Chương 106: Deathmatch

"Everyone."

"I believe everyone here already knows that, after a year, Heavens Arena has once again produced a fighter who won ten matches on the two-hundredth floor and obtained the right to challenge a Floor Master."

"Now, let us welcome contestant Aren Voss with thunderous applause." From the contestant tunnel on the left, the sound of mechanical gears turning and locking together echoed out. The sealed iron gate slowly rose. When it fully lifted, Aren appeared before the audience.

"Aren."

"Husband, good luck."

"Husband, take the Floor Master seat."

"Damn it. That guy really does have a pretty face..." Unlike his previous matches, this entrance did not receive a huge reaction except from a small group of his dedicated fans. Most of the audience watched Aren with scrutinizing eyes. Because Floor Master challenge seats were member-only, not many of Aren's ordinary fans could attend. Most of the people present were Heavens Arena fight fans. Their opinions of Aren were divided. Some believed he was a fraud.

They thought his opponents had either been fringe two-hundredth-floor fighters or his own friends acting out a show, and that he was a pretty boy trying to cash in on the attention from a Floor Master challenge. In their eyes, Aren had never truly defeated a real powerhouse on the two-hundredth floor. His face made that prejudice even stronger. Sometimes, when a person's looks were too striking, people focused on the face instead of the strength. Aren did not care whether those people approved of him.

Another portion of the audience believed that, although Aren's later wins were questionable, his strength was real. His match with Uvogin had shown tremendous speed and power. He was qualified to challenge a Floor Master. If the strength was there, there was no need to be overly strict about the process. After all, Heavens Arena respected power above all else. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Still, the first opinion held the majority among the old fight fans.

As a result, Aren's entrance was not especially warm. Some people even booed him. It had been a long time since Aren experienced that kind of treatment.

"And the first opponent chosen by contestant Aren for his Floor Master challenge is a man appearing in a challenge match as a Floor Master for the first time. His name is Tour." Another sequence of mechanical gears sounded. The rear iron gate slowly opened. Tour appeared before the crowd. Bright blond hair. A calm expression. A powerful, well-built body. Compared with many Floor Masters from the original work, who looked and dressed strangely, Tour could be considered handsome.

The crowd's reaction to Tour was much louder than its reaction to Aren. Support for him echoed everywhere.

"Some newer friends may not understand contestant Tour. Tour became a Floor Master two years ago. His Bone-Melting Touch has been trained to frightening perfection. It was this powerful hand technique that helped him seize the two-hundred-thirty-fourth floor." The commentator's words made Aren raise an eyebrow.

'Bone-Melting Touch?'

'What is this, some old martial arts villain?' At the same time, inside Heavens Arena's executive meeting room, the same group of well-dressed executives watched the live broadcast. One gloomy-looking man questioned Lucius.

"This is what you prepared? A colosseum theme?" Lucius did not care about the accusation. He smiled calmly.

"Don't rush, Anda. Everyone has been busy these past few days, and there were some things I didn't tell you. You'll understand soon. Nothing suits this match's theme better than a colosseum." Anda snorted. He had long been dissatisfied with Lucius. Back then, the two of them had competed for the management position responsible for venue planning. Lucius had won. Seeing Lucius bring out what looked like a simple colosseum theme for such an important match gave him an excuse to attack.

Of course, he had not considered one thing. If it were truly that simple, the person in charge would never have approved it. Lucius's plan had passed only because the head executive nodded.

"Playing mysterious. Fine. I'll see what trick you have." Since the head executive showed no intention of speaking, Anda could only endure for now. Back at the venue, the commentator suddenly gave a mysterious laugh after introducing Tour.

"Everyone, are you already eager to see the clash that follows?"

"Before that, I have an important announcement."

"Before this match, Floor Master Tour proposed that the battle be held as a deathmatch. Contestant Aren Voss accepted the proposal without hesitation."

"Therefore, this match will abandon the usual point system."

"It will become a deathmatch."

"In other words, only one person can survive this battle. The opponent's death is the condition for victory." The moment those words were spoken, the entire audience froze in shock. People had died on Heavens Arena's stages before, but since the tower's development, there had only been three matches that abandoned all rules from the start and became pure deathmatches. This was the fourth. Heavens Arena did allow fighters to choose a deathmatch.

In the original future, Hisoka and Chrollo's fated battle had also been changed to a deathmatch just before it began. This time, Tour had proposed it himself. After returning to Heavens Arena, perhaps because he felt offended by Aren naming him directly, or perhaps because he wanted to make an example of him, Tour made the request. Heavens Arena's officials immediately asked Aren whether he accepted. Aren had no reason to refuse. He had intended to kill Tour anyway.

Since Tour had sincerely asked for a one-way ticket to hell, Aren would satisfy that small request. Because the proposal came suddenly, only one day before the match, the tickets had already sold out and the promotion had already been completed. Heavens Arena simply chose not to reveal the deathmatch announcement until the match itself. Inside the executive meeting room, Anda's expression turned ugly. Now he finally understood why Lucius had chosen a rough colosseum theme. It was for this.

This time, his complaint came from an information gap, not ability.