Chaos and Order - A Multiverse Fanfic

Within the Mirror Dimension, Kai and Hadoken stood some 100 ft apart from each other.

The bonfire roared stupendously to their right, and on their left was the crowd of Contestants, with their utterly disdainful looks, eying Kai with hideous mockery in their eyes.

Behind Contestant Hadoken, some hundred meters away were the four empty high-back chairs, and the three Protectors were standing in front of them.

The air smelled of erupting tension.

Kai observed everything, and then he observed more, his slitted, hazel pupils seeing the hidden meanings and reasons for everything.

He distinctly remembered that this Contestant, wearing Karate gi, had shown no interest in him and his doings until Moraine had given him the meat of a magical creature.

A leech, Kai reflected, giving Hadoken a nickname. He must be pursuing Moraine's affection. Or else there was no reason to get worked up over insignificant things.

This also means that Moraine and Hadoken belong to the same System, Chaos, if she wasn't lying to me.

Moreover, seeing the expression of the other two, they must belong to Order or at least the System opposite to Moraine. Such balance couldn't have been maintained otherwise.

In Kai's mind, this analysis didn't even take a fraction of a second, letting him see the truth of the situation.

Kai wasn't some pure and sacred man, either.

One could even say that his lust for mature women was greater than most men's desire for power. The only thing that set him apart from everyone was that he wasn't a puppet of that lust.

To Kai, Indulgence never came if he did not desire it.

His ability to direct his lust toward completing his goals was one reason that had let him survive in his previous life.

It had become a habit, then, but this was one of those habits that Kai didn't think was bad enough for him to discard.

So, when Kai sarcastically sneered at others upon seeing them lose sense and reasoning for the opposite sex, he didn't feel even a bit narcissistic about showing his contempt toward them.

"Are you sure about this, young lad?" the old man asked, licking his lips. "He is a 6th-floor Contestant and a Protector. Don't fall to his schemes. I can tell he wants to humiliate you. Nothing more."

Since the beginning, the old Contestant had been standing near Kai, advising him to not go through with this mummer's farce.

Kai ignored him, the false prideful smile never leaving his face.

If one followed the norm, then Kai had already obtained 15 Attribute Points (-with 4 unassigned-) out of his 2nd Set Quota of 50 Attribute Points by now.

This had already pushed him up to the ranks of Low-level 5th-floor Contestant.

Such qualifications and divisions only considered one's Attributes, and not Items, Titles, Skills, and Abilities, for there were just too many possibilities and variations among those.

Then there were the Attribute Points he had gotten from the Tournament of Worth so far.

These points didn't come under the 2nd Set Quota, making a discrepancy in Kai's true capabilities and what he should have possessed by now.

In all, the total Attribute Points that Kai had obtained after ascending to the 2nd Set had brought him infinitely near to a Top-level 5th-floor Contestant.

With his Abilities, Items, and experience, Kai could even face off against Low-level 6th-floor Contestants.

Not to mention, if he were to use Selene, then he could even attempt assassinations of Mid-level 6th-floor Contestants.

And this was without him relying on Glitch.

In the history of the Primordial Tower, only those who possessed Blessings from Deep Ones could hope to achieve such feats.

Even then, they could only hope, for Kai had a Glitch, something truly absurd on the scale of the Systems.

But what truly made Kai stand out wasn't the above-mentioned.

It was the fact that he was Kai Stormborn. His Glitch was only a reflection of his Worth, which, in turn, reflected his Self.

So, there was no reason for him to back down from a challenge from the Contestants of the 6th-floor.

However, Contestants like Hadoken weren't ordinary, either.

They were Protectors, the best of the best.

Moreover, these four had been to the Tournament of Worth.

They couldn't have obtained as many Attribute Points out of the 2nd Set Quota as Kai had, but they still had gotten a few.

It was already enough for them to look at all other Contestants, even on their level, with disdain.

Then there was the fact that no Contestants of their caliber just relied on the Attributes alone.

Contestants, much less the Protectors, had their own Items, Skills, Abilities, and Titles to boast of.

It all made comparing Kai and the other higher-floor Contestants directly an illogical task, for there were just too many factors involved in it.

There was just one way for Kai to know who was better, and what was the extent of a Protector's powers.

Fight!

A head-on challenge.

Nothing else could accomplish Kai's goals other than that.

This was the only reason for him to provoke the Contestants, forcing the Protectors to take action.

Hadoken's actions, though unexpected, were still in Kai's favor.

There was just a tiny problem.

Kai wanted these four Protectors to act out originally, letting him have a measure of their powers.

The showdown was coming, and he couldn't afford any uncalculated factors, no matter if the Protectors were known to not affect others' missions.

But, if he were to go with the current flow, then the other three Protectors wouldn't go out of their way to show the danger they posed to his plans.

Now… Kai couldn't have that, could he?

There's only one way, Kai thought, nodding to himself. Only one way to force the other three to lose their composure.

Only a few moments had passed since Kai and Hadoken had taken their position, but the wind had already picked up, making the tongues of fire whip at the surroundings with a grudge of their own.

"I won't take advantage of you, boy," Hadoken said, bringing out a wave of laughter from the other Contestants. "I will give you three chances. If you can land even a single hit on me, then I will admit defeat.

"But after each chance, you will have to take an attack from me. Don't worry, I will be lenient. Haha!"

"Beat him to a pulp, Mr. Hadoken…"

"3 chances are too much…"

"Make this glutton vomit all the food…"

"Mr. Hadoken… Just force him to show his true appearance…"

"I just want his pretty face to be covered in blue and black marks…"

As long as the Night of Truce served its purpose of entertaining the Contestants, making them forget about their usual worries, then there was nothing prohibited.

Not to mention, the Lead Protectors weren't here, so Hadoken's decision couldn't be challenged.

The other three Protectors wouldn't step in, either, for Hadoken was one of them, and a strong Contestant to boost.

Even if Hadoken was a 42 ranked Contestant in the Tournament of Worth, Kai didn't look down on him.

Moraine's rank was in the Top 10, but that didn't necessarily mean she was stronger than Hadoken.

Tournament of Worth's ranking system, especially with the current theme of Survival, didn't work like that, to begin with.

Being ranked higher than Hadoken only meant that Moraine had greater chances of survival than her counterpart.

Not everyone was like Kai, who had just toppled the entire world in the 1st Stage.

Nor was there anyone who had gotten a Verse Fusion Random World in the 2nd Stage.

That's why, whenever a major Organization recruited Contestants based on these rankings, they were asked to reveal the theme of their Tournament of Worth along with it.

"Come, then," Hadoken said, beckoning Kai with his hand. "Don't waste my time."

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