Hero of Darkness

Five days after the second round of the semifinals was done.. The day of the finale finally came and a grand festival-like atmosphere came to be throughout the Rakos Empire.

This day would be etched into the history just like the finales of the Emperor's Chosen competition in the past millennium. And by no means it would be overshadowed by anything else.

What would happen today will directly impact the future of millions of people as the winner would get to choose a fiefdom and then live as a ruler of that area. The fate of the millions of citizens would be in their hands.

Although it appeared as a bad idea to let an inexperienced person take charge of such places.. History had proven from time to time that it also created good leaders and often, the people from these fiefdoms lived better lives and quality of lifestyle.

Because their rulers only paid attention to developing their rule and did not work like a government officer who couldn't even arrange enough funds for the development of these states.

And after a thousand years, only 3 areas big enough to be chosen as a fiefdom were left in the empire.

Two of which were extremely rich in natural resources and had a plethora of opportunities for redevelopment which would often create new jobs for the common folks and cultivate new cities in due process.

Hence, the common folks were looking forward to which area the champion of this competition would choose.

As for the results of the previous match on the day Kahn met and made a deal with the Pureblood faction leader.. He willingly chose to not watch it from recordings and only heard about who the winner was.

And after hearing the results.. He chose to meet this opponent right in the battlefield without even checking how this female opponent looked in reality.

For the first time in this competition, he was going without any prior information about the opponent as he was busy taking care of his last cards and the wealth he earned.

He planned on how they were going to use it so that nobody from any faction could harm him in any way and he will be using it to the best of his advantage.

All the money he won after his match with Victor was only gathered but yet to be tallied completely as it was going to take them months based on the estimations presented by Sirius, his new head accountant who had been managing their legit and the business through Seven Deadly Sins.

The orc accountant had proven himself as an incredibly talented and capable person who wasn't only good with numbers.. But also knew how to launder their money through legal means more than the generals.

Kahn saving this helpless orc nearly a month ago and deciding to cultivate him as a useful individual for the long term indeed turned out fruitful. So there were many things Sirius was left in charge of so Omega and the generals could handle other things.

"Lord Kahn.. It is done." spoke Sirius as he bowed in respect to Kahn.

Throughout the tournament, he was receiving surprise after surprise when Kahn kept progressing from rounds after rounds and he too was taken aback.

It was only when did Kahn and the generals needed a reliable hand to manage the income, did they bring Sirius into their inner circle.

But after the semifinals… Sirius had nothing but respect for Kahn in his mind because it was now well known to the whole empire that Kahn was someone who reached this stage in the competition without the support of any force and backing. And even risked his life to expose the misconduct during the competition.

In a way.. Kahn had gone from a Savior to a God in his eyes.

"How much did we need to spend?" asked Kahn.

"Approximately three hundred billion gold coins, my lord." reported Sirius as he handed Kahn records of their expenditure.

"Good. It's money well spent. Now let's wait till the right moment. After this.. We won't have to be afraid of anyone." spoke Kahn in with a smirk.

Sirius nodded and left for his task.

[Master.. It's time. We should leave.] spoke Jugram in his mind.

After Kahn and his envoy gathered.. They departed for the battle arena where the final match which would decide Kahn's fate in this empire was to be held in the evening.

After safely reaching inside the arena while avoiding watchful eyes, Kahn reverted to his original appearance and entered the battlefield.

After the grand opening ceremony, while being escorted by a dozen peak grandmasters, he finally reached his side of the battle ring.

The arena this time was one and half times bigger than his previous match while the main battleground in itself was 5 kilometers in circumference.

Even in the novels and mangas Kahn used to read, the cultivator protagonists didn't have this much area during their fights. Entailing that the power scale of this world was on a completely different level.

Because even an ancient immortal from such novels and stories would be bitchslapped to death by a fifth stage saint in this world.

On the highest floors, were the top saints including faction leaders present in the arena to watch the match.

Kahn and his opponent's odds are 70:30 for betting. Him being on the losing side again because after the second match, people came to a realization about who was most likely to win this competition.

Yet the previous match with Victor also greatly boosted his odds and reputation.

[Go all in.] he commanded and waited for his opponent to enter the battlefield.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The resounding footsteps of his opponent filled the tranquil battle arena.

SHRILL!

The very next moment, Kahn felt a familiar killing aura that he sensed on the day when he defeated Veronica in the quarterfinals.

He already heard who his opponent was and how she defeated her opponent in the semifinals with an impeccable display of control and diversity in terms of her skills and how she controlled the battlefield.

But it was the first time he saw how she looked in real life.

In front of him, now stood the other finalist. But before Kahn could speak a word or do anything…

Thump! Thump! Thump!

After he saw his female opponent… a sudden rush of emotions spread through his body and mind.

And for the first time in Kahn's new life…

HIS HEART FLUTTERED.