The Tale of the Void Emperor

"Great!" Athan said as he finished refining and strengthening the foundation of his body to a new level with the energy orb provided by Lily.

"Let's inform sister Huarin and leave; there's no need to waste any more time," Lily said.

"Let's go, let's go!" Mimi said with a cheerful smile.

Athan and others came out from the zone of the dark clouds...

"Sister Huarin, Athan is finished, we can leave now," Lily said.

"I am done here; we can leave 10 minutes early now," Athan said to Dreevindo and Blankrino, who were waiting for them,

"Good, good," Dreevindo nodded with a smile, "anyway, I will later take you to a very good place so you can become powerful in your way."

This destructive zone was a piece of cake for Athan, Lily, and Huarin to pass, so they didn't have any problem. They soon passed it and arrived at another sky where a giant golden ring was floating.

"We are in the middle space between 1th and 2th Lerento right now. However, going into that teleportation ring will directly take us to our destination in 2nd Lerento.

...

Fifteen minutes ago...

On the other hand, there was a large metallic territory in 6th Lerento. Its ground, buildings, and everything were made up of different and mystical metal structures.

It was the territory of the Klenkai Empire where this battle game was going to be held for candidates.

In this large city, there was a giant stadium; it was one of the biggest structures in this vast metallic city.

The giant colosseum stadium was prestigious because it was filled with comfortable couches and tables.

People of various races, including humans, goblins, vampires, Jerins, Spatios, etc., were sitting on those couches with comfort while looking at the large ground in the middle with a golden ring floating at the center.

There was one thing similar in the audience area, and it was a tiny white device with a hologram screen. Every single person had this device near them on their couch or in their hands, which was actually a betting device.

Everyone was waiting for the candidates to arrive while talking and looking at the Orchos Celestials present inside the stadium as they surrounded the golden ring in a large circle.

Suddenly, one candidate came out from the golden ring, making the audience finally perk up as they focused.

"Yoring, stand behind me," one of the Orchos Celestial spoke loudly with a proud expression on his face.

Yoring, who was a human without any additional body features, nodded and stood behind the celestial.

"Not bad. I bet 100 Etons on him."

"Bet what? Him being getting the first rank? second rank?"

"Nah, I bet on him being top 20."

"Alright."

Many people in the audience betted because they would usually bet on the first person who arrived from the golden ring. After all, coming here first means that the person was capable and was definitely above average, even if some dark horse popped out later.

After a few seconds, another candidate came out, and people bet on that person as well.

Like that, candidates started coming out one by one every second. After the first five candidates, audiences stopped betting as well.

Now they will bet after the first round is over so they can see the capabilities of everyone.

At the very top of the stadium were ten people with regal air around them. They were the kings of the ten empires.

The first seat was of Klenkai Empire.

The second seat was of Lopaz Empire.

The third seat was of Noabu Empire.

The fourth seat was of Izakin Empire.

The fifth seat was of Xan Empire.

The sixth seat was of Polu Empire.

The seventh seat was Limbark Empire.

The eighth seat was Oppanu Empire.

The ninth seat was Gojaal Empire.

The tenth seat was Zonik Empire.

Etc...

"Dreevindo is not here yet," said the King of the Limbark empire.

"Blankrino too," said the King of Gojaal Empire, "they must have stayed behind for lookout."

"Ah yes, two out of them are supposed to stay behind on the lookout for candidates passing the zone."

"But this means that some candidates are taking more time, hoho. I wonder which one of your servants found such bad candidates," said the King of Polu Empire while looking at King of Limbark Empire and the King of Zonik empire.

Zonik empire looked at Lingardim, who was standing alone with no one behind him and frowned, 'Zonik just told me that he found superb candidates that can achieve top 3 positions, both of them. So, why are they late?'

On the other hand, King of Limbark Empire looked at the empty spot of Dreevindo and a single candidate standing on that line, 'that candidate is already barely above average from here from my inspection, but his other candidate is even worse?'

"We shall see whose candidates are trash," said the King of Zonik Empire with a sneer after he confirmed with Lingardim again about the power of his candidates.

On the other hand, the King of the Limbark Empire stayed silent with an indifferent expression and didn't say anything.

...

Five minutes passed, and everyone was becoming antsy.

"What's going on?"

"Some candidates have yet to arrive, it seems."

"Damn! How bad can they be? Taking such a long time to pass that zone."

"We can't do anything. Let's just wait."

"Hahaha, we can bet against them and win for sure."

"With how late they are, their initial losing odds will be very bad. After all, the initial odds are determined by who came first, second, third, etcetera."

"It doesn't matter if their losing odds are bad because betting on them losing is a win for sure."

"Alright, I'll bet 100 Etons that they will be out in the first round when they are registered in the betting device after they come here."

"That's too low. Since it's a win for sure, I am going to bet 1000 Etons that they will be out in the first round."

The audiences were riled up, but the people inside the stadium ground could hear them as well and....their talks were giving them anxiety.