right?” Black flames burst out of the demon’s eyes as his smile revealed a carnivore’s razor sharp teeth.

“Yes!” Most people screamed out of fear.

“Excellent,” said Amon while adjusting his face. “To make things easier, I’m going to need a volunteer. How about… you?”

Suddenly, Alric’s body started floating before rapidly flying towards the host. The boy turned around and tried to grab onto something or someone, but to no use.

“What is your name, young man?” Amon asked expectantly. There was no mic, so the boy spoke freely.

“Alric…? I mean, my name is Alric Klein,” he answered while feeling something crawl across his body. ‘If I piss him off, I’m dead.’ The fact that some unknown force was forcing him to keep a straight back and face the audience was proof enough of this fact.

As for Timofey, that same force was gluing his body to the teen’s chest. His wings were bent at an awkward angle and his tongue was stiff as a board.

“Brave Alric, what motivated you to join this century’s Species Tournament?” the host’s smile seemed welcoming, yet his eyes said otherwise.

‘I got dumped and wanted to escape a bad grade?’ That would have been a terrible answer. “I came searching for adventure!” the boy shouted while struggling to keep a straight face. “I wish to test my limits and take on new challenges.”

“Excellent answer,” Amon cheered, this time genuinely. “I’d expect nothing else from one of the preliminaries’ prime victors. Yes, Matriarchs and Overlords; not only has this man surpassed his own self in the dungeon, but he did it without a fight.”

‘Is that really true?’ wondered Alric. While the duel did end with the other letting himself get thrown out of the ring, the host was glossing over the initial struggle.

“However, I’m sure you’re wondering what happened to your other self? Who was he? Or, was he even real?”

“Yes!” the boy answered a bit louder than planned. There was no end to the questions that cell incident left him with.

“Well, let me assure you everything you’ve experienced was very much real,” said Amon while twirling his finger. Suddenly, an image appeared near them showing the other Alric curled up in one of the cell’s corners. The circle was gone now, but fortunately, a bucket and two bowls with food and water had replaced it.

“That is you,” explained Amon. “Before you’ve joined the tournament, the two of you were one and the same.” The picture changed to show another person sitting in a cell, then another, and so on. Every now and then, gasps or murmurs were heard from the various contestants below.

“When you’ve agreed to enter our Tournament, your mind and body was split into two identical copies. One of you will go through our trials while the other has to wait in that dungeon. And, of course…”

“Only one of us can return,” Alric muttered without even realizing it.

“Exactly! Smart lad.

So, who will be the ‘new and improved’ Alric?” The demon turned towards the spheres. “A legendary champion of our tournament standing at the very peak of four great species, or the boy stuck in that cell, whose mind and body are already degrading?”