A stunned silence swept through the entire colosseum, then the crowd erupted.
The commentator cleared his throat, clearly needing a moment himself before his voice rang out again. “A-And there you have it! The winner of the opening match is Kaela, the Mad Beast of the Silver Fang! And all it took was a single punch!”
Cheers, gasps, and nervous laughter swept through the stands as spectators exchanged incredulous looks. Some shouted Kaela’s name, while others muttered prayers of sympathy for whoever was unfortunate enough to face her next, which was me. Down on the arena floor, Kaela merely stretched her shoulders and let out a lazy yawn, as if the fight had bored her. She then glanced toward the stands with a feral grin before turning and exiting through the victor’s gate.
Truth be told, I had expected her to win just as easily, and I could have placed a bet on her as well. However, her odds were listed at 1:1.05, meaning I would’ve earned only five hundred soul coins from a ten-thousand bet. With so many people wagering on her victory, the payout simply wasn’t worth it.
Soon, the holographic screen shifted once more, highlighting the next matchup. My eyes lifted automatically, and there it was—Black Phantom versus Voltz.
I rose from my seat and adjusted the Mask of a Thousand Races. Around me, spectators leaned forward, openly debating the odds. To them, this was a clash between an established Daleth-rank powerhouse and an unknown dark horse who had slipped through the chaos unnoticed. They clearly had no idea who he truly was. Otherwise, the odds would have been entirely different.
As I approached the contestants’ entrance, the roar of the crowd dulled, replaced by the steady rhythm of my own breathing. I flexed my fingers once, retrieved the two daggers from my inventory, and closed my grip around them.
I stepped through the gate and onto the arena floor as the barrier began to rise around us. Not far from me stood a towering, broad-shouldered man with blond hair.
“Ah! And here we have our next contenders!” The commentator’s voice reverberated across the Grand Colosseum. “On one side, a rising star of the Crimson Crest—Voltz, a confirmed Daleth-rank divine warrior known for his Thunder Mantle skill!”
A wave of cheers followed, mixed with excited murmurs.
“And on the other,” the commentator continued with an intrigued tone, “the mysterious Black Phantom! An unaligned contender who slipped through the first stage without drawing attention yet somehow emerged among the top thirty-two! Will this dark horse surprise us, or will his run end here?”
Without hesitation, I activated Inspect Eye on my opponent.
Voltz Lv. 3/80 (EXP 128/9,840)
HP: 100%
MP: 472/472
Rank: Daleth [4]
Patron God: Istellia (Goddess of Imagination)
Class: Heavy Guardian
Strength: 696 | Dexterity: 382 | Stamina: 735
Mind: 341 | Magic Power: 271 | Luck: 170
Total Attribute Points: 2,595
Voltz had somewhat decent stats. However, his class was pretty so-so compared to Boris’s, Michelle’s, and the others’ classes. Still, that made him the perfect target to hone my proficiency with daggers.
Let’s see how much I can benefit from this… I thought, narrowing my eyes.
“Contestants, take your positions! This match will decide who advances to the next round!” the commentator announced.
Voltz planted his feet firmly, radiating confidence. He rolled his neck once, clearly prepared to meet me head-on as he tightened his grip around his war hammer.
“Begin!”
The instant the signal fell, I activated Predator’s Veil and vanished. The concealment was further reinforced by my cursed coat, layering one distortion over another. To the naked eye, I simply ceased to exist as I slipped into motion, circling around him without a sound.
Voltz frowned. He swung his gaze left, then right, failing to sense me at all. “Tch. So you’re one of those types,” he muttered in disdain.
I completed the arc around him effortlessly. Once I reached his blind spot, I rushed straight at him and unleashed Lethal Thrust. The Voidstep Dagger plunged into his flank at an angle designed to bypass armor, burying itself deep into muscle.
Voltz grunted as blood sprayed outward. But instead of collapsing, his mana exploded violently.
“Thunder Mantle!” he roared.
Lightning burst across his body in a violent surge. Yellow arcs raced over his skin, wrapping him in a crackling shell of electricity. The discharge detonated outward, catching me mid-withdrawal and sending a powerful jolt through my arms.
My muscles seized for a fraction of a second as the current tore through me. I twisted away immediately, forcing my body to move through the shock, and landed several meters back. Pain throbbed across my body, but it never reached deep. Thanks to my higher overall stats and defensive passives, the lightning failed to inflict any real damage.
Voltz staggered, lightning still dancing around his form. His eyes widened slightly in disbelief. “…You’re kidding. Just who are you? That attack should be enough to paralyze Gimmel-rank divine warriors!”
I remained silent and merely smiled. Then I vanished once more under Predator’s Veil. To Voltz, it must have felt as though I had dissolved into the air itself. He spun in place, his hammer crackling with lightning as he tried to track me through perception alone.
I struck again, this time activating Phantom Blade. The daggers in my hands split into overlapping afterimages as I closed in from his flank. Before he could react, I followed up with Phantom Slash, the mirrored strike descending from four angles at once.
Clang!
Voltz barely managed to block one of them. The other three tore across his shoulder, chest, and side, leaving deep gashes that sent him stumbling back. I didn’t give him time to recover, triggering Lethal Thrust again to exploit the gaps in his frantic defense. Thanks to the Voidstop Dagger’s effect of being able to bypass solid objects, I was able to land a critical hit.
He roared and swung wildly, lightning bursting outward in unstable bursts, but he was already losing control. Each failed counter widened his stance and drained his stamina. Meanwhile, I continued landing clean hits that steadily chipped away at his health.
He really was an excellent practice target. He was slow and incredibly tough. I didn’t need to fight seriously at all and was able to land numerous hits to improve my proficiency. It couldn’t be helped; against me, an ordinary Daleth-rank divine warrior was ultimately helpless.
Assassination Art has leveled up.
Basic Dagger/Knife Mastery has leveled up.
I faded in and out of sight, reappearing only long enough to strike. Phantom Blade. Phantom Slash. Lethal Thrust. I kept repeating those skills again and again. Every exchange honed my timing, steadied my hands, and pushed my mastery further. Even with Thunder Mantle reinforcing his defenses alongside his Heavy Guardian passives, it didn’t matter. After all, he couldn’t maintain those skills indefinitely.
Predator’s Veil has leveled up.
Lethal Thrust has leveled up.
Your Dexterity has increased by 1.
Your Stamina has increased by 1.
“Damn you… coward…!” Voltz spat through clenched teeth.
Before long, his stamina gave out, and the accumulated damage I had dealt became too much for him to endure. Voltz’s body finally crumpled to the ground, unmoving. Almost immediately, the arena’s protective mechanism activated, disqualifying him while simultaneously healing his injuries.
For a moment, the arena fell into silence as the crowd was too stunned to process what had just happened.
Then the commentator’s voice echoed across the Grand Colosseum. “Th-The match… is over! The winner is Black Phantom!”
A second passed before the reaction came. Cheers erupted across the stands, loud and thunderous, mixed with scattered gasps and excited chatter. Some spectators leapt to their feet, shouting my name—or rather, the identity I wore. Others stared at the arena floor in stunned silence, struggling to process what they had just witnessed.
This reaction was only natural. A literal nobody who had easily won against a well-known Daleth-rank divine warrior would shock anyone.
Still, amid the celebration, I caught fragments of less enthusiastic voices.
“Are you kidding me? He didn’t even take a hit!”
“Dammit… I put everything on Voltz.”
“That fight was completely one-sided… Was it really not staged?”
Without wasting another second, I turned around and headed for the betting area, first slipping into a secluded corner to remove the Mask of a Thousand Races. My features returned to their original state as I stepped back into the bustling concourse.
The atmosphere around the betting counters had changed noticeably. Where there had once been confident chatter and smug predictions, there was now agitation—raised voices, frantic recalculations, and people staring at the holographic screens as the odds continued to update.
I approached the same counter as before. The gruff clerk with the eyepatch looked up, then froze for half a second when he recognized me. His gaze flicked down to the betting voucher in my hand, then back up to my face.
“…Well, I’ll be damned,” he muttered.
I placed the crystal voucher on the counter without a word.
He picked it up, scanned the runic imprint, and let out a low whistle. “Black Phantom, huh? A clean win—and a decisive one, too. Who would’ve thought?” He shook his head as he began processing the payout. “You weren’t kidding about being confident.”
Runes lit up beneath the counter, and moments later, a large, heavy pouch materialized and slid toward me. Even though the coins inside were all in hundred-denomination units, the pouch still carried a satisfying weight.
“Thirty-five thousand soul coins,” the clerk said. “After deducting the 10 percent winnings fee from your profit, that leaves you with 32,500 soul coins.”
I accepted the pouch, weighing it briefly in my hand before storing it in my inventory. Around us, several nearby bettors shot me looks ranging from envy to outright resentment.
“So, you were the one who bet on Black Phantom…” someone muttered behind me.
“Tch. Should’ve trusted my gut.”
These people didn’t recognize me as Maximillian—the one who had defeated Graham and once tied with Kaela—because my cursed coat masked my presence. Unless they studied my face for an extended period of time, it would be nearly impossible for them to identify me.
The clerk leaned forward slightly and whispered, “Word of advice. Even though Black Phantom beat Voltz, he’s probably just a peak Gimmel-rank divine warrior—or a newly advanced Daleth-rank at best. His next opponent is Kaela, and he’ll almost certainly lose. You should save your winnings and bet on others this time.”
“Doesn’t matter. Let it ride,” I said, placing a pouch containing ten thousand soul coins on the counter.
The clerk’s eye widened. “What…? Didn’t you hear a word I just said?”
“So what? I’m quite confident he’ll win again,” I said with confidence. “Stop asking questions and just process it.”
Naturally, I wasn’t nearly as certain this time. However, the odds between Black Phantom and Kaela were absurd and more insane than against Voltz, being listed at 1:10. A win here would net me a staggering one hundred thousand soul coins without counting the winnings fee. It was the kind of payout so excessive it would instantly make me, without dispute, the richest divine warrior in Fantasia by a wide margin.
The clerk stared at the pouch on the counter as if it might explode. “Fine.” He took the money and began processing the bet.
Whispers spread rapidly through the betting hall as word got out that someone was foolish enough to double down on Black Phantom, and against Kaela of all people.
“That guy’s insane.”
“No way Black Phantom survives her.”
“He’s throwing money away…”
“Fuck it! I’m betting on Black Phantom, too!”
“You’re insane…”
The clerk soon slid a new betting voucher across the counter. “The bet has been accepted,” he said flatly. “Here’s your voucher.”
“Mhm.” I took the thin crystal slip and stored it in my inventory with a calm expression.
As I turned to leave, the clerk added, “If Black Phantom actually wins this, this place is going to riot.”
I snorted. “If that happens, that’s your problem—not mine.” In truth, the idea of it happening sounded rather amusing.
With that, I left the counter and made my way back to my seat, slipping the Mask of a Thousand Races on the way.