Declaration Of War

The tournament was only 2 weeks away. Ayden began to teach Akito his sword art. Although he was trained in Kendo, it was harder for him than he thought. His talent was not enough to keep up with the fighters. At least he couldn't use any skills, he had no help from his shadow arm. The plan was that both would make it to the final in the hope that they would go against each other before. But first the arena was examined for weak points and the positions of the important persons were determined. The barrier was strong enough to block Akito's necromancy skill. Besides, it didn't make it easy to maintain his cover. If he were exposed first, it would all be over. But the most important thing was to get through control. Not only the identity was checked, but also the level and the mana stock. If this was too high, you could not participate. The danger is too high that the barrier could be damaged or even destroyed. In addition, Akito was sure that these people would be spied on and that was the last thing he wanted. That's why he needed a so-called limiter.

So they went to one of Ayden's guilds and looked for a magician. Ayden had saved his life on a trip, so he used this favor to get possible information. Furthermore, he bought an essence raven ash, for which he would later still have use.

It was a cursed ring that made it almost impossible to use mana. There were several of these limiters. These rings were made 200 years ago after the last demon war. At that time some demons were captured to analyze them. In order to render them harmless, the ring was put on. This ring not only reduced the mana but slowly absorbed it until the wearer was unable to use any magic. After some time, these demons were just cripples. The spell on the rings was created by Archmages to avoid possible dangers like these demons. After a few years the use against humans was allowed even if this could mean the crippling of the person. The ring first manifested itself in the finger. But if the curse was in danger, it could be all over the body. Only when the person is dead the curse will be lifted. Each of the five archmages created one of the rings. One of these magicians took his ring and hid it because he could not accept its use against simple people. Soon after, he took his own life before he could be persecuted. However, the ring was later found and handed over to the royal family. Nothing's been heard since. According to the information, the ring dissolves after application in the finger and leaves a seal in the form of a black circle, which dissolved itself after the death of the person.

When Ayden heard this, he was burning with rage. Flames blazed in his eyes. The next moment, he put on a evil face.

"We don't have to look for the ring anymore, it's already been used." (Ayden)

"What do you mean by that? How can you be so sure?" (Akito)

Ayden took off his gloves energetically and showed Akito his hand. On one of the fingers was the black circle. He's owned the circle since he was a kid. He was aware that his father was responsible for the ring. He had despised him from the beginning and saw him as an unwanted child. Ayden had carried the curse for almost 10 years. It wasn't that he didn't have a talent for magic. It was slowly stolen from him until his mana was completely destroyed. Akito realized what could have happened to him. He, too, mourned after him, for he had other thoughts. If he could have combined his swordplay with magic, Ayden would have become an undefeatable monster. To cheer him up, he gave him a gift. Akito had thought about how Ayden could get on without any problems. So he cursed his sword with black magic. This was passive magic that Ayden could also use. The stronger the hatred, the sharper the blade. He had put a part of himself into the sword. Now was the perfect opportunity to test the sword. Ayden concentrated on the sword. Suddenly a vortex of black flames circled around the sword, then it began to burn. He tried the blade on a small rock. When the sword hit the stone, all you could hear was the sound of the flames. The rock was cut up without any problems and only black burn marks remained. Both were amazed and at the same time satisfied with the result. So you could destroy almost any armor with this sword. The exception were magical objects and equipment.

It depended on the strength of magic or curses. If they were stronger than the magic of the sword, it would be cancelled and the sword would be normal again. Thus the curse could be lifted temporarily. Nevertheless, it was still possible to fight with it normally.

The day of the tournament had come. The plan was set. To attract as much attention as possible without getting into big trouble. Although it was against the nature of the two, their revenge was to take place later. In order not to attract attention with his appearance Akito had bought a mask. It had a wolf colored on it. The wolf was a sign of the demi humans. Since fighters of any race were accepted, this was no problem. With this he wanted to provoke the kingdom and draw additional attention to himself.

Akito met many evil looks from all sides. Once again he noticed how much this race was despised here. Nevertheless, there were also some good reactions. Other races like lizard men or elves tried to cheer him up. They didn't know that Akito didn't care about the insults at all. Soon he would show what he was capable of. Just as he was about to enter the arena, he saw Ayden. He had no problems getting into the arena because nobody really knew him. When he was introduced at the palace, he was just a boy. Over the last few years his appearance has changed immensely, probably due to his mother's genes. This meant that he had hardly any problems on his travels. He convinced the few people who recognized him that they had the wrong man in front of them. But this time it was different, this time he had the royal family in front of him. One little mistake and everything would be over. Therefore he dyed his hair black with the help of the raven ash.

This was used as an ingredient for mixing potions, but he used it as a dye. Although he now had black hair, he attracted the attention of many women. After all, he was a handsome young man. This did not displease Ayden at all. He enjoyed their looks, which helped him to stand out. So he had won a lot of fans. Officially, he was registered as Ken Tirlon. He came from Adrien, a distant city where only a few people lived. Many years ago there was a catastrophe there. A great volcano erupted and destroyed almost all the inhabitants. The few who escaped were almost not mentioned in any books or information posts. This was the ideal situation for both of them. Akito had looked for the name without giving him the real reason. Ken meant something like sword in his native language. Now he already had three names to watch out for. He wanted to forget his royal name Ayden. He should never pronounce his true name Legion. Now there was only Ken Tirlon. On his travels he never revealed his name, in his opinion none of the people had earned his trust. His mistrust was greater then than it is now. With his new name he had adapted a completely new identity, which he wanted to exploit immediately.

Ken began to show off with his talent to provoke the other fighters. After some time all the fighters were introduced and their groups announced. To Akito's luck, he wasn't the only one with a mask. A few fighters had something like a war paint that camouflaged him. Among the fighters was a notorious Lizardman Zerox, who had fought in many arenas as a gladiator. He was enslaved and bought by a merchant who wanted to make money with him. He had already won over 100 fights. As an additional incentive he was promised his freedom if he won this tournament. Furthermore there were some elves and dwarves among the participants. Suddenly Akito saw, shocked, that one of his demi humans was among the fighters. It was Ursa who had freed the others with him and Chiara. He looked wounded and still had chains on his hands. Akito got restless. What exactly happened? Was their camp attacked? Where were the others and were they still alive? After a short reflection Akito became aware of his plan again. He had to focus on making no mistakes. He knew there would be some victims. The rules said that the fight is over when one of the fighters is disabled or gives up. So the fight to the death could happen. Whether the fighter accepted the failure of the loser was solely his own decision. If he did not want to accept it, he could execute the loser in his own way. In addition to the barrier, there was also a troop of elite soldiers who monitored the fighting and intervened in riots. Each of the participants was aware of the rules. For some it was the perfect opportunity to settle disputes or take revenge on other fighters. In the end there were two choices: Mercy and death.

Among the spectators were the royal family and heroes as well as spectators from near and far. A distinction was made according to breed and area. After the introduction the fights started. Zerox of all people was in Ayden's group. Akito was assigned to a relatively normal group. The other three fighters were all human. Ayden's fighters were all of different races. All of them looked very dangerous and experienced. It seemed like Ayden was in the hardest group. When Akito inspected the other two groups, he saw that there were other demi humans among them. They weren't one of the people he freed. The first fights were relatively normal. The winners always showed mercy and the audience was satisfied. Except for Zerox's first fight, which ended bloody. He fought against a demi human who was merely an adult and had no fight experiences. It was planned from the beginning that the demi human fighters would have no chance to win. The demi human had gone into battle badly wounded and had only received an old rusty sword as a weapon. Zerox walked towards the man and cut off his head with his battle axe. The body fell lifeless to the ground and blood began to soak the ground. Then his body was dragged out of the arena and only a trace of blood remained. The king and his followers especially enjoyed this fight. Also the majority of the spectators cheered as the head rolled on the floor. The princess and Yuma, who sat next to her, had an anxious expression on her face. The other demi humans began to cry. Akito spotted a kid in the middle of the demi human fighters. He couldn't believe it. How is a little kid supposed to fight?

Akito finally realized that the slaves were only seen as victims and food for the other fighters. His hatred grew stronger and stronger. The sight of the heroes and the royal family made him almost go crazy. But he had to hold back. Ayden fought in the first round against a young elf who was said to have great fighting potential. But it was a one-sided fight from the beginning. Both had equipped their own weapons. Ayden with his cursed sword, the elf with a long spear. After a short time Ayden had cut up the spear. When he laid the blade on the elf's throat, he gave up and Ayden showed mercy. He wanted to keep his face as a pretty young and noble fighter for now. He also noticed in battle that this elf really had fighting talent. Akito also fought against a human soldier. It was a former soldier general who now wanted to show his experience with the sword. Akito was restless, he had a strong opponent in front of him. He pulled out his katana and waited for the first attack. The general stormed him. Akito dodged and withdrew a few steps. He noticed a cut on his arm. He was too careless and too excited. Then he remembered Ayden's words. Locate your opponent's strong arm and watch how aggressive he is in battle. The general stormed him wildly at first. He held the sword in both hands, but the left hand clasped the sword tighter.

This allowed him to put his weight in his right leg and strike with great force. Akito recognized an opportunity to win. The heavy armor of the soldier as well as his fighting style required a lot of energy. So he only had to dodge it long enough and react passively until he could read his movements. When he was exhausted, Akito went on the offensive. When the general parried the attack his left hand gave in and Akito could push back his sword. Now that almost all the power had been put on the upper body, he could attack his legs. He kicked his left leg and the general fell to the ground. Akito knocked his sword out of his hand and held his katana to his neck. He took a quick look around. The spectators reacted hesitantly. After all, it was an honored soldier who had done much for the kingdom. Then he looked at the king. He became restless and looked at Akito with a dark face. Akito just smiled like crazy under his mask. When the soldier tried to give up, Akito pressed the blade down his throat. He ruffled as he tried to cling onto his life. Instead of pulling the blade out, he rammed it deeper until it hit the ground. Then he took his last strength and rammed the katana even further into the ground until it stood upright alone. Now the soldier was impaled. He started gargling blood while his eyes twisted. The blood splashed onto the blade until it finally dripped back onto his face.

After a short time his face was completely smeared with blood. Akito gave the king and the spectators a last look and then pulled the blade out of the ground. Meanwhile the general had taken his last breath and died. It seemed like a declaration of war on the king. Many of the spectators were horrified, some got sick, some cheered loudly for a while. The king grinded his teeth and ordered the next fight to begin. The fighters looked shocked. He had reached his goal. Some of them was fear written all over their faces. They were scared and avoided him. The guards despised Akito, especially the captain of the elite soldiers became very angry after the fight. Ayden looked briefly horrified but when the two were alone he started to laugh quietly and clapped his hands.

"Oh man, it was a good show you put on there, now you're feared by everyone. Now you completely changed your image . But don't you think you've overplayed it a little? Not only is everyone afraid of you, but now you have drawn the hatred of soldiers to you. You need to be even more careful from now on. Who knows what tricks the soldiers can come up with to stop you from winning. " (Ayden)

Akito was only half listening. He was in his own world. Before him he only saw the faces of the king, the heroes and the desperate face of the dead demi-human. In his thoughts hatred gathered and he was only able to think of one thing.

"I swear I'll make them pay." (Akito)

"What's that?" (Ayden)

"I'm gonna kill every single one of them. For what they have done to me, for their pride, for their contempt, for their arrogance, for their whole world view and thinking.

I'm gonna make them all bleed. I'll let them feel what retaliation and pain means. Now it's not just my revenge on this rotting kingdom. No...now it's my revenge on this whole damn world! " (Akito)

Ayden looked at him impressed, his eyes began to shine. Then he put on a disturbing smile. For the first time he had experienced Akito in his true form. He enjoyed seeing him like that. But he was not the only one who was satisfied with this result. There was another fan of Akito.

From far away he smiled and laughed loudly as he put on a broad grin.

"Soon, it will be ready. Don't die on me until we can make our move." (...)