Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil
chapter-476

Eren had been sitting in a reserved seating area inside the colosseum, which was separated from the normal populace. There were only fewer than 100 seats at his booth. And most of the seats were empty. Therefore, the spectators at the butcher's booth sat sparsely and away from each other.

Al was sitting beside Eren in the front row of the reserved booth, looking at the spectral screen in front of her. It was projecting an image of a man in his early 50s announcing various names to the audience.

These were the names of the participants that would soon begin battling each other for the spectators' entertainment. The entries of duelling pairs would keep on getting added to the ever-refreshing battle list displayed on the spectral screen as the announcer announced them.

The Novice rankers' battles were first to get scheduled. The Ace rankers' battles would take place after that. Plus, there was only one D-Rank calibre duel that was supposed to happen at the end of the event.

This was supposed to be the special event of the day. But Eren couldn't figure out how special it was other than the fact that the duel would involve Adept ranked entities.

"Dear spectators, before we start with the first match of the day, I would like to congratulate all the participants for earning a spot today. That's because the winner within the F and E ranks would be able to join the annual Titus tournament without having to go through the qualifier rounds.

This year's Titus tournament is special. Sponsors have come forward with their initiative to offer many prizes to the participants. The biggest and most lucrative rewards would be given to the winner of course.

Let's not talk about the non-monetary rewards and only consider the grand prize of 100,000 Extols. Tempting isn't it? Hahahaha!"

Eren narrowed his eyes when he heard the prize money for the game.

'No wonder so many rankers want to get inside the ring just for the sake of others' entertainment.'

He thought to himself.

Eren looked at the respective spells and BTPs arranged in front of them. The display of participants' spells and their BTPs did two things. First, it made each one of them aware of their opponent's cards. This would allow them to take necessary precautions against them, making the battle a tough nut to crack for all of them.

Plus, the display of the participants' BTP values would allow the betting organisers to calculate the odds of someone winning or losing matches. They would decide the betting amount in favour of and against each match and its participants.

'You want to take part in the Titus tournament?'

Alephee asked Eren when he seemed to be pondering over something. She knew his dire need for money after all. The latter just chuckled internally before answering.

'Hell no. I don't have time for these games. I had enough of them in LA. I just want to replace someone who's bound to win and take all the money and prizes for myself.

Hehe. I don't have to create Blood Seed to transform into humans either. I'll just need to select my target well, get the money, and make everything about him disappear into thin air.'

Eren thought as he started studying the names of the participants who had already been selected for the Titus tournament. He then zeroed in on a few of the Ace ranked ones that had fire or lightning affiliates.

'Interesting. I have no idea how promising those who have already qualified are. I need to check the betting values placed on all of them. That would give me an idea of who to target.

But first I need to know about this tournament.'

Eren thought to himself before asking Altashia.

"What is the Titus tournament, Al?"

Eren asked while reading through various spectral screens that displayed information about multiple players, their records, their achievements in the colosseum so far, their losses, their active years in the colosseum so far, and even their injuries.

Altashia was also looking at the spectral screen the same way. She replied in mana imbued soft ice that could be heard by Eren even with all the noises the duo was surrounded with.

"Well, Alexander Titus is the current city lord of the city of Arangar as well as a baron. The tournament was first organised by the first city lord of this city who had that as his daily name. Hence the name Titus tournament.

The annual tournament in itself is pretty simple. The participants in the final round have to survive for 100 hours and become the last person standing. But the competition for the event is always brutal no matter which year it is. A lot of rankers die. There are cases of even those who had successfully won the contests succumbing to their injuries before they could enjoy the fruits of their labour.

If you are thinking about joining the tournament, I suggest you don't. First, we have army duties. Second, nobody will be held responsible if you die in the tournament. The risks might not be worth the rewards for you since your progress in the Ace rank is not high enough."

Altashia said and flashed a look of concern in Eren's direction. The butcher smiled mildly and assured her.

"I was just asking, Al. Anyway, you said you had some work here, right? What is it?"

As a response, Altashia suggested that Eren look at a particular screen. There was one unique screen at the top that hadn't been changed since it was flashed. That's because it only had one entry "XXX vs. XXX" written as its content.

This was supposed to be the main event of the day scheduled at the end of the day, fought between two Adept calibre rankers. Eren didn't take long to conclude.

"Oh! You are duelling with someone, I take it. Who is it? And why are your names and everything about both of you redacted?"

Altashia smiled mirthlessly when she heard it. She replied the answer to that question with one word.

"I'll be battling with a Renar."

As if this shock was not enough, Eren felt a weird mana pulse coming from his pendant. He predicted that Layla had returned. She soon proved him right by speaking to him over his voice channel.

'Eren, we need to talk.'