219: The Masked Announcer
Thelicia? Beatrice grimaced when she heard the beastkin’s overt attempt at hiding her identity. Beatrice recalled the eccentric girl parading her S.E.C.R.E.T. guild badge, announcing her full name and title in public. There was no possible way for anyone who met the hairball in person to not know that she was the same person as this masked announcer. Which left Beatrice wondering about just what game “Thelicia” was playing at.
“The Games will begin shortly,” Thelicia continued, speaking in a loud, somehow augmented voice. At least, it had to be augmented, because it otherwise would make no sense how the little pipsqueak could manage to be heard, seemingly effortlessly overcoming the sound of a crowd of thousands of citizens of Klapsus.
“But before they begin, do not forget to place your bets on one of our lovely participants before the start of each new round. You will have many options for bets: Who will be eliminated first; who will survive the round; how many participants will die in the round…
“Most importantly, to enter the lottery for the grand prize, do not forget to bet on who you think will be the new champion before the Games begin! Will it be just one? Maybe two like that one time last year? You will not get another chance, so do not miss out!
“While you consider your choice by using any arbitrary metric you see fit, our staff will distribute numbers to the participants, to make it easier for everyone to follow the action.”
As Thelicia said that, Beatrice saw eighteen masked men, shirtless and in kilt walk onto the arena. The masked men were split up into six groups of three. Each group used a different bridge to get to the arena, which resulted in them appearing from all sides at once. In each of the six groups, two men were muscular and carried a giant chest by the handles, while their scrawny leaders carried nothing and walked with an aura of self-importance and hands behind their backs.
The masked men put the large heavy chests down just by the bridges and opened them for their respective leaders. The scrawny, dirty leaders reach into the chests, pulled out a small woven bag, and proceeded to the participants. It quickly turned out that the masked men had pieces of weathered, black cloth in those bags. Each piece of the blood-stained cloths had a different red number on it. One by one, the masked men tied one of those cloth pieces around the right arm of every participant while Thelicia continued to address the crowd.
“While you ponder your choices, please remember to drink plenty of liquids!” Thelicia reminded the spectators. “Our lovely sponsors have once again provided plenty of barrels of your favorite beverages, so stay hydrated!”
Beatrice looked up and saw that indeed many wooden barrels were rolled out and placed on the edges of the platforms while the citizens of Klapsus lined up with mugs to fill.
“Also know that this year we have even more lovely ladies and stud gentlemen for in-between round entertainment! Their booths will be located in all major spectator areas and provide you with various services: girl on girl shows; all-you-can-cum-on-sexy-feet booths, dick rating booths, and many others!”
Sixty-nine, huh? Beatrice looked at the number on her new armband that one of the masked men just finished tying around her arm.
“I see the numbers have been distributed,” Thelicia said. “Which means that the upgraded view is long overdue!”
As soon as Thelicia said that the masked men that stood by the open chests sat down in lotus position and clapped their hands in unison as all twelve of them started mumbling some kind of spell. And it was a spell. Beatrice saw blue auras form around the men. Their magical auras grew out in all directions until they combined with the aura of their neighbor. Just a few seconds after that happened, those magical auras shot up high into the air and all flew over the arena toward the center until they combined together in a spectacular firework-like blast, high in the air, at the same level as Thelicia’s platform.
However, that blast of magical energy did disperse as a firework would. The magical sphere grew, and as it grew, Beatrice saw something unbelievable within the sphere. Herself. The image then switched to one of the pathetic-looking participants. As if looking into some gigantic crystal ball, Beatrice, as well as every other person in the mine, could watch the participants in high resolution. As seconds passed, the image only got clearer, and soon Beatrice felt as if she was watching one of those gigantic, led, center-hung display cubes.
“Perfect!” Thelicia cheered. Even without seeing the girl’s face, Beatrice clearly imagined the wide grin on the manic girl’s face that no doubt exposed her little upper fang. “Now, we have sixty-nine participants! A lovely number! I even see that some of you have brought your own weapons. I just need a couple volunteers! Anyone?”