The insect Creature died instantly.

Its body went limp, impaled on the silver pillar. Above it, the humanoid bird flapped its wings in confusion.

Asil should have been making his way back to the waiting area by now.

Maybe Ricardo was thinking the same thing—he started walking toward Asil.

He bent down and lifted him up.

Ricardo supported Asil skillfully over his shoulder and walked back toward the waiting area.

Huh?

Then why isn’t the third Creature coming out?

Setting that question aside, I took Asil from him.

“Senior, please forfeit too.”

I looked Ricardo in the eyes as I received Asil’s body.

But Ricardo didn’t respond—he just turned away.

With his usual lazy yet firm stride, the tall man walked back into the arena.

I gently laid the semi-conscious Asil beside Bobby. He couldn’t even open his eyes properly. His unsteady breathing grated against my nerves.

I wanted to get him treated immediately...

I couldn’t bear to see another senior end up like this.

I jerked my head up.

“Ricardo!”

I shouted at his back.

“I’ll go out there instead!”

He didn’t look back—just raised his middle finger.

I’m going insane.

The silver spikes that had impaled Nemalda began to melt away, and the spider’s corpse slowly sank to the floor.

The humanoid bird stopped feeding on the carcass and turned its head.

Its pale beak was drenched in dark, wet blood.

Pepper—its face smeared red—stared blankly at my senior.

[Ricardo’s taken up the spear!]

Ha.

That man actually went and did it.

The silver liquid slithered toward him, lengthening and forming into a spear.

Without even glancing at me, Ricardo drew the weapon out and gripped it firmly.

It had absorbed the broken spear that had rolled across the ground; the one in his hand was twice as long as the one Asil had wielded.

The shape-shifting weapon gleamed, reflecting the arena’s light.

The humanoid bird that had perched on Nemalda’s corpse suddenly beat its wings and rose.

I bit my lip, watching its shadow fall over Ricardo.

[Come on, Pepper!]

Thunk—

The spear pierced its eye.

“Aaaah!”

[Oh my! Pepper’s left eye has been impaled!]

The announcer’s voice didn’t sound the least bit sympathetic.

Flap, flap—the sound of agonized wings filled the arena, followed by the sharp clatter of chains.

[But it’s not a fatal wound!]

That’s the problem.

The spear fell from the creature’s eye socket with a dull thud, rolling across the arena floor.

[Still lacking power! Sordi’s repeating the same mistake Bobby made—what a poor learner!]

Thud!

Ricardo narrowly dodged the humanoid bird as it dove like a hawk.

Massive claws slammed into the floor, missing the spot he’d stood in by inches.

Not a mistake.

Its depth perception was off—losing one eye had thrown it off balance.

And Ricardo had the skill to exploit that.

“Even so, please—just forfeit!”

He couldn’t kill it anyway.

“For! Feit! For! Feit!”

“Quiet for a bit, will you~?”

He grumbled as he rolled aside, dodging another blow from the humanoid bird.

“Let me concentrate...”

Boom!

Thud! Thud! The attacks kept coming, but none landed. Ricardo dodged every strike with ease.

The arena floor grew more and more cracked, yet no damage reached him. Each motion was smooth and minimal—no wasted movement.

Completely different from Asil’s or Bobby’s clumsy evasions.

Asil couldn’t move well because of his injury, sure—

but even so, Ricardo’s movements were far more efficient than either of theirs.

[Clearly, experience makes the difference!]

Even to civilian eyes, it must have been obvious—

the announcer’s voice rang out, excited.

[Unlike the previous Badgers, Sordi demonstrates true veteran skill! It looks like Pepper’s attacks won’t be landing anytime soon!]

I agreed.

At this point, he might even be able to strike back.

I watched Ricardo dodge another attack while melting the spear back into liquid.

And then—

Thunk!

A silver spike pierced through the creature’s claw.

“Oh!”

[Ah! He predicted Pepper’s landing point and expanded his shape-shifting weapon right there!]

Pepper flapped its wings in agony on the floor.

[Pepper’s right foot is trapped!]

Got it.

The arena echoed with the creature’s pained cry.

He hadn’t killed it, but for now, Pepper wouldn’t be flying anywhere.

The spike had split open at its tip like a fan, further locking the foot in place.

I marveled at my senior’s sharp reaction and shouted,

“Senior! I’ll go out there and finish it off!”

Ricardo finally turned his head, meeting my eyes.

“Please, forfeit!”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he started walking slowly toward the waiting area.

That alone relieved me. My heartbeat, racing wildly moments ago, began to slow.

Once he reached the barrier, I’d make him forfeit no matter what.

Then I’d rush out there and—take down that flapping bastard of a bird—

Squish.

Huh?

Ricardo and I both looked down at the same time.

For a few seconds, we just stared at the same spot.

His left foot, halfway back into the waiting area,

was slightly lifted off the ground.

Hovering—about three centimeters in the air.

His right foot was planted firmly on the floor, but the left...

as if something invisible was pressing up beneath it.

Something soft, squirming...

“What the hell?”

It’s moving?

“What the hell is that...?”

A tall shadow stretched out in front of Ricardo.

I watched, dumbfounded, as a translucent pillar silhouette appeared—its surface bubbling like boiling water, taking the shape of a human.

No...

It took my shape.

[At last! Fuu has revealed itself!]

The melting, translucent form—Hildebert Taleb.

[Give a warm round of applause! Looks like Fuu decided to imitate that pretty new Badger in the waiting area today!]

“Me?”

“What an unpleasant face...”

My sharp hearing caught Ricardo’s mutter.

“Looks arrogant...”

Me?

I couldn’t even respond.

Ricardo’s remaining shape-shifting weapon turned into a dagger, and he swung.

Whoosh—

The blade cut through the fake Hildebert’s neck.

The sound was like slicing through thick liquid.

The spot the dagger passed through collapsed and dripped down.

But the puddle quivered—and reformed into another fake me.

[As we know, physical attacks don’t work very well on Fuu!]

“‘Don’t work very well’” means they do work a little, though.

[Especially not with a dagger like that—he won’t be killing it anytime soon!]

This is insane.

I frowned, watching the situation unfold.

The slime-Hildebert’s right hand had transformed into a sharp blade.

It was imitating Ricardo’s dagger swing.

Meanwhile, Ricardo stood motionless, dagger in hand, face cold and pale.

He didn’t have enough material left to make another spear—most of his weapon mass was still restraining Pepper.

And the sweat.

Cold sweat glistened on his increasingly pallid face. He didn’t look well.

It wasn’t just exhaustion like Bobby’s.

Was it a side effect of the shape-shifting weapon?

Either way, we had to end this fast.

I shouted, watching the Creature raise its blade-like arm like some kind of Captain Hook.

“Ricardo!”

He’d already killed Nemalda and restrained Pepper—time to think rationally!

“Forfeit!”

The gelatinous Creature ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ swung its arm.

“Please forfeit!”

Slash—

The dagger grazed his neck.

My heart dropped.

A straight red line opened, blood running down from it.

A little deeper, and it would’ve been fatal.

Ricardo winced, pulling back, clutching the wound with his left hand as he swung his dagger again.

Clang!

The silver blade struck the Creature’s blade arm.

He was overpowered.

I screamed, seeing him shoved back.

“Ric!”

That stubborn bastard!

“Forfeit! Forfeit, damn it!”

At this point, to hell with it all.

“I’m just going in!”

Who cared if the chains exploded—

if the electric fence blocked my path or not—

I dragged Bobby and Asil toward the corner so they wouldn’t get caught in the blast, then sprinted toward the barrier.

With bomb-chains still hanging from my wrists and ankles.

“Give me the blade!”

“Forfeit!”

The instant I stepped on the electric fence, Ricardo barked sharply,

“Hurry and release the chains!”

Clang!

The weight on my wrists and ankles vanished.

The electric barrier disappeared. The ceiling above me vanished too.

New sensations poured in—

the audience surrounding us,

the announcer gripping his mic atop a massive hoverboard,

the blinding lights flooding the arena,

the open, towering ceiling—

A massive colosseum.

Overwhelmed by it all, I sprinted toward my senior. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Then I kicked the fake Taleb square in the chest.

Wham!

The imitation flew into a corner of the arena and splattered apart.

Ricardo Sordi was fully visible now—

he lifted his gaze from his foot to meet mine.

And his expression—looked like he could kill someone right there.

I grinned.

“Senior! I’ll get you back to the waiting area!”

“You crazy bastard!”

Ricardo grabbed me by the collar.

He glared, teeth bared, eyes blazing, ready to tear me apart.

“Can’t you see what’s in front of you?!”

“I’ll finish this quickly.”

I gave him a faint smile.

Truly—

“I’ll handle it. Just let me hold the blade, Senior.”

His green eyes burned like fire.

A mixture of anger and frustration—

but slowly, that blazing fury dimmed.

Something else took its place—something I couldn’t name.

And I didn’t bother trying to figure it out.

Instead, I smiled faintly as he released my collar.

“Thank you for trusting me.”

“If you kill that bird, I’ll make it bigger for you...”

His voice dripped with irritation as he shoved the dagger toward me.

“But if you get even a scratch, I’ll make you crawl like a dog when we get back.”

The silver dagger.

I took the weapon from him. It was solid—more than enough to cut down the humanoid bird flapping on the ground and the copy of me that had formed from Fuu.

And enough to slice through whatever was waiting behind that slowly opening gate.

“This will do just fine.”

I answered as he brushed past me.

“I’ll do well.”

The hunt—

and the payback.