Infinite wealth In A New World - Chapter 327
Chapter 327: Blood and Iron
Josephine and her inner circle—Morgana, Precious, Elara, Ethan, Thomas, and Brite—were escorted to a magnificent, gilded private box high above the arena floor. From this vantage point, the sheer scale of the Colosseum was breathtaking, easily encompassing three football stadiums, built from dark, forbidding stone that seemed to absorb the light.
Josephine leaned forward, her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked down at the fifty formidable figures gathered below, all circling a single, jeweled crown resting on a basalt pillar.
”I thought there would be a list, like a proper one-versus-one tournament bracket,” she muttered, voicing the expectation of conventional warfare.
”No, my Queen,” Precious replied, her voice low and grave, the weight of the competition’s brutality settling over them. She pointed at the gleaming crown. “In this competition, there is only one crown, and one rule: survival.”
”Anyone who picks up the crown must defend it against the other forty-nine fighters. Immediately,” Elara added, her tone sharp. “It means once you possess it, you become the singular target for all remaining forces, regardless of their order or strength.”
”Huh! Isn’t there a timer?” Josephine asked, turning to Precious, surprised by the stark, brutal lack of structure.
”Nope. Your strength is your timer,” Precious said. “If you can survive until you are the last one standing, you win. The match ends when all other threats are neutralized.”
”And there is no rule against killing,” Elara whispered, the words heavy with malice. “You can execute all forty-nine contestants if you deem it necessary.” She leaned closer:
“I received news from our embedded Mercenaries: there will be a ‘surprise’ for everyone. A twist we don’t know yet.”
Morgana, who had been observing the arena with a chilling focus, turned and stared intently at the group. Her voice, usually measured, held a sudden, unyielding steel. “Our only task here is to protect the Queen. No matter what happens in that arena, we must ensure her safety.”
“….?!”
The unexpected intensity stunned everyone.
Josephine offered a small, reassuring smile, touched by the fierce loyalty. “Calm down, Morgana. Nothing will happen. I already promised to stay by your side always.”
Morgana stared back, her expression unreadable. “I won’t let you,” she simply stated, before turning back to the arena.
__
On the Colosseum floor, Sunny performed his own meticulous scan of the field. He recognized the familiar threats: the cool, strategic gaze of Qin Wei, the powerful presence of Xin Jo, and the blunt, warrior stance of Michael Blade.
But his attention snagged on a deeper anomaly—a particular scent.
He pivoted his gaze to the east side of the massive arena, spotting five figures. Three were concealed in deep black, cowled robes—a visual echo of the Deaths Vancouver had once mentioned. In front of them stood two figures in the open.
”Matilda?” Sunny was genuinely stunned.
‘How has she gone from a powerful human fighter to a Sixth Order powerhouse? Has the Blood Queen finally consumed her? And are those three hooded shadows the true Deaths Vancouver spoke of?’
His eyes moved to the fifth person: a purple-skinned woman with the distinctive, elegant features of the Tree Tribe:
‘She looks exactly like Ash. Are they related? And why are they here?’
Sunny’s mind raced, piecing together a likely scenario: “They must be a secret team. It’s solo to everyone else, but they’re working together. Once one takes the Throne, they’ll pass it to Matilda, establishing a ‘human’ ruler that the others will accept.” He nodded to himself, a slow, grudging appreciation.
“Smart.”
He shifted his focus back to the Crown, analyzing the environment:
‘A fight of this magnitude—God Rank weapons and higher Order powerhouses—will destroy the Colosseum. What about the audience?’ He looked up to the platform where Josephine was seated. He exhaled a breath of silent relief; the stone of the Colosseum had to be magically reinforced, a containment field against the collateral damage of gods.
‘And where is the Child of Destruction?’
”You must be Mr. Alex.”
The voice, cold and devoid of childish wonder, came from directly behind him. Sunny froze, a profound, suffocating pressure instantly wrapping around him. His face instinctively darkened, recognizing the sheer, terrifying power behind the simple greeting. He looked over his shoulder and saw a small, unnervingly composed boy of about ten, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
’Pretend like you don’t know him. It’s not yet time to fight,’ Sunny’s survival instinct screamed.
Then, his system’s notification flashed:
{Mind detection detected.}
{Thanks to system’s upgraded level, Attack has been blocked successfully.}
Sunny’s heart skipped a beat: ‘A mind attack.’
This child wasn’t just powerful; he was a silent, lethal void.
Feigning surprise, Sunny quickly shifted his expression to bewilderment and shouted to the nearest contestants. “Hey! What is a kid doing here? He should know this isn’t a place for children!”
“…..?!!”
The surrounding contestants blinked, confused by Sunny’s dramatic reaction, then looked at the white-haired boy, whose expression remained perfectly unreadable.
”Kid?” Perran muttered, a small frown touching his perfect features.
Sunny, banking on the system’s protection, performed an audacious, calculated move. He walked over to the boy, gently ruffled his bright white hair, and crouched down.
”Hey, Kid,” Sunny said, adopting a patronizingly gentle voice. “It’s strange you have white hair and eyes. Are you feeling sick? Or is it something else? And why are you down here?”
“…..?!”
Qin Wei’s eyes widened in profound shock. ‘That was the Child of Destruction… and Mr. Alex just ruffled his hair and asked if he was sick.’
Perran slowly rearranged his long hair, letting it flow back down, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face. “You truly don’t know me,” he stated, his voice flat.
“For your ignorance, I won’t harm you now. When the competition starts, don’t get close to me unless you want to die.”
With that chilling warning, he vanished—not teleported, but simply erased from the spot—and reappeared silently beside Matilda.
“….!”
Sunny slowly stood up, looking at Perran, who offered him a small, chilling smirk and a wave.
”What a kid,” Sunny muttered, a thin veil over the tempest of his thoughts.
‘It seems the Wukong Bloodline is even stronger than a Ninth Order! He can’t see past my appearance or my true strength.’ His mind lingered on two deeper, terrifying questions:
‘Why wasn’t I even scared before such a powerful creature who pretends to be a child? And why is he with Matilda?!!’
___
At Perran’s side, Matilda stood rigid, her gaze fixed on the crown.
”Strange, right?” she asked, her voice calm, a cold contrast to the volatile energy radiating off the boy.
”Yeah. I can’t even listen to his thoughts. Really strange,” Perran muttered, holding his chin, lost in calculation. The experience had genuinely thrown him.
”What about the throne?” Matilda asked.
Perran shrugged, the motion incongruous with his power. “For now, we wait. Let them kill themselves for it. Once the one holding it is exhausted, we can take it. You’ll be the new ruler, and since the people view you as human, you’ll easily have a footing.”
”Hey,” Matilda corrected, finally lowering her gaze to meet his. “I am half human and half demon. I am still human.”
Perran merely rolled his eyes at her. “With God Wolf’s personality, he will jump in first to have all the glory. If this ‘Mr. Alex’ is God Wolf himself, we will know the moment the competition begins.”