The creature named Trikarnis—a monstrous fusion of a three-tailed fox and a hedgehog—had already taken down nine slaves. Now, only one figure stood against it. Elias.
With a dagger in one hand and a clenched fist in the other, he stood firm in a combat stance, staring straight into the beast's bloodshot eyes.
After locking eyes for about three seconds, Elias quickly formulated a plan in his head and suddenly dashed toward the creature. He agilely dodged the spikes launched from Trikarnis's fur. Once he was close enough, he gathered strength in his legs and leapt.
In less than half a second, he reached the beast's right cheek. Channeling pure Elemir energy into his dagger, he hurled it. The blade pierced through Trikarnis's right cheek and exited from the left in a blink.
The creature let out an agonizing roar and snapped at Elias in fury. But Elias rolled midair and avoided the deadly bite as he landed.
A cunning grin crept across Elias's face as he eyed the blood dripping from the creature's jaw.
> "Just as I thought. This beast... it's like the ones I hunted with my father. It accumulates Elemir energy... meaning, wounds inflicted by Elemir energy can't be healed," he realized.
The monster roared again—this time so loud that Elias's knees almost buckled.
Fueled by rage, Trikarnis charged straight at him with jaws wide open. But—there was no Elias in sight. The beast frantically glanced left and right, confused.
At that moment, Elias appeared—right above its head.
Without sparing a glance at the gasping audience, he drove his fist directly into the black mark on Trikarnis's forehead. The creature's skull slammed into the stone floor with a brutal crack.
As the monster fired a barrage of sharp quills from its back in retaliation, Elias used the gust of wind itself like a stepping stone, leaping away to safety. Raising his head, he met the furious crimson eyes of the beast.
> "Ouch... that must've hurt," he mused with a smirk.
Blood still dripped from Trikarnis's wounded cheek. Then, right before Elias's eyes, the beast devoured one of the unconscious men on the ground. Instantly, its wounds began to heal.
For a moment, Elias was stunned—but a volley of eight deadly spikes fired from the beast's left tail forced him back into action. He sidestepped the first two, powered his legs, and dodged the remaining six with flawless movement.
> "Nice..." Elias grinned, relishing the fight.
Suddenly, his speed surged—and the flow of time itself seemed to slow around him. Everything moved in slow motion. As he reached beneath the creature's torso, time snapped back to normal.
Both the crowd and Trikarnis frantically searched for him—only for Elias to drive a crushing uppercut straight into the beast's abdomen.
The sheer force lifted the massive creature off the ground, sending it crashing onto its back several meters away.
The crowd erupted—some jumped to their feet, others were too shocked to move.
Trikarnis quickly scrambled up, locking its hate-filled gaze onto Elias. Hedric, watching from the royal box, couldn't help but smirk as he noticed Queen Estella's jaw hanging open in disbelief.
The monster advanced with heavy steps, growling and snarling, filling the arena with dread. Elias ignored it. In a flash, he appeared directly under its chin—and this time, his fist struck with overwhelming force.
The beast was sent flying, slammed into the barrier, and collapsed. Its eyes shut. Its breathing stopped.
Silence consumed the arena—for only a moment.
Then, a deafening wave of applause and cheers shook the stands. Everyone stared at the boy who had slain a beast deemed impossible to kill without magic.
As Elias stood there, bloodied and breathing heavily, he muttered inwardly:
> "Sorry, big guy… but only one of us gets to walk away."
Turning his gaze toward the stands, his lips curled into a sly smile.
> "Heh... Looks like my plan worked. By only using Elemir energy to reinforce my body, I won the fight... and convinced these fools that I can't use magic."
Meanwhile, Queen Estella stammered, glancing back and forth between Hedric and Elias.
—"H-Hedric... th-this... your... slave... he... killed... it... h-how?!"
Hedric shrugged with a grin. "Let's call it... innate talent, Your Majesty. He could've been a genius in Elemir energy... but fate dealt him poorly, and now he's mine."
The queen pressed her fingers to her temple. "I see... that explains some of his movements. But... can he use magic?"
Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Hedric.
—"Of course not," Hedric replied, raising both hands in mock surrender. "A mere slave using magic? Ridiculous." Then he added with a sly glint in his eye, "However... if he were to be trained outside the palace... who knows what kind of threat he might become."
The queen caught the hidden meaning behind those words. Taking a deep breath, she said:
—"Very well. I'll buy this slave. But..." She glanced at Elias and then back at Hedric with a sharp gaze. "I have a condition."
—"Oh? And what might that be?" Hedric asked, feigning curiosity.
—"I'll pay you 10,000 gold to withdraw him from the tournament now... or 100,000 gold if he wins the tournament under my rules," the queen said, her lips curling into a cunning smile.
Hedric chuckled. "Deal. He's yours for 100,000."
As he turned his eyes back to the arena, Hedric remembered his earlier words to Elias in the carriage:
> "No matter what, don't let them know you can use magic. If you do, nothing will happen to you—but I'll be executed. And if I die... I'll make sure everything about you is exposed. That means... your mother and father will hang. Understand?"
> "Good... A power boost and 100,000 gold."
Ignoring the roaring applause, Elias was roughly grabbed by a guard and pulled toward the queen's box. What irritated him the most wasn't the blood or the exhaustion—it was being dragged like a mere object.
—"Show's over. Time for the next match," the guard grunted, escorting him back to his cell.
Back in the dungeon-like cell, Elias crouched in a corner, lost in thought. He had read the queen and Hedric's conversation perfectly by lip-reading.
> "Either I fall into Hedric's game and become the queen's slave... or I kill Hedric on the way back and become a fugitive."
> "If I go to the palace, freedom—and maybe even nobility—awaits. My family would be safe... but there's no guarantee I won't end up dissected in some laboratory."
> "If I choose the other path... I get my revenge on Hedric and fight against this rotten system. But... success isn't guaranteed."
As these conflicting thoughts churned in his mind, a guard's voice snapped him back to reality.
—"Slave of the Fredrosso House, Elias!" shouted the guard.
Elias flinched when he saw a young boy curiously staring at him.
—"You're being transferred to another cell. Get up."
Murmurs spread across the room. Elias froze for a moment, his face asking, "But why?"
—"Silence! And you—move it!" the guard barked.
Elias was taken to a different cell.
> "Damn it... What now?" he muttered under his breath, glancing at the chains shackled around his ankle. "Can't get rid of these damn things..."
Meanwhile, in the arena, the second, third, and fourth rounds had introduced even stronger monsters—two of them rated D-class.
In the end, only three finalists remained.
One was a tall, muscular man with wheat-colored skin, long brown hair, brown eyes, and a dirty beard—half-naked with only a cloth around his waist.
Another was a short, sharp-eyed man with bright orange eyes, short blonde hair, and a pristine white leather armor—unusual for a slave.
The last was the most ragged-looking of the three, with long, messy hair and the exhausted face of someone nearing his late thirties.
Sitting on his cell's bench, Elias swung his legs back and forth. His mind was stuck on one thing:
> "What did she mean... 'under my rules'? What kind of setup is that?"
His thoughts were interrupted by approaching footsteps. They halted, the door swung open, and a guard stepped in.
—"Break time's over. Get up," the guard ordered.
Elias was escorted back to the arena. As the door opened, deafening cheers and applause flooded his ears.
When he reached the arena floor, he froze.
All three opponents were already lined up—far too close to each other. They should've entered from separate gates... but when Elias stepped out from the south gate, they were already there, waiting.
As Elias was brought to the center of the arena, the lights focused on the royal box, and a mysterious voice echoed again:
—"Esteemed citizens of Gravmire! The second round is about to begin. But... the usual format of one-on-one duels has been changed."
A wave of murmurs swept across the crowd.
—"Changed?"
—"The format has always been the same for years!"
—"Where did this come from?"
The voice continued:
—"At the request of our beloved queen... to ensure this round isn't too one-sided... these three slaves will fight against the one who defeated Trikarnis—the slave of House Fredrosso. Yes... it's three versus one."
Shock rippled through the audience like thunder.
Hedric turned toward the queen, smirking.
—"When you said 'under my rules,' I figured it'd be something like this. So... three versus one, huh?"
But Queen Estella waved her fan lazily, her crimson lips twitching as she corrected him:
—"Incorrect. This isn't just three versus one." Her gaze remained locked on Elias as she finished:
—"It's three normals... against one anormal."