“The guy hanging around with that necrophilia freak… Looks like he’s the master of Ghost Loli and Explosion Loli. In other words, the so-called prince who’s after me. He’s here to watch the match too, or maybe he has some other agenda.”
“Well, as long as I win, that’s all that matters. Everything else… I’ll deal with it if I have to.”
The armored guard, hiding her true face—White Ya, who had narrowly escaped death—stared fixedly at the ghoul as he chewed on flesh and muttered to herself.
Arthur and Lumioun were no longer engaged in their deadly exchange. The nobles, too, had shifted their attention away from them and back to the arena. Because both princes were present, the cheers for the ghoul were intentionally subdued.
Yet the lust for blood and excitement had not diminished in the slightest. Some nobles cheered wildly for the ghoul, while others mocked and jeered at the trembling gladiators in the ring, stirring up hatred among the crowd.
The arena’s matches proceeded as usual; the only discordant element on the field was the out-of-place armored guard. Whether she was an idiot or simply fearless, unlike the other gladiators, she neither panicked nor screamed, but stayed beside the ghoul observing its eating habits—much to the disappointment of the nobles.
“Go! Stop eating! Starving ghost! Eat that eyesore!”
“Big oaf! Bite that idiot to death!”
“Stop dawdling! Hurry up and kill her already!”
The nobles cupped their hands to their mouths and shouted with frenzied faces, like demons from hell.
The ghoul seemed to react to the intensifying cheers. He dropped the bloody flesh from his hand, blood dripping from his mouth as he cocked his head, locking eyes directly with White Ya. Peering into the helmet’s crevice, he saw the red eyes within—eyes devoid of fear.
The ghoul narrowed his eyes. He didn’t sense any powerful aura from this prey, yet among all the victims here, even those capable of some resistance showed fear in their eyes. Why didn’t she?
For the ghoul, being able to think this much was already an extraordinary effort. It was only because he’d been trapped in the arena for decades, exposed to countless human prey, and forced by his captors to obey, that he’d come into contact with some semblance of human civilization. Though he still couldn’t speak, his intelligence was no less than that of a human child.
But with the wisdom of a child comes a lack of patience. The ghoul was the same. White Ya’s composure might be strange, but it didn’t change his intention to seize her and bite through her throat.
White Ya saw the ghoul’s pupils contract. Bloody fangs were bared, his body lowered, knees bent. Even if she were a fool, this posture clearly meant he was about to attack.
“Hurry up and run! Now!”
White Ya pondered for a moment in her mind—that was Teacher Luo’s shout. For him to suppress his fear and warn her at such a moment, he really was a brave man.
But her dislike for him would never change. First impressions really are important.
She caught a glimpse of Tabu running toward her, face twisted in anger and roaring furiously. The old man running looked like a mountain on the move! After sighing inwardly, White Ya also noticed Tabu’s hands had turned silver. What kind of ability was that?
The stench rushing at her made White Ya frown deeply. Seeing the bloodstained maw getting larger in her field of vision, she realized she was under attack. If those jaws bit down, it’d really be game over.
“Ghoul: preliminary estimate, Level 30, combat power 500. Main weapons are teeth, tongue, claws. Speed is incredible, but I can still follow it. Never thought my dynamic vision would improve so much after surviving.”
Other than the three slave girls and Teacher Luo, no one clearly saw what happened in that instant. In their eyes, the ghoul pounced on White Ya, while White Ya seemed paralyzed with fear, unmoving. At this rate, the foolish armored guard would be knocked down, her head bitten off by the ghoul, and her stupid life ended.
Yet the ghoul lunged at thin air. That bastard in full armor was still standing there, and the ghoul had landed behind her instead. The force of his fall smashed the white bricks at the spot, sending dust flying and making a deafening noise as he hit the ground.
It all happened in an instant. The armored guard seemed to turn into untouchable air at the moment of attack, dodging a fatal blow!
Clack.
More than half the nobles stood up involuntarily, faces full of astonishment. White Ya evading the ghoul’s attack shocked them, but what happened in the arena now was truly unprecedented, gripping their attention completely.
The ghoul felt a cold sensation on the back of his head—some prey was pressing metal against his skull, but there was nothing to worry abou—
A thunderous boom split the air, stabbing at the eardrums. The ghoul’s eyes rolled back, knees buckled, and his whole body went slack, falling straight to the ground.
“Never used a gun before, so I can’t count on any accuracy. But as long as I’m close enough, that flaw doesn’t matter.”
White Ya gripped the barrel of the burning hot firearm and muttered to herself. The moment the ghoul turned his back, she knew her chance had come. She instantly pulled out the weapon she’d lifted from the necrophilia freak’s house last night and fired at the ghoul’s head. With the muzzle right up against his skull, even with poor aim, it was impossible to miss. She was honestly impressed with herself.
She sensed the cheering from the audience had suddenly been choked off by an invisible hand. White Ya turned her head and looked around. Nobles and gladiators alike stared at her in shock.
She also saw Lumioun’s face twisted with anger under Arthur’s murderous glare. All she did was conveniently take a weapon that felt right when leaving—was it really worth making such a fuss?
“I win.”
White Ya couldn’t care less about anyone else. She raised her right hand and called out expressionlessly, then let her arm fall, her body suddenly limp. She shuffled forward with a stooped, swaying gait, looking utterly exhausted.
As she passed Tabu, she rose on tiptoes to pat his shoulder, then yawned and slowly walked toward the tunnel the gladiators used to exit.
“Old man, do something about this mess. I’m going back to sleep.”
The arena was deathly silent. Not just the gladiators, but even the nobles in the stands, the two princes Lumioun and Arthur, and the slave girls all heard her languid, defeated words.