“Hey, did you hear?”
“Yeah, I already placed my bet.”
“We got lucky. To think the [Disciple of Corpses] would be here…”
“Idiot! Don’t say the name!”
“S-sorry…”
An unusual atmosphere permeated the Sleepless City Tokijo (Fighting Arena).
Everyone behaved distantly toward others while secretly laughing among their own groups.
[The Disciple of Corpses].
That was the name of an information broker whose resourcefulness was known worldwide.
Elusive and widespread.
A sage sometimes called the “Apostle of God” due to the accuracy of her information.
The information the men had obtained for the low price of a single silver coin was today’s 18th match-up.
Specifically, that it was a “Dark Pot Match” between a rookie fighter and a new beast.
And that the rookie’s combat history column was blank.
Anyone who had ever stepped foot in this arena knew the value of this information. Normally, the difference in strength would be an unknown.
But if you knew a special-grade Beast was coming out, even a fool would know which side to bet on.
That was how overwhelmingly powerful those special-grade beasts were.
“Don’t you dare leak this info.”
“I know, I know.”
The men suppressed their laughter as they headed to the stands.
The Dark Pot Match would begin soon.
The payout for a Dark Pot Match was 1.1x the final odds.
Even if everyone bet on the winner, there would still be a profit.
No idiot would skip betting. Because it was a “Dark Pot,” predictions were usually split, which made it exciting and heated.
But when they triumphantly looked at the odds table—they lost their words.
Support for the Demon Beast’s: 98%.
Looking around, everyone else was equally stunned.
It was supposed to be a toss-up.
But right before the match, everyone had bet on the beast and kept quiet about it.
Amidst the heavy silence and flying shouts of anger, she smiled.
“I didn’t tell any lies. I am an information broker, after all.”
Nifl, the Disciple of Corpses, had simply spread the fact that the rookie’s combat history was blank.
The trust she had built as the world’s top information broker while the Corpse King was missing—she didn’t care what happened to it as long as it was for him.
It was enough just to be useful.
“It’s cheeky… but I shall praise her for doing well.”
“Whoa! If the King wins, five gold coins will become… um, um… a lot!”
“Gahaha! Is stopping one’s thought process truly so foolish? Money makes people go mad!”
The women raising their voices in a corner of the stands wore sneers in anticipation of the tragedy about to unfold.
■
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Thump, thump. The young man hopped in place a few times to loosen up, checking his condition.
“Gyururu… ROOOOAR!!”
A low, hideous sound leaked from the beast’s throat, like a spoiled cat purring. The Demon Beasts, whose emotional functions were completely controlled by its tamer, had voices, expressions, and movements that were all disjointed.
While acting spoiled, it coated its claws and fangs in mana. While growling, it slammed its hard, whip-like tail onto the ring, sending stones flying.
The rubble flying toward the stands was stopped by a transparent wall just before hitting the nervous spectators.
The magic barrier set up by the management seemed to be working perfectly. Experienced spectators cheered without flinching, while first-time gamblers flushed with the thrill of the atmosphere.
In this place where every event acted as a stimulant for the brain, a man and a beast were exposed in a whirlpool of desire.
On one side, a slender young man stood in a natural stance, carrying no obvious weapon. The rookie fighter, Hizaki. His demeanor was far from that of a novice; he looked like a seasoned pro.
Facing a natural enemy of humanity that threatened his life, in front of a massive crowd he’d never encounter in a normal life…
the young man wore a fearless, and to some, an infuriatingly smug grin.
On the other side, the Demon Beasts that shook the stage with a single shift of its weight stood before Hizaki in a form that made one hesitate to even call it a living creature.
Its model was a lion-type demon.
The line drawn between Lower-tier and Mid-tier Explorers is the Level 5 Mid-tier Demon. Overcoming this trial officially makes one a Mid-tier Explorer.
Among them, the most loathed Mid-tier Demon was the [Hyakujuu] (The Hundred Beast).
It didn’t have special ecology or traits; it was just absurdly strong. Sharp claws and fangs, and a long, hard tail with devastating destructive power. It had the weight and balance of a four-legged creature, and its high-speed charge, powered by its leg strength, was violent.
Because it was just “strong,” there were no real counter-strategies; it was an opponent that tested pure combat ability.
To explorers who challenged secret realms with perfect plans, the Hyakujuu, which ignored most tricks, was hated like a snake or a scorpion.
Furthermore, the individual Hizaki faced was an “Arena Custom.” It had a gruesome, stitched-together appearance.
In addition to the two forward-facing eyes of a carnivore, eyes like a herbivore’s were embedded below its ears to eliminate rear blind spots. On its back was a pair of pure white wings, likely plucked from a [Hakutou] (White-Head Eagle), another Level 5 Mid-tier Demon. It seemed to have flight capabilities as well.
To humans, demons are natural enemies. However, Hizaki narrowed his eyes in disgust at the human cruelty that would refrain from killing them only to reassemble them like toys for entertainment.
Whether it was a hunger for boredom or the result of innate cruelty—this was the outcome.
The beast, looking like it might pounce at any second, bit its own front leg as if trying to restrain itself. Blood sprayed, and dark, muddy blood soaked the stage.
At the grisly sight, the spectators’ excitement reached its peak, sensing the start of the struggle.
Then—
A low, booming sound that vibrated in the core of his body rang out above Hizaki’s head.
The sound of the gong signaling the start of the match.
In an instant, the beast kicked off with its hind legs.
“GYUOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
Throwing all its physical strength into the stage, the Demon Beasts launched itself. Seeing it pounce toward Hizaki at high speed, the audience naturally sensed death.
A suicidal charge from a creature of a completely different scale than a human. The curtain was rising on a tragedy that made one want to look away—
“Hup!”
Hizaki jumped.
Directly beneath the vertically leaping Hizaki, the beast passed through the spot where he had been moments ago at high speed.
The beast, grandly gouging the stage, flapped its wings to kill its momentum. It seemed its external eyes had confirmed Hizaki evading the charge. It immediately snapped its tail, rotating its body. The whip-like tail, following the body, charged with ruinous power to strike at the moment of his most vulnerable landing.
The swung tail gouged deeply into the hard stone stage—but it did not produce a single drop of blood.
Thud! What the beast felt was something stepping on its tail.
And then… the unpleasant sound of a snap and intense pain hitting its rump.
“Gyu…!? Eek!”
“I’ll take this.”
Hizaki swung something around. Whirling it in his hand with a whistling sound, Hizaki walked toward the beast, which had stopped moving from the pain.
“Here—goes!”
With a casual shout, Hizaki swung. Using the thing in his hand—the steel-like whip he had torn off the beast—he struck the beast’s hind leg with incredible force.
What echoed wasn’t a dull thud, but an ear-piercing explosion.
The beast’s hind leg blossomed into a flower of dark flesh upon the stage.
“GYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!?”
Without flinching at the beast screaming in pain and loss, the follow-up began.
Diving through the movements of the beast, which was thrashing about like a toddler throwing a tantrum, Hizaki kicked the beast’s jaw from below.
“Gyubuh!?”
Lightly. The beast’s body, which produced sounds of massive weight just by stepping, floated slightly into the air from Hizaki’s kick. This alone showed that the young man’s physical strength was extraordinary.
Before the beast could flap its wings, Hizaki utilized the reach of the whip and swung it violently horizontally.
As a result, the sharp whip carved a horizontal gash across the pure white wings. The beast, not even allowed to fly, lost its balance and fell pathetically to the stage.
Waiting for the wounded beast was Hizaki’s merciless kick. The sound of irreparable destruction erupted as Hizaki’s toe struck the center of its brow with unerring precision.
Everyone understood. With that single blow, that Demon Beasts would never stand again.
…It sank.
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