Demon King Arena

Demon King Arena

A massive shadow enveloped Pei Renli. The humanoid creature seated beside him was more than twice his height even while sitting, its towering body like a folding screen.

Bulging muscles stretched its bluish-gray, unpleasant-looking skin, along with scars of all sizes and shapes that remained on its flesh, making them look even more twisted and distorted.

Calling it humanoid was generous. The only part resembling a human was its torso. Its legs were closer to those of a goat or elk, covered in thick brown-black fur and ending in hooves.

Because it was so enormous, Pei Renli had to crane his neck just to see above its torso—and there was a bull's head, its eyes shining with pale white spirit-light!

That alone might have been manageable, but its arms were even more unusual.

They were neither claws nor human-like arms, but several tentacles twisted together, as if two giant octopuses had replaced its arms at the shoulders. The damp dark-purple tentacles looked as though slime might drip from them at any moment. Bowl-sized suckers twitched with the tentacles' unconscious writhing, and Pei Renli even noticed a row of things that might have been eyes growing on each one...

Pei Renli considered himself quite adaptable. Look, after discovering that he had transmigrated, he had not panicked much. He could handle all kinds of bizarre, grotesque aesthetics too. As someone from the internet age, what hadn't he seen?

—He really hadn't seen this!

Especially when this Lovecraftian minotaur was less than thirty centimeters away from him, close enough that any movement could brush against it. If some force had not pinned him firmly to the stands and kept him from moving, Pei Renli's first reaction would probably have been to jump up and run. This was seriously hard to handle.

Perhaps it was sensitive to stares. When Pei Renli looked it over with startled eyes, it turned its bull's head toward him as well, bent slightly, and looked down at him.

"Human..."

Unexpectedly, its voice was rather magnetic, a male baritone carrying a hint of surprise.

"Why are you looking at me as if you've seen a ghost?"

You're too modest. Ghosts are much better-looking than you!

Naturally, he could not say that.

The fact that it could communicate greatly diminished the terror, and judging from its tone, it even seemed fairly friendly.

Pei Renli quietly calmed himself down. He tried not to look at the tentacles twisting with the creature's movements and did his best to imagine it as a talking cow. He could just treat it as a cow that had become a spirit.

"Sorry, I don't understand what's going on."

The other party seemed even more puzzled. Although its face was a bull's head and its eyes glowed with pale white spirit-light, Pei Renli could clearly sense its confusion.

"What's going on? Could this be your first time... Oh!"

It suddenly came to a realization and explained:

"You're a new Demon King, aren't you? No wonder. I distinctly remember the seat beside me being empty."

"What is this place? And you are...?"

"No need to be so polite."

It looked terrifying, yet it seemed warm and familiar. The Lovecraftian minotaur waved its tentacles as though generously waving a hand.

"I'm the Elegant Demon King. It's been a long time since I last spoke with a newcomer."

Elegant? This?

Were there not a few too many things to complain about?

"As for this place, we all call it the Demon King Arena."

"Arena?"

"That's right."

It swept its tentacles to either side, pointing toward the dark mass of people seated in the stands that Pei Renli had noticed earlier.

"Everyone you see here is a Demon King."

"..."

Shouldn't there only be one?

From the looks of it, the place where Pei Renli had appeared was a very typical large stadium. There was even a lawn in the center, with a rubber running track encircling it, while stands surrounded everything.

And if everyone in those stands was a Demon King, the number had to be in the tens of thousands.

After hearing the Elegant Demon King's explanation, Pei Renli noticed that some of the creatures in the nearby stands should have been humans aside from their strange outfits. But many were bizarrely shaped, and in terms of sheer weirdness, they were no less outrageous than the Lovecraftian minotaur with tentacles for arms.

But wait.

Since this was an arena for Demon Kings, what exactly was it for? Why had he suddenly transmigrated again when he had been doing perfectly fine?

Regarding those questions, the Elegant Demon King said:

"The hourglass in the Demon King System is actually a countdown. Once the sand runs out, it automatically transports you here. And the Demon King Arena..."

—Woooo!

Pei Renli was listening intently when a piercing buzz like an air-raid siren interrupted the Elegant Demon King. The latter did not continue, instead pointing a tentacle toward the center of the field.

On the central lawn, Pei Renli saw a cylindrical object rise from below, like the kind of lift used for a stage. It quickly formed a raised platform.

Standing atop the platform was a human-like figure. The distance was simply too great. Without binoculars, Pei Renli could only make out a vague humanoid outline and could not see any further details.

"Good morning, Demon Kings!"

His voice was extremely loud. He might have had something like a microphone in hand, because even from so far away, every word could be heard clearly.

"Scum on the left, let me see your malice!"

"Ooooooh!"

A chorus of shrieks and howls immediately erupted from the stands to his left, sounds no human should have been capable of making.

"Monsters on the right, raise your hands!"

"Ooooooh!!"

"Bastards in front! Have you done anything bad today?"

"Ooooooh!!!"

"And of course, I haven't forgotten the criminals in the back! Let's get wild!"

Pei Renli saw the distant figure turn around to face his direction. At once, even the Elegant Demon King, who had just been talking to him, began pounding its chest and roaring along with everyone else.

Taking in the cheers from the stands—if those shrieks and howls could be called cheers—the person in the center of the field spread his arms.

"Welcome to the Demon King Arena! I'm your old friend and the arena's host! Let us continue competing for the title and position of the strongest Demon King—the Demon King God!"

"Ooooooh!!!"

The atmosphere had been completely whipped up. The self-proclaimed host waited until the roaring from the packed stands subsided slightly before continuing.

"First, let us review what has happened recently."

The host appeared to pick up a stack of notes, though the distance made it difficult to see clearly.

"Vulture Gang members have suffered a devastating blow. Thirty Demon Kings have been killed. This must be the Diamond Gang's handiwork. I have to say, the Diamond Gang bastards did well. I've never liked the Vulture Gang anyway. Congratulations, everyone in your gang has risen twenty ranks!"

This time, a small group in the stands perpendicular to Pei Renli's position cheered. Their appearances... were truly difficult to describe.

"Besides the severely weakened Vulture Gang, nearly two hundred independent Demon Kings have unfortunately been eliminated. Let's give them a cheer!"

"Ooooooh! Awooooh!"

The entire arena once again descended into frenzied shrieking and howling, as though this were wonderful news.

"But don't worry. There have been quite a few new Demon Kings joining recently—six hundred in total! On behalf of the Demon King Arena, I thank you for your support!"

Six hundred?

So Pei Renli was merely one out of six hundred.

Could all these people be transmigrators?

But then again, there was obviously no Lovecraftian minotaur like the one beside him on Earth. Wasn't the number of Demon Kings a little too high?

As these thoughts ran through his mind, the host in the center casually tossed away his notes.

"Let today's slaughter begin!"

With a snap, he appeared to snap his fingers. An enormous white screen nearly the size of a football field descended from above, floating impossibly in the center of the arena. It was so massive and white that it should have been impossible to miss, yet Pei Renli, who had been staring without blinking, had not seen where it came from. It was utterly unbelievable.

Still, considering transmigration itself existed, how a giant screen had appeared and what principles made it float were hardly the most important things right now.

Pei Renli suddenly had a very bad feeling. It mainly stemmed from several keywords he had heard so far.

For instance, Demon King Arena. And then, let today's slaughter begin...

The enormous white cloth hanging in the center of the field looked like a projector screen. Just as Pei Renli's ominous feeling emerged, he saw blurred text spin across it at high speed like a slot machine.

"The venue is...!"

The spinning text began to slow before quickly coming to a stop.

"Horror Castle!"

"Ooooooh!"

The instant the words appeared on the screen, the entire arena erupted into cheers again. However, the cheering was scattered this time, as though not everyone was excited by the result.

"The difficulty is...!"

The text on the screen began spinning again.

"Beginner!"

For some reason, Pei Renli's bad feeling intensified. At that moment, the Elegant Demon King beside him said in a low voice:

"Beginner difficulty is easy. The only concern is the Horror Castle venue. Based on my experience, surviving safely requires not only courage, but also intelligence and luck."

His words only made Pei Renli's ominous feeling stronger. He was about to ask why it was telling him this when the host shouted:

"The participants are... all newcomers!"

"Ooooooh!!!!"

The arena erupted in cheers louder than any before, sounding like excitement, anticipation for a good show, and even gloating. The sheer volume was deafening.

The Elegant Demon King said in a tone as though it had expected this all along:

"Horror Castle is extremely large, and with the difficulty set to beginner, it is hardly surprising that newcomers were chosen as the participants."

Wait, hold the hell on!

If he remembered correctly, Pei Renli happened to be a new Demon King...!

"Begin! Let's see how many new Demon Kings survive this time! Only by clearing this trial will you be worthy of standing alongside true Demon Kings and competing for the position of Demon King God!"

The moment the words fell, Pei Renli, who was immediately panicking like crazy, saw a ring of flickering white light appear before him. The light unbelievably encircled him.

That faint dizziness he had experienced before returned. Through the haze, he heard the Elegant Demon King beside him say:

"If we meet again next time, I'll tell you my name. I also hope I'll have the chance to learn yours. Good luck."

What the hell?! What was going on?! Demon Kings had to compete internally too?!