Everyone was escorted through the large stadium they were currently inside. They followed the butler-like looking person, slowly making their way where they needed to be. After meeting the members of the Board, Archer[Quinn] was still trying to think of ways to prevent the former from using its power to influence all these people again, like how they had done so now.
'The best thing to do is probably to get Tobias[Logan] to gather as much information on them. He will eventually find out where all their bases are located. Or maybe they hid all this stuff when they invited the Green family to be part of the Board.'
'It's pretty impressive that even these ten have somewhat decided to work together. With how the Board members are, I will be surprised if there is no infighting between them and one trying to topple the other.' Archer[Quinn] thought.
'It's due to them feeling like they are above the rest of you.' Kenobi[Ray] replied. 'It's actually similar to why many vampires didn't bother with the humans. Even during my time, the ruling empire had a similar situation to the current scenario. They are happy with their position, and they know only together they can do something like this. If you really want to stop the Board, you would have to either break them down one by one without alerting the other or do everything at once.'
Thinking about this was giving Archer[Quinn] a headache. He never thought he would have to dabble in politics or a game of chess. Lately, he had just been using his fists to solve everything because he thought that was the type of world he was in. Where power ruled all, and now he was finding out that this wasn't quite the case.
The group soon reached the winding tunnels that would stretch all around the stadium, and here they met up with more Butlers that looked different to the man leading them so far, but all wore the same uniform.
There weren't many people here in the first place, so they were easy to spot.
"From here, You will split up into two different groups." A Butler stated. "Although this is not a team competition, we have decided to split you all into two groups. After witnessing the strength of the vampires, we wish for them to witness the humans' strength as well. I hope that is okay with you."
Again, Joseph[Sam] had also predicted that something like this would happen, which was why they had invited Simon[Leo] and Mill[Sil]. It was quite comical to Archer[Quinn] that others couldn't even tell that Simon[Leo] was a vampire, but he guessed the main trait, the red eyes that vampires had. One couldn't see on Simon[Leo], so it partially made sense.
As expected, the two from the Cursed faction whom the Board wanted to follow the other half of the group were Mill[Sil] and Simon[Leo].
"I trust that you will look after them, " Archer[Quinn] said.
At that moment, two people there gave Archer[Quinn] a look as if they agreed to his request; they were Christopher[Owen] and Sach. These two were strong people who Archer[Quinn] could trust, but he was worried for Simon[Leo] because the latter would be next to those from Pure, and knowing their apparent history, things might get messy. Secondly, the Unranked with the white aura was among the others as well.
Since Simon[Leo] had to depart from the group, he had something important to mention to Archer[Quinn] before he left. He leaned in, whispering in his ear; it was so quiet that only the vampires could pick it up. With that, Simon[Leo] left a piece of critical information in the hands of Archer[Quinn].
After following the butlers, they went down different ways in the tunnels, and after a long walk, they exited and found themselves in the stands, inside the large glass see-through containers.
Peering out, one could see the stadium ground distinctly, which was a generated map. It would display what was currently transpiring inside the VR game for the others to see, and inside the giant glass containers was a VR pod.
In total, there were four of these glass containers. Archer[Quinn] and his twelve vampire leaders were in the east block. This was because Archer[Quinn] still hadn't brought back the eighth family fully yet, so he could not summon a leader, and one hadn't replaced Hulian[Muka]. Of course, the fourteenth castle, in a way, also belonged to Archer[Quinn] now, as leader of the Punishers.
In the north container, it looked like the Board members had arrived. There were special seats for them but none for the others, but what each container did have was servants that would get them what they wished if need be.
The south container was empty, and then there was the west container; it was meant to contain the strongest humans, even though a couple of vampires were mixed in there.
"Wait a second, " Jake said as he looked at the other side across from them. "They have more people than us; there are a total of eighteen on their side while we have thirteen and that includes Archer[Quinn]."
"Wow, I'm glad that the 6th family still seems to teach basic mathematics." Monday[Sunny] chuckled. As an older leader, and Jake being considered quite young for one, the older leaders could get away with things like this without sparking a fight.
"About the question you mentioned." One of the Butlers guiding them so far started to speak while standing next to the VR capsule. "We do wish for Archer[Quinn] to take part in this as well. There also might be some of you who will be required to fight more than once.
"Since we will be using the game for combat, you wouldn't suffer from fatigue or injuries like that in a normal fight."
Hearing this, Archer[Quinn] wondered how he would fare. According to Tobias[Logan], the machine could not copy blood weapons, so using William[Arthur]'s weapon was out of the question and the same for the armour. Also, although Archer[Quinn] could use the shadow powers, he wouldn't be able to access his dimensional space for quick equip as he could do in real life.
So the only thing that would work would be his beast armor set, his right gauntlet, and whatever beast weapon he registered. Whether he would fight or not was a different story as Archer[Quinn] thought back to what Simon[Leo] mentioned before he left.
When Simon[Leo] leaned in, he had some surprising news to pass.
"I couldn't tell you before because I couldn't sense it until they came in. But the man next to Chris, with the large number three on his back, his aura is slightly different as well. Inside, I see a hint of red, a colour I have only observed on beasts."
Archer[Quinn] had learned that the Pure was trying to make some type of hybrid similar to the Oregon[Dalki]. The thing was, the Oregon[Dalki] were more beast than humans, which was perhaps why they had this initial instinct to hunt and kill humans.
Did this mean that Pure was actually successful? Or was it something else to do with the said person's powers? Either way, Archer[Quinn] didn't like it, and he didn't fancy the fact that Pure was here either.
Still, Simon[Leo] had even more to tell.
"On another note, there seem to be traces of Qi surrounding each of the Board members' heads. It doesn't feel like any of the board members practice Qi because the presence inside them feels foreign; this might be an advanced usage of the third stage of Qi.
"Some way to transfer it over to another, while not harming the person, then using it like the second stage for protection."
It didn't take long for Archer[Quinn] to figure out what Simon[Leo] was hinting at. Only one group could use Qi and understood it better than Simon[Leo] himself, and that was the Pure. With their arrival, perhaps this wasn't a trap set up by the Board, but all of Pure and they had just caught the strongest skill[ability] users all in one place.
'Maybe it's best if I do some investigating, but how do I get out of this place without them knowing I've left...' It was then that Archer[Quinn] looked over to Odom[Vincent], who still used the mask to cover his face and an idea dawned upon him.
——
"The event will now begin; please look at the screen above. It will randomly present two opponents from each side." A Board member said.
The pictures of the contestants shuffled through at an amazing speed. This was all information that Tobias[Logan] had provided them, and Tobias[Logan] would soon be called himself as well.
Finally, the pictures had stopped.
"We have Blake[Jin] Talon from the fourth family, going up against Christopher[Owen] Meshack[Graylash] from the Meshack[Graylash] family!"
It seemed like the event was kicking off with a bang.
To be continued........
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