CHAPTER 69: DADDY

"Divine Goddess, please bless us with a happy family and a long life." A man sitting on his knees joined his hands and prayed.

"Oh Holy Mother, I would really appreciate it if you give me lots of money, a young beautiful wife, and while you are at it, add a big house, an easy job, a long life, a— and increase my height too."

All the people were bowing or kneeling as they prayed to the goddess. She was a holy figure, and just catching a sight of her was considered a great fortune. Even if she looked very beautiful and hot, no one would have improper thoughts about such a pure being.

Diana smiled as she sat down on a throne-like seat. Beside her, Vanessa also sat on a similar seat, looking around the arena to find her son.

"Where is Vritra?" Diana asked as she gazed at her follower. She carried an air of grace.

"I don’t know, he should be here soon," Vanessa replied. Her tone was neither respectful nor disrespectful, just like talking to an equal— as if she wasn’t speaking to a literal goddess.

’This pair of mother and son... sigh, forget it.’ Diana ignored the hot MILF and continued to look at all the people, occasionally smiling.

Vritra stood calmly in the lobby where the number of participants continued to increase. Only around fifty people would be selected, but he could see that almost a thousand people had gathered for the fight.

To get as many Sin Points as he could, Vritra would have to stand out in the large crowd by whatever means. Just by standing in the lobby, he was getting quite a few points from the people around him who kept sending death glares at him.

{Sin Point Gained: Hated +42}

{Sin Point Gained: Taunted +33}

{Sin Point Gained: Provoked +59}

...

All the participants had already entered the waiting lobby and the time to register had ended. The door to the lobby’s entrance had closed. Then several people entered the lobby carrying registers in their hands along with big boxes full of badges.

They moved from person to person in the large lobby that was spacious enough to hold more than a thousand warriors. Vritra stood to one side, and soon a person approached him.

"Tell me your name," the man spoke without much emotion in his voice.

Vritra took the register and soon found his name. After the man put a number in front of it, Vritra was given a badge with number 669. The person registering then moved away without even seeing Vritra’s name.

The whole process didn’t take long. Within twenty minutes, all the warriors had received their badges as they excitedly waited to give their best performance on the stage. Even the goddess would be watching over them.

Just as the badge distributing process was about to end, Vritra sensed that the Dark Knight had returned. He moved to one of the corners and stood there casually as a shadow flew discreetly and disappeared under his feet.

’So is there anything out of the ordinary?’ Vritra asked while looking outside the lobby and toward the arena where the main event was about to start.

"No, Master. The Nine Pact and the Royal Army are all busy trying to find the tracks of those monsters.

My death had too big of an impact on this kingdom; the king won’t let this go so easily. As for the Nine Pact, it seems their reason for looking for you is completely different.

Though I sensed that you are still being held in doubt by several people," the knight gave his report.

’I see, that’s good enough for now. Hellmancer and Golem, go protect my mother for now.’ As he commanded, two shadows flew out— though no one noticed them.

...

There was a large stage at the center of the arena where more than a thousand people would be fighting. They could form groups and use any weapons. There were still some rules, and killing was prohibited.

Out of a thousand, only fifty would be selected in the end.

Around the fighting area, the seats were completely crowded with people— there were over fourteen thousand people. The whole place was already filled with excitement and cheering, as if they had already forgotten about the disaster that happened the previous day.

DING

"Welcome, Goddess and Miss." A middle-aged man wearing a colorful dress and with spiked hair suddenly jumped onto the fighting stage, holding something that resembled a mic.

His voice reverberated all over the place as he bowed respectfully toward Diana and Vanessa before addressing the crowd.

"Hello my friends, this is Uranus, the famous host who will be hosting this special event. It is much more than just the recruitment of guards. The fights will, as usual, be very brutal, so those with weak hearts— make sure to keep all your openings closed."

Uranus shouted, building up the excitement. He didn’t waste much time as he next announced: "Let’s call all of our one thousand eighty-four warriors onto the stage to fight.

The rules will remain the same as usual— the last fifty standing will be selected as the Royal Guards. So let’s welcome our strong warriors!"

The crowd roared and clapped.

The warriors in the lobby felt their excitement increase. All of them rushed out to the fighting stage, spreading over the large area.

The fighters made sure to stand in a way that they wouldn’t end up ambushed right at the start. Many were even joining groups.

Within seconds, the stage became crowded. Uranus took his position on a platform close to the stage while looking at the excited warriors.

After a minute had passed, he roared in a loud voice: "Alright, now that all of you are ready, then let’s START THE FIGH—"

Uranus was about to announce, but one of the men carrying a register ran toward him and spoke in a hushed tone: "Sir Uranus, it seems a person is still missing. I think he is still in the lobby, his number is 669."

"Hmm? What’s he doing there? Sigh, let me call him." Uranus shook his head before speaking into the mic: "Warrior number 669, come to the stage. The battle will be starting soon."

"..."

A minute passed and there was complete silence in the arena. Even the crowd had become quiet by now as they looked around to see which fighter was missing, but no one came forward.

"Warrior 669, if you don’t come forward, then you will automatically be eliminated from the battle." Uranus shouted again, in an irritated tone, while gazing at the lobby area.

...

Five more minutes passed, yet there was no response.

"Damnit, what is his name?" Uranus was getting angry. He looked at the registrar and asked.

"Uh... that’s..." the registrar fumbled with the register as he looked down and up nervously.

"Just give it here. Let me give him one last call. It wouldn’t be good if he accidentally missed such a big event." Uranus snatched the register and then looked down at the name attached to number 669. His face twitched and veins bulged on his face.

’W-What kind of name is it? Why is it so long? He wrote an entire damn essay. Is he trying to cause trouble?’

But gritting his teeth, he still announced that warrior’s name.

"Ladies and Gentlemen—" Uranus cleared his throat and began to read out the name, while the public’s interest was instantly piqued since it seemed the host was about to make some big announcement.

" The warrior- ’Since the beginning of this universe, the greatest man to have ever been born, the one with the best mind and body.

The most important person in the world, main character of this match; around whom all of you are nothing more than side characters— no, cannon fodders, mere dust and shit.

Of course, the two beautiful ladies excluded. Now let’s welcome the one and only... DADDY V!!! THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!’ please come on the stage."

"..." The whole arena fell silent, while Uranus turned red from embarrassment. He really wanted to beat up the person who used such a big and shameful name.

"Daddy V?!! Who the hell is that? Damnit, is he messing with us? Making us call him that?"

"D-Daddy V? What is that even? And why did the host give such an exaggerated intro for this guy? Is he the son of the king or something?"

"Is the host kidnapped? Why is he so biased this time? What’s wrong with him? His script was probably changed, right? How could he be praising one contestant to such an extent?"

All the people were passing all kinds of comments as they stared at Uranus in disbelief. More than half of them had started to hate this warrior called— Daddy V even before he had appeared.

Just while everyone was busy questioning or cursing, the sky rumbled and turned dark. The arena fell silent as they all looked up in surprise. The atmosphere had suddenly turned cold and then—

In the midst of summer, snow began to fall from the sky. The clouds rumbled, and the whole arena became darker and darker.

Then, as if a performance was being prepared, a single ray of light fell from amidst the clouds as they parted just a bit. Then a figure in a strange red dress, with a cape on his back, slowly descended with snow swirling around him.

His speed was very slow as he floated toward the fighting area.

On his chest were letters: —LAST NIGHT, I FUCKED—

On his cape were: —YOUR MOTHER—

"..."

"..."

{Sin Point Gained: Observed +14,249}

{Sin Point Gained: Baffled +13,973}

{Sin Point Gained: Provoked +14,188}

{Sin Point Gained: Hated +14,248}

...

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