Chapter 297: Volcanic Arena

Chapter 297: Chapter 297: Volcanic Arena

Chapter 297: Volcanic Arena

The clerk stared at the runic contract in his trembling hands, entirely convinced he was signing a death warrant.

With a final gulp, the clerk pressed his runic pen against the parchment.

"Fine. You are officially registered for the Gold Rank 2 death matches tomorrow morning," the clerk stated grimly, sliding a newly forged, dark-crimson token across the wooden desk.

The old man looked at Rhain, his lone eye turning incredibly serious.

"But I must warn you, Asura. Gold Rank 2 matches are not fought in this colosseum."

Rhain’s dark grey eyes narrowed slightly beneath the mask. "Oh? Where are they held?"

"It’s Crucible Core," the clerk answered, "middle-stage Domain Masters are far too destructive to be contained in a standard arena. If you want to fight in Gold Rank 2, you will have to fight in the Crucible Core."

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Next morning, led by his six Domain Master subordinates, Rhain arrived at the Crucible Core.

It was a gargantuan arena built directly into the crater of an incredibly powerful, active volcano.

Streams of boiling magma flowed sluggishly beneath the suspended, reinforced stone platform that served as the combat ring.

The blistering heat radiating from the molten rock below was so intense that If an ordinary Spirit Manifestation Realm cultivator were to step anywhere near the edge of this pit, the scorching temperature would instantly incinerate their flesh, turning them into ash before they could even scream.

Only the towering spectator stands were shielded by glowing arrays that protected the thousands of masked killers seated within.

Rhain stepped through the massive iron gates.

The moment his boots touched the floor of the entrance—

[Ding!]

The mechanical voice of the System echoed clearly within his consciousness.

[Location Sign-In Node detected: Crucible Arena — Crucible Core.]

[Would you like to sign in?]

Beneath his demonic mask, a trace of surprise flashed in Rhain’s eyes.

He wasn’t expecting a location Sign-In to be in the Crucible Arena.

’Sign in,’ Rhain commanded internally.

[Location Sign-In Successful!]

[Congratulations! You have received the Origin Item: Seed of Fire.]

[Item automatically sent to System Inventory.]

Rhain’s heart skipped a beat.

Seed of Fire!

His second fundamental law seed, following the Seed of Darkness he had obtained at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Ascendent Tower.

With his Red Tribulations Heavenly Flame already completely integrated into his Abyssal Sovereign Physique, assimilating the Seed of Fire would undoubtedly push his control over the flames to an entirely new dimension.

"But now is not the time to assimilate it,’ Rhain concluded rationally, forcefully suppressing the ravenous hunger of his dantian.

Having already assimilated the Seed of Darkness, he knew exactly how catastrophic the reaction of absorbing an Origin Seed could be.

The ravenous hunger, the explosive surge in cultivation, and the uncontrolled manifestation of a new Domain were impossible to hide.

Doing that here, surrounded by thousands of bloodthirsty killers was impossible.

He firmly suppressed the instinctive, gluttonous urge of his Abyssal Sovereign Physique, leaving the Seed of Fire resting within his System Inventory.

Rhain walked down the stone steps and took a seat in the middle rows of the protected stands, his six slaves standing like immovable statues behind him.

Down in the magma-veined pit, the morning slaughter had already begun.

BANG! CLANG! BOOM—!!!

The battles here were on an entirely different level.

Middle-stage Domain Masters clashed with earth-shattering ferocity, their domains colliding against each other and sending shockwaves of pure destructive energy crashing against the golden arrays.

Rhain watched the exchanges in silence, meticulously analyzing their speed, their law compressions, and their lethal instincts.

After a few brutal matches concluded, the voice of the announcer boomed across the crater.

"The time has come for our next match!" the announcer roared, his voice whipping the crowd into a frenzy. "Defending the challenge is a Level 4 Domain Master known for leaving no survivors... VIPERSTRIKE!"

A slender, highly agile man clad in dark green scaled armor leaped from the upper tiers, landing on the blistering arena floor without a sound.

He wielded twin daggers that shone with a purple venom.

The moment he appeared, a flurry of excited, yet wary murmurs swept through the spectator stands.

"Viperstrike! That bastard is fighting today?"

"Whoever his opponent is, they are already dead. Viperstrike doesn’t fight fair!"

Rhain listened to the whispers around him.

Viperstrike was not notorious for his raw, overwhelming power. Instead, he was infamous throughout the Crucible Core for his incredibly tricky, shameless, and dirty sneak attacks.

He specialized in corrosive poisons, hidden needles, and blinding traps, doing whatever it took to secure a kill.

But there was another, far more terrifying reason why Viperstrike was feared.

"His opponent better pray for a quick death," a burly spectator in the row ahead muttered. "Even if someone manages to corner Viperstrike, no one dares to actually kill him. Because everyone knows who his older brother is?"

"Bloodaxe," another masked killer shivered, uttering the name with profound dread.

Bloodaxe.

A Level 6 Domain Master, and one of the deadliest, most blood-soaked fighters in the entire Gold Rank 2 tier.

"If anyone even scratches Viperstrike too deeply, Bloodaxe will personally tear them limb from limb in the pits the very next day!"

Down in the arena, Viperstrike spun his venomous daggers, a cruel, arrogant sneer visible beneath his serpent-shaped mask.

"And stepping up to challenge him!" the announcer boomed, his voice reaching a fever pitch. "Is the Silver Rank 1 newcomer who has completely dominated the lower tiers! The enslaver of Domain Masters... ASURA!"

The entire colosseum erupted into a deafening roar of disbelief and manic excitement.

"ASURA?"

"The Silver Rank 1 demon is actually stepping into the Crucible Core?"

"He has gone completely mad! Fighting Gold Rank 1s was a miracle, but challenging a middle-stage Domain Master? He is going to be slaughtered!"

Rhain completely ignored the frantic whispers and the mocking laughter raining down upon him.

Swoosh—!

He leaped gracefully from the stands.

He bypassed the protective arrays and landed lightly on the scorching, magma-veined arena floor.

A wave of intense heat engulfed him in an instant, it was hot enough to melt ordinary steel, but against the Abyssal Sovereign Physique, it felt like nothing more than a warm summer breeze.

Across the ring, Viperstrike’s eyes narrowed into venomous slits.

"So you are the arrogant little bug who thinks he can fight above his rank," Viperstrike hissed, his tone filled with condescension. "You should have stayed in the kiddie pool, Asura. Out here, I am going to melt your flesh off your bones with my venom and watch you scream."

Rhain’s dark grey eyes simply stared at the slender assassin.

He was silently assessing his opponent.

It was clear that Rhain was going to win this fight easily.

The referee, hovering securely on a reinforced stone platter above the bubbling magma, signaled for the pre-match rituals.

"Place your wagers!"

Rhain calmly raised his hand.

With a casual flick of his wrist, a heavy spatial ring flew in a perfect arc, landing squarely on the hovering stone platter.

"I bet nine thousand Blood-Iron Tokens," Rhain stated in his fake deep voice.

The words dropped like a nuclear bomb onto the blazing arena.

Up in the stands, even the veteran middle-stage Domain Masters felt their hearts hammer violently against their ribs.

Nine thousand Blood-Iron Tokens was an astronomical sum even for them.

Across the ring, Viperstrike froze.

His venomous, slit-like eyes widened to the point of tearing beneath his serpent mask.

He stared at the spatial ring resting on the platter, and an uncontainable, fanatical greed instantly exploded within his mind, entirely overriding any residual caution.

’Nine thousand tokens...’ Viperstrike’s mind spun wildly. ’If I take this fortune, I won’t need to fight in these blood pits again for an entire year!"

"HAHAHA!" Viperstrike threw his head back and shrieked with manic laughter as he thought of it.

Without a single shred of hesitation, Viperstrike forcefully yanked a spatial ring from his own finger.

It contained almost his entire life savings, accumulated over decades of ruthless murders, dirty assassinations, and countless death matches.

He slammed it onto the hovering stone platter.

"I bet ten thousand Blood-Iron Tokens!"

The crowd’s screaming reached a fever pitch.

Nineteen thousand Blood-Iron Tokens in a single wager!

It was one of the largest betting pools of the middle stage Domain Masters in last ten years.

Confirming the amounts, the referee hastily raised his hand high into the air.

"The wagers are locked! Nineteen thousand Blood-Iron Tokens on the line!"

The referee forcefully slashed his hand downward.

"BEGIN!"