After trying to slaughter Rory, Amelia reached the capital city of the Marigold Kingdom in a foul mood.

“Come on, I said I’ll pay you back.”

Rory walked behind her and said.

“You used all of my life savings.”

“And I said I’ll pay you back double.”

“How? You’re broke too.”

Amelia glared at him and said.

“I’ve been a vagabond for a century. I’ve picked up some skills on how to make money.”

“How?”

Amelia was skeptical.

“Follow me, and I’ll show you.”

After he said that, he picked up speed and walked past her. She stared at his back for a while before deciding to follow him.

“Hm? Is there some kind of event?”

Amelia said after noticing that Rory was heading towards a crowd, that gather at the center of town.

He stopped a bit outside of the crowd, and waited for her to catch up.

“You heard right, folks! The king is hosting a tournament for everyone’s pleasure!”

A man was seen standing on the stage the crowd was gathering around, speaking in a mic while wearing a mask.

“Now, you all must be wondering what kind of the tournament it is? It’s a knockout style fighting tournament, where the winner will receive 100,000 Ani!”

*Author’s Note: Ani is the universal currency in this world*

“Ohhhhhhh!”

The crowd cheered when they heard the prize money, and got really excited. However, the announcer’s next words made them even more ecstatic.

“Anyone can enter, as long as they have confidence in their skills! To make it even more exciting, the quarter-finalists and up will be given ranks in the military! If you’re not a soldier you’ll automatically become one and be granted land and servants, regardless of your class and family background. If you’re already in the army, then you’ll be automatically promoted; one rank for reaching the quarter-finals, two ranks for reaching the semis, three ranks for reaching the finals, and if you win you’ll become an official general!”

The cheers became louder once they heard that.

Not only will the commoners be eager to enter, but even the soldiers will see this as their greatest chance to get promoted. The smart ones immediately knew this tournament will be cutthroat, from the prizes being rewarded.

“You want to enter?”

Amelia looked at Rory and asked.

“The two of us will enter. 100,000 Ani is a little over your life savings right?”

Amelia nodded.

“Of course, since I promised to double it that’s what I’ll do.”

Rory smiled as if he had a plan.

The announcer continued.

“Quiet down, quiet down. Although I know you all are excited, I have some bad news.”

He said.

“Since the rewards in this tournament are so luxurious, we’ll naturally have no choice but to only allow the best of the best to enter! As such, we’ll have a preliminary round to allow the best stand out!”

He waved his hand and the screen behind him showed the words Death Race.

“The preliminary is a race around the capital! The first 128 persons to lap around the capital four times will be allowed to enter the main tournament! Use any methods available to you to make it to the top 128, except killing! This is an event purely for entertainment, so the king doesn’t wish to see his people die over this!”

The announcer explained.

“This may look like a normal race, but trust me it’s not! Being the fastest doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the winner! To win this race you’ll need to develop strategies, take out those in front of you while protecting yourself, form alliances, betray, deceit, outsmart your opponent! It’s literally the fittest of the fittest! And of course, you need superior anima skills!”

He said excitedly.

The people cheered again. His words only excited them more.

“When will this event begin?!”

Someone shouted from the crowd.

“Now!”

The crowd was shocked to hear that it was so soon. They thought that they would at least get time to prepare.

“Life will not wait on you to be prepared, so why must we?!”

The announcer shouted after seeing the reactions of the crowd.

“A true master will be ready for anything that comes their way at the drop of the hat! That’s what we’re seeking, a true master!”

He said.

“The current time is 8 am! All who wish to participate, please line up at our various booths!”

He gestured to the booths behind him.

“The preliminaries will begin at high noon! You have until then to sign up!”

The announcer bowed and left the stage.

“I’m gonna be first!”

“No, I am!”

“Me!”

As expected, countless people who wanted to participate charged towards the booths in a mad rush.

“The people at the booths are going to get hurt, if this continues.”

Amelia said.

“Nah. They’ll be fine.”

*Boom!*

The moment Rory said that, a bolt of lightning struck in front of the booths and a man appeared.

He wore a suit of silver armor with a lightning insignia on the chest plate. He had black hair, brown eyes, and a dignified face.

“Sir Allen?!”

When the men appeared, the crowd came to a halt as if they had seen a ghost.

“You will all act civilized and line up at a booth. There are 20 booths with top class workers, you won’t be in the sun for long. You’ll be able to register and go do some preparations before noon.”

He spoke with a stern and commanding voice.

“Line up!”

The crowd listened to him and lined up at one of the 20 booths. This showed how much pressure he gave off to subdue such a crowd.

“Impressive.”

Rory said.

“Yeah. This guy gives off quite a pressure.”

Amelia said beside him.

“I don’t mean that. I mean that I never expected to run in someone this strong in the kingdom. It looks like it didn’t deteriorate as much as I thought it would.”

He smiled and said.

“How strong is he?”

Amelia asked.

“Strong enough to defeat you in an instant.”

He answered.

“Is he stronger than you?”

“Hahahaha!”

Rory suddenly burst out laughing and didn’t answer. This response annoyed Amelia a little, but not enough for her to fuss about.

With the presence of Sir Allen, the registration for the contestants went smoothly. As he said, it didn’t take as long as everyone expected. They were finished by 10:30 the latest, which gave the contestants an hour and a half to prepare and form alliances.

With some time before the race, Rory and Amelia were sitting in a bar.

“So what do you have planned? Are we just going to win the tournament?”

Amelia asked.

“Yes, but that’s not where we’re going to get our fortune from.”

Rory replied.

“Don’t tell me that we’re going to break into the castle and rob the king?”

“What? What do you take me for?”

Rory looked offended.

“I take you for the guy who just robbed some thugs, and took their money to buy liquor.”

Amelia drank her coffee and said.

“We’re not robbing the king…..This time.”

“Hey, why does it sound like you’re planning on robbing a king in the future?”

“Never mind that.”

Rory replied.

“In order for our plan to work, we need to be the near the bottom of the 162 contestants who moved on to the main tournament.”

“Near the bottom?”

“Yes, and we need to make sure that we don’t stick out too much. The ideal range we should aim for is in the 130-150s. You understand?”

“Fine, I get it. I’ll try my best to not stand out.”

Amelia replied.

Rory smiled at her answer.

“Good. Now let’s go hustle this country.”

The hour and half time period quickly went and past. Currently, the streets of the capital were cleared, all except for where the starting line was. A massive crowd of contestants, hoping to step up in life, where itching to start the race.

“Wow, how many people have gathered here?”

Amelia asked while looking around.

“1682.”

Rory answered beside her. She looked at him weirdly.

“What? You asked.”

He said with a shrug.

“Contestants! Are you ready?!”

The announcer’s voice echoed out from the speakers, along the main roads.

“We have knights stationed all over the city, as well as moved all the citizens to a safe location, so feel free to run wild!”

He shouted.

“…..I’ve just gotten word. Please don’t take my last sentence too seriously, and damage the city more than necessary.”

The announcer spoke a bit softer this time. It seemed that he got too excited and misspoke.

“Anyway! Everyone get ready!”

Everyone looked at the stoplight in front of them, that was on red. They stared at it while holding their breaths. And then-

The light changed to green, and the announcer’s voice rang out.

“GO!”

That moment, the almost 2000 contestants entered a mad dash and signaled the start of the race.

Amelia and Rory also moved as well. They kept their speed at a moderate pace while mixing in the crowd.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

Explosions rang out, signaling that the contestants had begun to fight. The two could see countless melee happening around them. No matter their age or gender, everyone was clearly out for blood.

The two remained calm and continued their run. Amelia noticed that a fight broke out right in front of her, and decided to jump on a nearby lamppost and leap past them.

The same thing happened to Rory, but what he did was different from Amelia. He ran towards those fighting and slid past them right after they both punched each other simultaneously. He continued to run with the smile on his.

Like this, the two past those fighting and made their way into the top 100 at the front. The battles here were even more intense. That was because those in the top 100 fought while moving towards the goal.

In fact, the most chaotic section of the race was the front where the top 10 where. The gap between them and the others was great because of how intensely they fought. No one wants to get hit by an attack and get injured before the main tournament.

*Bam!* *Bam!* *Bam!*

“They’re fighting quite recklessly.”

Amelia said while hearing the explosions come from the front. Every now and then she would see a few people being blown past her like garbage in the wind, after losing the battle to secure and maintain a top spot.

“Apparently, this tournament isn’t as simple as they make it seem.”

Said Rory.

“It seems that the three princes were in a power struggle to decide who would become the next king. Because of this, the kingdom had a tense atmosphere surrounding it, especially after the princes’ followers started clashing in public.”

“You’re quite informed.”

Amelia said.

“I heard people talking about it. This tournament was the king’s way of reducing the tension the people were feeling. He wanted something to distract the people from the politics.”

Rory smiled.

“However, the king also had another reason to create this tournament. He wanted to create an outlet where he could show off the countries military might by having some of the rising stars in the royal troops enter and showcase their skills. Also, the princes could also enter soldiers under their banner and show them off.”

“Won’t that just increase the animosity among the three princes, if their respective soldiers fall at the hands of their rivals?”

“That’s true.”

Rory said with a nod.

“But the king is willing to allow that in order for the citizens to receive some quality entertainment.”

He pointed at a group of people watching the contestants in the distance and cheering.

“The people are enjoying the race while drinking and eating. It’s like a festival.”

Amelia looked around and saw that he was right. Despite the violence among the runners, the audience was really enjoying the fights.

“Despite what they say, humans love to see violence, sex, or drama. If you look back in the greatest plays and stories in history, you’ll find one, if not all these story elements in them. Given the fact that killing isn’t allowed, the audience doesn’t need to feel guilty about enjoying what they see.”

Rory said.

“The guys causing trouble up front all belong to one of the three princes. They want to draw attention towards them, and indirectly to the prince they serve.”

“The situation sure looks messy though.”

Amelia said.

She saw a man being thrown through a store window after being destroyed.

“Let them be.”

Rory smiled.

“The ones going wild are nothing but small fries trying to gain their masters’ acknowledgment. The princes' true cards will be only shown in the main tournament.”

He said.

“Either way, I don’t care about this power struggle or the prince’s cards. In the end, they’ll all become mats under our feet.”