Chapter 261 - Exhibition Between Prefectures

The next two regions were promptly announced and lined up to the left of Oli. But that couldn't keep Oli from constantly looking over the kings and lingering on the visage of a man in golden robes. 

"Lord Zrand, I believe it's your turn to enter first," Lord Treeda remarked, turning to look at the end of the stairs. 

Nodding, Lord Zrand smiled lightly and looked to the kings under him. "Come. It's time we enter."

Lord Zrand began walking first, casually climbing the staircase toward the enormous, open-aired colosseum in front of him. Behind him walked a woman in an elegant, pale-yellow dress, barely behind him like Uutrai was to Lord Treeda. Next was the man in gold robes with an arrogant grin, who waved to those in the first line of the rival prefecture. 

It was then that Oli noticed the four beasts lined up for the man in golden robes, particularly the giant, gold-scaled dragon at the front of the line. Though not as large as Brak, it was surely a Razor-hide Dragon, proving Oli's ire and silent rage to be pointed at the correct man.

The next three kings moved on as well, leading their region's contestants one after the other.

Eventually, it was time for Lord Treeda to ascend along with Uutrai. Following them were the woman king and her representatives, then Oli and those of the Rot Region. This order was followed until everyone stepped into the startlingly grand arena. 

Oli was blown away by the structure and the unexpected seating around the arena. There was a single area with the four most luxurious seats, two of which were already taken by Lord Zrand and the woman in yellow. Just below that platform was a line of eight seats, four being occupied by the other prefecture's kings. Then, on either side there were four divided areas with no seats at all, only a platform to stand on and a staircase to enter the arena below. Clearly, the stadium wasn't meant for public use at all, probably only used for competitions like the one he had unexpectedly entered.

But Oli followed everyone else while Zlesh joined the other kings at their seats. They no longer needed to stand in a line, so long as they remained in their region's designated area. 

And the moment the last king was seated and their regional representatives were ready, the woman in the yellow dress nodded to Lord's Zrand and Treeda before jumping into the arena. She smiled softly at all the competitors before she announced, "Under the orders of Lord Zrand, I'll be officiating today's exhibition! You all may address me as Lady Inka, wife of Lord Zrand. I look forward to today's brilliant matches and witness the potential of both prefectures' youth!"

Suddenly, a silenced barrier popped up around the two leading seats, those of the prefecture lords. 

"What happened to Krasc? Did he disappoint you?"

Not even looking at Lord Treeda, Zrand nodded. "Sadly, he did. Inka is far more impartial and will make sure each match is called fairly."

Treeda nodded ever so slightly. "That's good to hear. I'll be sure to speak out if I see unfairness, and I hope you'll do the same."

"Of course." 

While the two prefecture lords were finally able to talk amongst themselves, Lady Inka then looked to the man sitting just outside of the lords' conversation. "Sir Uutrai, can I ask you to guarantee the safety of the competitors in the audience, in the case of free-flying attacks?"

"Of course you may," answered Uutrai with a satisfied grin.

"Then we'll now begin! And first off, we must determine our brackets!" Suddenly, eight bags appeared in Inka's hands, each carrying a number on it. "Kings, it's now time for you to choose your lots. Being the hosts this time, the first king from our Tempest Prefecture will claim the first bag."

"Number 1!" 

"Here you are, Brak." Lady Inka then tossed the bag to Brak, next looking to the female king sitting beside Zelsh. "Jeminine, which would you like?"

"Number 4, please."

"Of course."

Tossing the bag, Lady Inka moved on to the next king of her prefecture and then to Zelsh.

"Lucky number 7!"

"Ah, the gambling man, as usual!" laughed Inka, tossing Zelsh his bag. 

It didn't take long for each king to claim their bag. Once that was over it was time for the kings to present the contents of their bags. There were four stone tiles in each bag, with numbers etched on them, ranging from 1 to 32. This made sure to include each of the four representatives of each prefecture's chosen four regions, making eight regions in total. 

"Contestants, now that your kings have chosen their lots, you'll do as they say and face the opponents of their choice. Anyone who refuses to take part in the battle chosen by their king will be disqualified without question or hesitation, disgracing themselves and their region. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Lady Inka!" 

Oli was the only one to not shout back to the woman but it didn't seem to matter. He watched as Lady Inka called for the kings with numbers 1 and 2 to choose competitors. This led to Jeminine choosing her human representative to face off against a serpent beast from their same region. 

The match was quick and effortless for the human, staunchly defeating the serpent in under a minute. But no one seemed surprised. Given how the human was the first representative of her region and the serpent was the fourth representative of his region, everyone expected the result from the get-go. Even the serpent seemed to expect that ending, humbly accepting defeat without question and surrendering the moment all of its best attacks were thwarted. 

This taught Oli why the bracket was designed so strangely. To ensure that the strongest competitors made it to the next round without delay. It was unique, to say the least, but it also presented a completely different tournament, one much more formal than what Oli had experienced in the past. 

A great example was the second match, which took place between two people from the same region. The king from the Tempest Prefecture unquestionably selected his strongest and weakest representatives with a satisfied smile. He was more than happy to guarantee that his strongest competitor would move on.

But this added to Oli's worries, as Oli was undoubtedly the fourth seed of the Rot Region.