Harem Tournament of Champions

In the arena,

There were whispers from the tribal chiefs on the reason Hisha had chosen to host another tournament after such short notice.

"We just had a day of rest, yet another batch of ladies would lose their lives?" Vanas mocked with a sad smile.

He would have preferred if the ladies were just given to his tribe to get a steady supply of blood consumption.

"Why do you care?!" Mich scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut it, fish brain!" Vanas sneered, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Shut it, you two!" Draegul snapped at them, shaking his head as he took a glance at Hisha.

Unlike the usual times, he looked cold and distant, staring into nothingness.

Aster on the other hand was distracted, his thoughts wandered to the lurking danger.

Sigh!

Wae switched glaces from his trembling fingers to stealing a few from Hisha.

'What's up with everyone today?' Draegul furrowed his brows at the rest.

Kritz stared down at the ladies below, then back at his lord. From his demeanor, he could tell he was conflicted about going through with the tournament while Solara and Alta were still recovering in the healing bay.

'They just need a bit of time to rest, that's all.' Kritz had wanted to say in consolation but looked back at the harem, ready for yet another announcement.

[Duel: 7]

[Number of possible harems participating: 49]

[Victories: 0]

[Points accumulated during the tournament: 0]

Hisha stared with a frown at the screen, the faster he had with the tournament, the better equipped he would be in identifying those who deserved a better chance at his side.

[For every successful win of the subsequent rounds, an awarded point of 5000 would be added]

Rolling his eyes at the information, Hisha let out a sigh.

[Why the long face, host?]

'Don't push your luck, HTC!' He snapped, aware that his system understood the problem.

Looking over to his side and at Vanas, Hisha hoped for some form of entertainment from the tribal chief.

'Argue, come on! Make me feel good about myself.'

Thinking Hisha called on him, Wae was quick to reply. "I fulfilled my quota, my lord. Nothing to worry about here."

'Shut the fuck up! I never asked for your opinion.' Hisha raged in his thoughts but instead glared at the unsuspecting Wae.

Feeling a cold sweat trickle down his back, Wae bowed with an apology and looked back at the ladies in the arena.

'It's just your paranoia, there is no way he'd turn back on his words if he promised with the condition.' Wae thought with a little nod.

"Tch–" Mich scoffed once more, understanding what was going on between the two.

There were gasps as the doors were opened to reveal Solara and Alta walking through.

Hisha stared at the two in disbelief, they looked fairly alright and had no sign of being weak or affected.

'What's going on?! Why are they here?'

[Their Sux are almost fully back on, there shouldn't be a problem, host]

Leaning back down on his chair, Hisha nodded to Kritz to carry out the task given.

Zui waved her hands at Solara, excited to witness her friend alright.

Solara held onto the hands of Zui, giving a warm smile. "Thank you for the help."

"It's the least I could do," looking over to the succubus who walked past them without a word, Zui shook her head.

"She's like that, you have to remember that." Solara joked with a smile.

Sneering at Alta, Zui nodded her head in understanding. "I will do my best so we can be together as we used to."

"I'll be counting on that."

"It would have been best for you two to rest up, there is no need for 'old' winners making an appearance." Tia hissed.

Solara looked to her left and then at Alta who seemed not to care about what was said.

With a nod, she smiled at Zui before making her way toward Tia.

"Thanks for welcoming me to my original position." Solara thanked with an eye-shut smile.

Tia furrowed her brows in confusion.

Pointing at the space meant for her, Solara continued. "If you don't mind wiping the other dusty area to get yourself a seat."

All attention was solely on Tia, being forced to get to her feet, she stomped her feet in the said direction.

Dusting imaginary dust off her fingers, Solara smiled with a grin as she locked gazes with Pesa.

Alta looked over her shoulder, giving a thumbs up to the method Solara had utilized.

Blowing a kiss, Hisha's way, Alta leaned over as she sat to reveal her cleavage.

[Exp+3]

Hisha's smile immediately surfaced, feeling his zeal for the tournament rejuvenated.

[You're one weird host]

'I don't know the rest like those two and time again have been of support to me.'

[Right, right]

HTC felt his words were a little cheesy to fully comply with.

Ahem!

Kritz stared at the rest to stop murmuring after the disturbance and listen to the new rules that had been laid out.

Pulling out a scroll, he read out loud:

"For this round, your pain sensitivity would be heightened, and you have only five strikes to get at your opponent," Kritz said in a loud voice, taking a glance at all present.

"There would be no team-ups, no helping hands. Anyone who dismisses this rule will have their mark stripped."

Muttering on the strict rules, some of the harems whispered to themselves, wondering how they could fend for themselves without employing the tactics of pairing up.

A hovering silver cup materialized in front of him to facilitate the picking of paper.

Reaching into it, Hisha had almost pulled out a paper but was distracted by the words of the majority.

"A total of 49 harem members would be participating?"

"49? Isn't that a little too much for a tournament?"

"Does that mean we still need just one winner?"

"Would there be a time frame?"

Listening to all the side comments from below, Hisha got to his feet.

There was a deafening silence the moment he got to his feet.

Hisha glanced around the crowd, his face livid by their comment and loss of confidence in the rules.

"Does anyone have a word to say to me?" He thundered.

Closing his eyes, Wae held onto his pants while grabbing a handful to ease his thumping heart from the jump scare.

Mich had noticed the distraught look on his friend's face. If he would let the action get to him, it was possible to alert the others on what was going on.

'I refuse to let my weakness out in the open!' Mich vowed, frowning at Wae.

Leaning closer to him, Mich whispered in his ear. "I don't know what's happening to you, but it's best not to make it too obvious."

Wae's eyes bulged in shock at the words, unsure if Mich had an idea of what was going on.

"I... don't... know... what... you..."

Making a shushing gesture with his index finger, Mich shook his head. "Please keep your acts together is all I want."

Gulping and nodding his head, Wae exhaled and inhaled the advice.

Wae's eyes flickered everywhere as his senses began to pick on something strange.

'What is that?'

He looked towards the sky, then around them in a bid to search for the strange aura he perceived.

Getting to his feet in a hurry, the rest of the tribal chiefs frowned at Wae's steps.

"Wae? What are you doing?" Mich hissed, tugging at the hem of his coat.

"No!" Aster muttered, shaking his head. "Not now..."

His eyes glowed as he pulled out his labrys, snorting out as he prepared to attack.

Hisha looked behind him, confused as to the disruption and the reason for his tribal chiefs being out of character at an event such as the tournament.

[Warning!!!]

'What?!'

Numerous warning signs spread across the screen in quick succession.

Hisha had a sick feeling in his gut about the warning.

Kritz's senses were also kicking in as he sniffed the air, his fangs and claws barred.

With his eyes glowing, he followed the line of sight of Wae.

A scream could be heard from the harem below.

'What the hell?' Hisha exclaimed, shocked that his defenses on the citadel had been broken.

Hisha looked down, and to his horror was a group of gray-skinned hobgoblins raising their spears at some of the ladies.

Reaching out to one of them, the hobgoblin screeched in pain as it disintegrated the moment his hand had gotten to an inch away from her skin.

'There's something you don't see every day.' Hisha jumped down.

[Ability: Geokinetic manipulation]

Boom!

*****

A/N

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