Please, for God’s sake, forfeit!

I shouted my honest feelings aloud.

“Forfeit!”

Clamping my hand over my mouth, I clenched it into a fist and waved it desperately.

“For! Feit! For! Feit!”

“So noisy—.”

“Mommy!”

Thud!

The humanoid-faced bird dove straight down.

My heart plummeted with it.

Bobby barely avoided the claws by a hair’s breadth.

The talons were large enough to cover her upper body.

A single stab would kill her.

“Senior!”

I cried out, watching Bobby try to stab the talons with her spear but fail for lack of strength.

“Forfeit, please!”

Thud!

This is insane.

She dodged the claws again by a narrow margin. I saw her black jacket tear under the swipe and let out a small groan.

Bobby’s face turned pale.

But she didn’t shout the forfeit I so badly wanted to hear.

[Ah! Looks like she’s trying to break the chain!]

No.

There was no way she could cut a chain that even that humanoid bird couldn’t break.

But she quickly ran toward the chain, raising her spear. The shadow of Pepper, the humanoid bird, who had failed its hunt and taken flight again, spread over her.

My heart pounded madly.

The silver spear flashed in reflected light.

“Her strength...”

Ricardo’s muttered voice was barely audible among the noise.

And then, the spearhead struck the chain.

Clang!

As expected—too weak.

The chain remained intact, and the shock traveled up the spear into Bobby’s body. She let out a short groan, reflexively dropping her weapon.

Then, with trembling arms, she frantically snatched it up again.

Laughter burst from the stands.

[Oh dear! Looks like she forgot her enhanced body isn’t functioning properly!]

The announcer laughed merrily in midair.

[If Pepper couldn’t break it, what chance does a mere human have!]

Disgusting bastards.

I frowned and lifted my head toward the stands.

But Asil’s urgent shout turned it back.

“Bobby!”

Ah.

Boom!

“Argh!”

The spear snapped clean in two.

Thank God it wasn’t her. Everyone in the waiting area let out a collective sigh of relief.

The humanoid-faced bird, having landed with claws outstretched, smashed the spear instead of Bobby, who had rolled away.

“I’m sorry!”

Bobby jumped to her feet and shouted.

“The spear—!”

“Focus on the enemy!”

Ricardo barked sharply.

“Don’t take your eyes off it!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bobby obeyed her senior’s orders.

She gave up on recovering her weapon or attacking and focused solely on evasion.

My heart nearly stopped again and again, but miraculously, she remained mostly unharmed.

She was dodging incredibly well.

[Rotten though it may be, she still slips away like a loach, doesn’t she.]

The announcer’s voice dripped with cold amusement.

[But it seems her stamina is beginning to run out.]

I would give anything to punch that bastard’s face.

It pissed me off even more because he was right. Even I could see Bobby’s stamina rapidly fading.

Her breath came in ragged gasps.

She was barely dodging already—if her movements slowed even slightly...

“Senior!”

I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted.

“Please forfeit now! You’ve done enough—”

“Winter!”

Ricardo’s sharp cry cut me off.

“Up!”

Thud!

Too late.

“Argh!”

The talons caught her clothes.

The audience erupted with a cheer.

Asil and I shouted our senior’s name at the same time. Bobby hung in the air, caught by Pepper’s claws.

She’d reflexively bent her body forward, and thank heaven, the claws had snagged her clothes, not her flesh.

Had they grabbed her body instead, she would’ve been mortally wounded.

But she wasn’t safe yet.

“Bobby, please!”

“Forfeit!”

Asil shouted frantically, and Bobby squeezed her eyes shut and cried out.

The guilt and defeat carved on her face made my chest heavy.

“Forfeit! I forfeit!”

Crackle!

Those insane bastards.

Electric current surged through the thick chains—strong enough to paralyze the humanoid bird.

Pepper froze midair. Since Bobby’s jacket had already been torn apart, she didn’t get electrocuted, which was a small mercy.

The paralysis slackened the creature’s grip.

The golden-haired senior fell.

At the same time, the electric fence blocking my view disappeared.

Thud!

Asil caught Bobby.

It was an astonishingly quick reaction.

[Wow! Like a protagonist swooping in to save the heroine in a crisis!]

The announcer’s mocking voice echoed.

[But oh dear, looks like his arm is broken!]

Probably.

If their enhanced bodies were functioning properly, there wouldn’t be any strain. But right now, their bodies were no different from ordinary humans.

Neither Asil nor Bobby could be uninjured.

Indeed, both seniors who had rolled across the ground couldn’t move for a while.

The humanoid bird began flapping its wings again.

The delighted audience and the announcer reveled in it. Even Asil, grimacing in pain as he crawled toward the silver spear, reaching shakily for one broken half, became part of their entertainment.

I was struck dumb with rage and humiliation.

The entrance opposite the arena opened.

“Senior!”

I barely suppressed the urge to break through the electric fence and run out.

“Senior! Please forfeit!”

[Now, let’s introduce the second challenger!]

Bobby rose with a pale, bloodless face.

Her sluggish movement showed she was definitely injured inside.

She staggered into position, searching for Asil. Her face looked ready to faint as she glanced at his arm.

Asil waved the broken spear to signal her to return to the waiting area.

Meanwhile, another Creature entered the arena.

[Our spider, Nemalda, who’s been harder and harder to raise lately!]

It had multiple legs.

Why they called it a spider, I had no idea.

I watched as a bug-like Creature the size of a car crawled heavily into the arena.

A round face covered in clusters of eyes, a huge cocoon-like body.

Asil twisted his body to face it.

Then Ricardo, who had been silent all this time, shouted,

“Winter! Don’t just stand there like an idiot—get back!”

Bobby turned her head sharply.

Unlike when she’d entered the arena stiff-faced, she now looked like she would burst into tears if anyone touched her.

“Now!”

“Asil!”

A shadow passed over Bobby as she stumbled forward.

I saw the descending humanoid bird and screamed with every vein in my neck.

“Up!”

Kieeeek!

Pepper’s claws struck Nemalda.

Asil had slid under the spider’s body. The claws meant for him stabbed into Nemalda instead.

The spider Creature reeled, spewing thick, foul liquid that filled the arena with the stench of blood and acid.

Is it dead?

No. The insect Creature staggered, then spat its corrosive fluid ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) at Pepper.

“AAAAAAAH!”

The humanoid bird screamed with a terrifyingly human voice.

Asil lay flat beneath the spider’s body, unmoving.

[Smart move!]

The announcer shouted gleefully.

[By positioning himself perfectly, he’s made Pepper and Nemalda fight each other!]

He began excitedly narrating the fight between the humanoid bird and the spider.

Meanwhile, the electric fence vanished from my sight—Bobby had collapsed toward the waiting area.

Ricardo and I both caught her at once.

The green-eyed senior gently laid the gasping Bobby on the ground.

“Lie down,” he said quietly.

“Don’t talk.”

“Asil’s arm...”

“I’ll handle it,” I said softly to the tearful senior consumed by guilt.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this.”

“I’m sorry. I...”

[Ah! Nemalda is preparing its finishing move!]

The announcer’s voice pierced my ears.

Because of that, I couldn’t respond to Bobby’s words. Ricardo and I both snapped our heads toward the arena, straightening up.

No way.

Can that thing even...?

[Body Slam!]

Boom!

The arena floor cracked.

For a split second, I wondered why it was diving at the ground when its enemy was in the air—then I realized.

It wasn’t just a body slam.

When Nemalda hit the ground, the corrosive liquid sprayed in all directions.

The humanoid bird screamed.

Asil, trying to crawl away from the spider, was also splashed and fell hard.

“Senior!”

Seeing him collapsed, coughing in the arena, chilled my blood.

“Senior! Please forfeit!”

“He’ll be out cold for a while,” Ricardo murmured.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. I had to steady myself and shout forfeit. If I didn’t, even if he didn’t die instantly, he’d get caught in their fight—or become their next target.

What should I do?

Just as despair gripped me, the senior spoke.

“Wake him up.”

The war hero glared at the arena with eyes full of disgust.

I saw his gaze fix on the silver spear.

“Slap him across the face, maybe...”

The spear beside Asil twitched.

I watched as it melted into a round sphere, then elongated into an oval. From the tip of that oval, a long rod grew, reaching toward Asil’s face.

It wasn’t as fast as Yehyeon’s weapon transformations I’d seen in recordings,

but the silver weapon steadily approached—and smacked Asil across the cheek.

“Forfeit!”

The instant I saw Asil blink open and cough wildly, I shouted.

“Senior! Forfeit! Now!”

Asil’s lips moved.

I couldn’t hear him, but I knew—he’d forfeited.

The electric fence before me vanished.

The opposite gate opened again.

The crowd roared with delight.

The announcer, his tone dripping with ecstasy, declared that traitor Asil Fiscer had forfeited.

Ricardo Sordi’s chain dropped to the floor.

“My turn...”

The senior smiled darkly.

He moved.

The green-eyed man walked out of the waiting area.

I watched the silver shape-shifting weapon that had slapped Asil roll across the bloodstained floor—

then settle beneath the spider’s body, turning into a shimmering silver pool.

Ricardo strode calmly into the arena.

The moment he stopped, the silver weapon transformed into spikes and impaled Nemalda.

Kieeeeeek!

The death scream echoed.

The heavy stench of blood once again filled the arena.

I clearly heard Ricardo’s next words—dripping with hatred, resolve, and cold irony.

“It’s payback time.”