LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 366
Chapter 367. If It’s Tangled, Just Cut It (5)
The sandy arena.
Thousands of monsters sat quietly in the spectator seats.
They were waiting. For the next fight, and for the gambling.
Rumble!
The right gate of the arena opened, and a middle-aged man walked out.
The middle-aged man, wearing an eyepatch, had six knives strapped to his waist—all of them kitchen knives.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
A toad monster beat its belly like a drum and introduced him.
“The swordsman who ravages his opponents with flying knives! The human who crushed the ‘Screaming Rock’ and achieved four consecutive victories, Joyray! And now, his fifth opponent is—!”
Rumble rumble rumble.
The left gate opened.
Joyray was tense. His previous opponent, the ‘Screaming Rock,’ had been a formidable foe. It was no exaggeration to say that death had brushed past his skin.
Throb.
Joyray clutched his right wrist. Not just his wrist, but his entire body screamed in pain.
It had been a fight won by a hair’s breadth. And yet, he had only rested for a single day. Even as a Transcendent Being, recovering from near-fatal injuries in just one day was impossible.
But such were the rules of this arena. Fight once a day, and win ten times in a row.
“Hoo.”
Shiver shiver shiver.
Joyray took a deep breath and calmly loosened his body.
The first and second opponents were easy. The third was a bit tougher. The fourth almost killed him.
How strong and bizarre would the fifth opponent be? He still had six more fights to win—was it even possible?
If he said he wasn’t afraid, he’d be lying.
But Joyray had no intention of backing down.
As the left gate fully opened, what emerged from the darkness was—
“…!”
Joyray’s eyes widened. Boos and cheers erupted from the spectators, echoing through the arena.
What came out from the left were 50 humans. Among them were children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
And they were not the kind of people who enjoyed fighting. They weren’t even holding weapons. From the start, they had no intention of fighting. Their faces were filled with fear and a desperate desire to escape this place.
The toad monster announcer grinned wickedly as it introduced them.
“Joyray’s opponents are—50 weak humans! Can Joyray kill them all? Begin the betting!”
The monsters gathered here weren’t just here to watch the fight.
But what money did they have to bet? And why would they need to?
Whoosh!
The secret lay in the red energy flowing out of their bodies.
What they were betting wasn’t money. It was the source of their power—their Life Force. The extracted Life Force flew toward one place—the owner of this arena, Amon.
Amon sat on a throne-like seat in human form. He was an incredibly handsome man, one of the top five most beautiful in this world.
But everyone knew. That appearance wasn’t his true form—it was just a disguise.
All the monsters finished their bets. Most of them, of course, bet on Joyray. Joyray was a 7-star strong one. On the other hand, the humans were, at best, 1-star or below. They had almost no combat power.
Still, some monsters bet on the humans. They did so because they believed in Joyray’s “humanity.”
Rumble.
Both gates closed.
Joyray bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. The toad monster, amused, puffed up its throat sac and said.
“The 50 humans facing Joyray are all those who tried to leave Ruquer and were captured. Can Joyray mercilessly kill them? These pitiful humans who don’t want to fight!”
At this, the monsters who bet on the humans’ victory shouted.
“Aren’t the 50 humans pitiful? Go die, Joyray!”
“You humans love sacrifices, don’t you? I believe in you, Joyray!”
Joyray ignored the monsters’ words. He simply gripped the kitchen knives in both hands and stepped forward.
“You won’t survive here anyway.”
He, too, had a conscience. He didn’t enjoy slaughtering the weak. But in this arena, the loser must die.
In other words, unless Joyray committed suicide, there was no victory for the 50. And even if Joyray killed himself, the 50 wouldn’t survive.
Then, as if predicting this, the toad monster shouted.
“By the way, if Joyray loses, all 50 humans will be allowed to leave Ruquer! This is guaranteed by our great ruler, Amon!”
“…!”
Amon raised his hand as if confirming the truth of those words. If Joyray alone died, 50 weaklings could live. It was certain.
The 50 weaklings also began to plead with Joyray.
“Please, please, I beg you. I don’t mind dying, but my unborn child—!”
“Listen. I’m old and destined to die, but these children aren’t.”
“I don’t want to die, please save me. Waaah!”
The pregnant women, the elderly, and the children begged and pleaded. No human could ignore this.
Seeing Joyray hesitate, Amon smirked.
‘Kukuku. He’s hesitating. Good, hesitate all you want.’
At first glance, the fifth battle seemed to test Joyray’s “humanity.” Could the strong Joyray take his own life for the sake of 50 weaklings?
But this was trivial. Joyray would definitely kill the 50. He might hesitate a bit, but he would definitely do it.
It might leave him feeling uneasy and uncomfortable, but in the end, it was a free victory.
Glance.
Amon glanced at the pregnant woman among the 50. Her disheveled hair. Her body overflowing with maternal love. To anyone, she looked like a full-term pregnant woman—but no.
She was a monster.
And what was inside her wasn’t a fetus—it was teeth. The moment Joyray let his guard down and attacked, the teeth inside her would tear him to shreds.
What expression would Joyray make then? Amon was so excited he could barely contain himself.
‘He’ll make a face like he’s been tricked. Kukuku.’
Of course, to thoroughly deceive Joyray, the other 49 were real humans.
At that moment, Joyray raised his kitchen knives into the air.
The technique he had developed inspired by Keter’s Celestial Infinity Technique—the Aura Blade—instantly tore through the weaklings.
Joyray severed their lives in a single strike, as if trying to minimize their pain.
“Uwaaaah!”
Realizing their pleas were futile, the humans wouldn’t die easily. They all rushed at Joyray.
But this only served to drain Joyray’s emotions, and in the end, it only meant they would die sooner.
Just as Joyray’s kitchen knife was about to pierce the pregnant woman’s neck—
Splat!
A spiked tentacle shot out from the pregnant woman’s belly.
The monsters, who had been disappointed by Joyray’s one-sided victory, cheered. The spiked tentacle was incredibly fast and sneaky.
Thwack!
But what was this?
The perfectly timed sneak attack only grazed Joyray’s chest.
The spiked tentacle was fast—fast enough that Joyray shouldn’t have been able to react. But Joyray moved as if he had known it was coming, dodging it effortlessly.
“…Hoh.”
Even Amon was impressed.
Joyray’s swift reaction. It was no coincidence.
“What the—?”
The pregnant woman, now revealing her true form, transformed. Her body became a mass of spiked tentacles, lunging at Joyray—
Slash slash slash!
Six Aura Blades mercilessly shredded her body.
“Kyaaaah!”
The tentacle monster had perfect camouflage abilities that could even fool other monsters, and its movements were fast. But its body was too weak, and it died instantly—Joyray’s victory marked the end of the fifth battle.
The waiting room, also a rest area, in the arena.
Joyray slumped into a chair, gasping for breath.
“Haa, haa.”
Blood seeped through his palm as he clutched his chest.
Transcendent Beings had exceptional regenerative abilities. Not as much as trolls, but bleeding would stop quickly. Yet, his bleeding wasn’t stopping—it was getting worse.
“Even though I didn’t let my guard down, that was disgustingly fast.”
He never let his guard down, even if his opponent was a rabbit. He believed a strong one’s greatest weakness was complacency.
That’s why, even when facing 50 weaklings, he never let his guard down.
His brief hesitation wasn’t about considering suicide—it was about trying to spot any monsters hiding among the 50 humans.
But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t tell with the naked eye. So, he just started the fight.
Because he was on guard, he could dodge the pregnant woman’s sneak attack, but not perfectly.
The spiked tentacle that grazed his chest. It was a minor injury, but the poison within it was eating away at him.
“Five more to go.”
And he had to fight the sixth opponent tomorrow. Without knowing who it was, there was no way to prepare.
“I can’t detoxify the poison.”
Joyray was nearly immune to most poisons. But a monster’s poison was no ordinary thing.
Even with proper treatment, he didn’t know if he could detoxify it. And there were no ingredients here to make an antidote.
Moreover, leaving the arena was impossible, so Joyray had no choice but to endure with his willpower and stamina.
Knock knock.
Then, someone knocked on the door.
Joyray glared at the door while sitting.
‘I didn’t sense any presence.’
He only realized someone was at the door after hearing the knock.
The waiting room door was made of wood. So flimsy that even a normal person could kick it open. Common sense would dictate that whoever knocked had no ill intentions.
But Joyray gripped his kitchen knives. This was the Lawless City of Ruquer. A place that couldn’t be trusted even under normal circumstances, and now it was ruled by monsters.
Even if it were family, he couldn’t trust them here.
Crash!
No need for conversation. He sent two Aura Blades flying up and down.
No sound of flesh being cut. Nor any sound of them being blocked.
‘Did they catch my Aura Blade?’
There had been opponents who blocked his Aura Blades, but none who caught them.
Just as Joyray was about to send the remaining four blades flying—
“Your skills haven’t rusted yet.”
The voice from outside the door made Joyray respond without thinking.
“Keter?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Whoosh!
Joyray sent all four remaining blades flying. But again, no sound came from beyond the door.
“Now that I think about it, maybe they have rusted a bit.”
Creak, thud!
The dilapidated wooden door finally gave way and collapsed.
Joyray prepared to use his Authority. Keter had no reason to return to Ruquer. This was undoubtedly a monster disguised as Keter, here to assassinate him.
“Ah, your eyes must be going bad.”
But when Keter appeared before him, his resolve wavered.
Keter really looked like Keter. His appearance had changed a bit, but his arrogant tone and the way he walked in, holding kitchen knives between his fingers, were the same.
“Judging by your state, it seems you’ve been poisoned.”
Joyray didn’t respond.
But he didn’t use his Authority either.
He was too curious about what this Keter would say. How well could a fake imitate Keter?
Keter carefully examined Joyray’s wounds, then clapped his hands.
“Looking closely, there’s no need to detoxify.”
Keter pulled something out of his pocket.
It was a match.
Flick!*
Keter lit the match, set a piece of cloth on fire, and then pressed it against Joyray’s wound.
“Gaaaaah!”
Joyray, who had dodged the pregnant monster’s sneak attack, couldn’t dodge Keter’s and was burned by the fire.
Keter, unfazed, sprinkled Elixir on Joyray’s wound and said.
“Treatment complete!”
Looking at Keter’s bright smile, Joyray thought.
This bastard really is Keter.