“What is going on now, Samsara Tenki?” Ryumi-O stared at the chaos in the arena with an expressionless face. He lowered his gaze and asked the black-haired girl acting as his cushion.
“…Lord Ryumi-O, that child—just now, a trace of foreign life aura appeared on her.” Samsara Tenki kept her eyes on the girl in the arena. “To be precise, her foreign bloodline awakened in an instant. It’s stronger than her human blood. She’s a mixed-blood of a foreign race.”
“Is that so? Heh, I thought these three months were fruitless, but here it is—a demon that can only be born in hell. Sooner or later, she’ll awaken as a Slave Maiden.” Ryumi-O sighed slightly.
“The Empire’s transport ships don’t collect slaves for the pleasure of those nobles. Although it’s still unclear how to awaken a mixed-blood girl into a Slave Maiden, pain and despair are certainly two essential factors.”
“Every year, the Empire sends out a massive slave transport ship with the sole purpose of spurring the birth of potential Slave Maiden seeds and claiming them as their own.” Ryumi-O seemed to recall something and nodded to himself as he muttered, “Father said, all the Slave Maidens who awaken on the slave transport ships belong to my brother. Samsara Tenki, if I inform my brother now to stop this deathmatch and save that Slave Maiden seed, would he agree?”
“…Lord Ryumi-O, are you asking for my opinion? It’s just my humble, unremarkable view, but His Highness Arthur would never agree. He would see it as an excuse to interrupt the wager. Even if he believed your words, for the sake of keeping the wager intact and undisturbed, he wouldn’t end this deathmatch. Compared to the uncertain value of a Slave Maiden seed, His Highness Arthur would surely prefer to obtain me, the [Life and Death Sovereign], Slave Maiden No. 4 of the Empire.”
“Then there’s nothing to be done.” Ryumi-O said calmly.
“Yes, in this situation, that child cannot escape being devoured by the foreign race.” Samsara Tenki nodded in agreement.
When scholars in the [SLAVE] world studied Slave Maidens, they uncovered a terrible truth: after awakening, mixed-blood girls emit a presence that incites insatiable hunger in all foreign races. These races go mad, attacking her relentlessly. Scholars concluded that Slave Maidens are the one thing all foreign races desire to devour.
The racial talent of the Slave Maiden surpasses all laws, standing at the peak among foreign races. It is the rarest treasure for humanity. In order to claim it, since the birth of the Slave Maiden less than a century ago, foreign races have developed an instinct to devour them.
No matter how tempting other food might be, no matter how grievously injured they may be, the moment they scent a Slave Maiden’s aura, foreign races drop everything, running and howling until the Slave Maiden is devoured—bones and all.
Some unseen force seems determined to snatch Slave Maidens from humanity’s grasp. To counter the endless assaults by foreign races, Amidal’s Academy of Science developed an accessory called the Hermit’s Heart. As long as a Slave Maiden wears it, her foreign life aura is masked, making her indistinguishable from a normal human.
At this moment, the three Slave Maidens aboard the transport ship—[Shadow Spider] Mei Yaozhitu, [Curse Doll] Yehuo Guiling, and [Life and Death Sovereign] Samsara Tenki—are all wearing the Hermit’s Heart, perfectly hiding their foreign aura.
But in the arena, the girl just discovered as a Slave Maiden seed does not possess a Hermit’s Heart. For a moment, her foreign bloodline overtook her human bloodline, and the only foreign race present in the arena detected the change with perfect clarity.
The Ogre abandoned the nearby Tabu. The other gladiators struck him off their menu. Now, the only prey, the only food, was the one radiating the intoxicating Slave Maiden scent. Instinct made him see the girl as the ultimate delicacy!
He would seize her! He would devour her! These were the only thoughts left in his mind.
The girl stared blankly as the Ogre approached her step by step. Her only reaction to this terror was the endless stream of tears down her face. She had no strength left to move.
“Come back, come back! Get back here and eat me!” Tabu, understanding the Ogre’s intent, first quivered his lips and then, with bloodied tears, screamed with all his might.
He must not be afraid! If everyone was to die here, he hoped the girl would be the last to go. If she died before him, how could he face Baiya in the afterlife?
The Lionkin Bladeheart, collapsed on the ground, coughed up blood. He felt as if his very organs had shifted inside him. Lifting his head, he caught Tabu’s desperate gaze. Stunned at first, then realizing Tabu wanted him to block the Ogre, Bladeheart trembled with anger.
“Are you asking me to die? I won’t save a useless wretch like her! I won’t be like you, exchanging my life for her survival!”
Tabu’s eyes dimmed, knowing Bladeheart would not help. He turned his gaze to Luo Shi. If Luo Shi also refused, there were no other Bronze-ranked gladiators left in the arena; the girl’s last hope would be gone.
“Save her…” Tabu mouthed the words. Luo Shi understood him.
Luo Shi was silent for a long time, then let out a self-deprecating chuckle and shook his head hard. Tabu, heartbroken, fell into despair.
“I’m not as calm as I thought. I’m shaking with fear, too!” Luo Shi’s sword hand trembled. “No one can defeat that kind of monster. Anyone in his way will be killed. In the end, Bronze, Gold—those lines have been clear from the start. The outcome was always set!”
“All of us are doomed to die.”
As the Ogre approached within two or three meters, the girl snapped out of her terror. She glanced around in panic. The nearest person was Tabu, lying in a pool of blood, dying.
As for the others—their faces shifted between pity, sympathy, and fear, but they merely stood watching, making no move. She understood. No one was coming to save her.
The Ogre reached her and slowly opened his bloody maw. At that moment, the only thought in the girl’s mind was:
—If only Father hadn’t sent me onto this transport ship…
She was born to a noble family and, until she was nine, lived a carefree life. That year, her mother disappeared, and her father’s love turned to hatred.
Because she truly loved her old life, she thought if she just let go of a few important things, everything would return to the way it was. She always told herself, it’s okay—she’d prepare sobering soup for her drunken father, it’s okay—she’d do all the chores after they went bankrupt, it’s okay—even if her father was deep in debt, she’d never leave his side. She filled her life with hope and fantasies of a bright future, clinging to the memory of being cherished. That was the kind of girl she was.
As collateral for her father’s debts, she was sent onto the slave transport ship and plunged into hell. Every day, death hovered near. At that point, it was no longer okay—she had lost even the strength to say those words.
Now, too, saying things like “it’s okay” couldn’t save her, or save anything at all. Hoping, in the end, was just a fool’s errand. Sister Baiya had said she would save her and wound up burned to death. Uncle Tabu, protecting her, was gnawed apart by a monster in agony. Indeed, aboard this ship, in this place steeped in despair, abandoning hope early was the wise choice.
“It’s okay…” The girl closed her eyes and wept. In this final moment, she no longer held any hope.
“Do you have a brother?”
A scarlet tongue was suddenly clamped by cold metal. The Ogre’s jaw snapped shut reflexively. The nobles gasped in shock.
It was a sound so familiar, so feverish and excited. The girl slowly opened her eyes. The figure clad in iron armor appeared before her, the Ogre’s fangs tightly closed on the armored wrist in front of her.
“No…” The girl, remembering the earlier voice, answered blankly.
“Then you do now!”
The armored guard violently wrenched her arm. With a crack, her wrist and joint separated under the Ogre’s bite. Sacrificing a hand, she had resolved the girl’s immediate crisis.
The girl picked up hope once again.