“Hoo…” The man wielding the giant axe took a deep breath.
“In this situation, is this really my limit?”
A look of desolation filled his eyes.
He understood clearly—his master had already lost interest in him.
Making him participate in the wagered duel was nothing more than the master making a simple bet for himself.
If he survived, the master would earn a hefty profit.
If the master was in a good mood, maybe he’d let him live a bit longer.
If he died…
Then he died.
From the moment he was enslaved, this outcome had already been decided.
If there was anyone to blame, it could only be himself for not being strong enough.
“This is probably the last time…” The man sighed.
But in the next instant, his gaze turned incomparably sharp.
“Release!”
The originally rusted-looking giant axe suddenly burst forth with a dazzling light.
Mid-rank Light Elemental Combat Art.
[Holy Seal]
An incomplete combat art, forcibly cast by seizing the world’s mana with mental force.
“There’s still a Knight Commander?”
“A squad captain and a Knight Commander. Looks like there might actually be a survivor this time.”
A flurry of murmurs arose from the spectators’ stand.
Although they were all on opposing sides, even they had to admit the strength of those two.
If it weren’t for the suppression, in a fair fight, an ordinary high-rank mage wouldn’t even have a chance to cast a spell before being torn apart.
The other three’s eyes lit up when they saw the Knight Commander activate his release.
The Heavy Sword Captain immediately erupted, hacking at the neck of a Hami Croc.
“Hoo…” The Knight Commander exhaled deeply, then launched himself with explosive force to the neck of the giant croc the Captain was attacking.
“Vmm!”
A phantom of the axe, over ten meters high, slashed through the giant croc.
Soon, a rich scent of melon wafted through the air.
Three left.
But just then, something strange happened.
The slain Hami Croc transformed into three green-yellow motes of light, merging into the remaining three crocs.
8→10
Law of Life: [Common Origin]
An even more horrifying presence appeared in the arena.
“Tch…”
None of them had expected such a twist.
But the witches and sorcerers in the audience seats were already used to it.
If it was just four level-eight Hami Crocs, there wouldn’t have been so many failures by now.
Either kill all four instantly, or as a mere mortal, defeat a level-fifteen Hami Croc that could cast low-level earth magic.
At that point, a croc’s skin was as tough as twenty-centimeter-thick steel.
The four participants all realized this as well.
“I’ll try again. Help me herd them together as much as possible,” said the Knight Commander, hiding in the shadows again to build up power.
“Leave it to us.”
They answered in unison.
Su Yun seemed to have been completely forgotten.
She huddled, trembling in a corner, watching everything unfold.
She didn’t understand why, when things had seemed fine before, she was suddenly thrown in as a sacrificial pawn.
People said witches were fickle, but not to such an extent, right?
It must be that she hadn’t done something well enough…
Where? Where did she go wrong?
Was she not proactive enough?
Did Mo Qingqing dislike her being too quiet?
If… if she could get out alive… she would definitely change!
Seeing the Knight Commander take down a Hami Croc in an instant, Su Yun felt a glimmer of hope.
Just a few more…
Everyone present thought the same.
So-called suicide difficulty—was it just this much?
Just one more strike…
One more strike!
“Graah!”
“Dang dang dang……”
The arena fell silent.
Only the sound of scales falling off could be heard,
“Clang!”
A giant axe, still stained with fresh blood, crashed to the ground.
Next came several segments of intestines and flesh.
The three crocs rushed with incredible speed into the shadows, devouring the Knight Commander on the spot.
They were so fast that no one could react.
The Captain stared at the crocs in disbelief, only to find a mocking glint in their eyes.
Not only had their power increased.
But also their intelligence.
The feasting was over quickly.
The remaining few fell back into crisis once more.
The Captain tried to repeat his earlier tactic.
But this time, the crocs only watched him.
Suddenly, one croc whipped its head, biting down on his heavy sword and flinging him into the air.
“What?” The Captain was shocked, but his vast combat experience allowed him to react instantly.
He gripped his sword tightly, adjusting his posture as he fell meteor-like toward the ground.
But the expected impalement of a croc didn’t happen.
The crocs tacitly ran elsewhere, letting him slam straight into the ground.
“Thud!”
“Cough, cough—urk….”
The Captain spat blood, staggering to his feet.
Falling from thirty or forty meters in full armor.
If not for his superhuman physique, he’d have become a tin can right then.
Even so, he’d already lost all hope of survival.
He ripped off his helmet, bloody head glaring with fury.
He fixed his gaze on the cheering witches and sorcerers in the audience.
A hoarse yet forceful voice burst from his chest one last time.
“You damned blasphemers! Sooner or later, the wrath of the gods will consume you all, you will…”
His words were abruptly cut off.
His master had stopped him.
Yet the fire in his eyes only burned brighter.
These witches and sorcerers had enslaved his body, his soul.
But his will and faith would never be erased!
Ignoring the agony wracking his body, he raised his heavy sword for a final charge.
In that moment, he seemed to see the God of Flame watching over him.
Father, I have shamed you…
“Creak.”
A Hami Croc claimed this prime cut, closing its jaws a few times before swallowing him whole.
“Sorry to let everyone see that, he was only just caught recently.” An Archsorcerer’s face flushed as he tried to laugh it off.
“That’s not good enough. Here, this is for you.” Someone placed a training manual in front of him.
The sorcerer’s face grew even redder, his head drooping lower.
“Haha… I’ll read it for sure, definitely….”
Wrath of the gods?
Just the earliest rulers, that’s all.
Give it some time, and maybe they’d stand as equals to those beings.
Who cared?
Besides, that was just a dead man’s final madness.
“Ahhhhh!!!” The Captain was dead.
The remaining archer and whip woman went utterly mad.
Not only had all hope of survival vanished.
They were also moved by the Captain’s last stand, recalling their own past.
They, too, had once been knights of the gods!
The whip woman bound the jaws of a Hami Croc, trying to wrench its head aside.
However—
“Thud!”
The Hami Croc bit down on the whip, swung her violently into the ground, leaving her half-paralyzed, and then gulped her down.
The archer didn’t even have a chance to resist before being swallowed.
“What? That’s it…?”
“Haha, I bet the archer would die second-to-last!”
“Hey, I bet the little fox dies last.”
Except for Mo Qingqing, who’d bet on Su Yun winning, no one thought she’d survive.
“What a bunch of idiots.” Mo Qingqing rolled her eyes.
By the rules, if neither side could do anything to the other, it was considered a draw.
And in this suicide-level wagered duel, a draw meant victory.
She didn’t think Su Yun could win—she was certain that, even as a fully evolved Hami Croc, it couldn’t digest Su Yun.
“Looks like I can catch a nap.” Mo Qingqing yawned.
Fate seemed decided.
In a few hours, when the overseer realized nothing could be done to Su Yun, they’d announce a draw.
But Su Yun didn’t know this.
Faced with the three mountain-like giant crocs creeping closer, toying with their prey,
She felt ice-cold, her heart filled with despair.
Am I going to die?
No… I don’t want to die!
Clearly—clearly, I tried so hard…
To avoid being beaten to death, she had lived cautiously and trained hard in her previous life.
Only to get stomach cancer.
To cling to life, she had tried everything in this life.
Evading beast hordes, escaping conscription, surviving the trials.
Was it all to end here?