Chapter 301: Arrival of Thrones

Chapter 301: Chapter 301: Arrival of Thrones

Chapter 301: Arrival of Thrones

The sun rose over the underground metropolis of the Crucible Arena.

But it was different from ordinary mornings.

The news of "Asura"—the Silver Rank 1 demon who had mercilessly decapitated Viperstrike—accepting a Blood-Oath Death Duel against the Level 6 Domain Master, Bloodaxe, had spread like a raging wildfire.

Inside the massive, crowded betting halls, the situation had descended into complete madness.

"Two hundred Blood-Iron Tokens on Bloodaxe! I want the payout in full before noon!"

"Five hundred on Bloodaxe! The boy won’t survive three breaths!"

"Someone place a bet on Asura! Anyone! The odds are twelve-to-one!"

The bookmakers were screaming themselves hoarse, their arms flailing wildly as they struggled to record the sheer volume of transactions flooding their tables.

Millions upon millions of Blood-Iron Tokens were furiously exchanging hands.

The overwhelming majority of the wealth was piled heavily onto Bloodaxe.

A Level 6 Domain Master was an existence that could effortlessly annihilate a dozen early-stage Domain Masters with a single wave of his hand.

By the time the designated hour approached, the Volcanic Colosseum at the Crucible Core was packed far beyond its maximum capacity.

Every single stone bench was crammed.

Masked killers stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the aisles, clinging to the railings, and crowding the high walls just to get a glimpse of the magma-veined pit.

The blistering heat radiating from the magma veins below did nothing to deter them; the anticipation was simply too overwhelming.

The organizers and arena officials looked at the overflowing stands in sheer awe.

This level of earth-shattering commotion and hype, hadn’t occurred since the ninth seat slaughtered his way to the throne and claimed the title of the Ninth Seat two months prior.

But the frenzy of the common spectators was not the only anomaly today.

High above the roaring crowds, hidden entirely from public view behind layers of profound, light-bending arrays, lay the supreme VIP balconies of the colosseum.

The Nine Seats of the Crucible Throne had secretly arrived to observe the battle themselves.

"The crowd is entirely rabid today," the Fifth Seat, the alluring woman with sharp, venomous eyes, murmured as she looked down at the sea of masked faces. "It seems this ’Asura’ has successfully whipped the entire city into a frenzy."

"Will be show up though?" the Third Seat’s eyes were fixed on the entrance below. "I am almost certain the boy would find a way to flee the Crucible Arena."

Sitting at the center, the First Seat crossed his massive arms.

"If he had fled, then our Crucible Arena will find and hunt him. No one can break the blood oath." the First Seat rumbled deeply. "I hope he doesn’t make such a foolish mistake."

"Me too!" Ninth seat sat languidly in the chair, overlooking the commotion with an utterly bored expression, "Let me see how good this ’Asura’ really is."

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Down in the blistering heat of the Crucible Core, a towering figure stepped out onto the scorched stone.

Bloodaxe.

He was easily nine feet tall, his massive frame encased entirely in blood-red plate armor that had been forged from a dead Domain Master beast.

In his right hand, he dragged a colossal battleaxe.

Bloodaxe walked to the edge of a bubbling magma pool near the center of the arena and stopped.

The pressure rolling off his body was furious and unfathomably dense.

He was like a beast chained only by the ticking of the clock, waiting for the man who had severed his brother’s head.

And he didn’t have to wait for very long.

Suddenly, a ripple of commotion started at the main iron gates.

"He’s here!"

"Asura!"

The deafening roar of the hundred thousand spectators instantly doubled in volume as Rhain walked in.

Following closely behind him were his six subdued Domain Master slaves.

They stopped at the edge of the arena, not daring to take another step forward.

Rhain walked to the center of the ring alone.

The entire Volcanic Colosseum erupted.

"HE ACTUALLY CAME!"

"I thought for sure he would flee the city last night! He didn’t run!"

"Hah! He knew that even if he ran, the laws of Crucible Arena won’t leave him alive. So, instead of dying as disgraceful death, he chose to die with dignity."

"Shut up you all! You would have peed in your pants if it were you in his place."

The crowd murmured fanatically with each other.

Many had genuinely believed Rhain would use his slaves to carve a bloody path out of the Crucible Arena to escape the duel.

But seeing him step onto the scorching sands with his usual, placid calmness ignited an absolute frenzy.

Rhain ignored the roaring crowd.

His eyes calmly looked at Bloodaxe who was glaring at him with eyes full of hatred.

If eyes could kill, Rhain would have died a thousand times already.

But neither of them spoke anything.

The referee, hovering nervously on a reinforced stone platter high above the magma pools, wiped a thick layer of sweat from his brow.

"T-This is a Blood-Oath Death Duel!" the referee shouted, "It cannot be surrendered! It cannot be interfered with by any party! Only one fighter leaves this arena alive!"

He raised his trembling hand high into the air.

CLANG!

The death bell rang throughout the vast colosseum.

"BEGIN!"

As soon as the word fell, Bloodaxe moved.

His grief and unbridled fury had entirely consumed his sanity.

"DIE!"

BOOM—!!!

An overwhelming pressure erupted as he instantly released his domain that made even other middle-stage Domain Masters tremble in fear.

"DOMAIN OF SLAUGHTER!"

A domain of crimson mist erupted from his body.

Phantoms of slaughtered cultivators seemed to wail within the mist, trying to forcefully tear away at the sanity of anyone trapped.

At the exact same time, Bloodaxe charged like a vengeful titan.

Despite his massive body, his speed was incredibly fast, instantly appearing before Rhain within a fraction of a second.

He raised his massive battleaxe high that was nearly as tall as him above his head effortlessly, pouring every last drop of his Level 6 Domain Master essence into the weapon.

He swung downward with a force that could have easily cleaved a giant mountain in two.

Rhain’s dark grey eyes sharpened beneath the demonic mask.

"Origin Domain of Darkness."

WHOOSH—!!!

A pitch-black void erupted from the mark on his forehead.

With his newly stabilized foundation and his staggering fifty five percent comprehension of the Law of Darkness, the domain expanded with a tyrannical force.

The two domains met in the center of the arena.

BOOM—!!!

Am earth-shattering boom reverberated through the Crucible Core.

The sheer impact of a Level 6 Domain violently colliding against Rhain’s 55% Origin Domain of Darkness sent a wave of destruction ripping through the crater.

The molten magma beneath the arena violently erupted, spraying boiling rock into the air.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! SHATTER!

The shockwave slammed into the spectator stands.

The defensive arrays meant to shield the thousands of masked killers flashed blindingly.

Spiderweb cracks aggressively tore across the golden barriers.

Several weaker spectators near the front rows violently coughed up blood, their eardrums instantly rupturing from the sheer sonic boom echoing violently across the arena.

Just a single exchange between them was so strong that it threatened to shatter the arena’s defenses in the very first exchange!