Chapter 367: If It’s Tangled, Just Cut It (5)

The arena floor was covered in sand. Thousands of monsters sat quietly in the stands. They were waiting for the next match, and for the betting.

Drrr!

The door on the right side of the arena opened, and a middle-aged man walked out. At the waist of the blindfolded man were six blades, all of them ordinary kitchen knives.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A toad-like monster slapped its belly like a drum and introduced him.

“A swordsman who devastates his opponents with flying blades! Joyray, the human who defeated the Screaming Rock and claimed four straight victories! And now, who will be his fifth opponent?!”

Drrr.

The left door opened. Joyray tensed. Screaming Rock, his previous opponent, had truly been a formidable enemy. It would not be an exaggeration to say death had brushed up right against his neck.

Throb.

Joyray grabbed his right wrist, but it was not just the wrist—his entire body was screaming in pain. It had been a victory by the narrowest margin possible, and yet, he had only been given one day of rest. Even if he was a Transcendental, recovering from near-fatal injuries in a single day was impossible. But those were the rules of this arena: one had to fight once a day and win ten times in a row.

“Ha...”

Shake, shake.

Taking a deep breath, Joyray steadied himself and loosened up his muscles. He had won the first and second matches easily. The third had been somewhat difficult, and the fourth had nearly killed him. He wondered how strong and grotesque the fifth opponent would be, and he still had to win five more times after this. He didn’t know if that would be possible. To say he felt no fear would have been a lie, but Joyray had no intention of backing down. So, as the left gate fully opened, what emerged from the darkness was...

“...!”

Joyray’s eyes widened. Boos and cheers erupted from the stands, echoing throughout the arena.

From the left came fifty humans: a mix of children, pregnant women, and elderly people. They were absolutely not people who enjoyed fighting. They did not even carry weapons. More than that, there was no fighting spirit in them at all—only fear, and a desperate wish to escape this place.

The toad-like monster acting as announcer grinned wickedly and introduced them. “The opponent for Joyray is... fifty weak humans! Will Joyray be able to kill them all? Betting begins!”

The monsters gathered here had not come merely to watch fights—they had to come to bet. However, they didn’t have money nor did they have any use for it. So, what were they using?

Wooong!

The answer was the red aura flowing out of their bodies. What they were wagering was not money; it was vitality, the source of their power. That extracted life force flew toward a single point: Amon, the owner of this arena.

Amon sat in a seat like a throne, wearing the form of a human. He had the appearance of an astonishingly beautiful man, handsome enough to rank among the top five in the entire world. However, everyone knew that was not his true form. It was only a shell he chose.

All the monsters finished placing their bets. Most of them, naturally, bet on Joyray, who was a seven-star warrior. The human opponents, on the other hand, were at best one-star, or even below that; their combat ability was nearly nonexistent. Still, some monsters bet on the humans instead. That was because they believed in Joyray’s human decency.

Drrr...

Both gates closed.

Joyray bit his lip so hard it bled. The toad monster puffed up its throat sac and spoke with amusement.

“The fifty humans facing Joyray were all captured while trying to flee Liqueur. Will Joyray mercilessly kill them? These poor little humans who don’t even want to fight!”

At that, the monsters who had bet on the fifty humans winning began to shout.

“Don’t you feel sorry for those fifty humans?! Go out there and die, Joyray!”

“I heard you humans love sacrifice! Joyray, I believe in you!”

Joyray paid no attention to the monsters’ words. He simply gripped a kitchen knife in each hand and stepped forward.

“You people won’t survive here anyway.”

Of course, Joyray had a conscience. Obviously, he did not enjoy slaughtering the weak, but in this arena, the loser had to die. This meant that unless Joyray killed himself, there was no path for the fifty to win. Plus, even if Joyray did kill himself, there was no guarantee the fifty would survive.

As if it had anticipated that thought, the toad monster cried out, “For reference, if Joyray loses, all fifty of these humans will be allowed to leave Liqueur! This is guaranteed by our great Ruler, Lord Amon himself!”

“...”

Amon raised his hand, as if to confirm that the statement was true. If Joyray alone died, then fifty weak humans would definitely live. The fifty themselves all began to plead desperately with him.

“Please, please, I’m begging you. I don’t care if I die, but at least spare the child in my womb!”

“My good man. I’m old and fated to die soon anyway, but these children are not.”

“I don’t want to die, please save me! Waaah!”

The pregnant women, old people, and children begged and begged. No human being could simply ignore that.

When Joyray showed hesitation, Amon grinned broadly.

Heh heh heh... You’re hesitating. Yes, agonize over it all you want.

At first glance, the fifth match appeared to be a test of humanity: would Joyray, the strong, kill himself for the sake of fifty weak humans? In truth, it was a petty trick. Joyray would absolutely kill the fifty. He might hesitate for a moment, but in the end, he would do it. It might leave him feeling bitter and uneasy, but ultimately, it would still be a free victory.

Amon cast a glance at one of the pregnant women among the fifty. With her disheveled hair and obviously maternal figure, anyone looking at her would think she was heavily pregnant.

However, she was not. She was a monster, and what lay inside her belly was not a fetus, but teeth. The moment Joyray let his guard down and attacked her, those teeth inside her womb would tear his body to shreds.

When that happens, I wonder how Joyray will react.

Amon was thrilled just imagining it.

He’ll make the face of someone who’s been deceived. Hehehehe.

Of course, to deceive Joyray thoroughly, the other forty-nine were all genuine humans.

At that moment, Joyray sent his kitchen knives floating into the air. It was the Flying Thunder Sword Technique, which was what inspired Keter when he created Limitless Archery. In the blink of an eye, it tore through the weak humans.

As if trying to spare them as much pain as possible, Joyray cut off their breathing with single, instant strikes.

“Aaaah!”

Once they realized their pleas meant nothing, the humans did not die quietly. All of them rushed toward Joyray. However, while that might wear down Joyray emotionally, it only meant they would die sooner in the end.

At last, just as Joyray’s kitchen knife was about to stab into the pregnant woman’s nape...

Crack!

A barbed tentacle fired out of her stomach. The monsters, who had been disappointed by Joyray’s one-sided victory, erupted into cheers. The barbed tentacle had been incredibly fast and perfectly timed.

Slash!

And yet, the barbed tentacle, which should have been a perfect surprise attack, only grazed Joyray’s chest. It had certainly been fast—fast enough that Joyray should not have been able to react. However, Joyray had moved in advance, as though he had known it was coming.

“...Oh?”

Even Amon was impressed. Joyray’s quick reaction had definitely not been luck.

“You little?”

The pregnant woman changed and revealed its true nature. It turned into a mass of countless thorn-covered tentacles and lunged at Joyray.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

But the six Thunder Swords mercilessly shredded its body.

“

Kkiiiieeeek!

”

The tentacle monster had possessed perfect mimicry, good enough to fool even other monsters, and it had moved quickly as well. However, its physical body itself was far too fragile, and so it died on the spot.

With Joyray’s victory, the fifth match came to an end.

* * *

In the waiting room attached to the arena, Joyray collapsed into a chair, gasping for breath.

“Ha... ha...”

Blood soaked his palm as he clutched his chest.

Transcendentals possessed extraordinary regenerative abilities. Even if not quite like trolls, ordinary bleeding usually stopped quickly. However, his bleeding was not stopping. If anything, it was getting worse.

“Even though I didn’t let my guard down, that thing was damn fast.”

Even if his opponent were a rabbit, Joyray would never be careless. He believed the greatest weakness of the strong was complacency. That was why he had not relaxed even when facing fifty weak humans.

The brief moment of hesitation earlier had not been about considering suicide; he had simply been thinking that one monster must be hiding among the fifty humans, and he was trying to figure out which one. No matter how closely he looked, he couldn’t distinguish it with the naked eye. So, he had begun the fight anyway.

Because he had remained alert, he had managed to avoid the pregnant woman’s surprise attack, but not perfectly. The barbed tentacle had grazed his chest. The wound itself had been minor, barely tearing the muscle, but the poison hidden within it was now eating away at Joyray.

“Five matches left now.”

And tomorrow he would have to fight the sixth opponent. He wouldn’t know who it was until he faced them, which meant there was no way to prepare.

“I won’t be able to detoxify this.”

Joyray was immune to most poisons, but a monster’s poison was hardly ordinary. Even with proper treatment, it might be impossible to cure, but he didn’t even have the materials to make an antidote here. On top of that, leaving the arena was impossible. All Joyray could do was endure with sheer willpower and stamina.

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door. Still seated, Joyray stared at it.

I didn’t sense anyone approaching.

He only realized someone was outside the door after hearing the knock. The waiting room door was wooden and so flimsy that even an ordinary person could kick it open. It would be normal to assume that whoever had knocked probably meant no harm, but Joyray gripped his knives.

This was Liqueur, the Lawless City. It had never been trustworthy to begin with, and now monsters ruled it. At this point, even family couldn’t be trusted here.

Crack!

There was no need for conversation. Joyray flew out two Thunder Swords, aimed at the head and the abdomen, but there was no sound of flesh being cut, nor was there any sound of the swords being blocked.

Did someone just catch my Thunder Swords?

There had been opponents who blocked them before, but none who had ever caught them. Just as Joyray raised the remaining four Thunder Swords into the air to attack...

“You haven’t lost it yet.”

A voice came from outside the door.

Without thinking, Joyray responded, “Keter?”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Whoosh!

Joyray launched the remaining four swords, but again, no sound came from beyond the door.

“Now that I look closer, maybe you don’t have it anymore.”

Creak. Crash!

The battered wooden door finally gave out and collapsed. Joyray prepared to use his Authority. There was no reason for Keter to return to Liqueur, which meant the figure outside must be a monster impersonating him, sent to assassinate him.

“Wow, you don’t look good at all.”

But when the figure stepped into view, Joyray’s resolve faltered. It really looked like Keter. His appearance had changed slightly, but the arrogant tone, the casual way he walked in holding kitchen knives between his fingers—it was all unmistakably Keter.

“Judging by how you look, it seems you’ve been poisoned.”

Joyray didn’t answer, but he didn’t use his Authority either. He was too curious about what the “fake Keter” would say next. He wondered just how well this impostor could imitate the real Keter.

Keter examined Joyray’s wound carefully, then suddenly clapped.

“Looking at it closely, we don’t actually need to detoxify it.”

He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a match.

Flick!

Keter lit the match, set a piece of cloth on fire, and pressed the burning cloth directly onto Joyray’s wound.

“Aaaagh!!!”

Joyray, who had dodged the monster disguised as a pregnant woman, failed to dodge Keter’s sudden attack and was burned. Keter, completely unconcerned, finished cauterizing the wound and then poured elixir over it.

“All done!”

Looking at Keter’s bright, cheerful smile, Joyray came to one conclusion.

Yeah... This bastard really is Keter.