In the VIP lounge on the second floor of the Fight Club, a slat of the blinds was pulled down. In the interplay of light and shadow, the beautiful eyes of a delicate girl were revealed.
Huohua stood on her tiptoes, her white feet hidden in her snow boots, and looked down at the bustling arena of the club, exclaiming in surprise.
"Wow, so many people!"
"Are all these people here to watch us fight?"
After a brief moment of excitement, Huohua timidly shrugged her small shoulders.
"But Huohua has no fighting power at all..."
"Whoever fights me will be kicking cotton, boo hoo!"
She had purely joined because Bronya and Zao Wu were participating, and as a member of the trio, the girl didn't want to be left behind.
Bronya was wiping her rifle nearby. Hearing this, she comforted her in a rare, gentle voice.
"It's fine. Scott said our match is divided into three rounds. In each round, each person will face one opponent alone."
"As long as we win two out of the three rounds, we will be the champions of this competition."
"When it's your turn to fight, Huohua, if things look bad, it's okay to surrender."
Huohua closed the gap in the blinds and poked her chest with her index finger.
"That's easy for you to say... but it still feels so embarrassing."
"And are you guys sure you'll be okay?"
"I just took a peek at our opponent. It's a ferocious robot over two people tall, holding a wolf-fang chainsaw!"
"I'm not worried about Zao Wu, but Bronya..."
"Can you really win against a 'monster' of that level?"
In response to Huohua's question, Bronya just slowly raised the rifle she had just finished wiping into a standard shooting position and aimed. As the girl imagined the target in the distance as her opponent on the stage, she fired a fatal shot! Bronya then said confidently.
"I will win."
No matter how strong the robots in the Underworld were, how could they be stronger than the Automaton Grizzly manufactured within the Silvermane Guards? Bronya had perfectly passed the Winter Soldier's Forbidden Zone drill with it as the final boss.
"Then I'll believe you!" Huohua's stress level dropped significantly. If possible, she would have liked to have a word with Scott, for example, letting her face the strongest robot, while Zao Wu and Bronya took care of the second strongest and the weakest, respectively. That way, they could maximize their chances of winning.
I'm such a genius! Huohua thought to herself.
Unfortunately, the audience's anticipation was too intense. If Scott dared to use any more hunger marketing tactics, the impatient audience would have probably torn the entire Fight Club down. He quickly promised the crowd that he would bring out the three members of the Knights of Beauty immediately, and only then did they let him go.
Scott, under the protection of his bodyguards, squeezed through the surging crowd and came to the lounge where Zao Wu and the others were. But even so, the expression on his old face was still one of excitement. It could be said that in Zao Wu and the others, he saw the future of his soaring career. The boy and the girls were simply his money tree and treasure basin! If only there was a way to keep them... But now was not the time to think about that. He busily organized Zao Wu and the others to go on stage.
"Please follow me, this way, everyone!"
"To help the audience remember you quickly, it would be even better if you could come up with an attractive monologue for your self-introduction!"
"A monologue?" Huohua looked at Zao Wu, Zao Wu looked at Bronya, and Bronya fell into thought.
The diligent bodyguards escorted the trio, who had been arbitrarily given the name "The Knights of Beauty," clearing a path for them to the octagonal ring. The audience behind the protective netting screamed excitedly, their cheers far exceeding any previous fighting competition. The reason was simple. Scott was a unscrupulous merchant who was good at passing off shoddy goods as high-quality ones and using false advertising. He always promoted gimmick fighters who couldn't meet the audience's expectations. But to say they didn't match the gimmick at all wasn't entirely true. Still, the feeling of being deceived was not pleasant. If it weren't for the limited entertainment options in the Underworld, the audience wouldn't have let Scott and his Fight Club stand to this day.
But this time, it was as if the sun had risen from the west. The "Knights of Beauty" trio Scott introduced not only surprisingly met all the audience's expectations, but far exceeded their expectations and imagination!
The white-haired boy walked at the front of the group. A man like jade, unparalleled in the world, as if naturally radiating a light called pure beauty. It caressed people's hearts like a spring breeze, illuminating their eyes like sunlight, silently planting a seed of faith in beauty. It made all the audience members wonder if the legendary "Knights of Beauty" was not a product of science fiction, but that the Star God of Beauty, Idrila, was a great deity on the same level as the legendary Amber Lord Qlipoth, coexisting in the vast universe. However, Jarilo was a remote planet with limited information, so how could they know that the current Star God of Beauty, Idrila, was suspected to have...
Originally, Bronya had done a lot of mental preparation. She had even imagined that when she appeared in front of the Underworld crowd in her Silvermane Guard uniform, she would be attacked with things like "rotten vegetable leaves and smelly eggs." At that time, she would silently endure everything without any resistance or evasion, like a devout martyr. But the reality was that Zao Wu attracted almost all the attention, and she and Huohua were just shadows in his light.
It was only after the crowd recovered from the "pure beauty crit" that they shifted their gaze to them. At this point, the audience's appreciation threshold had been raised to a very high level by Zao Wu. A mere renegade Silvermane Guard was not enough to excite the audience's nerves. Unless it was a scene of the Supreme Guardian Cocolia from the surface being punished, that might ignite the flames of anger and bring the climax.
"..."
Well, Bronya calmed down and, together with Huohua, followed Zao Wu onto the stage. It was unknown if it was an illusion or something, but she actually heard cheers of encouragement for her from the audience.
"Go for it! Pure love Guard big sister!"
Strange, this is all too strange, isn't it?
On the stage, the host was not the club owner Scott, but a young man in overalls and black-rimmed glasses named "Dr. Digger."
"Dear guests and audience, good evening everyone!"
"I am your Dr. Digger!"
"Where's the applause? Where's the cheers!"
The man tried to liven up the audience's mood and atmosphere as usual. Unfortunately, the thunderous applause he expected did not appear. Instead, there were a few impatient clicks of the tongue. Most people's eyes were still on Zao Wu, with a few left for Bronya and the foxy, pink-eyed girl.
Feeling awkward, Dr. Digger gave a witty smile and quickly adjusted his hosting style.
"Alright, I think it must be because everyone has been waiting for too long."
"No problem! Dr. Digger will satisfy the audience's expectations!"
"We'll serve up the spectacular match right away!"
"First, let's have our contestants each make a declaration about themselves, or some trash talk to their opponents is also perfectly fine!"
"The only requirement is to be as brief as possible, with a personal style, and catchy is best. More thoughts can be saved for the victory speech!"
With that, Dr. Digger immediately handed his microphone to Zao Wu, who was standing beside him. He knew what the audience wanted to hear.
Zao Wu took the still-warm microphone with some confusion. Perhaps due to a bad connection, a burst of electronic static surrounded the stage. However, this did not cause any dissatisfaction from the audience. Instead, the world fell silent at this moment, because everyone was anticipating his speech.
A light purple butterfly shadow dissipated at this moment. A mysterious black-and-blue-haired girl, who had appeared in a corner at some point, leaned against the railing, holding her soul-reaping scythe. A member of the "Wildfire" organization, Seele. In this corrupt and fallen world, few people could attract her attention. Zao Wu was a rare one, and Bronya was the "rare" second one. However, for the former, the girl's feelings were of pity, not wanting to see him lost in this gray, lightless Underworld. For the latter, it was a desire to teach that woman a good lesson. To dirty her uniform, to break her weapon! Then to grab her by the collar and make her see what this land abandoned by the Silvermane Guards had become! And to ask her... why she still shamelessly returned!
And on the other side of the audience, also in a low-key and inconspicuous corner, the red-haired, iron-armed boy was not resentful for being upstaged. Instead, he smiled and looked forward to Zao Wu and the others putting on a wonderful fighting performance. He was the most famous fighter in the Fight Club, the twenty-eight-time consecutive fighting champion, Luka "the Iron Fist Kid"! Like Seele, he was also a member of the "Wildfire" organization. The so-called "Wildfire" was a militia organization that had spontaneously gathered after the withdrawal of the Silvermane Guards to protect the residents of the Underworld and to end the chaotic situation.
"Luka! Hey! Your boss is calling you!"
"Big Brother Zao Wu's match is about to start, hurry up and lift me up!"
A familiar, bossy, and young voice came. Only then did Luka remember that he had almost forgotten about the great Pitch-Dark Hook. Because of her young age, Hook was not allowed to enter the Fight Club, which was for adults only. She had cried sadly for a long time until Luka's arrival. Luka noticed the crying Hook and asked her why she was sad. Then he was forcibly conscripted by her in the name of the "Mole Gang Boss" and was required to sneak her into the club. Luka couldn't resist the little girl's request and had to agree to help, and that's how he helped Hook sneak in. However, he had clearly forgotten that with Hook's height, she couldn't see the situation on the stage at all.
"Ah, sorry, sorry, I'm coming!" Saying that, Luka squatted down and bent his mechanical arm into an arc suitable for Hook to sit on. The little girl sat on it, then held onto Luka's shoulder, and as he stood up, she was slowly lifted into the air.
"Wow, Hook is so tall all of a sudden!"
"Teammate Luka, is this our heart-pounding combination move!?"
"That's right, Boss Hook!" the fiery, passionate boy said with a smile.
...
Returning to the stage, all the noise in his mind receded like a tide. In the end, only Zao Wu himself remained, as if standing on the dividing line between light and dark, past and future. And facing such a self, what should Zao Wu say to have meaning?
The emergence of that sentence was smoother than Zao Wu had imagined.
"I..."
The poor-quality microphone did not detract from the boy's voice at all, transmitting his heartfelt thoughts throughout the entire club.
"I am not afraid of abandonment."
This was what Zao Wu wanted to say to himself. It was his letting go and farewell to the sorrows of the past, his declaration that he would not look back, and would never return... Perhaps no one in the audience understood. Perhaps the atmosphere would become cold and awkward because of this. But Zao Wu did not regret it.
But unexpectedly, it was unknown who started clapping first.
"Clap..."
Then more and more applause followed!
"Clap, clap...!"
In the end, it was a thunderous applause like a storm! The atmosphere in the club was pushed to a rare peak!
Not afraid of abandonment?
That's right, not afraid of abandonment!
So what if the Supreme Guardian abandoned them, so what if the Overworld and the Silvermane Guards abandoned them!
They were still burning like an underground fire, endlessly!
Because life should be like this!
No wonder they say there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. The existence of any sentence is not isolated and can resonate with others.
Zao Wu, his face flushed from this passionate scene, quickly passed the microphone to his companions beside him.
Inspired by Zao Wu, Bronya and Huohua also successively made their own independent declarations.
Bronya: "I am not afraid of misunderstanding!"
Huohua: "I am not afraid of being forgotten!"
Finally, the microphone returned to Dr. Digger's hand, his expression moved.
"What inspiring and passionate speeches!"
"It reminds me of a legendary band from the past!"
"But next, let's hand the microphone over to Svarog's 'Mechanical Team'!"
"Beep boop beep boop!"
"Klang klang!"
"Ah? Is it necessary to curse so foully?!"
"For the protection of the audience's ears, I won't translate that!"
"Anyway, I'm on the side of the 'Knights of Beauty.' I hope you can smash their gears next!"
Mechanical Team members: o.O?
"After a draw, the first match below!"
"Will be the strongest shield of the Mechanical Team, the legendary Traffic Light! Versus the most... of the Knights of Beauty..."
-------
April Special Days *Sale 20%*
patreon.com/RuneA
-------
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (261 Chapter) (Ending)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (130 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (80 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (130 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (120 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (78 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (189 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (135 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (145 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (102 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty...then Who Am I? (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (50 Chapter)
Arknights: Why Are All My "Brothers" Girls? (54 Chapter)
Danmachi: Start Training Haki (59 Chapter)
Emiya Shirou's Rebirth (30 Chapter)
I Can Get Stronger Just by AFK'ing—So I Joined a Chat Group (50 Chapter)
Endfield: I Can Always Pull Out One Yuan (65 Chapter)
Limbus Company : I Started a Company in Project Moon (50 Chapter)
Lobotomy: Do Cooks of Alley 23 Dream of Bloodfiend Knights? (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: Freya Familia's "One-Blade Shura" (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: Emiya, the Great Hero Becomes the Protagonist (90 Chapter)
TYPE-MOON: One Special Instance Every Week (40 Chapter)
From Danmachi: The Abundance Apothecary (70 Chapter)
Lord Shadow Descends on DanMachi (90 Chapter)
Fuse with Me, Exusiai! (41 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail — After I Die, I Forge Their Madness (60 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Last Zeus Familia (95 Chapter)
Endfield: Arknights Heroic Spirit Summoning (75 Chapter)
Toyokawa Family Finances (105 Chapter)
Starting From DanMachi to Become Stronger (90 Chapter)
DanMachi: My Familia Is Made Up Entirely of Heroines from Every World! (75 Chapter)
Arknights: My Intel Refreshes Daily (110 Chapter)
Digimon : I Never Meant to Do Evil, Even Though I Wasn't Chosen (40 Chapter)
Miss Holmes Could Never Be the Losing Heroine! (40 Chapter)
Takayama Gamu at Tracen Academy (40 Chapter)
Legendary Trainer Takes on MYGO (40 Chapter)
Arknights : Yandere Game: The Operators Have Come Knocking (100 Chapter)
Arknights: This Dating Sim Is Seriously Wrong! (120 Chapter)
Arknights : Ch'en Hui-chieh, I'm Done Being the Good Guy! (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Wasn't This Supposed to Be a Family Simulator? Why Am I the Family Heirloom? (40 Chapter)
Honkai: Star Rail : The Trailblazer Only Wants a Peaceful Life (45 Chapter)
Arknights: The Unlucky Dad? But I've Got the Chronicle of Time! (55 Chapter)
The Wheelchair War God Is Speedrunning Hogwarts (50 Chapter)
DanMachi: The Elemental Blaster of Orario (45 Chapter)
Playing Honkai in Star Rail (30 Chapter)
As an Alien, I'm Solo Leveling in Warhammer 40K (30 Chapter)
Arknights: A Symbiote's Survival Guide (70 Chapter)
My Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck Is Built Entirely from Stuff I Picked Up (30 Chapter)
I Can Hear the Thoughts of Uma Mutsume (30 Chapter)
Dead-Men Chat Group: Winning the Resurrection Bracket (40 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero: Saving the World While Falling in Love! (40 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: My Breathing Techniques Can Be Leveled Up (50 Chapter)
Type-Moon Age of Gods: Starting with a Simulation as Heracles (10 Chapter)
Terra Love Trap: They All Want Me to Themselves (30 Chapter)
Dimensional Ranking: Top Ten Saviors (30 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen: Naoya Zen'in Wants to Stay Alive! (30 Chapter)
Bleach: This Everyday Multiverse Is Seriously Falling Apart! (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it