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Chapter 10 - Chapter 10: Demonic Contender

Finally, the battle of life and death started. Below the arena was a circular ground following the outline of the seats.

The west and south sides had two gates. The first gate opened and the first to come out was a big man.

What would he look like to be described a big man? He was tall and bulky. It didn't look like those exaggerated steroid muscles of those dehydrated body influencers. The man had the right amount of fat for someone of his size.

He was around 7 feet. At that height, most people would be lanky but not him. The hand that was gripping the huge broadsword displayed enormous strength and showcased the muscles underneath those fats.

His upper body was naked, displaying those scars like badges of honor.

His face was covered with facial hair that ran through his sideburns. His hair was shaggy and a bit oily. The first thing you would notice when glancing at his face would be his animalistic eyes.

[OUR UNDEFEATED CHAMPION SINCE THE ARENA OPENED... THE GREAT ANKAI!]

"ANKAI! ANKAI! ANKAI!"

"ANKAI! ANKAI! ANKAI!"

Cia stared at the man, amazed at how much bloodlust he was emitting by just standing there. This type of person is not something you would see in the modern world.

Even if there is someone with the same build as him, they wouldn't have the deadly aura that clearly signifies that this man had seen and experienced some things.

Initially, Cia was a bit detached from this battle. Now seeing this, even he was fired up.

Then the other gate opened. The moment he saw the man who came out from the other side, his pupils dilated.

Coming out was an equally large 'man'. The reason why Cia hesitated to call that a man is because he couldn't feel any humanity beneath that helmet.

It was like he was staring at a meat grinder. The air around the contender was screaming 'KILL'. His entire body was covered with cloth, contrary to Ankai.

Black. Black iron helmet, black clothes, black boots. His entire body was covered with what seemed like darkness.

[THE BLACK HORSE, THE UNDEFEATED CONTENDER WHO ROSE THROUGH THE RANKS... YUSI!]

The entire arena went silent, then it was followed by thundering cheers.

"YUSI! YUSI! YUSI! YUSI!"

"YUSI! YUSI! YUSI!"

Everyone was excited but the Ikaris siblings felt differently.

Ain's strong intuition told him that something was off about that Yusi. But then again he couldn't pinpoint what it was to his annoyance. He had no idea what was wrong with his intuition tonight.

Cia, on the other hand, knew what was wrong. The reason why he was quick to realize what was going on is because he had already felt this before.

"System, scan Yusi." He told the system. Cia was familiar with this inhumane aura of death.

---

[Scanning... 40%... 60%...100%...]

[No Presence Detected]

---

Sure enough... It was demon.

[Host! Should we leave?] Honestly, the system was a bit traumatized with that pig demon. The host almost died from the hands of the creatures. Thinking about that made the system feel chilly.

[Host, your mind space is not yet fully open. You might encounter some obstacles when using your ability, are you sure you want to risk it?] The system made it clear that Cia wasn't in good shape to fight a demon again.

Cia looked around and saw the pale-looking Ain staring at Yusi.

"Let's stick around first." It was unknown to the system what Cia was thinking, but Cia seemed to have made a firm decision.

...

Ankai was an ordinary fisherman before being a contender at the arena. His wife died of dystocia leaving behind a weak baby girl. His family was in dire straits because he lost his job and his daughter was a medicine jar.

But Ankai didn't dislike his child. He loved his child more than anything and wanted to give her a better life.

The town of Syrencrest is a very desolate place. Ankai knew that. So despite the risk, he was willing to risk his life to earn money.

To be honest, he was a bit confused. The previous championship rewards were just a few silvers... How had it suddenly risen to 1,000 gold coins.

He did hear some gossip that the identity of Yusi's master is special. It was obvious that they were confident about Yusi, that's why the championship prize was larger than before.

Ankai became cautious as he locked eyes with Yusi. As a fighter, he acknowledged that Yusi seemed to be different from his previous competitors.

[LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!]

The moment it was announced, Ankai quickly pounced on Yusi without waiting for him to react. His broadsword slashing through the air in an attempt to strike Yusi's shoulders.

Yusi directly grabbed the sword instead of dodging it. Like he was holding a wooden stick, Yusi swung the sword away together with Ankai still gripping it.

It looked comical. A large man being dragged like he weighed nothing.

Ankai had no time to feel inferior. He tried to pull the sword out of Yusi's grip but it felt like the sword was stuck in something immovable.

He let go of his sword to attack Yusi head-on.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

The two contenders fought. No, it was more accurate to say that Ankai was one-sidedly attacking Yusi while Yusi was focused on defending.

Yusi couldn't attack. Ankai would never let Yusi attack. Because based on how he defended, Ankai knew that Yusi would overpower him. He had never encountered such a person. It felt like he was battling against a non-living thing.

He had a feeling that once Yusi moved, it would be over for him.

One could say that Ankai chose the right approach. But does it matter? Not against the brute force of something beyond human.

Yusi moved. Despite facing Ankai's barrage of attacks, he managed to ignore all the hits as he reached for Ankai's head.

Ankai watched Yusi's battles before and knew that every opponent of his would be doomed the moment they were caught by the head.

He was quick to dodge, but Yusi still managed to grab his shoulders.

CRACK!

"AHHHH!"

It looked as simple as breaking a twig, but it also looked comical. Ankai's burly arms were bent into a weird shape. It wasn't just a simple fracture, his bones were broken.

"Fuck, Ankai why are you acting like a pussy?! Fight back!"

"You better win the battle! I bet money on you! This was my family's savings. If you lose, I'll kill you myself!"

"Ankai! Don't act like a coward!"

People watching the fight didn't know what Ankai felt, but clearly they didn't care. People who had bet on Ankai looked hideous. With veins popping out of their necks and foreheads from yelling.

Hearing those voices, although Ankai knew what he signed up for, he was still childish at the fact that the moment he decided to become a warrior in this area, he was no longer seen as human. Just an object.

...

Cia felt the bile rising in his throat. Seeing what was happening in the arena reminded him of the demon attack that he experienced recently.

It was like everything clicked all of a sudden. Cia realized that he seemed to be still in the state of shock after that attack. His mind hadn't processed what happened.

Now seeing the bloody Ankai, everything finally sunk in. He was in the path of a bloodbath.

The blow was hard. Cia remembered that he even developed sleepwalking because of stress.

[Host!]

Cia couldn't hear what the system was saying. He suddenly felt very light-headed and his breathing slowed down.

He realized that something was wrong but he had no idea what was happening.

[Ding! Punisher Mode Activated]

The system watched as the warmth in Cia's eyes vanished. It knew what was happening. Cia activated the punisher mode instinctually like a self-defense mechanism.

After seeing the battle below, Cia's fight or flight instincts activated because his body and subconscious remembered what happened during the Bakras attack.

[Nothing bad will happen right?] The system thought, but it still couldn't help but ask its host, [Host, the punisher mode activated... Are you okay?]

...

Below, Yusi started to counterattack. At this point, Ankai was already bathed in blood. Both of his hands were out of commission (broken) and his eyesight started to blur.

Ankai panted as he looked at Yusi. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You are playing with me!"

There were many instances where Yusi could have killed him, but he didn't. Ankai wasn't grateful because Yusi didn't do that out of goodwill but to torture him further.

Yusi didn't answer.

This is getting more dangerous, Ankai thought. Although he wants the money, him dying was not an option.

He opened his mouth and just as he was about to say "I surrender," Yusi suddenly rushed towards him in a blur.

BANG!

Yusi showed an absurd speed that he didn't exhibit before.

Ankai couldn't dodge. Yusi's palm grabbed his head and smashed it on the platform below.

Blood gushed out from behind, but Ankai was still conscious.

He could no longer hear what the people around were saying.

Ankai was putting his entire strength into pushing Yusi away as he could feel the strength that Yusi was exerting on his head was getting stronger.

"HMMMMM!" Ankai was seeing was red.

Durning this time, he had a harrowing realization.

Yusi wasn't human.

It felt like he was fighting something wild and untamed. Like an animal.

Yusi was looking at Ankai. For the first time, he opened his mouth.

"Must... Entertain... The Guest..."

Ankai's body lost strength. He stopped struggling and laid limp on the ground with his head slowly getting crushed.

Could a human really defeat a monster?

What is this Yusi? What is he doing in this town? Does his master know what he was?

His consciousness started to slip away. All he could think of was his daughter...

There is a... Demon in town.

SLASH!

Just as he was about to accept his death, the force on his head vanished.

Yusi suddenly let go of Ankai.

This time, something unexpected happened.

The arena went silent.

Everyone looked at what seemed like a fire poker that was embedded deep on Yusi's shoulders, then at the direction where it came from—

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