Chapter 125: Viscera!

The entire audience began to murmur after the first incident. By the second and third death caught on screen, gasps went through the crowd in a rolling wave almost as if a group of spectators stood and threw their arms into the air in celebration. Instead of oohs and aahs there were instead screams of panic, as more and more people saw their friends and family being slaughtered all across the stage.

“Folks, I think something may be wrong here,” said Bobby. His normally friendly tone lost to the violence being casted across the many hologram Jumbotrons flying around and above the stage.

It was then that the same notification, that had been sent to all the competitors once they’d reentered the stage, appeared on the Overlays of all gathered. It was understood that what had been done was potentially the result of the System's interference with the tournament.

A flood of guards from various realms, alongside the trained security force of the BHC quickly surrounded the stage to break the barrier that kept competitors inside and the audience safe from the battles being had within.

“We need to call Graveyard. I’ll be back, Bobby,” came Lane's voice through the coliseum speakers in a panic. A whispered conversation was held and Bobby's voice came through the speakers loud and clear a moment later.

“Okay, folks, from what I have gathered, all the competitors within the stage grounds have been locked within. The safety perimeters that were set in place by the Coliseum and Maelstrom's safety officials have been altered by a unique system challenge. Apparently this has happened before, and from the first hand experience of Elders of many sects this is an honor, though tragic in nature, those who survive will be rewarded tremendously.” The murmurs from the crowd grew and Bobby had another whispered conversation.

“I have just been told by Sergeant Winter of Graveyard that the local precincts are being dispatched and will arrive in full force shortly. Until then, I am being told to let everyone know to remain calm, and that everything that can be done will be done and not to worry in the meantime, The competitors will realize that something is wrong, and will most likely cease any and all conflict until this is resolved…”

Yells of frustration could be heard growing in frequency, as the announcer's statement was not filled with confidence. The worried parents, lovers and friends of those inside knew that not all of the competitors would believe the situation could end peacefully. Some might interpret the message shown by the System as law. A proclamation sent by a divine and godly tool that could not be reversed or overcome by any power beneath the heavens.

The violence still being displayed on screens abroad was proof of this in the eyes of the audience. Those within no longer competing for treasure, honor and fame, but for their very lives.

The first member of the audience to jump over the wall that separated the stage below from the audience, charged up to the barrier, knocking many guards out of his way, leading a literal flood of Cultivators to join in an all-out stampede. To make things worse, some of the Habitation ships above the coliseum began to fire military grade weaponry to try and break down the barrier around the stage. This was seen to some foreign officials as an act of war, who then began to fire at the ships trying to pierce the Coliseum's shields, putting their own native competitors, even more at risk of losing their lives. It was in this moment that absolute chaos within the realm broke loose.

…

Draphen and Jade stood up and shared a worried look. The king thought to himself about the obvious war that would ensue from this, and how obtaining his fourth pillar may become more feasible with a multi realm war. While Jade saw credit signs for every assassination mission currently being sent to her Overlay.

“This is bad… right…?” Jade closed her eyes at Draphen's question, her lips pressed into a fine line, before she peeked one eye open at him with a raised brow.

“Yes…?” Draphen frowned, tilting his head toward her.

“Sparks, woman, could you sound any more unsure?” Jade's eyes opened wide, and her brows rose as she nodded.

“Of course.” It was the king's turn to sigh, his eyes now closing slowly before he spoke up.

“We should not be excited about war while our children are at risk…”

“Our son isn’t at risk, but your children might be. Arson may or may not protect them, it's a coin toss really,” said Jade seriously, though she wore a huge smile.

“Are you trying to make me feel better or worse?” Jade looked away at Draphen's question nodding to herself.

“You know I’m not good at this kind of stuff. I just know Arson, and your children keep their distance from me like they think I’ll drop them into a black hole or something. I’m just saying that our son can handle himself, he’s probably seen worse than this in his short lifetime, whereas…”

“My children aren’t hardened Cultivators but are instead well trained scions…” admitted the king trailing off as he acknowledge the truth more to himself than to Jade. Jade slowly nodded still looking down from their viewing box.

“This isn’t good, is it?” asked the king once more. Serious this time now worried for all of his children.

“”Absolutely not, I have to figure out how to stop a war that you may want to happen, and you have to figure out how to save my potential future step children from our son if he loses control in there,” said Jade seriously. Draphen's hand rose to his forehead and he mouthed, sparks and embers. With the realization that his dragon of a son was inside a perfect situation to trigger not only Arson's first shift but also his own transformation as a result, Draphen felt his blood begin to boil at the stress.

“So, what is our first move?” asked Draphen after a few moments of silent contemplation. Only for Jade to raise a sideways fist in the air in his direction.

“Loser has to go ask Carter to break the shield open, and winner gets to smash ships?” Draphen sighed, raising his own sideways fist in the air in front of Jade's, looking away in fear of his potential loss. Jade followed suit, and neither watched as the game of rock, paper scissors was played.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot,” said the pair simultaneously, ships and mayhem exploding all around them, before they both opened one eye to peek at the results. They both held out scissors, and the process continued a handful more times, before the pair peeked and Jade held paper, and Draphen held out rock.

“Aww come the sparks on, best two out of three,” asked Draphen now pouting, even as a portal opened up behind Jade.

“One and done, baby, one and done!”

…

Arson, unlike many others around him, didn’t want to kill the scions of foreign realms to survive this situation. He instead did his best to stop conflict. He initially saved many lives, the confused Cultivators even frowned at him as he pulled them from perilous situations, only to turn on him.

At first he didn’t mind, as he was well suited to survive. He had many potions made by Rob made fearing that his title would hinder him the entire tournament, but as day turned to night, and then day again, many still alive began to form kill squads that proved to be more than just a small set of trifles to deal with.

It was when Arson found Aura and Ash, being dragged by a group of young men, who’d ganged up on his sisters for nefarious reasons, that Arson's own intentions for those closed in the stage with him and his siblings changed.

“Aye!” One of the young men turned around, giving Arson a full view of his bloodied sister that made something in his chest snap. A flood of mana poured into him and sections of his seal immediately heated to the point of a searing white heat that Arson's rage suffocated as if the pain was non-existent.

“What, you want in on this?” The young man gestured toward his obviously unconscious sister, and Arson couldn’t look away from her black and blue features. Whispered words came from Reaper in that moment, but Arson couldn’t hear them, a roar in his mind grew louder and louder by the moment.

“You got feelings for one of these chicks or something? Give us some time to finish up and we will hand her back to you,” said the young man, causing the few dozen other young men around to also laugh.

The stars in Arsons’ eyes started to rotate. Ego began to growl and the laughter around Arson grew.

“Got the guts to attack us. Let me tell you, little man, you and your puppy aren’t going to make it if you do something—“ When Arson pulled up his cowled hood, it wasn’t its normal red, or black, but instead a pure white gold. The mana in the area changed and the group of men stopped talking and laughing.

Arson pulled off his crown and the piece of his core shifted into a scythe, as he pulled Sky into his other hand from his watch. Followed by Jaqueline, Jillian and Jane.

“Fan out, this idiot must want to die…” Even as the same young man spoke, Reaper and Bloom climbed from Arson's shadow.

“It seems that we get to play again and so soon, my sister,” said Reaper with a glance toward Bloom who nodded. Arson still staring at his sisters' beaten forms. The stars in his eyes spinning faster and faster.

The young men surrounded Arson and mana lightning began to pore from both hands into his scythes.

“Boss, something ain’t—“ The young man's head fell off before he could complete his sentence.

“Holy—“ Another young man screamed just before Jane ripped his jaw from his skull, leaving the Cultivator wailing in agony, then his body was bisected vertically in a single slice. The armored construct charging a conductive water orb, that it shoved into another man's dropped jaw before his head also exploded.

None there could keep up with Arson’s movements. A cold fury overtaking him in a way that he’d never felt before.

Bloom took flight and began to fire shooting star projectiles, as Jaqueline managed to electrify targets, freezing them before they even knew they’d been targeted. Bloom's shots turning their forms into nothing but broken statues.

The leader turned to run, only for his eyes to widen when Ego jumped toward the neck of the man just beside him. The dog's mouth clamping down violently on the Cultivator, before every bit of mana and life force was sucked from the Cultivator's body.

Arson's slashes turned every person struck into literal dust. Two or three people beheaded or cleaved in half in mere blinks. He was charged from behind for Jill to take care of the reckless attacker by bursting through the young man's chest with an open palm that carried the strength of the pressure found at the bottom of the ocean, before his heart was dropped onto the ground, Ego eating the muscle before charging off toward his own next victim.

Reaper cackled as he used a variation of Wing Chun, combined with mana lightning to steal souls as the panicking group of young men around him tried to flee the violence.

“Chain of souls,” murmured Arson in Uni-Vare. A dozen young men frozen in place in the middle of fleeing, as his rage poured from his chest in a violent explosion of mana lightning. The leader watched paralyzed, as runes floated through the air all around him and the others trying to escape.

Arson's exhalation of power vaporized every person the extraordinary beam touched even slightly. Bodies turned into piles of multi colored dust all around him, yet when the beam neared the leader, he stopped, as the young man was the last person left within the area, almost a dozen young men able to run off. Arson handed his scythes to Jillian and Jane who shot off in pursuit of those that managed to flee successfully with twin sonic booms that foreshadowed the continued carnage as Arson walked up slowly to the trembling leader still frozen in place. Jaqueline left Arson's side and approached his sisters as he grabbed the young man by the throat, and lifted him into the air, and roared violently in his face.

The roar shook the entire coliseum to the point that much of the insanity outside of the stage was suppressed. A power unlike any other felt by all gathered.

“Please, don’t—“ Arson didn’t even let him finish his sentence, inhaling slowly. He watched as the young mans’ soul left his body slowly. Everything taken, leaving nothing behind, not even a pile of dust left as proof as Arson drank his entire being as his power turned the young man into pure energy. Evaporating the Cultivator into food for his soul's nourishment.

“Find Auto, and the Crown family,” said Arson with a glance over his shoulder toward Bloom, who nodded before she took flight. Arson walked toward his sisters and picked both of them up, putting them over his shoulders. Then looked over at the smiling Reaper.

“Kill everything that moves…”

“As you wish,” Reaper said with a cackle, before he turned into a black hole that disappeared into thin air.

“Arson,” came the feint voice of Ash. He shushed the young woman before Aura spoke up.

“I told you he would come for us,” Aura said with a small chuckle before she passed back out.

“Of course, you’re my sisters. You may be annoying, but we are still family,” said Arson in a half hearted whisper, knowing that it had been pure luck that he’d come across the pair in the depths of the jungle.

“Thank you, little brother. I will never forget this,” said Ash, and Arson knew the young woman wasn’t lying, feeling the truth of her words deep within his soul.

“Enough of that, just rest. We have work to do if we are going to leave here alive.” Ash nodded solemnly, and closed her eyes speaking one more time.

“For this, I will make many pay, little brother, believe me…” Arson looked back at Ash and saw a fire blooming in her eyes and knew he still held the fury of many suns within his own and nodded, looking back into the distance.

“I know, sister, but just rest, and let me handle this for now.” Arson didn’t see his sister smile up at him before she closed her eyes once more. Nor did Ash see the tears roll free of his own face as he felt contentment at the thought of the slaughter he would soon commit to free his siblings from this trial.

Maiden, forgive me, for none but my own people will survive this. I am the weapon that you have created and none will survive the tribulation that I have become…