The qualifiers are still in full swing. Not only the individual competitions and guild competitions are in full swing, but the team competitions are also quite lively.
Mantou, Singo, Tiansheng Zhanwang, and Xia Ye Qiuyu formed a four-person team and won the game effortlessly, but the process was a bit boring and they couldn't even make up one minute of video material.
When the opponents saw four professional players on the other side, their hearts suddenly went cold.
Before they could rush forward with their giant axes, they immediately surrendered to the referee.
This made Mantou feel quite disappointed.
I haven't fired yet, why did you fall?
For these professional players, the qualifiers were extremely relaxed and there was not much pressure. Some trouble-loving players also showed off various tricks.
For example, Lang Li Bai Tiao relied on the vampire's inhuman recovery ability to open his arms and stand for the opponent to hit.
During this period, he did not forget to say "It doesn't hurt~", "Didn't you eat?", "Come on! Beat me to death!" and other rude remarks, which aroused the anger of the crowd in the audience, who wanted to get off the stage and beat him to death.
And his opponent was also mentally shattered by the idle gameplay. He slashed more than 300 times in a row, but found that the opponent was still very active, so he had to admit defeat.
Mantou watched the games for several days in a row, and he took the opportunity to make a video highlight of those players' performances.
He edited videos such as "Top Ten Super Popular Scenes" and "Top Ten Hilarious Famous Scenes", and took advantage of the popularity of the Empire Conference to enjoy a wave of traffic.
Mantou even shamelessly placed the video of himself charging with dragon roar and piercing the enemy with one blow at the end of the "Top Ten Super Famous Scenes", and also paired it with a passionate BGM.
However, the audience's reaction was not what he expected. The comments on the screen were "That's it?" "Private goods?" "It doesn't feel as good as the previous one."
That's not right.
Shouldn't it be "The steamed buns are so handsome"?
Looking at the barrage of negative comments that filled the screen, Mantou sat slumped in front of the computer, his expression particularly messy.
It’s hard to show off, but why is the response so bad?
No, it’s still too obvious this time. Next time, I’ll add private goods secretly to achieve the effect of “moisturizing things quietly”.
However, the response of the steamed bun videos on major video platforms was quite enthusiastic, and the popularity of those large-scale and rich guild wars soared to extremely high levels.
The collision of magic and machinery, the duel between the Roman army and the "immortal cultivators", and the fighting between the undead army and the holy warriors have made more people think about entering "Erezegai".
How can you still play like this?
Is the degree of freedom really so high?
What, there is a loli version of the fire dwarf?
This was what many passers-by thought after seeing the video, and since then, "Erezege" has once again appeared on the hot search list, ushering in a new wave of craze.
“Where can I buy Erezgai?”
It once dominated the hot search list.
Within the empire, the empire officials also launched an overwhelming propaganda campaign, focusing the country's attention on this massive competition.
Under the official publicity, everyone, including imperial officials, ordinary citizens, workers, soldiers and scholars, knew the name of this "Imperial Duel Conference".
The half-month qualifying competition has ended in a hurry, and the next step is the main event - the real Imperial Gladiator Conference, which is to be held at the Istalia Coliseum, which is the knockout round.
The Imperial Ministry of Commerce, which was responsible for organizing the competition, released 100,000 tickets to the market, priced at 50 silver naars.
These tickets were sold out in just half a day, and on the black market, a ticket even fetched a sky-high price of 5 gold naars.
There are many comprehensive factors that make this game so popular: the martial ethos of the empire, official publicity, and the influence of Starfall within the empire
But there is only one most direct and important reason:
The Ember Emperor, the Lord of the Empire, and the Supreme Ruler of the Great Wilderness of Anzeta—His Majesty Cassius Claudius Norixius will personally visit the Istalia Arena.
The Arena of Istalia, also known as the Imperial Arena, was built between 1783 and 1785 in the New Calendar. It was built by the empire with tens of thousands of players and hundreds of frost giant slaves.
The Grand Arena is composed of a series of circular arcades. Its circular outer wall is 60 meters high and is divided into five floors. Each of the lower four floors has 80 arches and classical column decoration.
The Colosseum can accommodate approximately 150,000 spectators and has four tiers of seating.
The higher the status, the higher the seat. Dragon-blood nobles sit in the highest "honorary seat" and can have an unobstructed view of the entire venue.
Rich spectators can sit at the front and experience the cruelty and intensity of the gladiatorial competition up close, while ordinary spectators can only sit in the middle tiers of seats.
At the top is a huge specially made platform with a solemn and luxurious golden seat on it - this is the throne prepared for the emperor.
This configuration must be present in any building in the empire. Although it is not used most of the time, it is used to show the loyalty of the designer.
The designer of the Coliseum of Istalia was also a Starfaller, said to be from a guild called [Roman Era]
"Oh oh oh oh!"
"It's about to begin!"
At this time, in the large arena, the auditorium was crowded with people, the sound was noisy, and there were endless cheers, discussions, and even exchanges of curses.
There was even a support group of star players gathered together. They held up light signs and shouted slogans in unison.
“So many people!”
"Let me go, is this place so big?!"
"I guess there are tens of thousands of viewers. It makes me a little nervous. How will we fight later?"
"God S must be the champion!!"
"Xin Gou's brainless fans are making trouble, this time the champion must be my brother Kuangchao!"
Not only the players, but also the natives of Anzetta gathered together. Humans, hobgoblins, tieflings, snakemen and even ogres all appeared in the audience.
They also talked a lot and gathered together, but the game itself was not their biggest concern.
“What a rare event.”
"Yes, in the previous Northland Kingdom, a medium-sized city only had a population of tens of thousands, but now, there are 100,000 people in this arena alone."
“There are more and more Starfallen in the empire, and I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
"They helped me a lot, but they also caused a lot of trouble. These guys were crazy all day long."
"Do you think His Majesty will really come?"
Before he finished speaking, mottled black shadows appeared in the sky, and flying dragons were seen flapping their wings and landing on the pillars of the arena, raising their heads and roaring.
"Ouch——"
A space portal suddenly opened, and the Prime Minister of the Empire, the ogre Archmage Trump, appeared above the venue with a smile on his face.
The crowd was suddenly in an uproar.
"It's the Prime Minister!"
"He's here too!"
Trump cleared his throat, laid the scepter flat, and his voice spread throughout the venue: "Everyone, please be quiet."
"The first Imperial Gladiator Tournament is about to begin."
"No matter what race you are or what your status is, whether you are human, tiefling or ogre, as long as you are citizens of the empire, you can enjoy the fun brought by this event."
The venue was large and crowded, but Trump's words could reach everyone's ears accurately, like a breeze blowing on the face.
Trump raised his scepter high and his tone became a little excited.
"This will be an unprecedented and unparalleled event, and more importantly - His Majesty will also be present in person."
The satyr military band standing on the platform played impassioned music, and the bards sang in a low voice.
If you listen carefully, you can hear that it is the "Hymn of Cassius" that is widely circulated in the empire.
Suddenly, a huge shadow was cast, covering many spectators.
"Look—" "That's—"
"It is His Majesty's true form!"
"It's really your Majesty! Praise Emperor Burning Ember!"
"Kay, Cassius, this is too huge!"
People raised their heads one after another, with excited voices and enthusiastic eyes, as if they were seeing the gods in their hearts with their own eyes.
The red dragon, which was more than forty meters long, spread out its extremely broad wings and hovered over the Istalia Arena, showing off its majestic figure.
The satyr's music is still going on, the snare drum beats rhythmically, and the red dragon slowly descends with the grand music.
In the end, the huge dragon body gradually faded into a majestic shadow, overlooking the people in the arena.
The man with black hair, golden eyes, and an almost god-like appearance gradually solidified with the flames, and finally appeared on the throne - that was the incarnation of Cassius.
Due to the limitations of the venue, Cassius had to reduce his size and transform into a human form, but the crown and dragon horns on his head still proved his identity.
"He is the Lord of the Empire!"
"This, this is your majesty's divine appearance!"
Some people in the audience couldn't help but exclaimed - the citizens of the empire were also quite familiar with Cassius' human form.
The people's admiration for this human-like form is far greater than their fear, and Cassius rarely kills in human form.
Some even call him the "Lord of Mercy", "the Noble Ruler" and "the incarnation of God's manners".
They viewed this form as a special incarnation that was essentially Cassius but possessed its own independence.
The performance of the players was even crazier - for example, the [Cassius Support Group] in the audience, they had started cheering crazily.
"Ahhhh!"
"It's His Majesty Cassius!"
"Cassius, the man of men, the male of males, the ruler of men, the ruler of men, the Lord of men, the Terminator King of men!"
"Master! The male god emperor!! The devil! The overwhelming man! The immortal pinnacle in the history of human game modeling!!"
Not far away, the notorious president of the [Dragon Control Club] stood up and glared at the support club, which was dominated by female players.
"You heretics!"
"Hmph!"
"Cassius's true form is the most handsome! The dragon form is the orthodox one!"
The dragon controllers behind him immediately stood up to support their president. They raised their hands and shouted the slogan "Dragon Controllers Association".
"Humans are the most annoying! Dragonsexuality is the best!"
"I want to touch His Majesty Cassius's tail!"
"You fart!"
"Cassius is clearly a man among men! A male among men."
Seeing that the two sides were about to fight, the guards patrolling the venue arrived in time with guns to stifle the possible conflict.
The other players quietly distanced themselves from them - these two waves of people seemed to be abnormal. Don't wait until some "Heresy Trial War" really broke out. It would be bad if they were affected.
"I want to touch His Majesty Cassius's tail!"
"Ahhhh!"
It is definitely a big challenge to maintain one's majesty and image in such an empire full of players.
Listening to some strange cries below, Cassius on the throne resisted the urge to hit a bolide and tried to maintain a dignified demeanor.
But the corners of his mouth were still twitching slightly, and his expression was a little ugly.
Well, don't be impulsive.
You cannot destroy the image you have created.
These players should have been taken care of long ago.
Thinking of this, Cassius looked down at the crowded venue and said calmly:
"Quiet."
As soon as these words were spoken, it was as if there was an invisible decree descending, and the surrounding space suddenly solidified.
The medium in the air was isolated, and no sound could be made. The two waves of people who were still arguing could not make a sound even if they were yelling.
In the venue of hundreds of thousands of people, there was silence, and you could even hear the sound of a pin dropping.
People all looked up at the high platform with extremely surprised expressions.
This is the supreme authority that Cassius holds in the [Imperial Domain]. It can be regarded as "following the law".
Cassius looked down at the players who had their mouths wide open but could not make a sound, so they became surprised. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, revealing an imperceptible smile.
Are you speechless now?
This is the beauty of the Great Speech Spell!
For these players who are somewhat mentally ill, only this coercive method can be effective.
Otherwise, when he is giving a speech later, a dragon controller suddenly comes out and yells "touch the tail" and other rude words, and the image he has worked so hard to create will be shattered.
However, he still felt a little helpless when he looked at the banner "Cassius, the man among men" in the distance.
Tsk, this is the necessary price to pay for squeezing players, you have to try it.
Cassius stood up slowly, stood on the high platform, looked around, overlooking the faces with different expressions in the audience.
"Very good."
He opened his hands and showed a gentle smile: "Hello, citizens of the empire."
"The Ember Empire has developed from a state of ruin to its current vigorous development, which is inseparable from your contribution. I regard every citizen of the Empire and everyone who contributes to the Empire as my child. .”
"And now, I hope you can take a break from your busy work and enjoy everything that is hard-won."
"I, Cassius, in the name of Emperor Burning Ember, hereby solemnly declare that the first gladiatorial conference of the empire has begun!"
As soon as his words fell, the invisible restriction was lifted immediately.
The satyr military band continued to play impassioned music and beat rhythmic drums.
The salutes were fired in the venue, the applause was thunderous, and the crowd was roaring. The cheers and shouts resounded through the sky, filling the entire city of Istalia.
The shouts of "Long live His Majesty Cassius!" were heard endlessly, like wave after wave, spreading throughout the Anzeta Wilderness.
The first Imperial Gladiator Tournament has begun!
"The arena laid the cornerstone of a complex political ritual in which the emperor created and manipulated popular emotional responses through direct personal attitudes."
"When you witness with your own eyes how much the people of the Burning Empire love the sport of gladiatorial combat, you will understand why their army is invincible and invincible on the continent."
——Former court scholar of the Fadland Empire, Nadia Denis (End of this chapter)