The Colosseum

The Colosseum was packed today.

Tourists always came to see at least one fight in the Colosseum, so it tended to be full. But this time was a bit different. This time, the Colosseum was at full capacity. The reason why?

The prize.

The Colosseum was offering a monster as a prize. And not just any monster. It was a raven.

Getting a monster in the overworld was already difficult as it was, but getting a raven was ludicrous. Ravens in Epsilon had electrical powers. But because of evolution, they ended up becoming electricity itself, which made them pretty much impossible to catch, and extremely dangerous to fight. After all, how could you fight a creature that became lightning?

Dante looked at the cage, but found nothing impressive about it. However, he did see that even if lightning arched from the creature to the cage, it didn't spread. Maybe that was how the creature was kept in captivity.

How had Orpheus accomplished such a task?

Dante had no idea how they managed it, but it was an insane feat that must have cost him a lot of soldiers.

Red City was one of the more cultured kingdoms when it came to Hunters. This was in part to the Colosseum. They had seen many participants with strange powers from all over the world. Everyone in the city knew that killing the monster, as a Hunter, would grant them its powers. That meant that the Hunter that killed the creature would become electricity itself.

And that meant that competition today would be fiercer than ever before. Every single competitor would be itching to gain such strong power.

The crowd grew wild at the sight of it. They had placed the creature in the middle of the arena, as the announcer went wild with its description.

After describing the creature, the announcer went on to explain how the tourney would work. The warriors would fight a free-for-all first that is separated into eight blocks. The winners of the first round proceed to fight each other in individual battles until a winner is selected.

“The winner will also be blessed with becoming the twelfth paladin,” said the announcer.

At this, Dante’s eyes truly sparked. That meant he could finally leave the Colosseum. Wait, he realized. Not only would he be able to leave, but he would become a noble. It was a huge chance to move up in the world. It meant complete freedom. He would no longer be bound to sin. Instead, he would be a watchdog of the king, which was an honor to all.

And Dante could feel the excitement in the other fighters.

“Now! We will have a toast to our king” said the announcer. The crowd went wild again, chanting the king's name, as attendants rushed around everywhere giving people wine. After a couple of minutes, everyone in the Colosseum had a cup of wine. The announcer rose his cup and shouted the words that were echoed by the people in the Colosseum.

“Long live Orpheus!” shouted the entire Colosseum.

Long may he live indeed, thought Dante.

He looked around at the fighters around him. Many of them were strong, he knew. They had fought against each other for the longest of them, so all of them knew each other. He could beat them, he thought. But it would all depend on the outsiders that would join the tournament.

They were the unknown variable.

Before, Dante never really tried hard to win. He would only fight seriously when it was do or die, which was quite rare. Most of the time, he simply quit at the start. After all, if he won, he still had to stay here.

Orpheus did place incentives for warriors to win, however. If a warrior won more and more, they would get a fancier cell, better food, and even increased freedom.

Since Dante was middle tier, he was allowed to leave the Colosseum at times when tournaments weren’t being held. He still would have to return, but it was a degree of freedom, nonetheless. That was why he was permitted to leave, and why he was also required to be here right now.

“And now, without further ado, let the tournament start!” shouted the announcer.

The crowd went wild once more.

………………

Jack watched from a distance as the crowd went wild. He drank some more of his wine, as a woman ran her hand through his chest.

Jack was in the VIP section of the Colosseum, which meant he had attendants taking care of his every need and a little privacy. The room, as was customary in the Red City, was mostly for nobles. More important rooms had higher ranking nobles and rulers of other nations. These rooms were a place where the brutal met the sensual.

Jack was in Orpheus' room. That meant that he was in the most important room in the entire Colosseum, where the king and his bishop could be found. Right now, only two bishops were in the room with Jack. These bishops had brought with them some concubines to make the party a little bit more fun.

Everyone except for Jack and the woman caressing his chest were engaging in sexual activity.

Jack was too busy admiring the creature to join in, and the woman seemed to only be interested in Jack at the moment.

“Why don’t we go another round while we wait for the tournament to start?” asked the woman.

Jack smiled in her direction. He knew these people better than he knew himself.

“I thought we’d be doing it while watching,” said Jack.

The woman laughed.

“Of course we are, but it's boring to just wait,” she said.

Jack's smile widened even more.

“Well, how could I say no to the bishop of Lust?” Jack said.

It was a well-deserved compliment, as the woman was beautiful. She had short, blue hair and a perfect body with just the right proportions, thought Jack as he looked at her naked canvas.

The woman climbed on top of Jack.

“Should I remind you that you can?” she said.

Jack was one of two individuals that could legally decline an order by a bishop. The other was Orpheus himself.

"Just because I can doesn't mean I want to" said Jack