557 Episode
The champion slowly walked away from the ring. His eyes met mine for a moment there.
He flashed a refreshing smile like it was natural.
"Just now! He smiled at me! Uhyoo! My luck sees no bound today!"
The guide next to me leaped in ecstasy.
While the champion captivated all the audience eyes, a team of medics ran into the ring carrying a stretcher.
They must have deemed it necessary since the challenger wouldn't budge.
"Dammit all... Is he a monster... How can it not pierce? Ugh! ...How do you even beat that..."
"Don't talk! Your ribs might have cracked! Stay still, we don't want any broken bone damaging your internal organs!"
His chagrined mutter could only be heard by me.
The medics explained how serious his injury is to calm him down.
Thus Malvas got carried away in the opposite direction the champion took.
"Ah, he's just way cool! Any man wanna become as strong as the champion!"
The guide kept staring at the champion till he disappeared. Then he calmed down at last.
"Let's get outta here. There's no more match today right? Actually... guess we gotta wait."
There's too many people trying to get out, the exits are jam packed.
They're all looking excited, talking non stop about today's match.
The crowd slowly got sucked away into the passageways. Even those spacious passages seem cramped with so many people in them.
(How many tens of thousands can the Tokyo Dome host again? Guess this one can houses even more since they have seats till right next to the ring?)
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
This whole stadium was full down to the passages during the match. Such was the pulling power of the Top gladiator's charisma.
"Everybody is this well mannered all thanks to Balgaranda. 'Everyone is equal in this stadium, don't make a scene. Those who resort to violence may come down and face me. Prove your mettle by facing me head-on!' He said. He was so numbingly cool I could still remember that day even now. As luck have it, I was watching the match that day. Couldn't stop boasting to my friends."
Looks like the champion is quite a dramatic man.
"One of the audience got tangled up with some bad character, you see. Their shoulders merely brushed. This thug grabbed him by his neck. Can you guess what happened next?"
The guide was in his own world as he threw that rhetorical question on me.
"That thug got onto the ring of course! It all happened after Balgaranda's match was over too! An unexpected encore! The thug slashed with his sword. Only one swing. Just before it could hit, the champion punched his jaw from below!"
A counter uppercut. Must have been a flashy KO.
"'Come and defeat me first if you want to throw your weight around in this city!' Aah~ He was so cool beyond word! All the bad characters went into hiding ever since. I mean we got a hero in this city. Top among top. Acting violently when you're weaker than the hero is just an embarrassment."
Apparently everything in this city is evaluated by champion's standard.
"More and more people supported his cause eventually forming a sort of support group. They're all scary looking men too. They got really tight together. But since they all adore the champion, they never resort to violence, not even once. People were weirded out with how docile they were at first, but it's become an everyday sight these days."
The guide laughed.
More than half of the audience remained while the guide narrated an episode in Balgaranda's epic.
No telling when I can get out of this place.
No point fretting over it though, so I'm gonna take it easy on my seat.