Black Badger

The insect creature died instantly.

It slumped over, pierced by the silver pillar. I could see the harpy flapping puzzled wings above Nemalda.

Asil needed to enter the waiting area while there was an opening.

Perhaps thinking the same thing, Ricardo walked toward Asil.

He bent down and lifted Asil up.

Ricardo supported Asil on his shoulder with practiced ease and walked to the waiting area.

Huh?

But why wasn't the third creature coming out?

Pushing aside the question, I took Asil from him.

"Senior, forfeit too."

As I received Asil, I met Ricardo's eyes.

But Ricardo didn't respond and turned away.

The senior walked off with his characteristic lazy yet firm steps. The tall man re-entered the arena.

I carefully laid the dazed Asil next to Barbie. He couldn't even open his eyes properly. His uneven breathing grated.

I wanted to get him treatment right away....

I didn't want to see my senior end up in this state again.

I whipped my head around.

"Ricardo!"

I raised my voice toward his back.

"I'll go out now!"

The senior raised his middle finger without turning around.

I was going to lose my mind.

The silver thorns that had pierced Nemalda began to flow downward. Nemalda's corpse slowly descended to the floor.

The harpy stopped tearing into the corpse and turned its head.

Its pale mouth was smeared with dark red blood.

The harpy, with blood caked around its mouth, stared blankly at the senior with an expressionless face.

[Ricardo has gripped the spear!]

Ha.

That guy, after all.

The silver liquid that had slithered close elongated into a spear.

The senior drew and gripped it without even glancing my way.

Having absorbed even the spear that had been shattered and rolling on the ground, the one he held was twice as long as the one Asil had wielded.

The shape-shifting weapon gleamed dazzlingly, reflecting the arena lights.

The harpy perched on Nemalda's corpse flapped its wings and took off with a flutter.

I bit my lip as I watched the harpy cast a shadow over Ricardo.

[Hang in there, Pepper!]

Puk!

The spear embedded into the eyeball.

"Aaak!"

[Oh no! Pepper's left eyeball has been pierced!]

The announcer's voice, which didn't sound sympathetic at all, broadcasted it.

Flutter, flutter—the pained wingbeats filled the arena. The sharp clank of chains followed behind.

[But it's not a fatal wound!]

That was the problem.

The spear lodged in the eyeball popped out and fell to the ground. The silver spear rolled across the arena.

[Not enough power! Repeating the same mistake Barbie made—looks like he's lacking in learning ability!]

Thud!

Ricardo dodged the harpy diving down like a hawk.

The massive talons embedded into the arena floor. It was slightly offset from where the senior had been standing.

It wasn't a mistake.

Because one eye was unusable, its sense of distance had dulled.

And the senior had the skill to exploit this situation.

"But still, forfeit!"

That didn't mean he could kill it.

"For! Feit! For! Feit!"

"Shut up for a sec~."

The senior grumbled as he rolled away, evading the harpy's second attack.

"Focus a bit...."

Boom!

Thud! Thud! The attacks continued, but none landed. Ricardo swiftly dodged the harpy's strikes.

Fine cracks spread across the arena floor, but no hits connected. Ricardo evaded each hawk-like assault with ease. Moreover, there wasn't a single unnecessary movement in his dodges.

It was a stark contrast to Asil and Barbie's movements.

In Asil's case, the injury prevented proper movement.

Even accounting for that, Ricardo's motions were far more efficient than those of the previous seniors.

[As expected, someone with experience moves differently!]

Even to civilian eyes, it was apparent, as the announcer excitedly shouted.

[Sordi is showing the difference from the previous badgers. We might have to give up on expecting Pepper's attacks to land!]

I thought the same.

In fact, it seemed like he could even counterattack.

I watched as Ricardo dodged an attack and simultaneously melted the spear back into liquid.

Soon....

Puk!

The silver thorns pierced through the talon.

"Oh!"

[Ah! He anticipated Pepper's landing spot and grew the shape-shifting weapon!]

The harpy thrashed its wings painfully on the ground.

[Pepper's right foot is pinned!]

Got it.

The harpy's agonized cry echoed through the arena.

He couldn't kill it, but Pepper wouldn't be flying for a while now.

Especially since the tip of the thorn piercing its foot had split like a pinwheel.

I raised my voice in admiration of the senior's apt response.

"Senior! I'll go out now and kill it!"

Ricardo turned his head for the first time and met my eyes.

"Forfeit!"

The man didn't answer.

Instead, he slowly walked toward the waiting area.

I was satisfied with just that. My racing heartbeat slowed.

If he came closer, I would make him forfeit no matter what.

Then I would rush out immediately and deal with the flapping harpy first....

Squelch.

Hm?

Ricardo's and my heads turned downward simultaneously.

We stared at the same spot for a while.

The senior's left foot, which had stopped as he walked toward the waiting area.

That foot was slightly afloat.

About 3 cm in the air. His right foot was firmly planted on the arena, but the left one wasn't touching the ground. It was as if something invisible was beneath it.

Something squelching....

"What is it?"

Was it moving?

"What the hell...."

A pillar-shaped shadow stretched out in front of the retreating Ricardo.

I watched in stunned amazement as a translucent pillar silhouette emerged, bubbling like the surface of boiling water before shifting into human form.

No....

It became me.

[Finally! Hoo has revealed himself!]

The flowing, translucent Hildebert Talev.

[Give him a round of applause! It seems like today, Hoo has decided to mimic the cute new recruit badger in the waiting area!]

"Me?"

"That face is creepy...."

My sharp hearing caught Ricardo's mutter.

"Looks cocky...."

Me?

I didn't have time to ask.

Because Ricardo had reshaped the remaining shape-shifting weapon into a dagger and swung it.

Whoosh. The dagger sliced through the fake Hildebert Talev's neck.

The sound of cutting through translucent liquid rang out.

The spot the blade passed through collapsed and flowed downward.

But the formless, wobbling mass soon regenerated the fake Hilde.

[As you know, physical attacks don't work well on Hoo!]

Didn't work well meant it worked to some extent.

[Especially with a dagger like that, there's no way to kill him!]

This was frustrating.

I furrowed my brow and checked the unfolding situation. In that time, the slime Hildebert's right hand was transforming into a sharp dagger.

It was mimicking the dagger Ricardo had swung.

Meanwhile, the senior stood frozen, face cold as ice, gripping the dagger without moving.

He probably lacked the mass to create a spear. Most of the weapon material had been used to restrain the harpy, leaving little for Ricardo.

On top of that, cold sweat.

The cold sweat beading on the senior's paler-than-before face was bothersome. His condition didn't look good.

It didn't seem like his stamina had dropped like Barbie's.

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

Either way, I needed to end this quickly.

I shouted at the creature, which was swinging its sword-like hand like Captain Hook.

"Ricardo!"

He had killed Nemalda and restrained the harpy, so now I judged calmly!

"Forfeit!"

The squelching creature swung its arm.

"Forfeit!"

Slashes.

The dagger grazed his neck.

My heart sank.

Fresh red blood trickled from the straight slash.

A little deeper, and he would have died.

Ricardo furrowed his brow and created distance. Clutching the area near the wound with his left hand, he swung the dagger.

The silver dagger clashed with the creature's sword-shaped arm.

Clang!

He was pushed back in strength.

I screamed as I watched the senior's right arm get repelled.

"Ric!"

That stubborn bastard!

"Forfeit! Forfeit, I said!"

At this point, it was do or die.

"I'm going out!"

Chains be damned.

Electric bars blocking the way be damned. I ran to the corner in case the lying Barbie and Asil got caught in an explosion, then charged toward the electric bars.

With bomb chains on my wrists and ankles.

"Give me the sword!"

"Forfeit!"

The moment I stepped on the electric bars, Ricardo shouted sharply.

"Quick, undo the chains!"

Clang!

The weight lifted from my hands and ankles.

The electric bars vanished, and the ceiling above disappeared.

New sensations poured in. The spectators surrounding me, the announcer gripping a mic on a large hoverboard, the massive lights illuminating the arena, the high vaulted ceiling.

The enormous colosseum.

As I took in the flood of sensations, I ran to the senior.

And I kicked the fake Talev that turned to look at me.

Thud!

The fake Talev flew to the corner of the arena and splattered.

Now Ricardo Sordi was fully in view. The man who lifted his gaze from my ankle to meet my eyes.

I grinned widely at the senior, whose face looked ready to kill someone.

"Senior! I'll take you back to the waiting area!"

"You crazy bastard!"

Ricardo grabbed my collar.

He glared at me, who wouldn't wipe the smile off, and growled.

"Don't you see anything in front of you?"

"I'll end it quickly."

I gave a faint smile.

Really....

"I'll do well, so give me the sword, senior."

The green eyes burning with fire stared at me.

A blaze mixed with anger and irritation.

That intense emotion, fueled like firewood, gradually died down.

And in its place, unknown feelings.

I didn't bother to figure out exactly what those emotions were.

Instead, I smiled faintly as I watched him release his grip on my collar.

"Thank you for trusting me."

"Kill the bird, and I'll make it bigger for you...." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The senior grumbled irritably and held out the dagger.

"But if you get even a scratch, you'll regret it like a dog when you get back...."

The silver dagger.

I gripped the dagger he offered. It was solid. More than enough to slice through the flapping harpy on the ground and the Hoo mimicking my face.

Enough to cut down the creature beyond the slowly opening door.

"This is sufficient."

I replied to the senior passing by me.

"I'll do well."

The hunt.

And the revenge too.