Black Sail

The circular stairs were buzzing with voices, and the tumultuous noise was unending, as if the spectators were more excited than the competitors themselves.

Kun Lan, standing outside the iron railing, was actually not accustomed to such a scene. Being an older person, he disliked pointless actions and pandering to the crowd’s cheers, but he was also unsure whether the upcoming fight should be performative in nature.

Having joined the official competition, even just for the preliminaries, Kun Lan dressed more formally, taking off his showy, wide-brimmed cowboy hat and not wearing his flashy leather jacket.

It also had the purpose of hiding his identity.

He wore only the leather armor provided by the organizers and a bullhorn helmet that covered the upper half of his face.

The martial arts competition had requirements for attire and armor; participants couldn’t bring any weapons to the arena, a strict rule. Otherwise, Golden Dragon Warriors could wreak havoc everywhere. Armor was limited to protection of the trunk and head and had to be provided by the organizers—only Aran standard-issue leather armor and assembly-line style iron helmets. To put it mildly, it was better than nothing.

Of course, Kun Lan was not hiding from the organizers but from his own clan, the Life Weaving Society.

Once the time was ripe, every member would be dispatched to correct the trajectory of the world’s fate – to put it another way...

You shall die.

Kun Lan did not consider himself the type for noble sacrifices.

Before his defection, his clan had not foreseen his betrayal, leading Kun Lan to believe that the so-called trajectory of fate was nothing but nonsense.