The moment the cheers erupted in his ears, Lionkin Bladeheart immediately looked toward the ogre’s position. Though he had already anticipated this, the scene before him still sent ripples of terror spreading through his heart.
Dust and shattered stones tumbled down as the silver-skinned, humanoid monster pressed a single hand to the ground, slowly pushing its massive frame upright, standing tall and steady. Its ferocious face was smeared with blood, yet not a single wound could be seen.
It remained utterly expressionless, neither sorrowful nor joyful, gazing indifferently at the world. In its mind, there were only the concepts of hunting and slaughter. The cheers of humans stirred not a single feeling within it.
A wave of thunderous, unending cheers erupted from the stands. They rejoiced at the golden-ranked ogre’s revival, mocking the overconfidence of the bronze-ranked gladiator.
Even golden-ranked guards might not have full confidence in defeating a golden-ranked magical beast! The pride of a bronze-ranked gladiator was nothing but a joke!
At this moment, everyone could foresee the outcome to come.
No salvation. No redemption. Only utter defeat and darkness awaited.
“You’re someone Miss Baiya cares about, so I hope you can live on… at least, die after me.” Tab tensed his muscles, rasping out the words without turning his head.
“Run. Now.”
As soon as the words fell, he became a blur, dashing at the just-upright ogre. He wouldn’t wait for the monster to strike first! Gaining the initiative could grant a huge advantage—something he’d learned from countless battles!
Tab had no confidence he could kill the golden-ranked ogre. From the bottom of his heart, he feared this monster. The thought of that gaping maw slowly devouring his body almost robbed him of the courage to stand.
—There are many, many ways to win, but my favorite is to just go all out and take down the opponent!
That night, the conversation through a wall with Baiya was forever carved into his memory, guiding his actions.
His courage came from that! He had nothing left! Even the right to live as a human was being stripped from him, and no one believed his words! Everyone despised his existence!
Only Baiya—he could never forget those pure, clear eyes. Perhaps he had met a goddess who had fallen to the mortal world… Miss Baiya was probably killed in the ogre’s first attack. If that was so, then death itself didn’t seem so frightening anymore!
“Ooooohhhhh!!! Die!”
When Tab reappeared, his shadow covered the ogre’s head. His fist, drawn back to the limit, crashed down with a force that split open his wounds. Silver light and blood splattered across the monster’s terrifying face!
At that instant, Tab couldn’t believe he was actually attacking a golden-ranked magical beast—he was just bronze-ranked, two whole ranks apart.
As he unleashed the most powerful attack of his life, he heard a sharp, shattering sound. It was as if a shackle had been broken. If he only had a bit more time, perhaps he could advance to silver rank.
A torrent of blood beads burst out, splattering across the floor. In the eyes of the excited nobles, it was the most beautiful sight.
Time seemed to slow. Tab watched as his fist caved in the ogre’s face, flattening it, breaking open a huge hole. Only after a long moment, when the pain finally reached his brain, did he realize his fist was swinging through empty air—he hadn’t struck anything at all.
In his field of vision, the ogre was nowhere to be seen. Blood continued to spatter across his cheek. Pain in his shoulder grew sharper, and a burning sensation flared in his left ear.
“Tab, it’s over.”
In Lionkin Bladeheart’s eyes, the ogre had slammed Tab away the instant his fist swung, then leapt high and grabbed him with its claws, tearing at his shoulder with jagged teeth. In the process, half of Tab’s left ear was bitten off. Now, half of his body was drenched in blood, his face twisted in pain and fear, lips moving as if to speak—begging for help, perhaps, but no one could save him. This was a scene from the depths of hell.
As the nobles cheered wildly, the ogre clenched its jaws on Tab’s shoulder, savagely shaking its head. Tab’s huge body jerked along with its teeth. Amid his agonized screams, blood sprayed forth with the sound of tearing flesh, and Tab was flung away, rolling to a stop not far from the ogre, a pool of blood rapidly spreading beneath him.
“That’s it! Finish him off!”
“Go on, you freak!”
“Eat him! Don’t leave a scrap behind!”
The ogre chewed the flesh at its lips, emotionless. When it swallowed, hunger returned to its mind. With a low growl, it bent its knees, preparing to lunge at the badly wounded, helpless Tab.
The girl stood in a daze, watching the ogre crouched atop the Tab who had once protected her. Each time the monster swung its claws, blood splattered anew, and Tab’s screams grew weaker and weaker.
Lionkin Bladeheart walked to her side, his furry palm pressing onto her shoulder. He gazed blankly at the ogre devouring the gravely injured Tab and rasped, “Why aren’t you running?”
“Tab got eaten because he was trying to save you. Why won’t you listen and run? Why, why why why why…”
“Why is it him being eaten now, and not you?”
Lionkin Bladeheart slowly bowed his head, his unfocused vertical pupils looking down at the girl. After two or three seconds, his face twisted, fangs bared, and he erupted in a howl of uncontrollable rage.
“It’s all your fault! Tab was the strongest among us—he should have been the last to die! All just to save someone as worthless as you! Now he’s being eaten by the ogre, feeling every bite of terror as he’s devoured, piece by piece!”
“Why are you, this useless thing, still alive?”
Lionkin Bladeheart broke down in sobs. He fell to his knees, strength gone from his limbs. Tab was their strongest. Not like LeBron, another bronze-ranked gladiator—Tab’s death was different. His death sounded the death knell for everyone present, burying all hope.
Because he understood this all too well, Lionkin Bladeheart had lost the will to fight. The screams ringing in his ears tormented his near-shattered spirit. He was on the brink of madness.
Yet he did not know just how severe the consequences of his outburst, uttered merely to vent his own terror, would be.
It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back, the final flake that triggered the avalanche.
The girl was utterly shattered.
Pain! Fear! Tab tried desperately to fend off the ogre’s fangs with his steel-like arms, but it was futile. Wounds multiplied across his body, blood streaming out, his strength ebbing away. If this continued, he would die.
He thought he was ready for death, but when it came, he couldn’t help but sob and sniffle. He would rather die fighting than suffer the humiliation of being eaten alive, bit by bit by a monster! Someone, someone save him!
When the ogre’s teeth finally stopped tearing at his body, Tab rolled his eyes and spat blood, his mind on the verge of collapse. The agony and fear stripped away his reason; he had given up on thinking.
“I’m going to be eaten…” Only when the sounds of tearing flesh ceased for a long while did Tab regain a little clarity. Tears of blood streaming down his face, he choked out in a hoarse voice.
Then he noticed—the ogre was no longer atop him. The monster was holding both his left legs, seemingly preparing to feast on that part, but its gaze was fixed elsewhere.
Clinging to the last shreds of sanity, Tab turned his trembling head to follow the ogre’s gaze—and saw Lionkin Bladeheart and the girl beside him.
The ogre released Tab’s left leg. It didn’t move at all.
“Run!” Tab’s pupils contracted. Enduring his terror, he mustered every ounce of strength to shout.
“Tab?!” Lionkin Bladeheart, drowning in despair, was startled by Tab’s roar. He looked up, searching for the source of the threat—only to see a crimson whip flicker before his eyes, slamming into his chest and flinging him five or six meters away.
The cheers from the stands fell abruptly silent. For a moment, the scene was deathly still.
“What’s going on? This isn’t in line with ogre philosophy.” One noble muttered to himself.
One point of ogre philosophy was that an ogre would always start with the worst meat, saving the finest delicacies for last.
Tab had angered the ogre and become its top priority for consumption. Yet before Tab was completely devoured, the ogre suddenly attacked another gladiator!
Even putting aside the fact that Tab wasn’t fully eaten, the gladiator under attack was Lionkin Bladeheart. By all rights, the worst meat should have been the girl! She was the ogre’s original target—if it wanted to abandon Tab and resume eating, it should attack the girl first, not Lionkin Bladeheart.
The only explanation now was that ogre philosophy had failed.
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