Noah and his group walked down the plain corridor. Not too far behind, were those of the Hyu family, their voices echoing loudly as they maade small-talk all the time, full of offenses directed to all other families. It felt like they had nothing to do or say other than talk about others, which to Noah said a lot about their arrogance. 'They probably won all the arenas they participated while the Khan family wasn't around,' he thought, before asking the bearded warrior.

"Those **s?! No way in hell. Rather, I think I've only seen the Hyu family win the arena once, a long time ago. But it wasn't those guys who did it.

" The bearded warrior's answer raised a lot of questions in Noah's mind. It made no sense for people from that family to be doing this, but a particular conversation cought Noah's mind.

"That old man Fontinelli is finally out of our way, we can finally take the family over.

" The sentence came from none other than the woman in the group.

'Strange, how can a party that is lower than B rank think about taking a family over? Wait... Coud it be?' Noah tried to piece the parts of the conversation he got in order to come to a conclusion. But even after reaching the large door at the end of the corridor, he was still full of doubt. There was two things he knew for sure. One, that there was no power limit to join the arena, other than the Families themselves not wanting to show their trumph cards. And two, that these people were not the ordinary group they sent to the arena. The fact that they were somehow associated to the man who hired assassins to murder Carlos' father was another thing in Noah's mind, but considering he was the one who killed that man, it wasn't that important at this point in time. 'I have to take care so we don't get caught by surprise against these guys...' Noah thought, as he saw how confident his companions were in his strength. 'I hope we can watch them fight at least once before it's our turn,' his wish was pretty simple, but had great implications to their chances of winning this arena.

The large door opened by itself, sliding to the sides. And Noah could see the arena beyond it.

On top of a large set of stairs, a polygonal ring the size of a footbal field was propped up from the level they were at. Noah's eyes scanned the surroundings as they were led into this lower area and up the staircase, onto the arena itself. The place was shaped like a diamond, with 9 faces cut on its sides. On each side a the bottom, matching the height of the arena itself, a large gallery was set up so that the public could see the fights. Above it, another row of cabins were in place, smaller, with large symbols over them. These cabins were made to be luxurious, with golden and glass decorations, almost like royal buildings of a long lost era on Planet E. The style of these contrasted greatly with the concrete tiles and overall simplicity of the arena, and this told Noah that these were for the leaders of each family.

"Good night, ladies and gentlemen of the Nine familes and their invitees. Tonight, the arena is once again complete. Last week, the winner was the Shizen Family! And today, they won't be able to participate.

" The host's voice echoed across the whole Arena, as a large screen appeared on three of the sides, above the galleries.

"To the side of the screens, you can see the bets made for each Family, and the multiplier in case you win your bet. This week, two families have sent new groups to make their name in this arena. New arrivals to heat up this event. The Khan Family, and the Hyu Family!

" With his words, Noah started to hear people whispering at each other. The sound of gossip took the arena over, as something he didn't understand was happening. This moment also made him realize that to each of the sides of the raised arena, which was shaped like a 9 pointed star, stood one group of blessed, whime the man who was speaking stood proudly in the center of it.

Soon, it all became clear, as a loud sound of coins clicking began and numbers started showing up on the screens. That bustling noise was that of the people around them chosing and making their bets.

After a second, the numbers seemed to be mostly settled, and the host went back to talking again,

"My oh my! This is one of the first times something like this happened! We have large bets for all but two families!

"

Noah took a look at the screen and soon understood. There were massive bets, in the house of millions, to each family. And those with fewer bets, were those of his and the Hyu. He could see Michael fisting up his hands in frustration. He knew that not being bet on meant the Family itself had little hope in their group. But what caught his attention was the grin in the face of those people of the Hyu Family. From what he'd heard earlier on the way here, he know these people had a bad relationship with the current heads of their family, but them not betting raised a lot of suspicion. Also, why would these people be so happy they didn't get bet on?

"Now now, why don't we level the field a little? This is today's multiplier based on the statistical odds of each family winning, and the values you have bet to each of them!

" With his words, a large red number appeared to the side of the value. This multiplier was how much they would win in case the family in question were to win. As a matter of fact, all the multipliers were extremely small, having numbers close to 1, but two families were different. Those were the families which had the smallest of bets. The Hyu family had a multiplier of 2.8, Meaning that if they were to win, all bets on them would win 280% of their money. But the Khan family... Their multiplier was 5.

The bets on the Hyu family were also low, how could their multiplier be half of that of the Khan Family? But Michael murmured the answer,

"Those **ers are looking down on us...

" Noah watched as the bearded warrior put hins hand on Michael's shoulder, clearly angry too, but Noah didn't really care about this, there was a chance to multiply his money right in front of him.

"How do I bet?

" he asked, making the whole group look at him in disbelief.

"Why would you want to do that?! Look at how low those multipliers are, you're gonna waste your money!

" the scout turned around and spoke to him, to which Noah only shrugged.

"The bets are done through the Family app. You can only bet on your own family before the multipliers are out, but after they are, you can make your bets on anyone,

" the leader turned to him, coldly.

"If the family you bet on loses, you lose all your money.

"

'That I know, but making my money worth 5-fold in just a night is a great bet. Especially once the results are already guaranteed.

" Saying this, Noah got his phone from the small bag he was carrying and opened up the Family app. The leader's eyes went wide, as he too realized what Noah had just said and picked up his own phone, being followed by everyone else. Without thinking twice, Noah made a bet of most of his money, all he took from Fontinelli a couple days before. Noah was confident.

"My oh my! We have massive bets!

" Shortly after, the Host's voice rang loudly, making the people in the audience look at the screen anxiously.

"All families have had some bets, but the Khan and Hyu family sure are a surprise!

" Looking at the screen, Noah saw that the Hyu family had almost one million added to its bets, but his own family had now more money bet on it than any of the other families. Almost two million.

Michael looked at the screen in shock upon seeing Noah's smirk. But his surprise didn't last long before any more bets started to explode on the other 6 families that were participating.

"My oh my! It seems the others don't want to lose face now that these two went active! This is a record-breaking amount!

" the host's voice grew excited as he saw millions show up.

"Now, while everyone at home finishes their bets, let's see the order of the fights!

"

As the bets became an even smaller area of the screen, a championship style grid showed up, with the 8 families paired up at its bottom.

"I see... We won't fight each other until the very end...

" Noah murmured as he saw he won't be fighting those of the Hyu family for a while.

"But it seems we are the very first family...

" As he whispered this to himself, the Host's voice grew loud once again, announcing the first fight of the night.

"The fisrt pair of families to hit the arena are the Khan Family and the Hiei Family! The two with the highest bets so far!

" he announced, exitedly. Noah saw as the rest of the group tensed up, while the host directed the other families down of the arena with his assistants.

"Now, are you excited to see how this new group from the Kahn family fights?!

"