Chapter 62. Gaze
Even after the flas in the arena subsided, the lingering intense heat still filled the battlefield.
The gladiators, each revealing their killing intent, ramped up their montum.
It was a tangible malice, enough to suffocate a weak-hearted person with its killing intent alone.
The materialized killing intent pushed back the heat.
Chareureureuk―
In the brief silence, only the sound of sand trickling in my ears was loud.
A chaotic battle where everyone was an enemy to everyone else.
One had to distinguish between strong and weak enemies and quickly choose who to face first.
Hesitating here was the sa as asking to be killed.
Hyunwoo observed the gladiators closest to him.
‘One in front. Three on the right.’
It was easy to mistake the grouped ones as stronger, but this was the Demon World.
Usually, those who gathered together to combine their strength had a high probability of being weak.
Hyunwoo changed Cheonbyeondo into the shape of a rapier.
⌜Footsteps of the Abyss⌟
Then, concealing his presence, he lunged toward the three and thrust his sword into one's temple.
Shhhk―!
One blow, one guy. The gladiator, pierced by the mana-infused sword, collapsed on the spot like a puppet with its strings cut, without even ti to scream.
“What the hell is this bastard!”
“Kill him—!”
As expected of Gold gladiators, the highest rank in the arena.
Their reactions were fast.
At Hyunwoo's sudden appearance, the two rushed him simultaneously.
Hyunwoo imdiately lunged toward the closer one and swung his sword.
The opponent ducked and thrust his spear.
⌜Kilij Basic Swordsmanship (1-Star)―100%(M)⌟
Kagagak―!
A spine-chilling sound was made by the repulsion of mana hitting mana.
However, by swinging his wrist wide once more, he was able to deflect the spear.
Hyunwoo closed in on the enemy whose posture had crumbled and was staggering, and cut him down just like that.
Seogeok―
“Keuak―!”
That made two.
But it was still too early to be complacent.
“Uwaaaaak—!”
The last gladiator, letting out a war cry like a scream, lunged at him.
Hyunwoo imdiately twisted his body and changed Cheonbyeondo into the shape of a greatsword.
Kwaang―!
He blocked by raising the greatsword like a shield, but the impact was considerable.
Hyunwoo's body was lifted off the ground, and he flew and rolled across the arena floor.
Seeing that, the gladiator threw his whole body at him again.
Looking at his burly body, it seed like he would be in for a bad ti if he got caught.
Hyunwoo was still lying on the ground, not yet recovered from the shock of the collision.
‘Keuu….’
His whole body was tingling.
By adding a surprise attack to another surprise attack, he had dealt with two in an instant, but as expected of Gold gladiators.
It seed facing three was overwhelming.
‘If I were alone, that is.’
Hyunwoo watched the gladiator rushing at him again and caught his breath.
Huu―
Kwajik―!
At the sa ti, a blood-red thorn erged from behind the gladiator and pierced through his chest.
“Keoheok…….”
The gladiator, still in his charging posture, fumbled at his torn chest.
But doing so wouldn't make the split chest heal itself and close.
Kung―!
The gladiator collapsed beside him.
Behind him, Lucas revealed himself.
“Are you okay?”
“What took you so long?”
“If you were stronger, I wouldn’t have had to step in.”
This bastard. Fighting unfairly with facts.
Hyunwoo took his eyes off Lucas, stood up, and quickly took in the battlefield.
Fights were breaking out chaotically everywhere.
Hyunwoo slowly caught his breath and recalled the recent battle.
‘I expected it… but they are certainly tough opponents.’
Through surprise attacks, he was able to deal with three relatively easily.
But they were on the weaker side of the Gold gladiators.
Moreover, if their numbers had been four or five, he would have been the one to die instead.
The scale of the battle was completely different from his Silver days.
The battlefield, where mana and magic ran rampant, vibrated with the shockwaves created by each of them.
Various kinds of power collided, shaking the entire arena.
Silver and Gold were only one rank apart.
This difference occurred because that one rank stemd from ‘mana’.
The level of individual strength was on another dinsion.
In the arena, which was reminiscent of a war, there was one who exuded a particularly large presence.
No, he was actually huge.
⌜Gigantification⌟
An opponent who had greatly inflated his body size to reach 3 ters through ‘Gigantification’.
‘Champion Equitar.’
He swung his axe.
Kwaang―!
Every ti the axe split a gladiator's head, a sound like a bomb exploding rang out.
His movents were fast, unfitting for his size.
It was reminiscent of a carnivorous animal that had spotted its prey.
No one stood in the way of the tyrant's steps as he crisscrossed the entire arena.
They were rely hunted.
“Get away—!”
The scream, like a shriek, was futilely split by the swing of the axe.
Bwung―!
Kwaaaang―!
The gladiator whose head was split disappeared without even leaving a corpse due to the ensuing shockwave.
Each ti a gladiator was turned into pulp, blood mixed with pieces of entrails flew in all directions.
A river of blood shed by the gladiators adorned the path he took.
Just watching from afar, his ‘strength’ was clearly felt.
Hyunwoo's whole body tingled as he watched Equitar.
‘…It’s dangerous to fight him now.’
For now, Hyunwoo created distance.
The fire seed to have no effect on Equitar’s tough physique, as he looked perfectly fine.
He was certainly strong.
But, he didn't think Equitar would have resistance to all attributes.
As ti passed, his stamina would drop, and his condition would worsen.
That would be the decisive mont.
Just as Hyunwoo finished his thought and was about to move, flas were summoned on the floor and soared into the air.
At the precursor sign of the inferno about to cover the arena, the gladiators moved nimbly.
Using magic, or curling up their bodies.
Each prepared for the flas in the best way they could.
In contrast.
Hyunwoo had no need for that.
Because all he had to do was endure and move forward.
⌜Hoshea's Five-Colored Shield⌟
“Lucas—!”
Hyunwoo signaled to Lucas and ran toward a nearby gladiator.
The gladiator was in the middle of casting a spell to block the pouring flas.
Was he confident that no one would try to fight within the flas?
“Huh?”
Seogeok―
He swiftly cut the complacent gladiator's neck.
The look of surprise on his face as he let out a dumbfounded sound was the last thing he left behind.
Hwareureureuk―!
The flas that covered the arena instantly devoured the gladiator's corpse.
The flas filled the arena.
The mont the gladiators each crouched in their spots.
This mont was the best hunting ti for him.
He caught his breath for a mont where he stood.
⌜Footsteps of the Abyss⌟
There was no way to find him who had concealed his presence in the arena where the inferno raged.
Seogeok―!
A stealthy assassin moving within the red world.
Hyunwoo diligently reduced the number of gladiators.
A short while later, the flas died down.
The mont the gladiators imdiately ramped up their killing intent and prepared for the next battle.
They felt sothing was strange.
Because the number of standing gladiators had clearly decreased.
“W-what the!”
“Who did this?!”
The surviving gladiators were horrified as they looked at the burnt corpses.
Because there were so many of them.
At least dozens of gladiators had burned to death.
Looking at the blatant sword wounds left on the corpses, they could tell that they hadn't died just because of the flas.
When the gladiators' gazes were fixed on the burnt corpses.
From among them, Hyunwoo slowly walked out.
Seueuk―
He flicked his sword as if to shake off the blood, but the blood, sticky from the heat, did not co off easily.
The gladiators watched Hyunwoo and tensed up.
Seeing that, a look of disappointnt colored Hyunwoo's face.
This thod was only effective the very first ti.
Now that the gladiators were aware of his presence, they would not go down so easily.
‘Still, if it’s this much….’
Hyunwoo looked at a spot in the audience seats.
Jude Basterion.
He thought this would be enough to make him take notice.
Tuk―
The hourglass, its sand depleted, spun around.
[The second environnt will soon unfold! I wish the gladiators the best of luck!]
Chareureuk―
As soon as the announcer finished speaking, the sand began to fall again, and the remaining heat in the arena vanished in an instant.
As if that wasn't enough, a cold wind began to blow, and the entire arena started to freeze over.
Hwiiiiiing―!
A wind carrying frozen frost and white snow covered the arena.
In an instant, the red world was dyed pure white.
Hyunwoo stepped into the pure white world.
He had to move diligently.
‘I have to show an overwhelming performance in any environnt.’
He had gained so confidence through the first environnt.
Now it was ti to show them properly.
***
Unlike the fierceness of the arena, the spectators watching the match were enjoying the pleasant show in comfort.
[This ti, is it a ‘snowfield’ overflowing with cold air? Oh my… the way they tremble and shiver looks just like rattling skeletons! Though they might soon beco undead themselves.]
Hahahahahaha―
Dead gladiators beca undead and had to serve the arena forever.
Even at the announcer’s poor joke mocking soone’s death, the audience just laughed.
To them, the gladiators' life-and-death struggle was nothing more than a show beyond a magic screen.
Jude, watching the audience, narrowed his brow.
“Inferior things. Utterly disgusting.”
Although he had opened the match to gather gladiators for his own needs, it was not a pleasant sight.
He only felt patheticness at the sight of them dividing classes among themselves and enjoying their base sense of superiority.
Lionel offered Jude a new piece of candy and opened his mouth.
“Are you displeased?”
“Since when did the act of fighting beco a spectacle for such trash?”
“Isn’t it thanks to them that I make money?”
“Tsk. Pathetic trash.”
Jude scoffed and turned his gaze to the arena.
Even if they were the sa inferior trash, the gladiators struggling below were at least better than those looking down from above.
After the soaring flas ended, the next environnt was a frozen land.
The red earth instantly turned pure white.
The gladiators were instinctively curling up their bodies and enduring with difficulty.
The cold, which seed capable of freezing everything, was clearly felt even beyond the magic screen.
Their bodies seed so frozen that even moving properly was difficult.
As Jude focused on the match, Lionel spoke to him.
“Does such an environnt actually exist where the item you are looking for is located?”
“There’s no way it’s only this severe.”
“Then….”
“The environnt inside will be much worse than this match. Otherwise, at least one of the gladiators who passed so far would have returned alive.”
‘That place’ where the item Jude wanted was.
Not only gladiators who passed the special match, but any who seed sowhat strong were all sent in.
However, none of those sent to ‘that place’ had returned alive.
“How do you know what it’s like inside?”
“There are many ways to know.”
He couldn't enter, but finding out information wasn't very difficult for Jude.
Jude tapped his head.
“You’re talking about a soul contract that allows sensory sharing.”
Jude nodded.
He could share senses through a simple contract.
The environnt inside, seen through the eyes of those he sent in, was hell itself.
To find the ‘item’, one had to survive inside, but it wasn't easy.
In the end, he needed soone with excellent survivability in various environnts. Or soone who could last a long ti and bring back more information.
Just then, the announcer's voice was heard.
[Super Rookie Hyunwoo—! What a truly amazing performance!]
At the cheers of the audience, Jude focused on the arena again.
‘That is…….’
Everyone was crouching and enduring the terrible cold.
Amidst that, one human gladiator was constantly fighting other gladiators.
His gaze was naturally drawn to the man's endless fighting spirit.
‘That’s the kind of guy I need.’
Only two environnts had changed so far, but his eyes were naturally drawn to the sight of him fighting endlessly.
‘Heo….’
The cold wind blew so fiercely that one couldn't open their eyes, and it was cold enough for shards of ice to form on the body.
The traces of struggle left by the gladiator nad Hyunwoo were being carved into the white snowfield as red bloodstains.
Jude's eyes began to fill with sothing more than just interest.
‘Hyunwoo, is it….’
Soon, his gaze, which had been taking in the entire arena, was instinctively following only Hyunwoo.
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