The Victor

The Qiya Demon Lion watched the little dwarf before it, human-like wariness showing in its eyes.

Though it did not understand what the other party held in his hand, the cold gleam on it told the lion it was dangerous—just like the things carried by the little dwarves who had captured it before. They could wound it, make it bleed, even kill it.

Yet the scent on him also smelled incomparably delicious, and saliva involuntarily seeped from the corners of its mouth.

Staring straight into Ottok's eyes, the Qiya Demon Lion began circling him, low growls continuously rumbling from its throat.

This was the prelude to a beast's hunt. Through the pressure of its movements and gaze, it sought to stir panic in its prey, then strike with fatal force.

But after prowling around for a while, it still sensed no fear whatsoever from him, and intense impatience began to rise within it.

Its four limbs tensed as it prepared to pounce.

Ottok gripped his weapon tightly, his gaze locked onto the magic beast before him, sweat unconsciously gathering in his palms.

It would be a lie to say he was not panicking at all. No one could face a beast like this without feeling even the slightest tension!

But years of fighting had taught him that he absolutely could not reveal any weakness at a time like this. The slightest mistake would decide life or death.

The Qiya Demon Lion could no longer hold itself back. Its hind legs drove hard against the ground, and its body crashed toward him like a battering ram.

Its terrifying speed even kicked up a cloud of dust from the ground!

Ottok's expression immediately changed. He knew he could not take this blow head-on. With a weight of over a thousand kilograms and explosive power comparable to a cheetah's, the Qiya Demon Lion before him was like a wild elephant charging at full speed. The impact alone could shatter every bone in his body through his armor.

He immediately tried to roll aside, but just as the Qiya Demon Lion brushed past him, the tail behind it lashed around his waist at an angle he could not evade, coiling like an agile giant python before giving a fierce shake!

His body, which had already lunged aside, was jerked until both feet left the ground, about to be dragged down.

Ottok did not hesitate in the slightest. With his balance unstable and his body on the verge of flipping over, he seized the moment before it could turn around and swung his axe at the base of its tail.

With a pained roar, the Qiya Demon Lion's body instantly stiffened. The axe blade tore through its outer scales and hacked into its tailbone!

Ottok, meanwhile, was flung more than ten meters away. He rolled several times across the ground before finally stopping.

Flipping to his feet, Ottok looked at the Qiya Demon Lion not far away, its mouth twitching continuously and murderous intent surging from its eyes. He instantly judged that, because his center of gravity had been unstable when he struck and he had been unable to put all his strength into the blow, its injury was not too serious.

On the contrary, the injury had completely stirred up its ferocity!

The only good news was that although he had not severed its tail in one stroke, he had wounded the base of it. It could not be used as a weapon for the time being, depriving it of one method of attack.

He assumed his stance once more, knowing that the next exchange would decide who lived and who died.

A wounded beast that had not lost its fighting strength was the most dangerous...

Watching the rookies peck each other to death in the arena, Orsaga honestly felt like going down there and kicking both of them to death with a single kick.

If their combat strength were placed in the Bottomless Abyss, they might not even be able to defeat an Infant Demon. Their physical attributes were at most below twenty points, and with their poor abnormal resistance, it would be perfectly normal for them to poison themselves to death after taking a few more breaths of Abyssal air.

The energy within their bodies was far inferior to that of demons, whose veins had been filled with magic power since birth.

Compared to truly innate Supernatural Creatures, even that magic beast known as the Qiya Demon Lion could only be considered underdeveloped. Other than looking rather imposing, it had no merits whatsoever!

The magic power in its body was not even enough to cast the most basic spell. At most, it could crudely strengthen its body.

If it did not truly possess magic power, calling it a wild beast might have been more fitting.

Unlike Orsaga's Dead Fish Eyes stare, everyone else seemed especially excited by such a bloody struggle. When the two combatants spilled blood, many of them screamed themselves hoarse, more excited than those fighting in the arena.

Especially toward Ottok, who was also human, the curses and shouts never stopped!

The feeling that someone of higher status and greater strength than themselves could only fight bloodily before their eyes intoxicated quite a few people.

As though they had been injected with chicken blood, they were so excited they could not control themselves!

Greed, hatred, jealousy... all kinds of Negative Emotions were laid bare, displayed upon faces that were either ugly or twisted. At that moment, many people had their disguises stripped from their hearts, revealing their true selves.

Ottok down below was no good person. There was no excusing a serial killer.

And few of the spectators above were good people either, taking the lives of their own kind as entertainment.

The only difference was that this was legal and required no one to do the killing themselves.

Under such circumstances, compared to the two contestants fighting to decide life and death, struggling through their rookie pecking match,

the spectators' various ugly displays were instead rather more interesting to Orsaga.

A demon's nature made him enjoy scenes like this. It went well with a meal!

Even the fruit in his hand seemed to have gained some flavor!

For Orsaga, who had also come for entertainment, and the ordinary audience, though the process differed, the result was ultimately the same!

Everyone was quite satisfied!

More than ten minutes later.

Ottok stood in the center of the arena, covered in blood. His lungs worked wildly like bellows, constantly sucking air into his body.

At this point, only one-third of his armor remained on his scar-covered body, and one of his arms had been torn off. Blood continued to pour from the wound.

The Qiya Demon Lion lay beside him.

Most of its injuries were insignificant flesh wounds. Its fatal injury was on its forehead, where Ottok had chopped it seven or eight times in succession with his heavy axe. It was now a bloody pulp, continuously giving off heat and a cloying stench of blood.

The people in the stands screamed Ottok's name like madmen. Excited, worshipful, hateful—whatever their feelings, at that moment, Ottok had become the Protagonist of the Beast Arena because of his valor.

No one cared about his identity as a murderer anymore. Humanity's ancient habit of worshipping the strong made all that unimportant after his victory, selectively forgotten by the crowd.

As long as he kept winning, nothing would be a problem!

As for the more than ten Murder Cases he had committed, and how many of those who had died at his hands were innocent—did that matter?

After all, it had nothing to do with them, so it did not matter.

Wasn't that so?

Whether humans or other Sentient Beings, people were always exceptionally generous when forgiving someone else's enemy.

Inside the private box, Orsaga rose to his feet without a care and said to the three people beside him, "Let's go. Time to head back..."

Several days later.

Jialite Plains, Mogus Fortress.

Crown Prince Jem and several armored Officers stood beside a sand-table map, frowning as they considered their options.

The war was not completely one-sided, but they were still at a tremendous disadvantage. Due to a major strategic blunder earlier, the Duchy of Maldon's defensive lines had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Duchy of Yar, leaving them with no choice but to turtle up beneath the enemy army's pressure. They did not dare confront the enemy head-on.

After listening to several commanders' proposals in succession, Jem Woz rubbed his temples with a headache.

The situation is an absolute mess!

As Crown Prince, he not only had to consider foreign enemies, but also find a way to placate the nobles within the country. The moment those people saw the war turning bad, they could stir up every kind of trouble imaginable, making the Duchy of Maldon's already poor situation even worse.

If he could, he would dearly like to purge the domestic nobility several times over. But clearly, he lacked the means to do so and could only indulge in such fantasies in his head...

Thinking of the treaty submitted by the Duchy of Yar made Jem Woz's teeth itch even more. It was nothing less than surrendering rights and humiliating the nation.

If he truly agreed to their terms, he would immediately be nailed to the pillar of shame, and the royal family of the Duchy of Maldon would become a laughingstock for countless people.

If Father had not been bewitched back then and made so many mistakes, where would you have gotten this chance...

You forced my hand. If you are sacrificed to a Demon, you will have only yourselves to blame...

At that thought, he touched the item Orsaga had given him in his pocket, a trace of ruthlessness appearing in his eyes.

Using tens of thousands of people as sacrifices at once—once such a thing was exposed, even if they were enemies, the consequences would not be much better than defeat.

But at least it was far better than personally signing a surrender agreement in one respect: the initiative would remain in his own hands!

For a future King, a vicious reputation might not sound good, but it was always better than weakness.

A successful leader could allow others to fear or hate him, but he could never allow others to look down on him!

Thinking this, he let out a soft breath and asked the commander beside him, "Since the Duchy of Yar's army has already finished assembling, when will they likely arrive today?"

An older commander with snow-white hair answered, "They should reach Mogbusburg before the sun rises to its highest point."

"Good. There is still some time. In that case, have the Soldiers quickly prepare a large quantity of rope—enough for seventy or eighty thousand people. We must prepare for the coming prisoner operations."

The many commanders present froze at once.

"?"

One commander licked his lips, hesitation on his face as he cautiously asked, "Uh... Your Highness, by prisoner operations, do you mean we should tie ourselves up and surrender to them?"

"What nonsense are you talking about! Naturally, we are preparing ropes to tie them up!"

"...All right, understood..."

The many commanders exchanged glances, then sighed together.

The pressure on His Highness has finally become too much!

Several of the older commanders immediately burst into tears.

They wished they could charge into battle at once, kill the enemy, and repay their country!

Seeing the tears streaming endlessly from the commanders' eyes, Jem Woz also realized what they had imagined. He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, only to find that it was not easy to explain at all. He could only let their imaginations run wild.