"T-the winner... is Cursed Boy!"
By the time the announcer finally announced the end of the match, Stone Turtle had already become an unrecognizable blob of flesh and blood. Pink flesh lay strewn everywhere, and the horrid stench of blood covered everything.
Bathed in this tangy smell of gore was Rey, who stood atop this mutilated corpse.
He had a perfectly composed expression.
Cold. Unfeeling. Disconcerted.
He truly seemed not to care about the atrocity he had just committed.
Rey simply used an unsullied part of his shirt to wipe off a piece of flesh that had stuck to his face, turning it into a crimson smudge.
Afterward, he walked away.
Once again, the stage was cleared for the next set of opponents to battle.
Among the slaves watching the fight, one of them cast his gaze on Rey, his grin widening to reveal a sharp set of teeth like that of a shark. Deep bloodlust rose from within his crimson eyes, but he suppressed it with all his strength.
He could already feel himself salivating, unable to control the throbbing in his heart.
’Ahh... I can’t wait...’ His perverse thoughts echoed. ’If we don’t face each other along the way, I will definitely see you in the finals.’
He licked his lips obsessively, his focus completely resting on Rey the same way a predator would constantly watch its prey. This creepy behavior seemed to go unnoticed by the latter, but he didn’t care. Even if the Cursed Boy didn’t notice him now, he would have no choice but to do so once they fought, and he revealed his true strength.’
Meanwhile, Rey was actually in deep contemplation as he watched the next match with undivided focus.
Of course, he could sense the gaze of someone on him.
But he ignored it.
’To what end?’ He sighed. ’I already know who’s staring at me like that. He’s likely the most dangerous person here. Although he didn’t stand out in his last match, I could tell that he wasn’t going all out. That bastard is hiding his strength.’
Rey still remembered how the man fought a seemingly close battle with his opponent, causing many to think he only won by a hair’s breadth.
But he knew better.
’He was toying with his opponent. He enjoys the thrill. He likes to play with his food. But it doesn’t seem like he intends to do the same with me. Does he want to go all-out and kill me because he also recognizes my threat level?’
Rey couldn’t help but have these thoughts despite being so deadpan.
’Blood Shark, huh?’ He thought of the slave’s name. ’It seems our clash is inevitable. I’ll burn all your matches leading up to that moment into my mind before then.’
Although Rey acknowledged this man’s strength, that didn’t mean he had any intention of losing.
It was actually the opposite.
’How dare you look at me as prey?’
Rey had fallen on hard times, losing his former status and strength, but he had never for once forgotten who he used to be.
’A mere child like you... wishes to humiliate me?’
Although he had long chosen to disregard emotions when it came to matters of survival, which living creature didn’t have some level of ego? No matter how much Rey tried to suppress his inner feelings, they were still buried within him.
He felt all manner of emotions in that single moment, and that only further fueled his determination.
All this time, throughout all the death and carnage he had caused in the Coliseum, it had never been personal. But Rey felt something different regarding his upcoming match with this person.
’I’m going to enjoy it... very much.’
**************
Time passed, and the semifinals arrived.
It was between Rey and a very starving Blood Shark.
Once this matchup was announced, the latter jumped to the stage with excitement, his crimson eyes flashing with ominous light as drool oozed from his wide-open mouth.
"At long last!" He yelled in unbridled delight.
Rey didn’t say anything.
Instead, he calmly walked to the center of the stage, standing about ten meters from his foe.
His dull gray eyes appeared dead, reflecting the excited face of the adversary. Even now, he didn’t show an ounce of emotion on his child-like face.
Many would feel chills just from this, but Rey’s demeanor only made the Blood Shark more excited.
Then, right as the tension in the air reached its climax, the host’s voice echoed in the arena.
"FIGHT!"
Silence.
Pure silence pervaded the stage as both young men stared at each other.
Blood Shark had very long, disheveled black hair. His body was pale and lean, like someone emaciated, but it had a terrifying feel. His arms were longer than normal, and he had a slightly hunched posture.
He wore no shirt, just a buttonless blue jacket accompanied by black shorts.
His sole weapon was a dagger, which he held very tightly.
Yet, he looked so primal.
Like an animal.
Everything about him was eerie, and what appeared to be black mist began to emanate from his slim, pale body. His nails began to elongate, even turning black. The whites of his eyeballs grew black, and his teeth also became the same color.
He had become... something else.
Something perverse.
"Chaos Art..." Rey mumbled to himself. "He uses Chaos Art, too."
"Can I ask you something?" Blood Shark finally broke the silence with his loud voice.
After waiting for a few seconds, Rey nodded.
"Sure."
"Your victory against the second opponent... why did you go through all that effort before eventually activating your powers?"
’Hmm?’ Rey raised a brow in mild surprise. ’Is he asking me why I went through the trouble of constantly attacking the Stone Turtle before finally killing him? Why? He uses Chaos Art, but he’s asking me such a thing... Does he really not know?’
Despite his evident confusion at this, Rey decided to answer anyway.
"You need to understand the properties of your target when using Chaos Art. I kept trying to understand the properties of his stone body. By constantly imprinting my Ether onto his body, I learned more and could finally resonate my Ether with the stone body once it covered everything. I let him capture me so that my body would be directly touching his, allowing me to resonate my Ether with the leftover imprints on his skin and better achieve the desired results."
"Ohhhhh!"
"Do you understand now?" Rey asked with a calm demeanor.
"Yes! Yes, I do!"
"So can I ask you a question too?"
"Sure!"
Rey smiled lightly and narrowed his gaze on the Blood Shark.
"You are clearly using Chaos Art, but I am unfamiliar with this technique of yours. Which Technique is it?"
"Technique? Ah... I don’t know..."
"You... don’t know?" Rey frowned slightly.
Blood Shark noticed Rey’s change in expression and laughed in amusement, but also in honesty.
"You don’t believe me, huh? Well, it’s the truth!" He yelled. "I just found my chance and learned it. It’s been my trump card ever since."
"Found it? Your Master didn’t teach you?" Rey appeared even more confused.
"Master? Ah, oh that... yeah... I suppose there was such a thing." The man chuckled. "Well, let’s just leave that aside now that I’ve also answered your question."
Despite being dissatisfied with the outcome of his investigation, Rey could only nod and sigh.
"Hehe... I’ve been waiting for this!"
Blood Shark’s thin body suddenly began to expand, turning into very thick muscles. Black veins covered his skin, and the ominous energy around him increased. As Rey watched this constant swell in power, he felt the pressure mounting on him.
He knew this opponent wouldn’t be easy.
But he didn’t panic.
Instead, he sank into contemplation for a moment and analyzed all he had learned.
’This guy... he doesn’t seem to be lying. If that’s true, then he has that dagger as his Artifact and his Chaos Art as a trump card. It seems he only learned a single Sequence since he doesn’t even have a clue about its real identity, but it appears fairly high, at least higher than mine.’
That wasn’t even the most surprising thing Rey learned.
’Blood Shark is not a slave!’ His eyes shone with certainty. ’I wasn’t sure at first, but now... it has become clear. His bold attitude and his sheer confidence. He probably acted as a slave and got someone to pretend to be his Master, so he could participate in this event.’
That meant he was incredibly dangerous.
Slaves didn’t have great abilities because their Masters considered them disposable and wouldn’t invest too much in them. Rey knew this well, so he was fairly confident that no one here was his match.
But all of that changed if he was fighting someone like this.
’He uses a fairly high Sequence of an unknown Technique in Chaos Art. He is very skilled in fighting, wielding an Artifact in the form of a dagger, and he has no fear of me. He might give me some trouble...’
After calculating everything fairly, Rey finally took his own fight stance and clenched his fist.
"... But I will win."