Chapter 281 The BHR Qualifiers 5 [R18]
AN Note: Next two chapters are R18/Gore/Brutality chapters, Read at your own risk, not for the faint of heart. Enjoy the read.
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The sun shone high in the sky at exactly 9 AM the arena referees began to let the contenders go up the arena. Obviously, something ripped from another world the BHR referees were wearing clothing with black and white vertical strips similar to those on Earth.
Hiro similarly got in line to join the fifty people going up on the fighting stage. There were various people with him, of various colors, genders and ages. The butcher sensed that all ten stages were about to begin. At this moment he called out the metric the people would live and die by.
"[Reverie Beyond Hope] - Full Inspect- Regalia Only"
"[Integrity of the Faithful] - Mark of Protection Ledger Karma at +40% above, Mark of Annihilation at 30% below."
At once all 500 participants across 10 stages got marked. Hiro took a moment to adjust the marks for the names he had memorized lists from Alan and Xing.
In his arena whether luckily or unluckily, there were no marks of Protection. Upon closer inspection, more than 30 people had ledger ratings of 10% and lower.
Of the 500 people, only 38 people got had Karma ratings above 40%. This meant that the rest were people who could not be even considered decent human beings. Hiro had Tsugumi experiment with the Ledger rating while Sword Dynasty assassinated groups from the underworld.
According to the interpretation of Geo. Killing a person reduced it by 1% while saving a person increases it by the same amount. Essentially every action is weighed on the number of people affected.
For actions that make the world a worse place the rating plummets. The common citizenry had average ratings of 50%. Newborns start out at 0% and raise the number more people they interact with.
While it is possible to control karma by overlapping one\'s sins with good works, it takes around seven times more. Larua once caught a rapist with a ledger rating of 50%, upon investigation the asshole tried to clear his guilt by feeding the poor. Such morality blended black and white to gray.
Who gets to decide if someone is devoid of repentance and Salvation? Hiro\'s answer?
"They can apologize to the [Creator] in the next life. I don\'t have the time to deal with this."
Ever since the butcher learned about the rules of reincarnation he became more liberated in his decisions.
Most would call him a hypocrite, but those that have the time to argue about being on the moral high ground are usually the ones not doing shit. Thus to follow achieve his goals Hiro no longer limited himself.
[Hiro]: I have marked all five hundred competitors. Protect the ones in blue. Kill everyone else.
The people in Hiro\'s Arena were spread out in a loose circle. It became obvious that some groups came in pairs or teams. Only one group of burly men clustered together in a formation. They had yellow armor that only protected their chests with pants. The themed appearance suggested they were part of a single battle harem.
Upon using [Inspect] Hiro learned they were part of the Banger battle harem. Almost all the small groups faced the bangers in silent understanding. It would have been considered a good tactic — if only the Wolfen butcher were not present.
The referee quickly reminded everyone of the rules. "All right, kick your opponents out to eliminate them last one standing wins. There is no restriction on techniques, arts, or skills. Please exercise restraint." Knowing his warning would be useless the official left while the participants jeered at him.
A contributor to the large number of bastards in the first round was the silent rule that one could kill without consequence and even get rewarded for it. Those that actually had any sense whatsoever intended to watch what happens first.
A loud gong signaled the start of the fight. Like a pack of animals, the fourth-nine people all moved to begin an all-out brawl. They drew weapons and began using their skills to take advantage of the first strike. However, a silent pressure suddenly fell upon all of them forcing their bodies to cease moving.
The crowd who was cheering at first grew puzzled why the people in the ring began mimicking statues. That was however until they found one single person moving in the arena.
Hiro pulled out bone great swords from his inventory and buried them in separate points on the pavement of the arena. After finishing one he would pull another and proceed to the next point.
Everyone in the battleground sweated bullets. Many tried to force their bodies to move to no avail. Some even called forth their calibers only to find they could not overpower the force holding them down. Whenever Hiro walked towards a point the combatants pinned to the ground all swore in their minds.
How easy would it be for this man to kill all of them? Not one of them could even move! After Hiro finished placing twelve great swords in the points forming a star of David, he canceled the pressure. Relief flooded the warriors as they all kept their eyes on the butcher.
Unknown when the combatants all slowly inched to the side where Hiro was not. The crowd slowly saw the free for all turn into a forty-nine versus one scenario. Everyone held their weapons tightly as unease and terror flooded their bodies. Some even began to think about calling the referee to enforce no killing.
Amused at the state of the entire group before him, even the so-called bangers Hiro finally began to speak. Like an overlord, no one even tried to say something for fear of earning his ire. Unfortunately for them, the butcher lacked any mercy for anyone outside his family.
"I am called the Wolfen butcher. Come at me like your lives depended on it. I will kill you all if you don\'t. The ones that try to run will also die so don\'t even bother."
An arrogance that made everyone feel useless. Majesty that made anyone else look stupid. Hiro began cracking his neck and knuckles to get in the mood. The bangers took point as their leader shouted.
"Everyone! Rally on the bangers! We can defeat him if we work together! Follow our lead!"
Unfortunately, expecting scoundrels and bandits to listen to the rules is beyond useless. A group of five people charged toward Hiro with their weapons with their eyes full of blood lust!
"You probably used a skill or one-time artifact! I will kill you and steal all your…" the one shouting suddenly stopped speaking. Hiro suddenly approached the charging group and did a brutal uppercut towards the one playing leader. The savage blow shattered the competitor\'s jaw and ripped the skin from the neck up.
Even with harder skin, a punch from Hiro had so much power the kinetic energy exploded the man\'s head like a balloon. The blood which was supposed to splash around like a liquid got swept up in air currents and evaporated. The ones around the one who just died quickly broke rank and tried to retreat.
Without a head, the now dead body started to fall over but Hiro had yet to finish. Moving almost at the speed of the Spirit Realm Hiro picked up the body and threw it towards one of the swords on the floor.
The headless body slammed towards the greatsword spine first, due to its momentum the body split in half like a pinata as its blood and guts all spilled on the surroundings.
Because normal humans could not perceive the speed at which system users moved, they only noticed the carnage a full minute after Hiro stood still.
"KYAAA!!!!!!" "DUDE WHAT THE HELL!" "BBlech!" "FUCK MAN! THE GUY GOT HALVED!"
Hiro then smiled as he addressed the other competitors. "Well? What are the rest of you waiting for?"