Day 141-150/Day 148

Day 148
To the north of the Royal Capital Osvel, there is a huge circular structure known as the Colosseum. Usually, slaves, criminals, lower class people captured in war, people sold due to their debts, and other such peoples chosen for various reasons were forced to become a【Gladiator】and kill one another there. This is the place where people gather to bet and watch these shows.
Having been soaked in human blood, the soil was a reddish-brown color with fragments of teeth and smashed metal fragments from damaged weaponry buried around. There was also a huge limestone pillar in the ground that had countless scars inscribed in it from all directions.
Now…. for some reason or another…. I’m here standing in the middle of it. The reason appears to be that by a royal decree that had been given to the Tomboy Princess, prepared by her political rival, the Minister.
Put simply, I’m a major hindrance to him and it seems that he wants to get rid of me here. In any case, the Minister arranged many powerful enemies in order to defeat me. With tens of thousands of spectators filling the surroundings, the air was actually quite tense.
■　■　■
『Thank you for waiting, everybody! Today’s main event will finally begin!』
The voice of the host resounded within the Colosseum, filling it with roars of madness and cheers. The number of spectators within the Colosseum was at a record high due to the Tournament of Heroes which is held only once every 3 years coming up.
On top of that, the black Apostle Lord, of whom rumors have been going around the Royal Capital, has been reserved for today’s main event. There were so many people that even though there were seats enough for over sixty thousand people, the number of guests forced to stand in the passages continued to increase.
Even the private rooms that were exclusive for the use of nobility were full. Although each of the 60,000 talked quietly, their sheer number meant that the noise was quite loud to the point where it had become audible enough to be heard by the surrounding neighborhood.
Using a magical item, the host of the event increased the volume of his voice, allowing his lines to reach every corner of the Colosseum, bringing an even greater excitement. The lines he spoke contained information about the participating warriors with several light jokes mixed in between. Taking no notice of it, the master and servant who were sitting within a private room built for the royal family’s exclusive use were listless.
「Princess, is this alright?」
「Is what alright?」
With shining platinum hair and a charm similar to that of a fairy, the young princess, Rubiria was quietly sitting on a large and most luxurious chair. She had her neck tilted in response to the question of the Boy Knight standing by her side. With a small sigh, the Boy Knight spit out his doubts while applying pressure in the middle of his forehead with his finger.
「I do not think it is a good idea to show the capabilities of Master.」
「Ah. Don’t mind, don’t mind. It is only fitting to show Aporou's strength in this kind of event.」
The Boy Knight still wore a worried expression as Princess Rubiria took out a small red fruit from the basket at the side of a small table near her, wearing a bewitching smile that most certainly didn’t suit her age. The red fruit, known as a Ruble, is a fruit that has a shape quite similar to that of a grape.
The Ruble is known for commonly being used to produce juice and wine. If it’s fresh and you lightly wipe the surface with a cloth, then it is perfectly fine to eat one without any problems whatsoever as well. It’s a very high quality fruit that has a unique sweet yet sour taste that fills the inside of your mouth with flavor.
Also, since it’s a fruit that has a certain detoxifying effect which can prevent one from dying if one’s been poisoned, many of the nobles and royalty quite enjoy eating it. It’s also quite easy to tell when poison is present as the fruit’s color will change in response to foreign material.
Part of the reason that it holds such popularity is because of the fact that it can be carelessly eaten in quantity without the need of a taste test. The first one was picked up and eaten by the Princess Rubiria.
「Umufufufu. As expected, Rubles are truly delicious.」
Princess Rubiria then showed another ecstatic and bewitching smile, lovely enough to enchant those around her. However, the Boy Knight had become used to seeing it and had remained largely unaffected by it.
「Princess, are you sure about this? No matter what happens?」
「Don’t worry. Believe in me, Mc.」
The Boy Knight bowed his head while Princess Rubiria laughed loudly, displaying her usual and quite famous tomboyish appearance.
「I do not think my trust in the Princess is a problem. No matter what happens, I will follow you till the end. The only question is, how will the others react?」
The Boy Knight, McCool Shay, who holds a great deal of respect for his Master, felt uneasy and wondered what kind of influence the fight would have on the Apostle Lord’s future. He was convinced without a shadow of a doubt that the upcoming fight would have repercussions for all of the people that surrounded Princess Rubiria.
「This is an opportunity to become known like a giant blaze. I am just worried about our war potential. 」
「Umu. McCool’s uncertainty is likely unnecessary. Hopefully.」
With that, the Princess, Rubiria, stopped talking as she ate another Ruble while sipping from a cup filled with the juice of freshly squeezed Ruble juice. After that, she faced McCool who had been standing besides her and smiled fearlessly.
“With them, it’ll be fine.”
Normally, it’s quite difficult to truly believe such a short explanation without any evidence or further details.
However, Princess Rubiria’s words and her fully confident eyes were far more than enough for McCool, dispelling the uneasiness that he felt. Well, even though things may be quite troublesome with an embarrassing master, she herself just shrugged her shoulders like it was nothing. With that, McCool once again seemed confident as he stood at attention.
“If the Princess says so, there is nothing left for me to say. I shall simply and sincerely wait for the results right here by your side.”
“Umu, do as you see fit.”
McCool and Princess Rubiria exchanged a set of smiles with one another just as the voice of the host became louder and announced the movement into the next stage.
『From the South Gate, the Colosseum is proud to present the 【Gladiator King】, Liger Bazette! As you know from his record, he has won 500 matches and remains undefeated. Once more, in this battle, the soil may be covered by his enemies’ blooming flowers of blood! 』
At the same time as the host had said these words, the large iron grate of the South Gate made a large grating sound as it opened and a large man came out of it.
The proud figure before the audience was approximately two meters tall,boasting two very powerful arms almost as thick as the average human’s torso. Both of which were covered with countless scars.
He was wearing light armor made of light green Dragon leather. He had a great sword nearly as tall as he was attached to his back with two swords hanging at his waist. His reddish-brown hair was largely unkempt and his yellow pupils were similar to that of a beast, sending out an intimidating air to his surroundings. He gave off quite the oppressive atmosphere, his strong warrior’s spirit causing those at even a large distance to tremble.
Being the strongest, he’s been at the Colosseum the longest as well. He’s also the man who has piled up the largest body count. Liger Bazette is an existence similar to that of a tiger, craving an unquenchable quantity of blood.
『Continuing on, from the East Gate, a wanderer coming from the far east, the 【Master Swordswoman from an Unknown Land】, Kaede Sumeragi! Despite being the only woman, she is capable of using the ōdachi she wears at her waist to slice lumps of metal and use flying slash attacks. So please, be careful about heckling her! 』
Coming out from the Eastern Gate in a relaxed manner was a beautiful women wearing her own ethnic equipment which was based on red and black tones. Her glossy raven-black hair was tied together while she had an ōdachi, which was barely even known by the local people, firmly affixed to her waist.
Her black eyes softly gazed at the surroundings, and although she didn’t have the same overpowering presence as Liger had, one could still feel the strength coming from her calm yet beautiful figure.
As Kaede walked with her unique footwear, the cluttering sound of her footsteps made were quite elegant. This alone was far more than enough to attract the attention of everyone within the Colosseum, regardless of their age, or sex. A sharp sword made of ice with a substantial and abnormal cutting ability, this is what defined Kaede’s existence.
『Next, from the west gate, it's the famous 【Lesser Dragon】 making an appearance, a Wyvern! This Wyvern was captured from the Jadar Mountains. What sort of fight will the Jadar Wyvern's wild temperament produce this time?! Please, watch closely!』
At the same moment, the West Gate was opened. A large, 9 meter long Wyvern violently jumped out. To prevent it from flying and escaping, the membrane of both wings had been torn apart and cut to pieces with shackles placed on its neck and limbs.
16 strong men were struggling to hold onto the chains in order to suppress it’s violent rampage, only to barely keep it under control. The Wyvern then violently swung around, killing several of the men as they were brutally sent flying into the walls.
The Jadar Wyvern had dark, blackish-green Dragon scales and a particularly violent temperament. It had poisonous spines on its back and tail with a very strong body.
To capture one of these creatures is difficult, even for an entire army. However, one of the Sternbild Kingdom’s Four Symbolic Heroes had already captured 30 of them. The most troublesome of them to handle being the Jadar Wyvern Leader, which they had decided to put to use inside at the Colosseum.
『And finally, for the most anticipated participant! From the North Gate is the rumored person, the Mercenary Group Parabellum’s Leader, 【Silver Arm】――』
However, just before that, the Jadar Wyvern had suddenly shaken off the men holding onto its chains and charged towards the North Gate. Using its short, yet thick, hind legs which were developed for the sake of taking off and landing, it scattered dirt around as it crept forward. It kept its forelimbs which were missing the wing’s membranes.
It scattered it’s toxic green saliva as it growled angrily, showing its strong desire to catch it’s prey. The overwhelming strength it displayed could easily overpower something weak. The Jadar Wyvern headed for the North Gate, whose iron grate had already opened.
From there, a single Lord with patterns engraved on his black skin, a silver arm and 3 horns had slowly emerged. The Lord had a silver halberd in one hand and was wearing a pair of loose pants. As for other articles of clothing, though his upper body was totally bare, he wore a bracelet on his right hand and had iron rings attached to his ankles. That was the extent of his equipment. Being barefoot and without anything similar to body armor, he looked too defenseless and seemed to be foolishly risking his life in the Colosseum.
Then, all of a sudden, the battle had begun as the loud cheers arose from the entire Colosseum. Despite the fact that the Jadar Wyvern’s big frame was charging towards him, the Lord did not take even a single step.
The audience rose from their seats as they both screamed and cheered at the sight, watching the events unfold with great excitement.
While keeping an eye on the situation, Princess Rubiria muttered something to herself.
「Do not disappoint me, Aporou. After all, this will be good publicity for you, as well as your mercenary group, won't it?」
Even though it wasn’t the case, as if responding to Princess Rubiria’s words, the Lord, Aporou, with just a mere five meters left between him and the Jadar Wyvern, finally moved.
From the view of the spectators, the figure holding the halberd had just suddenly disappeared. Just as suddenly, the massive figure of the Jadar Wyvern was split in two, accompanied by a high pitched noise. The Jadar Wyvern was cleaved perfectly right down the middle with vast amounts of blood and ping entrails gushing out of it’s body. The 2 halves slowly parting down the middle.
The source of the Jadar Wyvern’s death was the water spirit stone found within the tip of Aporou’s halberd, which, when swung at a ultra-high speed, created a large, highly pressurized blade of water from the edge of the axe head.
Even though it had bisected the Jadar Wyvern, it did not lose momentum and continued further, approaching Liger, located all the way on the other side of the arena. The water blade showed it’s power by leaving a deep scar on the ground as it flew towards it’s other target.
“Tch ---- UUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”
Momentarily stopping himself to gauge the speed of the water blade, Liger then gave a courageous shout to raise his spirits as he unsheathed the greatsword hanging from his back. At the same time as the water blade closed on him, he activated his combat【Arts】and met the attack head on.
【Combat Art - Brandy Brawn】
The large sword, which he had swung suddenly emitted a red glow, the temperature of the blade having risen by a great degree. With the burning sword having the same power as the water blade, the collision between the two forces was enough to stop the latter.
The water blade evaporated, turning into steam from the immense heat which filled Liger’s vision with white. Waving around his large sword, the white fog instantly dissipated from the violent winds produced, returning his vision to normal.
By that time, however, Aporou had already closed the distance and was in front of him. Due to him suddenly covering dozens of meters without so much as a sound, Liger’s response was greatly delayed, creating a lethal opening.
“------Tch!”
Liger held his breath as he prepared to die, knowing that he was fully unable to either avoid or defend from the blow in time. However, his face was filled with astonishment as his eyes believed that it was impossible. For many years, he reigned over the Colosseum like a king, yet now that very same king was about to die, being killed in only two blows so easily. It was something that no one, not even himself had thought possible.
While stuck in that state, like having caught delicious prey, a ferocious smile appeared on Aporou’s face as he swung his halberd at a speed highly impossible for human eyes to see in order to kill Liger. The outcome of victory and defeat between the 2 fighters had been decided.
Yet, one person stood between that outcome. Kaede, holding her ōdachi.
“Cherrrrriiiaaaaaaa!!”
【Combat Arts - Fan Flash Storm】
Spreading out through a wide area like a paper fan, an innumerable number of high speed slashing attacks similar to the ōdachi attacked Aporou. However, all of them were blown away by his halberd and silver arm. Innumerable sparks and the sound of screeching metal echoed throughout the Colosseum, disappearing before anyone became fully aware of it.
“----Tch!”
Kaede clicked her tongue upon seeing one of her attacks easily stopped and immediately advanced towards Aporou, placing all her power into her next attacks. Despite exchanging blows for only several seconds, any ordinary person caught by their attacks would have found themselves killed several times over.
However, both Liger and Kaede instead simultaneously widened their distance from Aporou. This was followed by gasps and excited shouts from the breathless spectators who had been watching.
『W-What on earth is happening!? The Jadar Wyvern went berserk and then was killed in a single blow. The【Gladiator King】, Liger, was about to be killed but his life was saved at the last moment by Miss Kaede! Everything is, ah, overwhelming! Simply overwhelming!! 』
With the excited voice of the host, the cheers from the spectators became even louder. Such was their enthusiasm in the Colosseum that the tremors being created felt like small earthquakes.
Amongst everything, Kaede called out to Liger, having decided that they would both need to fight Aporou should they hope to survive.
After all, that, was the right decision to make, and yet…
「Aporou, that man. Has he been hiding something that interesting? 」
A black aura of sorts had begun to seep out and cloak over Aporou’s entire body. Based on what she could see, for an existence whose strength is even greater than the undead monster class, perhaps it was a physical or magical ability that increases one’s resistance, is what Princess Rubiria thought. The 2 figures then approached Aporou, who had by that time been fully cloaked in the black aura.
“Just amazing, isn’t it…”
McCool had unintentionally voiced his feelings of admiration. From their point of view, the Gladiator King, Liger, and the 【Master Swordswoman from an Unknown Land】, Kaede, were both comparable to【Heroes】and【Great Heroes】, since they moved with speeds that surpassed human limits and held exceptional sword skills and Arts.
“--------RA!”
Liger, with a whirlpool of blue flames swirling around his sword, swung his weapon downwards, creating a violent gust of wind. The strike cut deep into the ground, scorching it as if it had been ripped apart by the greatsword itself, the blue flames spread out and blazed forth like a roaring wave.
The wave of blue flames closed into Aporou who seemed like he would be engulfed by it. However, a large wall of earth suddenly rose, blocking the flames and dispersing them. As the wave of flames were dissipated by the earthen wall, he smashed it with a kick, forming the earth into spheres that then flew towards Liger at great speeds.
Liger received some of the attack with the flat of his great sword while avoiding the rest. Enduring the bombardment without suffering a single hit, Kaede, who had been waiting behind him, stepped forward and moved to attack Aporou.
“I see… Certainly, it is a little bit different from what I imagined, but it makes their situation more favorable.”
Those were McCool’s frank impressions, of which Princess Rubiria agreed with. The ōdachi located at Kaede’s waist, the【Waking Dream of the Evening Blossoms】, excelled in fast movements, and of which one particular【Art】, the【Blinking Temple Blade】which is said to be impossible to see, even for a【Master Swordsman】.
She pulled her ōdachi from it’s sheath with the same speed as the sound her blade produced as it cut through the air, forming a clear trajectory meant to decapitate Aporou. However, the attack was nonchalantly fended off by the silver arm clad in the dark aura.
Traveling at the speed of sound and capable of cutting steel like mere paper, Kaede believed that the silver arm would only delay the inevitable, and had not expected that a single move from it would be able to stop her blow in it’s entirety.
Following this shock, Aporou struck her directly in the abdomen with his knee. With a sound similar to that of a small bomb exploding from her chest, Kaede’s delicate body was blown away like a ragdoll. While rolling around defenselessly, she began vomiting blood.
As if not to let the opportunity be in vain, Liger approached from behind and swung the flat of his greatsword downwards. Without looking behind him, Aporou performed a roundhouse kick directed towards the wrist that gripped the handle of the greatsword, causing Liger to panic and let go of his sword as he tried to evade.
As a result, the kick missed the wrist and instead, struck the handle of the greatsword. The impact broke it apart and sent it and the rest of the sword flying into the distance.
Having lost his main weapon, Liger quickly unsheathed both of his two swords hanging from his waist. Using 【Combat Art - Cross Slash】, Aporou’s sides were simultaneously slashed from both directions. Both swords let out a red glow as they failed to cut his flesh, creating instead a high-pitched sound that scattered sparks around. Both blades simply slid off the surface of Aporou’s body, completely unable to hurt him. The reason for this was due to the protection of the black aura that was covering his entire body.
Realizing that no attacks could hurt him, Liger quickly tried to bid a retreat, only to find himself a single step too late. As he jumped back, the handle of the halberd struck his left side, bending from the impact as if in slow motion, his body was sent back flying several meters before it finally made contact with the ground, flying back several more meters before finally stopping.
Although Kaede and Liger both possessed excellent recovery abilities and could still fight, it was impossible to win against Aporou, who remained in perfect condition.
The difference between them and him was simply far too great. The number of spectators who had come to the Colosseum to see the fight continued to watch as they remained speechless. With that, the fight reached an unexpected conclusion.
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Within the Colosseum, it appears that a battle royal between four different figures, all coming from four different directions simultaneously, was about to begin. In the beginning, I wanted to wait for someone else to move first and see what happens, but it seemed that I had to be the one to start the battle because of the advancing Wyvern.
I just decided to bisect it with a strengthened water blade from my halberd with 【Hydro Hand】, while using【Aeromaster】 and 【Gravity Law】 to accelerate it further. I accidentally aimed it at the shabby man who was introduced as the【Gladiator King】, though he did actually manage to endure the strike. Well, I suppose it would really have been dull if it had just ended there.
Afterwards, due to unexpected events, the Female Samurai worked together with the other guy and so, I decided to keep them company and play around with several of my abilities as a nice warm-up. After roughly 30 minutes had passed, I managed to become aware of their overall abilities. After that, I decided to disarm the two of them and ask them to become my subordinates.
Though he was strong and had plenty of uses, I was not in particularly interested in the【Gladiator King】but rather the Female Samurai, the so called【Master Swordswoman from an Unknown Land】. Ah, let me just say that, though she is quite the beautiful woman, it’s actually not the reason I was interested in her. In this world, excluding me, there seems to be other people who came from other worlds as well. For example, in this country it is said that the 【Sage from an Unknown Land】 is one such person.
Apparently the 【Great God】 that controls ≪Space-time and the Star Ocean≫ is the one responsible for such things. When someone is invited here, the main body’s soul is copied from the other world and reproduced in this world as a new existence. Their new body which the【Great God】had prepared, becomes the real thing. Therefore, even people who had no capability to fight would, as a result, be able to do so and become like the Female Samurai.
Honestly though, I wanted to try and eat her. I was really interested in how she would taste and wondered what kind of abilities I’d get from a body prepared by a【Great God】. Of course, there are reasons why I shouldn’t eat her. Given that she is a visitor from another world, commonly referred to as 【Otherworlders】, it looks like we are somehow able to perceive each other’s existence.
I aimlessly approached and closed the distance, vaguely knowing the direction that I’m heading to. If the Female Samurai, currently on the ground in a great deal of pain, accepts my offer, then I’ll just eat the next Otherworlder that I encounter.
Regrettably, the 【Sage from an Unknown Land】 in this country has very close ties with the Princess, so it’ll just have to be necessary to look for another Otherworlder.
Well, since they usually like to attract a large amount of attention, it should be easy enough to gather information on them. If there are others who came to this world from the same one I did, then they could even have an 【ESP Ability】.
Personally, I’d love to gain【Teleportation】so that I could move around quickly, but I really shouldn’t get my hopes up too much on that one. For now, I can only hope that an Otherworlder I can eat appears early. At any rate, after seeing me, the Female Samurai became seriously frightened. Probably sensing that she was in serious danger, she willingly accepted my offer.
The Gladiator King did as well. As for him, his reasoning for joining was just, “Well, I lost and it sounds interesting.” Heh, I’m starting to like him, it was a good and simple answer. I decided to quickly give them a modest welcome.
Cutting the Wyvern’s meat using my【Giant’s Long-Lasting Carving Knife】, I fried it in a large pan while sprinkling it with cooking sake purchased from the Labyrinth City’s locals. To top it off, I included some 【Sakura's Rock Salt】 which I had gained from the Cyclops I had killed back a few days ago and ate the cooked Wyvern steak with the others.
Since I began to crave alcohol as I ate, I also drank some dungeon liquor. While enjoying the feast that I had started at the center of the Colosseum, the spectators in the private rooms for nobles began to mumble and gripe, though they did become silent when I glared at them.
This Wyvern meat, which I’m eating for the first time is insanely delicious. It can’t really be compared to chicken at all. Instead, it’s more like a high-quality beef with a marvelous taste, just like that of a rare gem. Of course I did munch on the scales too.
【Ability learned: Wyvern Scale Formation】
In terms of stats, I kind of expected that the Wyvern would be vastly inferior to Dragons. If that really is the case, then it will be worth looking for latter in the future. While there is still quite a bit of Wyvern meat left, I decided to eat it later along with the others.
Since I didn’t want my item box’s existence to become known, I had the Gladiator King and Female Samurai drag one half of the Wyvern’s body out of the Colosseum while I carried the other. After that, the Tomboy Princess came over to the waiting table and proudly said, as her facial expressions constantly changed,
“Well well, you’ve done quite well. However, to conceal such an interesting ability is simply unacceptable, he he. Come here, let me touch you for a moment.”
Well, it was just as usual. I placed cuffs on the ears of the Gladiator King and the Female Samurai. Finally I can appoint escorts to both Argento and Auro. Later, I intend to give them both their patterned Cloaks.
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Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster Volume 4