A small hiccup sounded.
I heard it from among the knights and the soldiers who were lying on their sides next to me.
At the Tyrant’s remarks, the attendant beside him bowed her head at me in amazement.
Seeing this, Asher hesitated for a moment, and then bowed her head to the Tyrant.
I glanced at her and opened my mouth.
“I have something to do here for a while.”
“Really? If you’re coming here directly to the capital, you should have contacted me. Then I could have prepared a very grand welcome.”
He spoke in a friendly tone, as if he were dealing with an old friend.
Fortunately, he didn’t ask about the purpose of my visit.
With a smile on his lips, the Tyrant shifted his gaze to the knights and soldiers next to me.
“By the way, it looked like there was some sort of quarrel… What’s the situation with this?”
Their bodies trembled.
The knight turned to me and banged his head on the floor once more. Then he stammered in a voice terrified.
“Lord, I have committed a mortal sin. In ignorance, I did not dare to recognize someone as great as you. Please have mercy.”
I stared at him.
Then the Tyrant burst out laughing.
He narrowed his eyes and looked down at them with a smile.
“Yeah, well, somehow I saw some bug pulling their weapon at you, Seventh Lord. So, I thought there was something wrong with my eyes.”
Aww!
The eerie shattering sound and the knight’s body were separated into several parts.
Then, even the soldiers who were lying on their backs were mercilessly torn.
Red blood splattered and corpse fragments rolled across the floor. At the sight, Asher took a small breath.
“My apologies, Seventh Lord.”
As if expelling insects, he transformed the six of them into shredded pieces of meat with just one flick of his hand.
I sighed inwardly and looked at the man, who withdrew his hand indifferently.
Crazy guy…
Originally, I knew he was such a bastard, but when I saw it in front of my eyes, that fact was proven again.
A tragedy that happened in an instant on one side of the street.
But there were no screams from all around. Some of the passers-by lying on their backs covered their mouths and barely held their breath.
As if everyone knew well that with even the slightest breath, they would be the same as the corpses lying around.
“Uh, uh…”
Then there was a small sound from one side.
A young child could not stand the tears that came out of his mouth.
The woman who appeared to be the mother holding the child turned white. She covered his little mouth and hugged the child even tighter and prayed with an earnest voice.
“Sa, please save me. Please save me. Please…”
'It is a scene that was difficult to watch.'
I caught the attention of the Tyrant with my words when he just turned his head towards the woman.
“I’ll accept the Sixth Lord’s apology if you can do me a favor.”
The man turned his gaze to me again and tilted his head.
“A favor? What?”
“I want to take a slave from that prison cell.”
Ah… I didn’t really want to reveal my purpose to this guy.
I was in a hurry to find a story to turn his attention to, and this happened.
Anyway, since this was already the case, I would just ask for the guy and take him out of there.
He asked with an interesting look.
“Hey, did you come all the way here to save a slave? What kind of guy are you looking for? Why are you looking for it?”
It’s not good for him to be deeply interested in this.
I ignored the question and asked in the guise of indifference.
“Will you grant it?”
The guy who stared at me for a moment smiled and nodded his head softly.
“Then, of course, it’s not just anyone’s request. It’s yours. Take one slave or a hundred as you please.”
What?
He grinned as he looked over my shoulder at the arena.
“The game is in full swing right now. Please take a moment and watch it with me. How about it? Is that okay?”
“...”
I furrowed my brows silently.
What kind of bullshit was this suddenly?
Perhaps the Tyrant’s visit was sudden. That’s why when he entered Actipol, people who seemed to be high-ranking officials rushed in to serve him.
A huge amphitheater the size of a modern soccer field.
The spectator seats were packed with crowds of people, just like the sounds heard from outside.
I sat down on a fancy chair like an emperor at the highest point of the arena and looked down.
The Tyrant sitting right next to me with his chin on his hand. I wondered why he looked like he was having fun.
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue inward.
Somehow, it became a situation where I had to hang out with this guy for a while and watch the game.
Did he want to get to know me, or did he want to make friends, or was it just a whim?
I had to take out a slave without friction as much as possible, so I accepted without refusing, but it was a very annoying and uncomfortable place.
“Doesn’t your mouth feel empty, Seventh Lord? You could have a drink while watching.”
Alcohol was shit.
I responded bluntly, holding back my desire to swear.
“No need.”
“Ha ha, yes. It looks like the game will resume soon, so let’s enjoy it.”
He was humming and eating something his subordinates had brought him.
Something red shaped like a sugar cube filled a golden glass.
Glancing at him, he picked up another cube, put it in his mouth, and chewed it softly.
“Ah, this? It’s a snack made with blood. Fresh blood is good, but blood that has been aged for a long time has a special taste.”
…Disgusting.
Like the worst vampire, the Tyrant had a non-stop craving for blood.
Did you say that hundreds of lives were sacrificed in Mahea every year just for his meal?
Waa!
I looked forward again.
The crowd cheered as the match was about to begin.
The iron gates facing each other at the end of the arena went up with a roar, and a slave gladiator walked out of each.
A human man armed with a sword and shield, and the other a beastman with a huge sword the size of me.
– Og, a monster rookie who has already maintained an overwhelming winning streak for 10 games! And that opponent is the gatekeeper of the third realm, Kateri!
The duel began immediately with the voice of the moderator resounding throughout the arena as if he had used some sort of loudspeaker magic.
As soon as the match started, the beastman rushed ahead with a loud roar.
In response, the human pulled out his body to the side and skilfully attacked the opponent with his shield.
It was a fierce battle for a while, but I could easily see which side had a higher chance of winning.
[Lv. 26]
[Lv. 23]
Because the human with sword and shields had a higher level.
The result came out similar to their difference in level.
He, who had been skilfully defending against the raging attack, was aiming for an opening momentarily and cut off the beastman’s side.
The beastman, who had been cut to his arms and legs in succession from the attack, fell to his knees on the floor.
Actipol’s Gladiator was a game that only ends when one person died.
So, in order to finish the game, the man had to kill the beastman like this.
However, he didn’t finish the game right away and approached the beastman with an evil smile.
Then he drew a dagger from his waist and held it into the other’s eyes.
“...“
The beastman, whose eyes were pulled out by a dagger, rolled down the floor, pouring tears of blood. The audience cheered.
The man leisurely walked around the beastman, waving his hand to the audience.
Soon after, the beastman fumbled to pick up the weapon that he had dropped and swung it at random with a desperate howl.
However, there was no way the attack could hit without being able to see ahead. Laughter erupted from the audience at the ridiculous appearance.
The man, who had been making fun of the beastman like that, finally cut off his head as the atmosphere cooled.
I watched the whole scene with an expressionless face. Inside, I frowned.
That’s crazy, really…
The gladiator of Actipol.
Of course, I knew this match was going to be like this, as there were related episodes in the game as well.
The game ended only when all opponents are unconditionally killed, and there were no rules in the process. It didn’t matter what torture one did to the other person.
Therefore, in order to show a higher performance to the audience, there were many slaves who killed their opponents cruelly and provocatively. That way, he could raise his own ransom even more.
In Actipol, they did not confine slaves of a certain grade or higher to prison, but they could gain a certain freedom and accumulate wealth.
So they became desperate not only for survival but also for wealth and freedom.
The matches that followed were not a one-on-one duel.
It was a team battle in which one side fought until all died, and in the other one, they released a captured monster to cause a fierce battle.
In the team match, one person was left behind, and the other team chased after him like a joke from all directions and killed him mercilessly.
In the game against monster, it was several times larger than the slaves, and in the end, all the slaves it faced died and no one survived.
Watching that series of matches, I felt nothing but dirt.
Were these people happy watching this?
How could one be so passionate about watching people die and kill each other? I just couldn’t understand.
Looking back at the Tyrant sitting next to me, he was looking down at the stadium with eyes filled with boredom.
I was a little skeptical of that look. If that’s the case, then why did he bring me in to watch the game?
– Now, the next match is the fifth order game everyone has been waiting for!
As the host shouted, it reminded me of Actipol’s gladiator rank.
From the lowest first order to the highest fifth order, and at the top, there was a champion.
So, it was a match between the strongest gladiators in Actipol, except for the champion.
– First, the gladiator who defeated the gatekeeper Luton and was promoted to the fifth order, Paul of the strike!”
A man walked out into the arena with a much louder shout than in previous matches. He was carrying a huge mace with an iron ball the size of a head as a weapon.
– And that opponent has already survived the fifth order for over half a year! Except for the champion, the most powerful gladiator, Reef the Fighter!
Then, coming out of the iron gate on the other side, was a short-haired woman holding an ordinary sword.
I checked her face, and my eyes widened.
Because it was a familiar face I had seen somewhere.
It was the same woman I had met in the alley before who drove the soldiers away.
“Hahaha!”
The Tyrant, who had only made an expressionless expression until now, for some reason, lit up his eyes and burst into laughter.
The crowd in the stands filled with excitement, chanting the names of the two gladiators repeatedly.
...Reef?
I tilted my head and looked down at her.
