'?'

The sound of footsteps came, the deep footsteps and the pacing made Larian guess that the giant was back. It stopped right in front of Larian's cage and pulled him out.

Pulling on the chain, Larian was dragged across the sticky Liquid.

Not long after that, Larian's start to feel hand sliding across his back. This scared him and he struck back.

But instead of a hand, his hand sunk into cold flesh.

'It's a corpse. Where am I being taken to?'

Realising that he was dragged past a dead body, Larian finally saw some light.

It was a room with the same luminous bulbs on the walls that barely lit up its surroundings.

But from the meagre amount of light Larian was able to make out where he was.

A few dead bodies laid around, Larian was able to see that he was in a stone circular arena. Above these walls, there were many spectators wearing robes and masks.

They all looked like how Larian would imagine nobles would act, haughty and arrogant in their bearings. They looked down towards the new contestant, Larian.

He could hear the people murmuring and talking.

'This is the colosseum? Does everyone have night vision or something? I can barely see anything!'

Feeling the floor Larian understood that the liquid that flowed throughout the dungeon were all blood of previous contestants.

The blood was flowing down a drain but there were still a large amount that were pouring out the entrance.

'How many bodies are there to have blood flow to the entrance?'

Larian looked up and could make out a silhouette of a monster crouched some distance away.

It was hunched and chewing on a piece of the pile. The fur on its skin was soggy and stuck to its skin. It's a werewolf.

A loud voice boomed around the arena.

"Fresh blood! Fresh blood!"

The voice soon turned into a chant as the crowd echoed in excitement.

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'What lunatics.'

The Bloodhound threw away the flesh it was feasting on and stared at Larian through the darkness while it sniffed the air. It smelled the fresher meat that arrived on the board.

Facing the new arrival the Beast started to release a thick red miasma. Seeing the beast, Larian's heart skipped a beat.

'Lifeforce? It's burning through its Lifeforce like Master Shiro had done. I have to drag this battle.'

Larian shifted his gaze to the floor around, he had to find a weapon. There were pieces of broken blades lying around. Larian was quick to pick any of them and pulled one that lodged beneath a dead body.

The blade was chipped and bent but it retained its general shape and that was enough for Larian.

Looking up at the beast, Larian immediately realised he lost sight of the creature.

'Damn! I'm at a severe disadvantage because of the darkness. I have to be careful of how I handle this.'

Backing to the corner of the arena, Larian leaned his back on the wall.

A series of Boos came from the audience.

But Larian ignored them, focusing on the area in front of him, he tried to find any signs of movement but the air was completely still. It was as if the gray werewolf had completely disappeared.

Hiding his discomfort, Larian assumed the pose of Shinki Style and slowly inched out from the wall.

There was still no movement.

Larian kept coming closer and closer to the center of the arena. Finally, the beast took his bait and started to move. From the corner of his eyes, Larian spotted a small figure dashing past a pile of corpses.

Slashing outwards, the figure was split in half. It toppled down lifelessly, but the uneasy feeling never left his heart.

'Behind!'

A bloodthirsty werewolf pounced on Larian. Its sharp teeth bite into his shoulder and pulled with a brutish ferocity.

It tried to tear the entire muscles off of Larian's shoulder but it severely underestimated Larian's strength. Larian didn't budge and plunged his blade down onto the wolf's head over his back.

The dull blade struck the wolf in its head but this only served to strengthen its grip on Larian, the wolf's mad eyes never flinched as Larian kept pummeling the beast in it's head.

'What a dull blade!'

Twisting his sword forward, the Larian aimed precisely at the wolf's eyes and plunged in.

*Whimper…

The wolf finally let go of its grip and retreated. It tried to blend into the shadow while it recovered from the pain lingering in it's eyes.

But Larian gave it no chance to lose itself and chased the beast. Larian came close to the werewolf, but it quickly twirled around and swung its claw towards Larian face.

The sharp claws barely missed Larian's eyes as he dodged backward.

The wolf quickly bolted and attempted to retreat into the darkness but Larian could make out its figure now.

Imbuing a thin amount of magic into his blade Larian slashed out but halfway through his swing the pain in his shoulder slowed the swing prematurely. The slash was dark blue and flew weakly to strike the werewolf's calf.

Despite clearly striking its legs the werewolf never lost its momentum and got down on all three of its remaining limbs and kept running.

'Fuck. This wolf is cunning and sly.'

Adam laughed from within.

"You realize how lacking you are in fighting experience?"

Running after the wounded beast Larian cornered the beast. Staring at the whimpering beast he saw tears seeping through its eyes as it clutched a corpse on the ground.

It was the body of a woman.

Larian walked close to the werewolf. He saw some clarity in the beast's eyes which was different from its earlier madness.

"...A woman. Was she important to you?"

The werewolf nodded. But it's head kept twisting erratically and soon its eyes turned blur with madness.

Larian didn't let the scene affect his decision and directly plunged his dull blade deep into the werewolf's other eye socket. Pushing it deep into the wolf's brain, Larian killed the beast instantly.

'She's already gone. Wallowing in sadness would only serve as baggage. It's your fault for not growing stronger to overcome me.'

Larian's heart didn't feel any guilt or remorse for the beast.

"The cowering swordsman actually killed the Bloodhound!"

The crowd cheered at Larian's victory. Slowly more spectators were paying attention to him. Behind their masks, they could not hide their greedy expressions as they stared down at Larian.

Their eyes curled upwards like they were looking at a delicious meal.

'What's next?'

A rattling of iron chains echoed through the arena to answer his question. From the other side, a rusty gate had opened to expose a path forward.

Larian walked towards the open path with a bleak expression. The scene of the earlier werewolf was still on his mind.

'No one came here willingly. In this hell hole, it is easy to see how people can easily lose their minds. Like the people who I just met in the cages.'

The gloomy atmosphere was starting to affect Larian as he passed through the rusted iron gates and entered the next room.