Black Badger

Please forfeit!

I turned my inner thoughts into words.

"Forfeit!"

I clenched my fist with the hand that had been covering my mouth and shook it wildly.

"For! Feit! For! Feit!"

"You're so noisy—."

"Oh god!"

Thud!

The harpy dove straight down.

My heart sank with it. Barbie barely dodged the harpy's talons by a hair's breadth.

The foot was massive enough to cover Barbie's upper body.

If it pierced her, she'd be dead.

"Senior!"

I shouted as I watched Barbie try to thrust her spear at the talons but fail due to lack of strength.

"Forfeit!"

Boom!

It drove me crazy.

She dodged the talons slamming down into the arena by a narrow margin again. I let out a small groan as I saw the black jacket tear against the talons.

Barbie's face had turned pale.

But she didn't call for a forfeit as I hoped.

[Oh! It looks like she's trying to sever the chains!]

No.

There was no way the senior could cut those chains that even the harpy couldn't break.

But she darted toward the chains and raised her spear. The shadow of Pepper, who had failed her hunt and soared back into the air, loomed over her.

My heart pounded like mad.

The silver spear flashed as it reflected the light.

"Strength..."

Ricardo's mutter mixed into the noise.

Right after that, the spear tip stabbed at the chain.

Clang!

As expected, there wasn't enough power.

The chain remained unscathed, and the impact from striking it traveled through the spear to Barbie. She let out a short groan and reflexively dropped the spear.

Then, with her arm trembling faintly from the pain, she hurriedly picked it up again.

Laughter erupted from the spectator seats.

[Oh dear! It seems she's forgotten that her own augmented body isn't functioning properly!]

The announcer cackled gleefully from the air.

[How could a mere human sever chains that even Pepper couldn't break!]

Disgusting bastards.

I frowned and looked up at the spectator seats.

But Asil's urgent shout turned my head back.

"Barbie!"

Ah.

Boom!

"Argh!"

The spear snapped in two.

Thank goodness it wasn't her body that broke. Those of us in the waiting area all exhaled in relief at the same time.

The harpy, talons raised, landed in the arena and crushed the spear instead of the rolling Barbie.

"I'm sorry!"

Barbie sprang up and shouted.

"The spear!"

"Focus on the enemy!"

Ricardo snapped sharply.

"Don't look away!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Barbie obeyed her senior's orders.

She gave up on retrieving the spear or attacking and focused solely on evasion.

My heart felt like it would burst from the repeated close calls, but fortunately, she wasn't seriously hurt.

She dodged the attacks remarkably well so far.

[Even rotten, it's still bonito—slipping away like a loach.]

The announcer said in a voice laced with cold laughter.

[But it seems her stamina is steadily declining.]

If I could slap that guy's face, it would be my life's wish.

It made me feel even worse because he was right. From what I could see, Barbie's stamina dropped rapidly.

I could see her breath catching at her throat.

She already dodged by the skin of her teeth; if she slowed even a little...

"Senior!"

I brought my hand to my mouth and raised my voice.

"Forfeit now! You've done more than enough..."

"Winter!"

Ricardo's sharp shout.

"Above!"

Thud!

Too late.

"Aaack!"

The talons snagged her clothing hem.

A collective "Whoa!" rose from the spectator seats.

Asil and I shouted the senior's name in unison. Barbie dangled in the air, caught in Pepper's talons.

Thanks to reflexively bending her body, the talons had snagged her clothes instead of her flesh—a stroke of immense luck. If they'd grabbed her body, it would have been fatal.

But she wasn't safe yet.

"Barbie, please!"

"Forfeit!"

Asil shouted urgently, and Barbie squeezed her eyes shut and yelled too.

Seeing the self-loathing and defeat on her face made my chest heavy.

"Forfeit! I forfeit!"

Crackle!

Those damn freaks.

Electricity surged through the thick iron chains. It was a powerful current strong enough to paralyze the harpy Pepper, if only briefly.

Pepper froze mid-air. Fortunately, since her jacket was torn, the current didn't flow to the dangling Barbie.

With the harpy paralyzed in the air, the talons' grip loosened.

The blonde senior plummeted.

At the same time, the electric bars blocking our view vanished.

Thud!

Asil caught Barbie.

It was an astonishing speed.

[Wow! It's like the protagonist swooping in to save the heroine in a crisis!]

The announcer shouted in a mocking tone.

[But oh no, it looks like her arm is broken!]

Of course it would be.

If the augmented body had been working properly, there wouldn't have been any strain on their bodies, but right now, they were no different from ordinary people.

Neither Asil nor Barbie emerged unscathed.

In fact, the seniors who had rolled on the ground couldn't move for a while.

The harpy began flapping its wings again.

The delighted spectators and announcer. Even the sight of Asil, face twisted in pain, crawling toward the silver spear and fumbling to grasp the broken half became their entertaining spectacle.

Anger and misery choked my words.

The entrance opposite the arena opened.

"Senior!"

I barely suppressed the urge to charge through the electric bars and shouted.

"Senior! Forfeit!"

[Now, let's introduce the second opponent!]

Barbie rose with a face drained of color.

Her sluggish movements clearly indicated internal injuries. She steadied herself unsteadily and looked for Asil. Then, with a face on the verge of fainting, she stared at Asil's face and arm.

Asil swung the spear to signal her to return to the waiting area.

Meanwhile, the creature entered the arena.

[It's our spider, Nemalda, who's getting harder and harder to raise!]

It had multiple legs.

I couldn't fathom why it was called a spider. I watched the insect-like creature, the size of a car, crawl heavily into the arena.

A round face dotted with multiple eyes like an egg sac, and a massive, cocoon-like body.

Asil twisted his body to face it.

Ricardo, who had been silent until now, shouted.

"Winter! Don't just stand there like an idiot—get back!"

Barbie whipped her head around.

Unlike her stiff expression when she had entered the arena, she now looked like she might burst into tears at the slightest touch.

"Now!"

"Asil!"

A shadow passed over the staggering, running Barbie.

I glared at the descending harpy, veins bulging.

"Above!"

Screeech!

The harpy's talons struck Nemalda.

Because Asil had slid under Nemalda. The talons meant for Asil pierced the spider creature's body. The insect creature staggered, spewing a dull liquid. The stench of that liquid and blood filled the arena.

Is it dead?

No. The staggering insect creature soon spat its venomous liquid at the harpy.

"Aaaah!"

The harpy let out a scream eerily human-like.

Asil lay flat under the spider's body, unmoving.

[Smart move!]

The announcer shouted.

[By positioning herself perfectly, Pepper and Nemalda have started fighting each other!]

The announcer soon excitedly commentated on the harpy and spider's battle.

During that time, the electric bars vanished from view. Because Barbie had staggered back to the waiting area.

Ricardo and I caught her at the same time.

The green-eyed senior carefully laid the panting Barbie on the ground.

"Lie down."

He said in a low voice.

"Don't talk."

"Asil's arm..."

"I'll handle it."

I said softly to the senior, who was overcome with self-loathing and on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"I'm sorry. I..."

[Oh! Nemalda is about to unleash its finisher!]

The announcer's voice pounded in my ears.

Because of that, I couldn't respond to Barbie. Ricardo and I turned our heads sharply. We straightened our bent waists and looked toward the arena.

No.

Can that even happen?

[Body slam!]

Boom!

The arena floor cracked.

For a moment, I thought, why throw itself at the innocent ground when the enemy was flying? But I quickly realized it wasn't just a body slam.

The moment Nemalda collided with the arena floor, venomous liquid sprayed in all directions.

The harpy screamed.

Asil, who had been escaping from Nemalda, also tumbled after getting hit by the liquid.

"Senior!"

Seeing the senior collapse in the arena and cough made my insides chill.

"Senior! Forfeit!"

"She won't come to her senses for a while."

Ricardo said quietly.

I barely swallowed the breath caught in my throat. She needed to snap out of it and call for a forfeit right away. If not, even if she didn't die immediately, she'd get caught in the crossfire of those things.

Or become their target.

What should I do?

In that moment of despair, the senior spoke.

"We have to wake her."

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

I saw his gaze fly to the silver spear and embed there.

"A good slap might..."

The spear beside Asil twitched.

I watched it melt into a round ball, then elongate upward into an oval. A long rod grew from the oval's end, heading toward Asil's face.

The transformation speed wasn't as fast as Ye-hyeon's from the footage.

But the silver shape-shifting weapon steadily approached Asil and slapped his cheek.

"Forfeit!"

As soon as I confirmed Asil, coughing dazedly from the slap, narrowing his eyes, I shouted.

"Senior! Forfeit! Now!"

Asil's lips moved.

No sound came, but I knew he had forfeited.

The electric bars in front of me vanished.

The door opposite the arena opened again.

Delighted spectators. The announcer proclaimed in an ecstatic tone that the traitor Asil Fisher had forfeited.

Ricardo Sordi's chains fell to the ground.

"My turn..."

The senior smiled grimly.

He moved. The green-eyed man stepped out of the waiting area. I watched the silver shape-shifting weapon that had slapped Asil's cheek roll across the stained arena floor, then form a silver puddle right under the spider's body.

Ricardo walked neatly into the arena.

The moment he stopped, the silver weapon turned into thorns and pierced Nemalda.

Screeech!

A death cry echoed.

The fishy stench once again heavily blanketed the arena.

I clearly heard Ricardo's following words.

Laden with hatred, resolve, and cynicism.

"It's time for revenge."