“I want to return to my home base, the internet café…”
The idle fish in front of Seiji… whoops, Kanna Fujihara was currently collapsed on a table and muttering to herself.
“I don’t care about this tournament or whatever… I only want to watch the newest anime, play video games, eat snacks, and surf the internet… I don’t want to stay here in such a strange location…”
It was evident that she had zero motivation. She continuously muttered such things while giving off the aura of being an idle fish.
Seiji had finally met up with his only ally in this tournament, yet she was currently in such a condition.
Although he understood why this was the case, as she was an otaku girl who only joined this tournament because her family forced her to, still…
“The tournament is about to begin soon. Is it really alright to let her be like this, Izawa-kun?” Seiji looked at Kanna’s Spirit-branded Retainer, Ryuuno Izawa.
“This is how Master behaves when she’s under too much pressure. Although it looks worrisome, she’ll become more spirited when it’s necessary,” Izawa replied. “And if she really can’t energize herself, then I shall take necessary measures to help her to do so.”
‘Necessary measures? That sounds rather dangerous.’
Seiji’s cheeks twitched from hearing such a comment.
By now, the tournament participants had mostly arrived.
Most of the spectators had arrived as well. They were led to the spectating grounds.
The only ones that hadn’t arrived were the ones from the main factions.
At this time, there was the loud sound of something flying through the air.
This sound was… a helicopter?
Seiji looked outside a window and saw a rather science-fiction-like flying object fly towards the spectating grounds and descend there!
He had no clue what name this flying machine went by. Still, it was doubtless that the major faction personnel would ride on such a thing.
Since the major factions’ spectators had arrived, then the tournament participants from the major factions should have all arrived as well.
Thinking so, Seiji walked out of the rest area and soon saw a luxurious cruise ship arriving as expected.
Fully equipped tournament participants from the top-level factions disembarked off the luxury cruise ship after that.
The seven major Yin Yang Master families, the three major samurai families, the two major ninja factions, and the Himiki judging clan… Seiji decided to mentally refer to this entire group as the “7321” faction for short.
The 7321 faction’s tournament participants actually all arrived together? Something seemed off about this.
No… this wasn’t even at the level of something being off anymore.
A military squadron, a naval warship, and a deserted island as the tournament location… wasn’t all of this directly indicating that something big was about to happen?
Seiji felt that it was highly likely to be related to the Revenge Alliance. More accurately, it would be related to the “new power of the new generation” that Rota had been speaking about.
The new power of the new generation. What Seiji thought of first were the Awakened and Spirit Worlds…
That’s right, a Spirit World!
If all of this was for the sake of a Spirit World, then this ridiculous scene and all the clues of something going on behind the scenes would be explainable!
The Revenge Alliance’s “new power” that they wanted to use was related to a Spirit World.
The tournament hosts knew about this already. Not only did the 7321 faction not intend to stop the Revenge Alliance, they even wanted to “see it happen” and “steal” from the Revenge Alliance!
With this deserted island as the tournament grounds, any major incident that occurred could be dealt with out of the public’s sight. Since this island didn’t have a single human resident to begin with, it didn’t matter—regardless of how much of a commotion was caused here.
The military squadron and the naval warship were all sent here as preventive measures. In fact, it was possible that even stronger forces were waiting in reserve for the Messengers faction to act.
The 7321 faction’s tournament participants had all arrived together on the same luxury cruise ship. This probably meant that they had set up an alliance amongst themselves in order to deal with the Revenge Alliance.
All of these major precautions were all for the sake of a Spirit World!
Each Spirit World represented tremendous potential benefits to be reaped. Just one Spirit World would be more than enough for a top-level faction to invest so much, including risking their own disciples’ and descendants’ lives.
Everything made sense now.
Seiji felt like he understood everything. He also felt a chill run down his spine.
Was this chill because of the slaughter that was surely about to come? Or was it because he was facing the unknown? Or was the chill caused by some other reason?
Seiji lifted his head slightly towards the sky.
The clouds were currently blocking the moon and the stars. He saw nothing but darkness.
It was time for the tournament to begin.
Seven powerful individuals from the Himiki judging clan inspected all of the tournament participants’ equipment. The tournament participants were then led to the tournament contract signing location—a white building. The Himiki judging clan repeated this process for all the two-person teams.
When it was Seiji and Shika’s turn, they followed the guide into the white building and saw that complex and extensive spell formations were etched into the hallways, walls, and ceiling of the room. There were lanterns on the wall that emanated a faint red light.
The two of them were led into a small room that was also illuminated by red lanterns. Even more complex runes and spell formations were in this room. The center of the room contained a blood-red pillar which had a diameter of approximately twenty centimeters and a height of approximately one meter.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
The masked woman who led them here only said that before leaving the room and closing the door.
Not long after, a clear male voice sounded in the room…
“All tournament participants, please listen. The tournament contract ceremony is about to begin.”
All the runes and spell formations in the room instantly lit up in unison. A red light swiftly streaked through the runes and spell formations. Seiji sensed a powerful energy welling up within the room, along with his palm starting to heat up.
Seiji and Shika both lifted their hands and saw that the previous small spell formation from the tournament contract they’d signed before had risen on their palms.
“Everyone, please place the palm with the tournament contract insignia onto the spiritual pillar in the center of the room, then inject your Mana into the pillar.” The male voice gave instructions to all the tournament participants.
Seiji and Shika did as instructed.
The spiritual pillar began to glow and Seiji and Shika felt their palms burning up, as if they were melding with the spiritual pillar.
They then heard faint sounds of other men and women incanting something. Some time later, they suddenly sensed the existences of all the other tournament participants!
They were able to clearly sense the names of the other 126 tournament participants, their exact locations, and how far away they were!
To use a gaming analogy, it was as if a minimap had just been opened up in their minds.
“Please confirm the contents of the tournament contract.”
Information instantly streamed into their brains—the full terms of the tournament contract.
“Please clearly state your own name.”
Seiji and Shika exchanged glances before they both announced their own names.
They could also sense that the other tournament participants were simultaneously doing the exact same thing.
The next moment, there was a glow in the room as a mystical existence started forming!
This existence was connected to all the tournament participants. It would watch over the contract and gather spiritual blood from those who had lost in the tournament. This was the vessel for the Challenger’s Bloodwine that only the final victor would be able to obtain—the “Bloodwine Spirit”!
The Bloodwine Spirit didn’t have any intelligence of its own. It wasn’t under any specific person’s control. It was a special type of spirit that would only operate according to the rules set by the contract. It would be an absolutely fair judge for the ritual tournament.
“Contract signing complete,” the male voice announced.
A small plate suddenly emerged from the right wall together with a *beep* sound. Two red and black talismans were on the plate, and silver crystals were notched on the talismans.
“Please put on the Lifesaving Talismans. Finally, may all of you be blessed with luck!”
The spiritual pillar’s glow dimmed and disappeared. The runes and spell formations in the room also stopped glowing as the energy rapidly diminished.
Seiji’s hand no longer felt like it was burning. Neither was he able to sense the actions of the other tournament participants anymore, only their locations. Yet, he was still able to sense the Bloodwine Spirit, and knew that it was watching everyone.
Seiji and Shika both took and put on a Lifesaving Talisman.
After injecting their Mana into them, the Lifesaving Talismans became connected to Seiji and Shika. The Lifesaving Talisman would automatically activate and save their life from a single fatal blow.
The first round, the group stage, was about to begin.