Reign of Blood Tournament

The **Reign of Blood Tournament** (Japanese: **血(けつ)治(ち)大会(たいかい)**, *Ketsuchi Taikai*) is one of the largest and most violent of the underground blood sports tournaments in the entirety of the Coalition of Congressional Republics. Drawing from Japanese blood sport tournaments hosted within Japan during the Dark Years centuries ago, the modern form of the Reign of Blood Tournament started in Tokyo during the later years of the Great Stellar Depression. It has become an interstellar phenomenon, drawing in fighters from across the settled galaxy. It is held once every ten years, with fighters being given three years in advance to begin training and preparation. The 28th *Ketsuchi Taikai* is expected to occur in the year 2701.

Unlike other underground fighting tournaments, the Reign of Blood Tournament is not only a platform for fighters to showcase their skills and prowess; it is also a platform for powerful figures, megacorporations, and criminal syndicates to showcase their power and influence through their chosen champion. The event attracts fighters from every corner of human space, each vying for the chance to prove their worth and emerge victorious in the ultimate combat challenge. The prize for winning is not just personal glory for the champion, but also the possibility of winning trillions of notes for the victorious sponsor (and even the possibility of outright conquering an opponent's business).

The Reign of Blood Tournament has a reputation for being an arena where almost every type of fighter and fighting style is welcome, with the only exception being synths. Fighters with superhuman strength, agility, and endurance have all competed in the tournament, as well as those who rely on cunning and strategy to outsmart their opponents; it is also the main place where traditional martial arts often comes against new, innovative fighting styles.

Due to its illegality and the amount of influential individuals involved, the *Ketsuchi Taikai* is often shuffled in location and participant roster each decade. It is practically never televised, and mostly retains an all-live audience present in the venue. Rumors are abound in underworld circles that the next tournament will be held somewhere in the Seoul Megasprawl on Earth.

## History

The first Reign of Blood Tournament, organized in 2421, was initially an Asian-only phenomenon hosted in the forgotten "Outer Underground Discharge Channel" in the Saitama area of the Greater Kantō Megasprawl. This was done by the *Okazaki-kai* yakuza and was where it was christened the ***Ketsuchi Taikai***. Seeing champions from not only Japan but also from outfits in China, Korea, and Southeastern Asia, its immense profitability and generated hype—with even participation from the Kanetomi Corporation and Hinata Group, although discreetly—allowed it to explode in the underworld. The next years saw the tournament expand beyond Asia to include fighters from across Earth, and by the next decade, the rest of the Solar System and Hathor.

As of the 27th *Ketsuchi Taikai*, the current grand champion is the "*Mantaiyō Kyōryū*" (**万太陽偉竜**; lit. **Majestic Dragon of Ten Thousand Suns**) Yūtarō Machii, who has kept his title for the past 3 tournaments, or 30 years. Fighting for the McCready-Kūron Corporation, Yūtarō has killed several top-tier fighters in the defense of his title (including Shi Mingshu, previous champion of Chinese shaolin wushu, and Axel Blackwell, previous winner of the "legal" Interstellar Fighting Championship tournament).

### The 28th *Reign of Blood Tournament*

Expected to begin in 2701, the next Reign of Blood Tournament is rumored to be taking place in the Seoul Megasprawl, within the United Republic of Korea on Earth.

## Rules

The *Ketsuchi Taikai* has cultivated a strict ruleset over the centuries as a means to "purify battle", amidst confounding variables such as assistant combat AI or unfair augmentations.

1. **Only one fighter can enter from each sponsor faction, corporation, or syndicate.**
2. **The sponsor organizations must agree to contracts created by the tournament organizer that stipulate a penalty upon the loss of their champion.**
	1. This usually takes form as a massive financial penalty that must be paid to the winner organization of the match; failure leads to the loser organization being absorbed by the winner.
3. **The cybernetic augmentation of fighters cannot exceed 75% of their total body volume, or alternatively 50% of their original body mass.**
4. **No neurological augmentations are allowed: cybernetic *or* biological in nature.**
5. **No nanological augmentations are allowed.**
6. **No augmentations are allowed that allow indirect attacks. All augmentations must be in support of direct attacks.**
7. **No synthetics are allowed to participate in the tournament.**
8. **Each match is a one-on-one fight to the death, or total incapacitation; there is no capitulation.**
9. **Fighters are allowed to use any combat style or tactic to defeat their opponent.**
10. **Fighters are not allowed to use any weapon, including those *deployed* from bodily augmentations. They must use their limbs as akin to the normal human body plan.**
11. **There are no rounds or breaks during the fight; the deathmatch continues until one fighter is either incapacitated or killed.**
12. **The use of any form of technology or distraction to interfere with the outcome of the fight by the crowd or sponsors is strictly forbidden.**
13. **Any sponsor, fighter or spectator found to be in violation of these rules will face severe consequences at the behest of the tournament organizer and associated groups.**