Hero of Darkness

As soon as Kahn won by taking the enemy by surprise, the referee declared him to be the winner. Not many understood how the scenario changed in the last second but they all could see that he won fairly. 

"Fuck! My money!" 

"Bastard! I lost a fortune!!" 

Thousands of people shouted and berated Kahn as he won the match despite the adverse betting odds. 

This round had only people with considerable wealth making bets in millions while some bet billions of gold coins on these matches. The poor beggars had already been ousted because of the minimum betting amount rule administered by the government. So this was indeed the beginning of the big leagues. 

Kythra had a horrified expression on her face because not only Kahn had overwhelmed her in battle in many ways.. He used a similar same skill as her which spelled her defeat. 

After experiencing it firsthand.. She was certain that the skill Kahn used was leagues above the Hypnosis Gaze, her innate skill of the Lamia species. 

Kahn's Executioner's Gaze skill came from two different hypnosis and paralysis skills so it was indeed far more effective and powerful than the one used by the opponent. 

Her skill didn't work on Kahn at all and he allowed her to attack him to catch her by surprise. 

At the exact moment on other battle rings, the two grandmasters he met in the first match also won against their respective opponents. 

Kahn didn't pay any attention to them because soon, he will be meeting more grandmasters from the next stages. So remembering them was hardly worth it. 

After winning and qualifying for the next round, Kahn took his new registration token and left the battle arena in a different disguise. He had no interest in watching other people's matches at all. 

Using a flying ship transportation service, he returned to Rukon District and reached his mansion at late night. 

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TWO DAYS LATER. 

The three subordinates in charge of managing the money came with the reports. 

The first round had 1:1 odds by default so when Kahn qualified for the 2nd match, the one trillion gold they bet on him using more than 50 thousand of their people became two trillion. 

And the 2nd match had 4:1 odds for Kahn so their money was quadrupled after he won against Kyhtra. And now they earned 8 trillion from this round since many influential business enterprises and noble clans were already involved and people spending billions was nothing out of the blue. 

This was a similar scenario for the other top 10 districts that also held these rounds in their respective battle arenas. Although the winners got quite the sum, Kahn was certain that the government was earning dozens of trillion on daily basis from the money that was lost by the people as well. 

So it was a win-win situation for everyone except the unlucky folks. 

"Master.. After you left; another announcement was made. And it has been spread to the citizens by the government as well. 

They are changing the rules for the next round again. 

It won't follow the battle royale format for the next round." reported Omega. 

"What the... Why are they changing the rules again and again? This competition never had its rules changed this many times in the past. It feels like they're rigging the whole competition itself. 

Aren't they afraid of public outrage?" spoke Kahn in an exasperated tone. 

"It's as if they are changing the rules so that a particular type of competitor would win and progress to later rounds." he iterated. 

"Yes, master. We felt the same. And from the next round… It will be a 5 vs 5 team battle. 

The side that eliminates at least 3 members of the opposition first will win the match and their entire team will progress to the next round after winning two of such matches." spoke Ronin in a solemn tone. 

Kahn was already good with numbers so he quickly grasped the reason behind this sudden change of rules by the government. 

"I see. So they want people to lose more money through the betting system and rip off the common folks. 

For team battles, the odds will be decided upon the total strength of the team and battle records of the team members. So if 3 or 4 high-ranked fighters are put in a team together, people will obviously bet on them." he said and took a pause. 

"If anyone doesn't know the strength of the participants, they will bet on the ones they know about. This is subconsciously controlling the odds of the matches without even people noticing. 

And that way, if the team with the least odds wins.. The losses will be immeasurable for the people. The gains will be many times than what they'd lose. 

These bastard nobles and their factions working as the government are indeed good at controlling everything from behind the shadows. 

What an evil scheme indeed. And I thought I was the one being too greedy." he explained. 

"What will you do now, master? If you're put together with a bunch of weaklings.. You'd lose the competition without even being at fault." said Oliver. 

"I guess I will have no choice but to reveal my strength a bit and carry the whole team if such a situation arises." replied Kahn as he sighed. 

This was bad for business in his case. So all he could do was hope that his team members for the upcoming round wouldn't become a liability for him. 

----------------

A week passed and the fifth round officially began. And on the fourth day of the week, Kahn traveled to a new district where his matches were to be conducted. 

After going through the whole ordeal of procedure and stuff, he was introduced to his teammates for the next round. 

"Impossible.." spoke Kahn as he saw the four new team members. 

But what surprised him the most was two of the crewmates for his next match. 

These two men were only a couple of years older than him. 

The surprise on their faces was no different than his own and all three of them pointed their fingers at each other like the Spider-Man meme and spoke in unison. 

"You gotta be shitting me!"