Code Collector

Chapter 165: Challenged

It wasn't inevitable that what Allen told Bryant would be the talk of the town. The man was so insulted that it caused him to walk out, completely pissed.

"You're doing a good job," Gwen said with a suppressed laugh. They were now in the Parts House to get the raw materiald of the boar and Gwen was still laughing about their encounter with Bryant.

"I am?" Allen asked. "I'm just following our format. It was last week when I heard about Bryant's reputation in this camp. He's a man who is a famous bully and nobody else can stand up to him since he has Barandilla to back him up."

"So, you're trying to show everyone that he's not that of a threat?" Jeremy asked to which Allen nodded. "Hmm, it is quite interesting to see a D ranker beating an A ranker to a pulp."

"That will become another talk of the town," Allen said. "We will continue this and so on, just until we have all eyes on us that Barandilla will make their move for us to take a re-test in the rankings."

"Here you go." Their conversation was interrupted when the butcher who mauled their beast gave them the bag. "All washed up and ready to be crafted."

"Thank you," Allen also received the payment for the meat as took the bag. It was one huge sack that contained the tusk, fur, and hide of the boar, as well as some of its teeth. The meat was going straight to the meat factory, this is why he was getting paid for.

Allen was wrong when he initially thought that slaughter houses existed in paradise. There weren't any. All the beasts, whether they have edible meat or not, would go straight to the Parts House. Usually, the cost of the meat is way bigger than the cost of the service in the Parts House, so when a Hunter brings in a beast, they would be paid instead.

The group left the Parts House and wanted to stop by for a meal when a woman blocked their way. "Mr. Dante Reed, Bryant is challenging you for a duel. If you back out now, you will have to pay the penalty of ten million dollars."

"That's preposterous!" Jeremy was the first one to react. "Why should Dante go, anyway? It's not like they have a written agreement or anything."

"It's the rule of Paradise," the woman said. "When you beat him, you can have his title, his rank, and his net worth since he's the one who challenged you. When you lose, which will basically happen, you don't have to lose anything else. Just your pride."

While Allen let Vince explore the camp when they were aware, he had learned about this event. It was a famous, yet medieval thing where a Hunter challenges another one for a duel just to show off who's the more powerful one.

Just like the woman said, the hunter who challenged the other would have everything at stake while the other one would have nothing to lose. This was usually done when a Hunter wants to assert dominance over another Hunter, and is often used to abuse others.

"I will go," Allen said without hesitation. "I'm not sure, but I can't afford to pay the penalty right now."

"Okay," the woman smirked. "Good luck to you. You will meet him in the Barren Arena in two hours."

The woman left the group with Allen wanting to smirk as much as he could. The others looked at him in shock while he just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"He will beat you up," Gwen said, reminding Allen of the dangers he was going to face. "And he will beat you up. Plus, he will have his group help him and he will cheat. You can't do anything about it since it's Barandilla who's going to move against you."

"I don't mins," Allen shrugged. "Let's just go back to my room and then decide what to do with these parts."

This time, Jeremy stood in front of Allen to block his path. "Aren't you scared? They might kill you."

"Oh, they will try," Allen chuckled and stepped to the side but Jeremy still blocked him. "Please, move."

"They will kill you, Allen," Jeremy repeated. "You know that something like this would happen."

"They can't kill me," Allen smirked. "I am the best."

His three friends had no other choice but to respect his decision. They were just scared of what Bryant would do to their friend when they have embarrassed the man on multiple occasions.

But for Allen, however, he wasn't a bit scared of what might happen. He had already examined Bryant's power level and the man was way beneath him. Even if Bryant receives a mega buff from his support, he won't stand a chance. And if there's something else that would be going on, then Allen has his countermeasures.

<Jungle King Killer>

He was staring at the scythe on his interface as he waited for the match. They arrived in the arena an hour early just to show how punctual they are, also because they wanted to insult Bryant more.

The more he gazed at the weapon, the more it intrigued him. This weapon was of a Divine grade, so this was nothing to be messed with. The lifesteal alone was enough to be scared of this weapon, so Allen wanted for this weapon's debut to be grand.

Sure enough, people started crowding not even half an hour before their match. Rumors spread like wildfire and when Allen used Vince again to catch up to these rumors, they said that Bryant was planning on a shameless D ranker.

Allen wanted to make Vince slap the woman who told him, but he stopped himself. He was using Vince for two weeks now, just to spy on a lot of people, especially with the rumors. He can't ruin Vince's reputation.

"Are you really sure that you won't back out?" Jeremy asked. He was talking to Allen and was still trying to convince him. "There are twenty members of Barandilla here. They will try to do everything to interfere with your match."

Allen tapped Jeremy's shoulder. "No worries, I'll be fine."

"But, we can just pay off the penalty," Jeremy said. "Ten million is nothing if we grind some more on the forest."

"Shh," Allen chuckled. "Trust me. Don't you trust me?"

"I do," Jeremy sat back on his seat and sighed. "We'll just do our best to try and let you have the cleanest fight as possible, even when we're sure that it won't be."

"Worrywart," Allen laughed at his friends.

It was now time for the match.

The arena was a huge coliseum where a stone platform was placed in the center. The stone platform was reinforced with a lot of shields just so it would be protected from the fights that would be happening on top of it.

There wasn't any side railing on the platform that is used as the ring, so when a Hunter is thrown to the side, they will go straight into the bleachers and will be eliminated. Allen wanted to go for this, but he was sure Bryant's team would just force him back before he could even get past the platform.

"Are you ready?" Bryant asked with a smirk. "I killed a lot of people before, you know? And all of those people tried to beg for me to spare them."

"And did you?" Allen asked simply.

This is where Bryant smirked and spat on the side before replying, "Why would I?"

"Good," Allen said. "Because I won't hold back either."

Bryant growled at this response while Allen just let him. The more he eggs on the man, the more he will lose his focus. This was hugely beneficial for Allen.

"Okay," the referee walked in the middle of the two. "You two will fight as much as you can, but be sure to avoid fatalities"

"I can't promise," Bryant growled, making Allen look at the crowd and shrug. "Shameless *sshole."

"Just make sure you don't kill each other," the referee said. "We have a group of medics and healers on standby, so we can assure you that you'll be saved in case something happens."

"Oh, something will happen," Bryant added.

This made the referee sigh and shake his head. "Now, to begin, when I shoot my fireball, the fight will start. It will go on for ten minutes and the one who received more damage side will lose. We have a damage counter right on the side."

Allen and Bryant looked at where the referee is pointing. It was a giant orb on the side with a two holographic numpers written on each side. One was yellow, and the other was red.

"You'll be the yellow," the referee pointed at Bryant. "And you'll be the red."

It was then that Allen knew that everything was actually set up. The referee leaned closer to him and whispered.

"It symbolizes the color of your death."

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