Chapter: 50
After having taken a bite out of Lian and getting a taste for gags, Bianca was half out of her mind and suffered for what felt like an eternity. Daily life was basically impossible at this point.
They say time heals all wounds, and after just over a week, Bianca was finally able to pull herself together. But she wasn’t completely back to normal yet.
‘Just one more match. Just one match and then I’ll retire.’
When a slave makes it to the top floor, a whole new world of choices opens up. They can enjoy the perks of power on the top floor, join Jiso’s army as a lowly soldier, or even ditch their slave status altogether for freedom. But in return, they have to leave everything behind.
Bianca had chosen to stick around on the top floor, gunning for the champion title. Being the type that kept getting stronger and stronger, she thought that she could totally snatch the championship spot if the timing were right.
If she could just snag the champion title, she could stand beside Jiso, the guy she adored. The shocking incident of being gobbled up by Lian had thrown her long-held goal into a blender, though.
Gathering what remained of her sanity, she devised a plan to escape from the arena where the terrifying Lian lurked.
“How about it? Just one match and I’m out.”
“Sure thing.”
Her asking price was sky-high, so requests for her were nearly non-existent. The moment she heard Totogen’s offer, she thought, “This is it!”
Her plan was to retire after this match, then go outside and gobble up strong beings to grow even stronger before slipping under Jiso’s wing.
As she entertained these hopeful thoughts, her mind cleared up even more.
Until she came face to face with Lian in the arena…
‘What the heck is going on? Why is that monster here?!’
Bianca felt her legs tremble uncontrollably. She thought they might give out if she relaxed even a tiny bit. She turned her tear-filled gaze away from Lian, who was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Lian’s smile gave off major devil vibes. She felt goosebumps creeping down her spine.
‘Run! Yes, let’s run! I can just turn back and slip inside!’
Drenched in cold sweat, Bianca stumbled backward. She wanted to dash back through the exit she’d just used.
‘If I do that, I won’t even have to face that monster. Yeah, yeah—’
But just as she took another step back to survive…
“Uuuuuuuuh!”
“Why aren’t you fighting?!”
“Scared of the newbie?”
As Bianca hesitated and wavered, a chorus of insults poured in from all sides. Startled, she reflexively looked up. In every match she had fought, she had always come out on top, so this jeering was completely new territory for her.
“…!”
Her gaze instinctively landed where Totogen was. Her keen senses picked up on the intense gaze boring into her.
‘If I run away now, that’s it for me…’
Lian was strong. But he wasn’t quite on the level of the top-floor gladiators. The folks who hung out on the top floor were a collection of creatures that could only be described as monsters.
This fight was one she absolutely couldn’t lose. If Bianca surrendered without even trying, that would leave a mark on her reputation everywhere.
First, she would have bad blood with Totogen, who had placed the first bet, then a ton of spectators who had put their money on her would curse her out. It would be a truly terrifying penalty for Bianca, who planned to retire and work outside.
On top of that, some arrogant big shots might think she was being cocky and decide to “deal with her.” She imagined an ending where she wouldn’t die, but she wouldn’t truly live either.
‘This can’t be happening.’
She clenched her teeth and advanced forward just as much as she had retreated.
‘I can’t keep cowering in fear of him. I need to overcome this.’
Bianca thought of some epic line like a protagonist getting a power-up in an anime.
If this were a shounen manga, perhaps such a line would’ve worked! But this was a dark fantasy world with no dreams or hopes in sight.
What awaited her was only—
“Kiiiyaaaaaaack!”
—the form of despair she dreaded most.
*
Whoosh—.
Caught off guard by Bianca’s slicing attack, I ducked down quick.
‘I really thought she’d greet me or something before attacking!’
While I was happily daydreaming, Gargandoa suddenly erupted in anger.
[Partner, what the heck are you doing?! Why waste precious blood?! Damn it, every single drop of your blood is mine!]
Listening to the sword’s strange fixation, I glanced down at my belly.
“Ah.”
For some strange reason, my skin had split, but my insides were totally fine. It looked like it’d heal if I just pressed it together quickly.
“Kiiiyaaaaaaack!”
Before I could even press the gaping skin back together, a loud scream cut through the air.
Clang!
Bianca, who had thrown her sword, was now plopped down on the ground.
Drip, drip.
Her pants were soaking up a darker shade.
‘No way…’
I quickly turned my gaze away. Staring at a beautiful woman’s embarrassing moment could get someone punched across the room.
“Hiieeek!”
Even though I wasn’t doing anything, Bianca screamed. I peeked at her face to see what was up.
She looked pale, her horrified eyes locked onto my abdomen.
‘Why is she so shocked by a wound she caused herself?’
And then… why did she suddenly faint? Confused, I looked down at my belly and rapidly pieced it together.
Twitch, twitch.
My ‘liver’ was winking away at her from the split! Each time it blinked, she screamed louder.
The liver, winking at the lady it seemed to fancy, formed a cute little “O” with its lips and made a sound.
Mwah, smooch—.
It kissed after pressing its lips together! This shocking visual struck Bianca hard, and in the end…
“Grrrrrgh…”
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
“Uh… huh? What’s… happening?”
Stunned by the result he could never have predicted, the announcer stuttered, struggling to find his words. No wonder, though! The greatest swordsman on the top floor suddenly attacked, screamed, and fainted while wetting herself!
“Gargandoa, could you close my wound?”
[Grrr… I didn’t even get a chance to show off…]
Gargandoa grumbled while covering my wound. It was barely a makeshift bandage that wouldn’t stop further injury, but for a guy like me who healed automatically, it was more than enough!
“Good thing I ordered clothes in advance. Otherwise, this could’ve been a total disaster.”
I thought of the clothes I had gotten earlier and turned my back to Bianca. That’s when Gargandoa started whining.
[Wait, are you really going to leave all that blood on the ground? Seriously?! You’re just leaving it there? That’s so wasteful!]
Gargandoa, who guzzled down huge quantities of blood every day, was suddenly missing the spilled blood on the floor.
“I’ll bring you some when we get back. It’s too noisy here.”
[Tsk…]
“Uuuuuuuuuuuh!”
“Not even trying to fight and you end up losing?! What the hell?!”
“Get lost!”
Those were the only insults I could handle. The rest were so vile I felt like my ears would rot if I heard them!
‘Whatever, it’s not my fault.’
Bianca threw the first punch and fainted all on her own! I didn’t need to feel guilty about anything. I strolled out of the arena with a light heart.
*
After the scrap with Bianca, bizarre rumors began to spread. Ridiculous claims emerged that I wielded invisible powers so strong they were beyond perception.
‘What even is this nonsense—’
Before I could finish that thought, Gargandoa chimed in with its whine.
[When’s the next match, huh? I can’t show off the upgraded version of Blood Wave if we don’t fight!]
Gargandoa wailed while munching on blood. It really seemed to regret not doing anything in the match with Bianca.
“It’ll happen soon. Just eat quietly when it’s time for food.”
[Do you think I’m human? I don’t have to eat with a mouth, you know!]
“Then why did you make those munching sounds last time?”
When I pulled Gargandoa out the last time, it had totally sounded like it was chewing.
Recalling that, I asked, and Gargandoa fumbled the answer.
[Wha, what are you talking about? I don’t understand. ]
It seemed caught off guard about something and eventually fell silent. Relaxing on my bed, I had Gargandoa turned into a thin needle stuck in my thigh and pondered.
‘I wonder how Noah’s doing?’
Life here has gotten pretty stable lately, so thoughts of Noah popped into my mind.
‘She’s probably doing just fine. She’s Noah, after all.’
Yawning, I buried my head into the pillow.
*
“Hyuk, hyeuk…”
“It’s alright now. You’re safe.”
Noah, her face white as a ghost, wrapped a bandage around a child’s hand. The kid’s ring finger was cut almost completely off.
‘Lian…’
Thrown into the merciless land of the Demon King, Noah gripped tightly to her sanity like it was a thread, recalling Lian, her anchor against the chaos.
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