Varian crashed to the ground and rolled like a rag doll, his ribs cracking liked twigs and vomiting blood.
The world spun around him like it was dancing before it collapsed into the inverse of the colosseum.
Heavy footsteps filled his dizzy head and when he looked up, a giant hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up.
"F-Fuck!" Varian instinctively wanted to use the slivers as his last resort but pushed down the urge.
"Interesting, hooman, not breaking." Mega Orc chuckled.
The blue-skinned creature, a fusion between an orc and troll, was the brainchild of Genesis Empire's military in pursuit of a perfect soldier against the Jai Empire's wars.
Despite being a peak rank 5, it had a disgustingly high defense that would need considerable effort from a low rank 6 to break.
An insane regeneration that kept it alive unless its entire brain and crush were crushed.
Strength that rivaled tie 1 geniuses. Endurance that could outlast it against an entire platoon.
It was the super soldier Empires would die for—if only it had enough intelligence to not go berserk and devour its own allies on the battlefield—which it did enough times to be thrown into this tower.
Compared to the insane production costs, they simply weren't worth the trouble with the instability they posed.
"Interesting, Maanster, no brain," Varian winced as the grip on his neck grew tight and the bones began to creak, but mocked the hybrid beast nonetheless.
The Mega Orc might be simple but it wasn't dumb. The man's actions pissed it off.
"Bad, hooman!" The creature's hand flashed in the air and dug through Varian's chest.
Varian collapsed to the ground, his grip growing powerless, the energy in his body drained. A pulsing heart fell in front of him.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
"S-Son of a…" Varian raised his blood-soaked hands and touched the heart.
A giant foot in bony boots crashed down, crushing both his hand and heart to pieces.
Then, he began to trample down on Varian, like he was an insect, stomping on him again and again.
Blood spilled out, bones broke and flesh scattered.
The safe zone's laws made it impossible for Varian to die, so he didn't. It was hell, everything in his body falling apart as the pain a living being never had to bear tormenting him.
When the man was anything but recognizable as a living thing, the Mega Orc turned around.
"Victoooory!" The creature roared to the masses, who cheered like mad fanboys and fangirls.
Mega Orc had always been the champion of rank 5. Rumors say that if provoked enough and pushed into its berserk state, the creature could even kill a rank 6—but the state was highly unstable and was likely to push it to attack its allies more.
Since there's no such thing as an ally in the Colosseum, Mega Orc's flaws were seen as its biggest strength. That's the reason why the simple-minded but clearly sentient creature also liked it here.
The annoying bug that it just crushed? There were ones like that come from time to time. It'd just have to crush them, like it always did and the crowd will cheer for it like always.
The respect and affection that no one gave it in the army even after risking its life and serving on the battlefield, it received all the emotions here.
Mega Orc would never know these people didn't see it as a creature. It was their source of entertainment, a relaxing time in their dangerous tower climb. At best, it was an object to calm their nerves. At worst, it's a showpiece in the zoo.
As the Mega Orc continued to cheer, a man covered in blood slowly stood up. He cracked his knuckles, swung his arms, clenched and unclenched his fists, and finally kicked the ground.
The gravel shot out in all directions and a shockwave swept the ground. But even before the shockwave and the sound of the gravel movement could reach the Mega Orc, Varian reached it.
His kick aimed for the creature's thick neck. Even though it's disgustingly defensive to not have its neck separated by this shot, if it took this attack head-on, the creature's neck would partially crack.
The audience only noticed Varian when he was about to strike the Mega Orc and screamed, in surprise and excitement.
The Mega Orc tilted its head at the last moment and grabbed Varian's leg with its palm.
"Shit."
Varian could kill the creature if he really wanted to. But he suppressed his own paths and wanted to grow stronger more than anything else.
So, another round of a losing fight against the Mega Orc began.
— — — —
"W-Who are you?" Princess Azalea's throat dried up and she licked her trembling, dry lips.
"Heh," A dismissive scoff echoed from the darkness.
A tendril of darkness emerged and gripped the Princess' neck.
"L-Let me go!" Azalea thrashed against the tendril and tried to break its grip. Despite being a low rank 6, her efforts couldn't stop the hand of darkness from increasing its grip.
"A-Arghhh!"
The sound of her neck bones cracking rang clearly in the deathly silence.
"Y-You bitch! I'll tell everyone! E-Everyone will know the synthetic wo—"
"I don't care." The voice was calm, regal, and most of all, dismissive. It was as if she didn't even see Azalea as a being worth listening to, much less as a princess. "You can tell whoever you wish, it wouldn't make a difference."
The grip of darkness loosened and Azalea thought the woman, despite her words, was scared.
"But," A spear of darkness pierced through Azalea's throat. Then, another through her heart. Stomach. Chest. Back. Head.
108 spears turned her into a hedgehog and then they forcibly separated, tearing her body into pieces.
"Don't threaten me. I will not take threats kindly." The voice was still as calm as it had always been.
But Baldur's legs shivered and he barely stopped himself from kneeling. But he couldn't stop himself from bowing deeply despite being royalty and said.
"P-Princess Isadora, greetings! I-I'm the current generation Prince B-Baldur, I-I've been looking for the t-treasure and for yo-you."
"Isadora…it's been a while hearing someone call my name."
The darkness cleared, revealing a stunningly beautiful with long silver hair and ruby eyes.
