(CHAPTER 31: THE BIG DAY)

"Ladies and Gentlemen!!" The sound of the announcer shouting through the speaker can be heard afar as the people seated around the entire arena cheered. "The day has come! The 75th Knighting Tournament of the Plains Kingdom!!" The cheer grew even louder mixed with hooting and clapping, the crowd sure are excited.

"This time there are 7 participants instead of last year's 6!" The announcer seemed even excited about the match himself. "And now! Let me bring to you, this year's future Royal Knights!!" With a wave of a hand, a group of people walk out from the entrance and into the arena.

"First of all! The mysterious member of the Purple Haze Assassination Clan! Veeeeeenom!!" The man in lead wave his hands to the crowd. He is quite skinny, tall and slender. With silky white hair mixed among his jet black hair. His eyes were bloody red, giving him a sense of danger. The most bizarre part is that he is wearing a glove around his hand, not normal gloves too, iron gloves. Is that some sort of practice? Hero thought in his mind.

"Next! Numerous people has fallen under the might of his feet, he didn't need to see you to kill you! The king of street fighters, Vassi!!" A dark colored skinny old man followed the lead, he is so skinny that we could even clearly count the ribs on his chest. He has no arms, his entire shoulder doesn't exist, but his legs were long and powerful. He stare at the audience with his white pupil before giving down a bow as respect.

"Followed up! The killer bee! No one has ever fought this man without becoming Swiss cheese! I gave you, the one and only, Dave "Sting" !!" A tall, muscular man laughed and walk out as he greeted the crowd with his moves. The crowd cheer and chanted his name, he laughed once more and followed the rest as he stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for other fighters to show themselves.

"Up Next! The living weapon! He was once one of the 10 Royal Knights! And now he is back!!!" The crowd gasped, could it be- "I present to you all! My friends, the risen demon from Hell! Carl Hel!" As if on cue and man leaped out from the entrance at a height beyond humanity. He landed like a cannonball smashing the concrete floor into pieces and raise his hands up, as the crowd finally take a good long look at him, they cheered. The legend has returned, stronger than ever.

"There he is! There he is!!" The crowd's attention suddenly switched towards the entrance as the host announced dramatically. "The Titan Killer, Neck Snapper! He could twist anyone like spaghetti!!" A small built man walk out into the crowd's sight, never in their life they expected to see this man fight with their own eyes. "The master of joints! The dominator of all! Master Taki!!" The crowds go nuts as the fray old man wave his hands towards the audience and walk slowly towards the awaiting fighter. Upon seeing this, the fighters all bow down to show their respect and honor. Taki let out a chuckle and signal them that's fine, he is so excited himself, and it has been years since his heart has beat at this pace.

"The Son of the Mightiest Knight ever!" Suddenly the cheer from the crowds halted upon hearing this. "The elite from the elite, the strongest of the strongest! The one and only Dragon Slayer!! Lucas!!!" The crowd stood up from their seats and cheered as Luca walk out. He was still elegant and gentle as ever, bowing towards the crowd as a gratitude towards their cheers. "He will be waiting the final warrior at the Semi-Final's of the match!!" The host announced and the crowd was even thrilled. Who wouldn't be? Seeing the son of the mightiest man alive in a fight with their own eyes.

"Oh, there is another one?" The announcer suddenly asked. The crowds were excited, the first few fighters have their adrenaline pumping high. Who will be the next one? "The mysterious wanderer from the East! Survived a fight against the Big Three and trained under the one and only Sir Arthur. He is the lucky number seven! Heeerooooo!!" He walk into the crowd, upon seeing this man, the cheers faded. "Killer!" One of the crowds suddenly shouted, and others followed by booing and curses. Hero shrugged his shoulder and stood side by side with the rest of the fighters. "Ready to lose?" Lucas snickered beside him. "You bet." Hero let out a grin.

"And we shall decide the matchup!" Upon seeing the audience's reaction, the announcer immediately change the topic. A guard walk towards the fighters with a box metal in his hand that has a hole on top of it. "There will be paper slips with numbers within this box that decides the order of your fights and the fighters you will be facing!" The guard shook the box for a while to mix up the paper and hand it out to the fighters. One by one the fighters reach their hands inside the box and take out the paper except for Lucas since he is reserved for the semi-final round. Hero took out a slip of paper, open it up and read the numbers inside it.

1

Great, he is the first to fight. He look around other fighters to see who had picked up the same number with him, the number "1". As he was searching, a light tap on his shoulder make him turn his head around. It was Dave, "Looks like we are fighting against each other now." He let out a smile and show him his paper slip, with the number "1" written on it too.

"And the fight has been decided!" The announcer declared as the crowd goes wild with excitement. "Round 1: Hero against Dave! Round Two! Venom against Carl! And finally Round Three! Taki against Vassi!" The crowd's spirit were uplifted, the cheering intensifies. "Without further ado, I would like to let the fighters return to their special lounge to rest or spectate the first round of this tournament! Hero against Dave!!" The fighters gave the duo their blessing before walking off from the arena. Hero and Dave take their place as the jury stood in between them.

Hero take a deep breath.

Bring it.