A long spear shot straight toward Bai Ya’s back. Tabu flew into a rage, his face twisted like a demon’s. Without a hint of hesitation, he charged forward like a cannonball crashing into the midst of the guards.
But Bai Ya’s actions were so astonishing that he was caught off guard. Now, even if he wanted to help her, he feared it would be too late.
With a sweep of his arm, Tabu sent several guards flying. Seeing more spear points stabbing at him, he roared and unflinchingly caught the thrusts with his palm.
The guards who attacked Tabu sneered, expecting to see his hand pierced and mangled—but instead, a metallic clang rang out, as if metal struck stone.
“I’ll crush you all!”
Tabu slammed his palm down hard, the tremendous force shattering the wooden shafts connected to the spearheads. The guards’ palms split open from the shock, blood gushing out. Now weaponless, they screamed and fled in panic.
Tabu ignored those deserters, rampaging madly through the ranks of the guards, hoping to draw everyone’s attention to himself.
Indeed, many guards were lured by this human-shaped monster. Dozens were dispatched to besiege him, but it was by no means the entire force.
Too late. Seeing Bai Ya still pressing forward, oblivious to the danger behind her, Tabu was filled with despair.
“Everyone, let’s charge together! They want us dead anyway! Let’s fight to the end!”
Tabu’s action signaled the start of the guards’ onslaught. Luo Shi no longer hesitated, rallying all his battle aura to spark a riot. Yet, he also sighed—Bai Ya was too reckless, most likely beyond saving.
But then something shocking happened: a perfectly aimed thrust from a guard was evaded. The spear tip barely grazed Bai Ya’s arm.
This was certainly no mercy from the guard. Throughout the entire process, Bai Ya never even looked back; she seemed to move with an almost casual feint, and the attack missed completely.
Taking advantage of the guards’ moment of stunned confusion, Tabu knocked several more aside and smashed one’s skull on the spot. At this moment, he looked like a blood-soaked beast, letting out wounded snarls from time to time.
The arena was thrown into chaos. Gladiators and guards clashed, hands stained with blood. As soon as guards died, replacements took their place, while the gladiators’ numbers were whittled away.
The nobles on the stage watched the spectacle with amusement. The loss of a few guards didn’t bother them at all. Each of the great nobles commanded no less than several thousand private troops; as for the mere hundreds of gladiators in the arena, they could afford to spend them however they wished.
So what if some gladiators were Bronze Rank, capable of fighting ten at once? Unless they were at least Silver Rank, sheer numbers would wear them down.
Since the ogre had been killed so quickly, they might as well enjoy this little after-dinner entertainment. Watching the gladiators struggle in vain was exactly the kind of spectacle that satisfied their twisted desires.
“Ahh, ahh, it’s really broken out into a fight.” Bai Ya sighed helplessly as the battle erupted. Although Uncle had meant well, any deviation from the plan meant unexpected casualties.
Bai Ya had a premonition—given this chaos, few here would survive.
Hearing footsteps closing in behind her, Bai Ya silently counted down the seconds in her mind. The instant the spear tip was about to strike, she spun around, both hands gripping her musket, sight trained on a face that changed from excitement to terror.
The crack of gunfire rang out again, freezing the struggle between guards and gladiators. They saw Bai Ya swiftly reloading her weapon, not far from her stood a headless corpse.
The nobles on the stage noticed too. At Arthur’s signal, a dozen guards armed with muskets entered the arena. To the relief of the gladiators, the musket guards paid them no heed at all.
They charged straight for Bai Ya.
“Run! They’ve got guns too!”
No one knew which gladiator shouted it, only that he was a good man. Bai Ya also started to run—once inside their range, she’d be done for.
A musket could only fire one shot at a time, and reloading was slow and laborious. If only she had unlimited bullets, Bai Ya wouldn’t have minded using the terrain to outgun the musket guards, staking her title as best player and showing them what it meant to never miss a shot.
But in the game there was no limit to stamina, nor did recoil make her muscles ache and cramp. Bai Ya could bet that if she fired one more shot, she’d hit her limit—her body would give out.
In this world, it was clear: to improve in battle, constitution was everything.
Targeted by the musket guards as prey, she knew she couldn’t just keep running forever. Sooner or later, they’d catch up. She could fire once at most, take down one enemy, while they had more than a dozen men—if they all shot at once, she’d be riddled with holes. It was suicide to fight head-on.
Even Bai Ya knew she couldn’t handle the musket guards. The nobles were certain of her death, faces twisted in sick excitement, eagerly awaiting the moment she’d be captured and forced to her knees to beg for mercy.
Other than the musket, did Bai Ya have any other means of resistance? Some of the nobles turned to Ryumion, while Arthur sneered and questioned him bluntly.
Ryumion shook his head, indicating that aside from muskets, only cold weapons remained in his castle. All strategic weapons like thunder-fire bombs had been confiscated by Arthur’s men, not a single one left.
Even if Bai Ya had ransacked the castle, she stood no chance given the current situation.
Arthur was very satisfied with this answer. Even though he’d lost the wager, not a single one of those lowly things that hurt his pride would leave here alive!
At this rate, Bai Ya’s death was certain.
“Not good, she noticed.”
“Damn it, how can she still be so sharp as a mortal? Is it the lingering effect of her divinity?”
“Intervene harder! If she disrupts things now, it’s all for nothing. There won’t be another chance like this!”
“No! She’s coming!”