"The round has concluded with one final survivor!" A loud voice boomed in the auditorium, leaking into the long hallway that Rey stood in alongside the other few dozen slaves.
He hadn't bothered counting earlier, but he estimated that there were more than thirty of them.
All of them were being sent into the arena soon.
But for what?
"Our next round will begin now. Let's cheer for the participants as they march in."
The moment the announcer said this, the few officials in the hallway began to urge the slaves to move forward. Regardless of their hesitation and aversion to the stage, all of them had no choice but to obey.
Like ants, they helplessly proceeded outside the room…
… Onto the stage!
Soon, it was Rey's turn, and without hesitation, he crossed the precipice and found himself in a massive clearing. The empty field was at least a few acres large, circular, and devoid of any kind of obstacles.
Above it were many seats that occupied all kinds of people whom Rey couldn't clearly see because of their distance, as well as the bright stage lights that descended from the ceiling.
He even felt a bit of a headache just raising his head
But…
… That wasn't the only cause of his nausea.
Because littering the ground around him were all kinds of mutilated corpses. They were fleshly remains of those who had entered the arena before him, their body parts and entrails scattered all over the vast field.
Many of their faces were distorted beyond recognition, their bones smashed to bits, and their flesh partly eaten.
Rey witnessed this horrifying sight with a calm expression.
He finally understood.
"With our fresh batch of contestants here, I will reiterate the conditions of victory. The rules are simple! All thirty-six of you enter… only one leaves alive. As long as you survive until the very end, you get to live and also win your Master a grand prize. Of course, for some of you spectators, now is your chance to hedge your bets. Look at all of these faces and choose who you think will survive until the very end!"
After listening to the announcer for a while, Rey completely grasped the essence of the contest.
This Coliseum was truly an unexpected find.
'I thought I would have to fight someone, but it seems the goal is to simply survive whatever dangers they will release on us.' Rey squinted as he struggled to spot his Master among the spectators.
It was impossible.
He could be anyone… he could be anywhere.
'Will he bet on me? I don't think he would…' Rey glanced at all the other contestants and noticed that some had better appearances and more advantageous physiques.
Some were more muscular, while others were taller.
Compared to them, he was just average.
'The smart thing for Augustus to do is to bet on the one who has the highest chances of winning among those other slaves. If he wins, he'll get amply compensated for his troubles, and if his slave wins, he will also get the reward money. This increases the odds of victory considerably, and it would be what a true gambler would go for.'
After looking at all the contestants, Rey could easily notice the few slaves who had the highest chances of victory.
He knew his Master would have to choose one of them.
'My presence here is merely an insurance and to raise the chances of victory. In the end, I could die tonight, and he'll just get another slave tomorrow.'
After acknowledging all of these things, his eyes flashed with ruthless light as he waited.
Once the spectators made their bets and the participants began spreading out in the vast field, the announcer's voice returned once more.
"Okay! Enough time has passed! We will now commence!"
His tone displayed a perverted excitement at the chaos that was about to unfold.
But Rey wasn't in a position to feel disgust at this fellow, nor could he feel enraged at his so-called Master or the other spectators in this theater.
In fact, he wasn't in a position to feel anything.
Only instinct.
'Survive!' He sharply told himself. 'I must survive!'
"We will now release the Chaos Dweller!" The announcer yelled out to the crowd.
Then, like a thunderous echo, the excited audience had a reverberating response, causing the air to be filled with intense energy.
"Release the Chaos Dweller! Release the Chaos Dweller! Release the Chaos Dweller!"
'Chaos… Dweller?' Rey's expression twisted. 'What's that?
Then—
RUMBLE!
The ground trembled intensely as a grotesque creature, four meters tall, suddenly appeared from a hole in the ground. Normally, the hole would be covered by a layer of thick flooring, but that had now vanished, leaving an empty space available for whatever dwelled within to come out.
And… what a terrifying sight it was!
The creature had eight limbs—two as its feet, and six as its arms.
Two arms curled up from its back like a pair of wings, two touched the ground, like one would expect from the forelimbs of a wild beast, and two stretched out violently as it hungrily stared at the many slaves spread out before it.
With an ashen gray appearance, the monstrosity looked like a mutated lizard.
Its tail slithered behind it like a python, and it had two horns at the top of its head like a bighorn sheep. Then, there was its mouth—several rows of jagged teeth tainted its salivating maw, all having different sizes that reeked of torture before death.
It was undoubtedly a terrifying beast.
The only flaw it had was that there were no eyes present.
It possessed no sight, hence it relied on its other senses to find its prey and devour them whole.
This was a Chaos Dweller… a biological machine built only for horror and death!
"It looks like a monster from H'Trae or an alien from sci-fi stories I saw on Earth. Regardless, it seems this is our adversary. The goal isn't to fight it, but to survive…" Rey muttered to himself as he watched the beast slowly break out of the chains that bound it.
Before, they were solid as thick metal, but now they had become brittle like dry wood.
It would only be a few more seconds before it was free.
Then, the feast would begin.
'The problem with this arrangement is that it is impossible to predict which person the Monster will go after. The only thing we can do is maintain our distance from it. But if it targets one specific person, there is very little that can be done to shake the monster off…'
Rey sighed, walking a few steps forward and kneeling in front of a mutilated corpse.
Then, he hurriedly dissected it and ripped out a few bones sticking out.
With enough force, the broken ends of the bones could serve as lethal weapons.
Many slaves watched him and thought of his actions as foolish.
No matter how useful such a tool was, against this Chaos Dweller, it might as well mean nothing.
Rey knew this.
But he still had to make such preparations.
Then, finally…
"ROOOOAAAARRR!!!"
The Chaos Dweller finally released itself from all its chains and screamed in delight.
It was dinner time!