The deafening roar of the massive beast hit like a violent storm, shaking every single grain of sand inside the vast arena.
Every tremor sent a wave of terror that could easily paralyze any ordinary person. From the high balconies, the loud cheers and laughter of thousands of nobles echoed through the air.
The clinking sound of gold coins being bet on who would die first mixed with the cold night wind. To them, this was just an entertaining show. But to Elias and Tomas, it was a brutal death sentence.
Elias stood right in the middle of the bloody sand, his eyes locked on the creature charging straight at them. The monster had the body of a giant, skinless bear. Its raw, red muscles were completely exposed, constantly bleeding with every heavy step it took.
But the most horrifying part of the creature was its face. It was a human face that had been stretched to its absolute limit just to fit across a massive skull. Branded into its forehead was a glowing number identifying it as Number One Hundred.
"Get out of its way!" Elias yelled at the top of his lungs, quickly yanking Tomas away from the dead center of the arena.
Tomas lost his balance due to the deafness in his right ear and the extreme exhaustion weighing down his body. He crashed into the sand a few meters away from Elias. Less than a second after they dodged, the beast's two giant fists slammed right into the exact spot where they had just been standing.
The ground exploded, sending sharp chunks of rock flying into the air. Elias felt the violent blast of wind smack against his face.
He used those precious seconds to study his opponent's movements. As a seasoned gambler in his old world, he had learned how to count cards and read every single twitch of the people sitting around the table.
His brain automatically searched for patterns amidst the absolute chaos. He watched the monster closely as it geared up for its next attack.
Elias noticed that the beast wasn't moving out of hunger or pure rage. With every violent motion the creature made, dark chains would suddenly materialize beneath its skin. These chains were forged from pure magic, crackling with scorching electricity.
Whenever the monster tried to stop or fight against its commands, the black chains would tighten mercilessly around its bones. This creature wasn't a wild beast hunting for prey. It was just another slave, being forced to kill just to avoid its own suffering.
"Three seconds," Elias muttered quietly to himself as he swiftly dodged another devastating swipe from the beast.
He had counted the interval between its attacks. Every three seconds, the black chains would release a surge of voltage to torture the monster. That agonizing pain was what drove the creature to charge forward mindlessly. It was a perfect cheat rigged by the nobles. They were deliberately torturing their sacrificed slaves just to make them look more ferocious for the audience.
Elias rolled across the rough sand to avoid the monster's razor-sharp claws that nearly sliced his chest open. He felt the heavy exhaustion slowly creeping up his legs. Number Zero's body was still weak.
He didn't have nearly enough physical strength to trade blows with a creature the size of a house. If he just kept running and dodging, he would run out of breath and become monster food in a matter of minutes.
"Elias, we need to use equivalent exchange!" Tomas shouted from behind as he struggled to stand on his trembling knees. "I'll bet my other ear to summon fire. You place a bet too so we can build up enough force!"
"Don't gamble your remaining hearing on a useless attack!" Elias answered coldly, never taking his eyes off the monster. "Even if we sacrifice all our senses, a little fire won't be enough to kill that thing. It's not our real opponent at this table."
Elias stopped running. He turned to face the colossal beast that was now gathering its strength to crush him. The thousands of spectators above were completely confused. Whispers broke out when they saw the lowly slave lower his hands. Most of them assumed he had given up out of fear and was quietly accepting his fate.
But inside Elias's mind, numbers and possibilities were spinning rapidly. In the gambling world, there was one golden rule he always followed: When you see that your opponent controls all the cards, don't try to beat their hand.
What you need to do is break the very table you're playing on. This monster was just a massive card held by the house. To win, he needed to chop off the hand that was controlling it.
Elias looked up and stared at the large crystal floating above the arena, which displayed the bets placed by the nobles. He focused on the invisible scale inside his mind that was waiting for his next sacrifice. He opened his mouth and laid down a bet that would shake the very foundation of this world.
"Gods of Exchange, do you see the black chains forcing this creature to fight?" Elias shouted loudly. His voice was thick with a courage and authority that completely clashed with his ragged clothes. "I offer my own body to absorb the exact pain it feels. I bet my ability to feel every ounce of punishment and torture from those chains for ten solid minutes. In exchange, I demand the total destruction of the contract controlling its mind!"
A deafening silence suddenly fell over the entire arena. The Announcer at the top of the tower froze. Even the nobles in the balconies stopped mid-drink.
No slave in the entire history of the empire had ever wagered their own body to take on the pain of their opponent. In the law of equivalent exchange, those who offered a sacrifice always asked for personal power. What Elias did was a direct violation of the game's logic.
The scale in Elias's mind glowed with an intense golden light. The law of nature accepted his bizarre wager because the pain he offered held massive value.
Before the monster could even take a step forward, the brutal toll of his bet arrived. Elias felt as if thousands of sharp knives had been plunged simultaneously into his entire body.
A searing heat violently surged through his veins, making his blood feel like boiling steel. He collapsed to his knees, his muscles twisting and convulsing from the sheer agony. Heavy streams of blood started pouring from his nose and eyes.
This was the actual pain the monster endured every single second of its life. This was the weight of the punishment the nobles inflicted just to force it to become a killing machine. Any ordinary person would have died in seconds from the sheer shock to the brain.
But Elias wasn't an ordinary person. In his old world, he had been broken over and over again. He had experienced losing his family, having his dignity trampled on, and drowning in a swamp of despair that eventually pushed him to jump off a bridge.
The pain of the soul he carried from his past was far heavier than any physical punishment. He used the memories of his losses as an unbreakable shield. He bit down on his teeth so hard that his gums bled. He forced his head up and flashed the thousands of spectators an insane, bloody smile.
"Is this really all you can dish out?" Elias forced out a hoarse, struggling laugh that echoed through the silent arena. "This isn't even half of what I've lost."
The moment he accepted the agonizing pain, the second half of the law of equivalent exchange took effect. Because he had taken on the punishment of the black chains, they completely lost their grip on the monster's body. A massive explosion of blue energy erupted around the colossal creature.
The black chains buried deep in its flesh quickly turned into ash that was swept away by the cold wind. The glowing number branded on its forehead rapidly lost its light and turned into an ordinary scar.
The monster stopped attacking. Its massive fists, which had been raised to crush Elias, froze in mid-air. Its eyes, which had been pure red and full of madness just moments ago, slowly cleared up.
The bloodlust vanished, replaced by extreme confusion and sudden awareness. The monster had regained its own mind after a long time of being nothing more than a controlled dog.
Panic erupted among the nobles in the balconies. The guards stationed along the top of the walls quickly cocked their long weapons, which hummed with blue energy. The entire arena felt the drastic shift in the situation.
What was supposed to be a fun slaughter show had instantly turned into a massive threat to their safety, as one of the most dangerous creatures in the empire had just broken free from the house's control.
"Kill the beast!" the Head Announcer screamed in a total panic from above. "Wipe them all out on the sand before that slave can cast another spell!"
Before the guards could even fire a single shot, the giant monster slowly stood up on its two hind legs. Its size became even more terrifying as it straightened its back, looking like a literal mountain of flesh glaring down at its enemies. It positioned its broad body directly between Elias and the glowing weapons aimed at them.
The beast looked down at Elias, who was still on his knees enduring the fiery pain. Its human face showed a serious expression mixed with deep respect and gratitude. The creature opened its mouth and spoke in a deep, earth-shaking voice.
"I was locked inside my own mind for a hundred years, while they tried to crush my soul and turn me into a mindless animal," the monster said, its eyes locked straight onto Elias's. "And now, a stranger who has the guts to challenge the Gods has given me freedom in exchange for his own suffering."
The beast swiftly raised its right hand and violently plunged its razor-sharp claws straight into the center of its own chest. Everyone heard the sickening tear of thick flesh. Glowing black and gold blood poured from the massive wound. Tomas, watching from behind, was completely stunned, but Elias couldn't move due to the intense pain he was absorbing.
From its own chest, the monster pulled out a glowing object. It was incredibly dense energy that had solidified into the shape of a perfect circle. It looked like a giant gambling chip radiating a dangerous and ancient power. This was the very soul of the creature they called Number One Hundred. It was the core that contained all its strength, memories, and life.
The monster bent down and carefully placed the glowing chip right at Elias's blood-soaked and sandy feet.
"I don't have enough strength left to break through these magical walls, and they are definitely going to destroy this body in a matter of minutes," the beast whispered seriously, before shifting its gaze toward the nobles ordering the attack from above. A bitter, dangerous smile appeared on its face. "But I can see that you're not just here to survive. You're here to win a game that no one ever beats."
The beast locked its cold gaze back on Elias, who was now slowly forcing himself up, struggling to move his numb legs. The next words the colossal creature spoke completely shifted the balance of power in the entire empire.
"Take my life as your stake," the monster declared, a statement that completely silenced the roaring arena. "Take my soul and throw it on the table. Bet me against the lives of all those greedy bastards sitting up in that balcony. Let's break their house."