“Brutes, all of you behave! Anyone who dares to act recklessly, watch out for your heads!”
The fierce-looking guard shouted loudly outside the stone huts, accompanied by several soldiers armed with longswords and arquebuses. Satisfied that his intimidation was sufficient, the guard pulled out a bunch of keys from his waist and unlocked one stone hut after another.
Bai Ya stepped out, hands resting behind her head. The girl trailed closely behind her, sighing helplessly at Bai Ya’s carefree demeanor, muttering, “Sister is a monster.”
Her heartlessness was impressive to the point of admiration.
Those locked inside the stone huts came out one by one, allowing Bai Ya to meet the other chosen warriors confined in the neighboring huts.
Among them, three left a particularly deep impression on Bai Ya. No—more precisely, two men and one beastman.
There was a man with half-closed eyes, occasionally fully opening them, looking half-asleep; a sickly youth whose hands were wrapped in red bandages; and a Lionman whose body was covered in wounds caused by his own barbed spikes.
When these three glanced at the guards, a faint yet unmistakable glint of murderous intent flashed in their eyes. Bai Ya noticed this subtlety.
“None of these three were mentioned in the first chapter of 【SLAVE】, so Fia’s oral version must have only covered the main plot points. What a headache.”
Bai Ya hoped these three wouldn’t harm her in the future.
Just then, the middle-aged man from the neighboring hut came out. Seeing Bai Ya, his face lit up with obvious joy. He revealed a mouth full of yellow teeth, his ugly, twisted face breaking into a comical smile. Then, seemingly realizing something, he quickly covered his face with his hands, peeking through his fingers anxiously at Bai Ya’s reaction.
Watching the man cautiously hide his face, Bai Ya said nothing. She opened her mouth but didn’t speak, silently mouthing, “Thanks, Uncle.”
The man was momentarily stunned but nodded. He seemed surprised that Bai Ya wasn’t afraid of his face. This kind of reaction was rare. Having long been used to being feared and despised, he lowered his hands and looked at Bai Ya openly for the first time. Bai Ya tilted her head and smiled.
Her eyes glistened with moisture. Before the guards could turn their attention back to her, the man immediately slumped and moved aside.
Bai Ya understood. The man didn’t want the guards to know he had any connection with the others in the stone huts, both to protect Bai Ya and himself.
“Uncle is a good man.”
Bai Ya murmured softly.
Under the impatient urging of the guards and the threat of the soldiers’ weapons, all the chosen warriors started to trudge forward, step by heavy step, toward a place no less than hell itself.
The glaring sunlight fell upon Bai Ya, evoking a surreal sensation, a sense of unreality. Discomfort swept over her—it was the aftereffect of having stayed too long in darkness.
With fear added into the mix, the aftereffects were even worse.
A gaunt middle-aged man began to cry the moment the sun hit his eyes. His tears wouldn’t stop; it seemed his tear ducts had collapsed. Another youth, almost mad, tore off his clothes and ran forward, arms outstretched, his expression wild as he embraced the sunlight with all his heart.
The enraged guard took an arquebus from a soldier and fired without hesitation into the youth’s back. Blood splattered everywhere. The boy’s body convulsed violently, and inertia carried his twitching form across the ground, leaving a long trail of blood.
Bai Ya covered her mouth, stifling the urge to vomit. What surprised her was that no one—girl included—showed any signs of shock or fear. At most, they bowed their heads in mourning for the boy.
Bai Ya didn’t know that to them, the boy’s death was almost merciful. Even comfortable.
“Bah! Foolish brat!”
The guard’s words instantly attracted the hatred of everyone.
*****
Accompanied by a grating creak, the iron bars slowly rose. After all the warriors had stepped out, the iron bars slammed back down, embedding into the ground with a mournful clank.
“Hmph, hmph, hmph, take a good look at your fate again! Tomorrow it’ll be your turn! Finally, I can rest. Ahahaha!”
The guard laughed uproariously inside the bars, then left with the soldiers.
Bai Ya paid no attention to his words.
Just then, the warriors stirred uneasily. They pressed backward, shoving relentlessly.
The uncle and the girl tried to come beside Bai Ya but were pushed back by the crowd.
The warriors crowded as close as they could toward the iron bars. Some pressed their backs tightly against the bars, struggling to breathe.
When the crowd finally quieted, Bai Ya, standing apart in the open space, was dumbfounded.
Why were these people desperate to squeeze inward? Bai Ya didn’t understand.
The warriors exchanged glances but stood still. Their tense expressions softened slightly, as if simply standing there gave them some measure of security.
“There’s no more room. Good luck to you.”
An elderly warrior suddenly shouted at Bai Ya.
“Good luck? If I squeeze in with you, I’ll suffocate. That kind of luck isn’t something I want.”
Bai Ya shrugged helplessly.
Just then, the girl’s small head finally popped out between the arms of a young warrior. She called anxiously to Bai Ya, “Sister, try to move closer inside! Your spot is dangerous!”
The uncle, trapped in a corner, nodded desperately. He cursed himself for not moving faster to pull Bai Ya in. Now, all he could do was hope this kindhearted girl would be safe.
“Even if you say that…”
Bai Ya shrugged again, sighing helplessly.
At that moment, the half-asleep middle-aged man in the front spoke.
“There are two types of spectators at arena battles: nobles and warriors. The nobles watch from the stands; they are safe. The warriors watch from inside; they are not.”
The half-asleep man was now fully alert, speaking seriously to Bai Ya.
“Inside…”
Bai Ya turned and took a few steps forward. The full view of the arena unfolded before her.
It looked like an exquisite structure mainly built from marble, with circular stands seating over a thousand. The ground was paved with white stone slabs. At intervals along the edge, torches burned steadily.
Seeing this, Bai Ya thought of a medieval coliseum.
She turned back to look at where she had emerged—a square tunnel crowded with warriors who looked at her with worried expressions. There were a dozen or so similar square stone openings around the arena, each deep inside with iron bars.
“So this place where I am now must be the entrance area. Eh! Isn’t this terrible?”
Indeed, it was terrible. The matches inside the arena could affect them, which was why everyone fought so desperately to get inside.
Just as Bai Ya’s attention pulled away from the arena, cheers suddenly burst in her ears.
And screams.
“Help! Help! No! Spare me! Aaaaaaaah!”
Squinting, Bai Ya saw at the center of the arena a bronze-skinned, muscular man wearing a silver belt crouching down. His left hand was wedged tightly inside the writhing body of a red creature.
The red creature screamed for a while before going still. The bronze man stopped moving, shook his head, then lifted his foot and stomped heavily on the red creature.
Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
Realizing that the bloody, mangled heap had once been a person, Bai Ya’s pupils dilated instantly.
“You bastard!”
A gaunt man with stubble fought through his fear and ran forward. Approaching the bronze man’s back, he swung his curved knife.
The timing and force of the attack were perfect—anyone struck would be seriously wounded.
Just as Bai Ya thought this, the bronze man’s head suddenly twisted 180 degrees, revealing a terrifying grin on his bald scalp.
This was impossible for a human.
The bronze man was an Ogre.
The Ogre’s tiny, fierce red eyes crushed all courage in the stubbled man’s heart.
The man’s movements lagged a beat. Suddenly, the Ogre’s right hand transformed into a tentacle that knocked the curved knife away, coiled like a snake around the man’s waist, and squeezed with immense force.
The man’s face turned purple.
Meanwhile, the Ogre opened his mouth. Seeing the man’s terrified expression, he shook his head violently. The next moment, three rows of tiny, sharp teeth sank into the man’s shoulder.
“Ah…”
Bai Ya watched helplessly as the Ogre bit the man, piece by piece.
During the man’s grisly demise, a dozen or so warriors wielding weapons surrounded the Ogre and attacked, but the Ogre’s tentacle smashed them away one by one, breaking bones as they crashed to the ground, groaning in despair.
Since then, no one dared raise a weapon again, only sitting dumbfounded.
“So… heavy-duty.”
Bai Ya felt her bones go soft, sitting cross-legged with her knees turned inward, utterly blank.
“What… monster is that?”
She couldn’t understand, analyze, or explain. Her mind was in chaos. She only knew that no matter how many humans there were, they couldn’t defeat that monster.
The cheering suddenly grew louder.
Unnoticed, the Ogre had killed all its current prey. Its bloodlust surging, it noticed Bai Ya’s presence.
Chewing on a severed arm, it slowly walked toward her.
Bai Ya remained seated.
Fear both urged her to run and robbed her of the strength to do so.
As the shadow enveloped her, Bai Ya could only open her mouth, emitting an incoherent “ah” sound.
Move! Move! Move! Move!
For the first time in her life, Bai Ya hated her legs so much. Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
“Tastes good, huh?”
The Ogre opened its mouth, blood dripping onto Bai Ya’s face, staining her pale skin red.
The three rows of sharp teeth grew larger and larger in her eyes.
“No, nooooooo!!!”
The white-haired girl screamed and collapsed, losing consciousness.
Before passing out, Bai Ya felt something wet between her legs.
The Ogre’s teeth closed in on Bai Ya’s chest.
“Stop, Ogre! That’s enough for today. You’ve killed too many. The nobles’ fun will be less.”
A white-clad man wearing a white beret at the bottom of the stands commanded.
The Ogre’s ears twitched but did not halt its movement.
“Are you willing to disobey my orders with your life? If that’s your choice, then I have nothing more to say.”
The guard beside the white-clad man gripped his longsword tightly. His gaze was resolute. At a word from the man, they would charge and slay the Ogre immediately.
The Ogre froze. It let out a roar, shook its head side to side, then, realizing it had truly killed all the prey this time, cast a vicious glance at the unconscious Bai Ya.
Dragging two corpses, it disappeared into one of the square stone openings.