Above the building's main entrance hung an enormous black plaque, bearing the words "Hell Slaughter Arena" in huge, blood-red characters.
Beneath the plaque stood a massive iron gate several dozen feet high. Countless twisted faces had been cast into its panels, each mouth stretched open in a silent howl.
Four black-armored members of the Slaughter Guard stood on either side of the gate. Their armor was forbidding, their killing intent bitterly cold, and their auras far surpassed those of the two guards at the city gates.
Xiao Yun stood at the end of the street, gazing up at the immense building with calm eyes.
The Hell Slaughter Arena was the heart of the City of Slaughter-and the cruelest place in the entire small world.
It was said that dozens of battles to the death took place there every day. Ten people entered each match, but only one emerged victorious. The winner took everything; the losers left not even their bones behind.
Those who survived within were, without exception, people of iron resolve and ruthless methods.
What truly caught Xiao Yun's attention, however, was the sprawling complex behind the Hell Slaughter Arena.
It was an enormous expanse of palatial buildings, their upturned eaves rising tier upon tier, stretching all the way to the edge of the blood-red sky.
The palace walls were deep black, but the roofs shone with a dark gold luster, looking especially solemn beneath the blood-red daylight.
Orderly rings of encampments surrounded the palace. Tents stood thick within them, banners fluttered, and black-armored soldiers could faintly be seen moving between the camps on patrol.
Those were the King of Slaughter's palace and the encampments of the Slaughter Guard under his command.
Xiao Yun withdrew his gaze and was about to head toward an inn near the Hell Slaughter