Overpowered Wizard-Chapter 309: B3: C99: The Dark Emperor Hunger Games 1

<A contestant has beaten the Dark Emperor! There are now only 7 remaining positions for the Final Round.>

The Carrowmore Tournament of 1534 D.E. was already more extraordinary than any tournament ever seen across the entire Infinita Star System.

Never had there been a tournament that garnered so much attention while in the Lesser Realm of Infinita. Never had there been a tournament that held 36 billion contestants at once.

Never had other Systems outside of their universe participated, bringing contestants who were normally considered invaders. And never had a few individuals, such as the Darkruns, held such sway over multiple systemized universes in this tiny corner of the Verse.

Before this point, the Carrowmore Tournament was known as an opportunity to gather favor from greater beings such as the Good and Evil Gods, to accrue riches from Carrowmore itself, and to bring glory to your name, your family, your faction, and your alignment. There was truly no traditional one big prize in the Carrowmore Tournament – to fight and win at the Carrowmore Tournament were the ultimate prizes!

Even the losers could gain great favor if they put on a show and survived the tournament. And that was mostly the nature of the Carrowmore Tournament, a grand show of violence and survival featuring those who were still near the beginning of their climb to godhood or the empty Throne of the Adventurer King.

For those who were more familiar with Carrowmore and the World of Castles and Caverns, the tournament was more than a cosmic event. More than a series of grand fights. More than incredible challenges. More than the violent debate between good and evil.

The tournament meant their current world would end and a new one would be born in the aftermath, after the tournament ended and after they faced the trials to ascend to the Greater Realm.

For those from other systemized universes, their purposes were simple. To grow stronger and to take the power of Zarian Sainte-Darkrun, the one who wielded the Darkrun Apocalypse, also known as the Apocalypse of Darkness outside of Infinita.

So when this notification appeared – <A contestant has beaten the Dark Emperor! There are now only 7 remaining positions for the Final Round.> – across all nine Super Worlds for all 36 billion contestants, not even with an hour passing into the tournament, an already frenzied and gigantic cosmic event turned into a pure slaughter fest.

Invasive contestants from the Shifter System, the Gold System, and the Assimilator System put aside the primary objective of collecting points. They targeted anyone they found who came from the Star System.

And those from the Star System desperately sought each other in search of the hidden Dark Emperor. Because if someone could beat the Dark Emperor within the first hour of the tournament, surely anyone could!

The promise of being among the eight final contestants of the Final Round and gaining never before seen power from The Dragoness was too irresistible to deny. The chance that they could somehow steal the power of the Dark Emperor or make him submit somehow was also a strong motivator for certain parties.

Monsters, some who were known as Super Monsters, went ignored in favor of hunting down star adventurers.

Great challenges, such as the deadly Super Arenas, went ignored in favor of hunting the star adventurers.

Across all nine worlds, the star adventurers became the most valuable prey.

On Kwaldune, the Super World of Dust, Deserts, and Dunes, bands of star adventurers realized their numbers were getting cut down at an alarming rate. The brutal attacks from the invaders forced the star adventurers to hold an uneasy truce and watch each other’s backs.

Their only saving grace was that the shifters, the assimilators, and the gold diggers weren’t on the same page and would get in each other’s way.

It was at a massive fortress, in the middle of a super desert filled with monstrous worms, where a rag-tag army of star adventurers fought three battles on three fronts. They had no choice but to ignore the temptation to search for the Dark Emperor among themselves if they wanted to survive a losing battle.

On Celestrom, the Super World of Lights, Towers, and Storms, star adventurers were fleeing for their lives while hunted down by bands of invaders who were more united there than in other Super Worlds.

Shifters, assimilators, and gold diggers were learning to corral the star adventurers without killing them, just so they could sift through their numbers to bring out the Dark Emperor from hiding. If they couldn’t find the Dark Emperor, they slaughtered the star adventurers if they didn’t surrender fast enough.

None of the three invader groups knew what would happen if they did find the Dark Emperor, but for now, they held a truce on Celestrom. Together, they scoured the brightened lands of towers and storms.

The only thing slowing their progress was the many towers they had to search through. Each one could contain major traps, labyrinthine floors, and grand monsters. Each one could contain star adventurers who were trying to survive long enough to make it to the Second Round.

On Nimbora, the Super World of Clouds, Bones, and Requiems, a strange man from the Shifter System did the opposite of everyone else.

Instead of hunting down star adventurers, he befriended them. Instead of working with others from the Shifter System, he turned them away and pursued the challenges that the Super Worlds offered, especially the Super Arenas – those were fun!

This man wasn’t originally from the Shifter System, nor was he originally from a parallel Earth or anything mundane like that. He was truly an Outsider of a … higher degree.

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So far, anyone who tried to fight him would have their bodies dropped amid the bones littering the cloudy valleys, their deaths sung mournfully over by the winds of the Super World.

This man was called Cal Everclaw, and each time his surname was mentioned, it rang with unusual magic, the sort that was beyond what was universally known.

Nobody around him understood what that meant, but there was a sense of safety and certainty surrounding Cal. Thus, several star adventurers and a few contestants from other universes formed a truce to follow Cal.

He couldn’t be the Dark Emperor, since he was from the Shifter System. But if anyone could find the hidden Dark Emperor and beat him, it seemed like Cal Everclaw could.

Cal didn’t care. He was here for a good time and for interesting challenges. He acquired Tournament Points the traditional way, which was great for him and the others who followed his example.

There were a few others like Cal across the nine Super Worlds, and they didn’t necessarily have a strange magic that surrounded their names. Some were simply old monsters who remained among the lesser ranks instead of rising to higher ranks and realms.

In fact, the Star System had the largest concentration of old masters across all nine Super Worlds. Many of which knew Ruvaria as the Genocider or as the Sorceress Queen, depending on if she was friend or foe to them, and depending on if they survived their run in with her.

The old star masters who knew of Ruvaria were some of the strongest contestants. And while many lesser star adventurers ended up like lambs at the slaughter, the old star masters held their ground and tested themselves – or swatted the flies who dared to attack them.

Then there was the actual Dark Emperor, who didn’t seem like a star adventurer right now. Instead, after two weeks of going berserk, he seemed more like a monster. One that was rightfully feared and always hungering for more games and meals.

***

“Meat?” asked a deranged female voice from the steamy and edgy treeline.

Manny Nelson jolted from his crouched position and spun toward the treeline, his foot nearly snagging on the corpse of another dead star adventurer.

There were thirty of those, each one bleeding out like stuck pigs on a large field filled with claw-tipped flowers. Each corpse fell burdened with legendary gear that made Manny’s gold +12 sing with desire while fiercely protective of his new loot.

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No Dark Emperor among the dead, which was a mercy. Otherwise, Manny and everyone else would’ve been swept up in the Apocalypse of Darkness again.

But even without finding the Dark Emperor, this whole tournament enterprise in another universe was a bounty.

He entered the tournament two weeks ago as gold +6, and he was already gold +12, which made every stat, skill, and trait stronger by a significant jump in a profile provided by the Midas Universe.

He only had to ensure his treasure trove of legendary items stayed secured in his bag of holding attached to his belt, or his value would drop. Because just as fast as he could climb the gold status, he could easily descend if someone stole his treasures from him.

There was a certain threshold where his worth as a gold digger kept him from bottoming out completely. Still, he wouldn’t dare let himself descend back to gold +4 or some nonsense like that!

So, other than spinning toward the voice, he instantly used an enchantment to make his bag of holding go invisible and incorporeal while stuck to his person, impossible to steal.

It was costly to his aura.

But he was gold +12.

He could afford it!

Besides, the twelve other gold diggers he partied up with were doing the same, making their vital treasures impossible to steal as their first concern.

Then Manny and the twelve others brandished their weapons and their magic, with Manny raising two curved daggers, the edges dripping with a deadly crimson energy.

His profile as a Level 141 Carnage Rogue Master and his gold +12 status made him the strongest and most dangerous gold digger in the party. That was great for him on most occasions except for when Manny had to step up and act like the boss.

“Yeah, sure, we got meat. What are you going to pay for it?” Manny asked casually, refastening his grip on the handles of his crimson daggers.

“Let’s play a game,” said a monstrous male voice that came from the same spot in the treeline.

Despite all of Manny’s enhanced senses and his identifying trait, the deranged and monstrous speakers in the steamy and edgy jungle remained unobservable to him.

Manny waited on another gold digger with sharper senses than him to tell him something. But the man kept fumbling with his words until he finally admitted he got nothing.

Okay, that wasn’t great to hear.

Nobody among his party could sense what the heck was hiding in the thick steam. And this part of Jumunja had the hottest steam vents, too, making prolonged exposure an extremely uncomfortable affair for most beings.

Manny himself was a Human Outsider from an Earth where the United States split apart after three civil wars. He didn’t have any big special racial abilities other than being an Outsider to the Midas Universe. But he was a powerful Outsider, so he stood his ground, unwilling to give up all the loot littering the field.

“We don’t like playing games unless you got something worth our time!” Manny shouted. “Or maybe we’ll make you into a game by carving you up and taking your shit!”

“Take the mythical crown and you win the game,” offered the monstrous male voice.

Suddenly, a crown appeared beyond the edge of the steam with nothing holding it other than the faintest magic. Half of Manny’s party gasped when they sensed its mythical quality regardless of its spooky, thorny, and cursed nature.

It didn’t matter if it was cursed. Mythical was mythical! To own it would make their gold status skyrocket ever higher.

“That’s a mighty nice offer! Let me talk it out with my friends,” Manny said, keeping his cool while slowly backing away.

As much as he wanted that crown, the situation was getting too creepy. For anyone to dangle around mythical stuff, that would mean they were strong, maybe too strong.

“The game has already begun,” said the monstrous male voice.

“Meat!” screeched the deranged female voice.

Something about this situation made Manny’s spine crawl. Like he made the mistake of talking instead of running. But to turn his back now would certainly kill him.

Instead, he activated his strongest abilities.

Blood flowed from the wounds of the corpses and gathered in condensed layers on his daggers. A blossoming blood flame covered his body, granting him greater physicality, especially in the speed department. Blood blades appeared in the surrounding air, ready to attack any enemy and follow his whims.

As he did that, the other gold diggers powered up as well, because none of them were necessarily weak or Manny would’ve kicked their asses and taken their stuff.

The others were strong enough for them to hang without being stronger than Manny. Together, they were a powerful unit, a party of gold-digging apex predators in the steamy and edgy jungle.

The monster that strode out of the treeline put the fear of capital ‘G’ God into Manny and made him doubt his apex predator mentality.