Before the first match


    Since I still hadn''t met with the Vermillion that had came while I was away I decided to met them right away. I told them something along the line of ''I know this is selfish of me but I''ll ask ya ta return ta yar ordinary life but ya''ll be living here, a danger is surrounding our kind, ya certainly don''t know much of it but I''ll ask ya ta stay discret and not ta say yar name carelessly. We all come from Earth so we gotta act like proper human being even though we aren''t.... The way of tha snake shouldn''t be unknown ta most of ya. With that said Goodbye I have work ta do.'' That''s pretty much what I told them, well I also told them that Imperion was in charge and would they do anything stupid and criminal he certainly won''t hesitate to cut them down.


    I have to go to the tournament alone, well the royal family will be there but they won''t take the same path as me. The tournament takes place in the holy country, which is the biggest human country on this continent, and I must go there on foot. For someone normal I shouldn''t be able to get in time or even alive since it is either I pass through the demon''s country or I take a ig detour and take the way around it but I would have to pass through three foreign nation because of that. Of course I am no ordinary person so I''ll get on time and unscatched, I am pretty sure menot showing up was what they had planned.


    The king had told them he had found a concurrent through a magic device. I only had been given the name of the city the tournament was going to be held at and a challenger pass, it was a shield with a rapiere on top of it, it fitted in the palm of my hand and was quite showy but for me it''s completly useless since even if they told me I couldn''t fight I would just burst through the arena to kick butts.


    I am in a commoner clothing and I am wearing a big cloak to hide myself from curious eyes, given that I have a great-hammer strapped to my back I must look extremely intimidating, I almost hit the three meters tall millestone after all. I am also wearing a half face mask that hides my upper face, it looks like a simple smooth red mask without any decoration and only sharp hole for the eyes.


    "Sigh, I hope we''ll avoid unnecessary bloodshed.''


    #The great me fear something will happen in this city.#


    ~A tournament YEAH !!! We''ll able to beat people up for fun and nobodies going to say anything to us.~


    So you guys are still in my head huh ? Don''t worry it''s not like I''ll wreck havock in the city and kill everything that comes in my way. I am just saying that should they fuck their shit up they will learn that death can be a long awaited freedom in front of me. Anyway the trip toook a mnth since I did not go at full speed but I managed to arrive at the city, it isn''t the capital but it is still a fairly important city in the holy kingdom. It''s called Fermas and even from outside I can see the arena. It looks like a Roman colliseum.


    I walk to the gate but the guards stop me, I take out my challenger pass and they let me enter. From what Alice told me before I left anybody can compete as long as they are in a team of five and aren''t deemed as heretic. In my case I do not fit in any of this criteria but I''ve been given the right to fight by the pope, of course it is in hope that I''ll die but I won''t let that happen easily or should I say that if he hopes to kill me then he is deeply mistaken thinking that I am not that much of a fight.


    In the corner of my eyes I spot an inn so I enter. The inside is dimly lit and around fifty people are merily drinking and singing but when I enter all their eyes fall on me, it''s not hate that fills their eyes but surprise. Well I guess you don''t come across someone like me very often. I spot a table with five people sitting around it, there is still a chair free so I walk towards it. The party is composed of two women and three men, one of the women and one of the men seemed to be magician while the other woman was a swordsman and the other two men were an archer and a swordsman.


    |Can I sit here ?|(Apocalypse)


    The swordsman looked at me ad then at his comrade they all nodded. He then looked at me again and smiled.


    |Of course, take a sit.|(Swordsman)


    I sat down and ordered a simple meal made out of meat. I analized their party a little further, the magician woman seemed to be in her fourties but since I can sense great mana coming out of her I think she might be in her fifties, she had short whitening hair that must have been blond at some point in time, her eyes were green and she had a mole under the left one. The man mage looks like he is in his late twenties and has short dark brown hair and blue eyes, his mana pool although smaller seems purer than the woman''s one, he must be a mage that specialize in powerful spell instead of a big quantity of them.


    The swordswoman looks like she is in her early thirties and had shoulder long red hair, brown eyes and a mole right on her throat. The archer had short dark brown hair like the mage but instead of blue eyes he has black ones. The swordsman has black hair and purple eyes, he also have a small beard like I have and a familiar smell. For the mages it is easy to attest of their strength since they leeks mana constantly, sheesh their mana expulsion period must be a sight to behold, but for the non mages their mana is only lingering residue from body strengthening magic.


    |So from which tribe are you coming from ?|(Swordsman)


    |What do ya mean ?|(Apocalypse)


    |Lizard-kin ? Those scales makes me think you are, but you don''t have a tail though ?|(Swordsman)


    |I am a half-breed.|(Apocalypse)


    That''s not a lie, I am a half-breed between a dragon and a Vermillion after all. I don''t know how people react to half-breed since there aren''t any in Guarmille yet, though I think in some time that''d be another talk, One of my maid did married one of Idgar friends after all .... speaking of Idgar I should really pay him a visit to see how he and his family are doing, I don''t get the chance to see them much since both Idgar and Ellen start towrk very soon in the morning and Hanna prefer to train the guards than to spend her day idly. Anyway the swordsman and his party looks a little troubled by what I said. The swordswoman who was at my right leaned near me and whispered in my ear.


    |You shouldn''t say it so openly, this country isn''t kind to half-breed. Though we don''t really care since our leader has beastman blood in his vein.|(Swordswoman)


    |I''ll remember that young one.|(Apocalypse)


    |Woah woah don''t speak like your some old geezer when you look younger than me.|(Swordswoman)


    |Even if ya added all of yar party''s members age together ya wouldnt even get near my age. Anyway, are ya part of tha tournament and of course we still haven''t introduced ourselves, call me Evan.|(Apocalypse)If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Yes I gave them a false name but I can''t give them my real name since I bet it''d cause a commotion. The fact that the royale family has been accused of heresy hasn''t been made publicy known in Guarmille but in other countries it might not be the same, especially here where it is the country''s ruler who accused them.


    |Hey you''ve got the same name as me.|(Swordsman)


    |Such a coincidence. By the way my name is Refina.|(Swordswoman)


    |It is truly surprising, as for me I am Jane.|(Woman mage)


    |My name is Veras, glad to meet you.|(Archer)


    |Behert. But I truly find it douptful that you are over one hundred and a half years old, even if lizard-kin are beastmen with the longest life-span I doupt a half-breed could live tht long and still look young, especialy with such a meager mana pool.|(Man mage)


    .... You know the only reason I have such a small mana pool is just because I am hiding and roughening it. As a half-dragon I am half made out of magic, though why I couldn''t use it on Earth is still a mistery to me. Anyway the swordsman is also called Evan ? How nostalgic, it has already been six years since I have thrown that name away. And you the mage guy, I never said I was a Lizard-kin so don''t be douptful about my age, I may not have lived for that long but that doesn''t mean I lied.


    |Anyway, Yes we are competitor in the tournament. We want to get a glimpse at the heretic warrior.|(Evan)


    |What are ya talking about ? I am a participant too but I didn''t get ta hear anything about an heretic warrior.|(Apocalypse)


    Of course that''s a lie since this heretic warrior is me, so at least I know the participant know about me, It was good that I didn''t removed my cloak and mask when I entered since they could''ve broadcasted my face all over the place and I certainly don''t wan''t to sleep in this filfthy city''s street.


    |They said that in addition to the regular tournament the party will have to face a powerful heretic warrior. The rumor sais that he is over six meters tall and has the eyes of a blood-thirsty beast, that the Guarmille kingdom had protected him so their fate only lies in the outcome of the tournament.|(Evan)


    I stood up, if I hear anymore of this bullshit I risk to murder everybody in this inn. I excuse myself an go pay for a room. Three day later is the first day of the tournament, they will first announce the participant names and then the order of the matches, I couldn''t care less abut how it is organized I just want to wreck my way through and make them shut up.


    <hr>


    Evan POV


    That guy from three day ago was quite a thing, I personnaly wouldn''t want to mess with him. He said he was a half-breed and he did not seems to be ashamed of that, in fact he said it with a proud undertone like he praising someone, not narcissism but he was deffenitly praising someone deep within himself ... his parents maybe. My mother was half black cat-kin and half human so she used to be shuned by everyone but my father and that''s how I came to be. I hinerited some of the beastmen power, especially their reflexe and their sense of smell and that man had a scent of human, beastman and other things on him but there was also that strong smell of blood lingering on him.


    Anyway me and my party were in our cabin just before the beggining of the tournament. We were in our armors and our arms had been readied.


    |You know I''ve done my research on who''s going to participate to the tournament and except for you I did not find any other Evan.|(Behert)


    |Well he could''ve gave us a false name, this isn''t like we haven''t done it in the past either.|(Evan)


    |And sixtyth contestant party : Hollow blade, a party of rank A adventurers. They are said to be the best in town, give them a round of applause !! The leader Evan, the warrior Refina, the archer Veras and the mages Jane and Behert !!|(Announcer)


    We stepped on stage and waved at the crowd. In front of us were lined all the other contestant, the church even had its own party with the dragon-newt Lefet as its leader, this guy is rumored to suck at magic but excel at spearmanship, something very surprising for a dragon-newt by the way. I search the man from earlier but could not find him amongs everyone .... Well I guess he really did lie to us saying he was a contestant. We lined up with the other and waited for the last party''s apparition, it is for this one that we are here, I don''t care about the church or anything like that but I want to see this heretic warrior with my own eyes, how could his only existance forfeit the lives of royalty ?


    |And last party, the hateful one of course ! The one who caused this tournament to be a special one, while all team will fight each other with a day without fighting a party after a match they will fight against the warrior. Loyal followers of the Dragons and our beloved Dragon goddess, greet the famous CRIMSON DUKE OF GUARMILLE, APOCALYPSE CRIMSON !!|(Announcer)


    A big metal door opened and we were given a view of a black corridor as the spectators boohed. We heard a noise as if something metalic was being dragged on the ground. From the shadow a cloaked figure dragging an enormous great-hammer came, The cloaked figure stepped on the stage and faced us all. I recognized him, it was the man who had introduced himself has Evan three days ago. His face was still half hidden by his mask and his cloak but what I saw just terrified me.


    His green slitted eyes were fixing us without blinking, while all of his face was hidden by his mask and cloak his eyes were shining with the fire of determination, gazing into our very soul. We were promised a blood crazed beast but what I was seeing was just someone you had fucked with too many times and it was time to pay for your deed. The crowed was boohing and the some of the contestant were grinning thinking it would be an easy match, I looked at my right and saw Behert sweating while shivering, Jane was the same and several mages in the other group too.


    |I-Impossible, he didn''t had such a great and pure mana pool three days ago.|(Jane)


    |What ?!|(Evan)


    The crowed was still boohing, a stone was even thrown at him but much to our surprise the Crimson duke caught it with his free hand and looked in the directionit came from. A shriek of fear was heard and then the warrior slammed the head of his hammer on the ground like an old man would do to make everybody shut up. I heard the ground crack and the air around us shook as Apocalypse began to speak.


    |Pathetic .... a brat decided ta fuck with me using tha people I hold in my heart and when I come tha only thing ya got is a bunch of brat ta fight me. A bunch of brat and one that feels slightly stronger than most. PATHETIC !! Do ya really think ya brat are enough ta bring me down ?! I should feel honered ta fight ya lot when yar fucking looking down on me !! Only 300 of ya ?! Oh come on, ya called me the heretic warrior .... DON''T YA THINK I''VE AT LEAST ENOUGH POWER TA TAKE DOWN A DRAGON ?!


    Hahahaha Ya got it all wrong brats, tha Guarmille''s royale family wasn''t protecting me from ya but ya from me !!|(Apocalypse)


    His eyes flashed red and sharp teeth could sometimes be seen as he spoke. The air was shaking with power and was giving him a menacing presence, I understood what he said by we were the one getting protected. I had heard rumor about the Crimson duke of Guarmille, that guy was supposed to be stronger than an hundred men, and even though he rarely used magic the few times he did resulted in incredible destruction of the landscape, he had freed Guarmilles slaves and married two of them to tell the truth to my mother who had alway been discriminated in this country, when she heard about the Crimson duke she looked like a little girl listening to the tale of a great hero.


    From all he has done I canno''t understand why the church would deem him and the royale family as an heretic, rumors even say he is a dragon-newt. He crushed the stone that was still in his hand and removed his cloak and mask in one swing of his arm. He revealed himself, he was a tall man and was currently topless. His skin was rather white like a noble''s one but his muscular body could tell he wasn''t someone that had been sheltered, his body was ripped, his muscle weren''t big but they were well formed, at some place you could see dark blue scales. I looked at Jane and found her drooling in pleasure while shivering in fear ..... such a muscle freak this woman how was she abe to become a mage ? As for his face, he wasn''t handsome or anything but it had a rather masculine feeling, shoulder long light brown hair that becom wavy at their end a small beard. His eyes were still red and glaring at us.


    |What are ya waiting for ? Send tha first party so we can get over with it. If I remember correctly I must fight thirty party a day until tha champion is decided where I will fight against tha winning party again right ?|(Apocalypse)


    He said while a carnivorous smile creeped on his face revealing a row of sharp white teeth. I remember who must be his first adversary .... it''s us and we are so fucked right now.