Black Badger

Daggers were fine, but I preferred big, wide swords.

So, my first target was the harpy.

I wanted to hold a sword bigger than this silver dagger.

I ignored the heavy presence emanating from the open door opposite the waiting area. Something was definitely inside, but it didn't seem like it would come out right away.

I gripped the dagger firmly and turned toward the harpy.

[It looks like the first opponent is Pepper!]

The massive harpy flapped on the ground.

Even with its talons pierced by thorns, it was enormous, and its pain-filled wingbeats were threatening.

[Can a newbie badger who's been active for less than six months take on Pepper with just a dagger!]

Actually, I found swords more comfortable than guns.

The drug's effects still lingered, but thanks to the tension, my senses were sharp.

I curled up one corner of my mouth and charged toward the harpy.

[The newbie is stepping on Pepper's thigh and climbing up!]

Taking the head!

Puk.

It went in properly.

It was a familiar sensation. I knew that if I swung without missing this flow, the harpy would meet its end.

I rode the flow and swung the blade.

The sensation of bones and muscles crunching transmitted through.

[Ah! Pepper's neck has been severed!]

As I grabbed the face with my left hand and leaped down to the ground, the announcer shouted.

The audience's cheers stung my ears painfully.

[With this, two are down! It looks like it's holding a human head—very grotesque!]

Boos and cheers echoed through the arena.

I glanced down at the head I was holding. Unfocused eyes and blood pouring from the severed surface caught my eye. It looked like a general holding a beheaded neck.

Just like in the old days.

I let out a small chuckle and lifted the head.

Then, I hurled it toward the fake Talev approaching me.

Bwak!

The fake Talev's head was half smashed.

[What the—!]

"Bad taste..."

The announcer sighed in lament, while Ricardo calmly pointed it out from behind the bars.

"Didn't want to see it like that?"

"It's unpleasant."

I replied without turning around.

I pretended not to hear the faint amusement in my senior's voice. While fixating on the creature wriggling and regenerating, I watched the silver stream flowing forward.

A fluid that refused to mix with anything else, like mercury dropped on the ground.

When I dropped the dagger into the silver puddle approaching my feet, it melted in instantly.

[Ah, Hoo is now forming Pepper's face!]

Hoo became even more bizarre.

[Pepper's face on the newbie badger's body!]

"Ugh."

I flatly voiced my impression and extended my hand forward.

The sword that Ricardo had created in the waiting area now grew again from the silver puddle. Slower than last time, but steadily building its form.

Even the smooth handle.

As I gripped the completed sword, Hoo charged.

Pulling back an arm like Captain Hook's.

I drew my sword as well.

"Thank you."

I greeted, feeling my senior's gaze piercing like an arrow.

"Better than the last one."

[Hoo raises its arm!]

The creature stopped right in front of me.

I'll end it in one blow.

The moment it tried to sever my neck the way I had Pepper's, I swung my sword.

Woong.

The sword slash made a strange sound as it cleaved Hoo.

The slash that tore through flew and collided with the opposite wall, scattering.

Kwaang!

Ah.

As expected, with enough force, even physical attacks got through.

I felt one life being snuffed out.

I indifferently looked down at the creature losing its form and spilling onto the ground. The crude sword slash packed with power had been the right call. Delicate swordsmanship wouldn't suit this thing.

If I'd tried a refined slash, it would have just mimicked or dodged it...

I recalled fighting something similar to Ray.

Lost in thought for a moment, I realized the surroundings had gone strangely quiet.

What?

As I raised my head, the spotlight illuminated me.

[Hoo down!]

Cheers erupted like signal flares.

I grimaced at the vulgar noise and looked at the announcer standing on the hoverboard.

[Did you see that, everyone! Hoo dies so pathetically! Wow, our side's loss isn't minor at all!]

Was he so triumphant because badgers couldn't lay a hand on civilians?

Or did he believe the fourth creature would finish off the badgers?

I glanced at the announcer ramping up his energy to match the excited crowd, then lowered my head.

And lifted the tip of the sword I'd placed on the ground.

The heavy presence from the dark passage.

Since they were in the show business, they'd probably saved the most impressive creature for last.

As I stepped toward the entrance sucking in the air like a vortex, my senior's voice came from behind.

"Hilde."

This time, I turned my head slightly.

"Who did you learn the sword from?"

There was no trace of a smile on Ricardo's face.

I knew well that almost no one in this world used sword slashes. And Yoon wasn't the type to teach something like that.

It was only natural he'd be surprised that a guy who'd clumsily swung a kitchen knife lodged in his arm could unleash such slashes.

But now wasn't the time for explanations.

Besides, I couldn't answer his question.

"I don't remember."

I replied with the truth and a bitter smile.

"If I remember, I'll let you know."

Ricardo looked at me with that inscrutable expression again.

But he soon gave a short nod.

Wooo... A gloomy wail echoed from beyond the dark passage. Like someone clutching their face and sobbing.

Wooo...

The gloomy wail grew louder.

I waited for it to emerge into the arena.

The explosive cheers and boos quieted once more. The announcer kept silent without his usual chatter. Probably planning to explain after it showed itself. Or maybe momentarily cowed by the wailing noise.

I took in the wail shifting into a gloomy, sharp sob.

And watched it enter the arena.

Two enormous hands.

Dragging itself out, propping the ground with its gaunt, withered hands.

[Even after seeing it multiple times, my body trembles in fear.]

The announcer's voice dropped from above.

[The Hole Man, Arthur!]

It raised its upper body.

The upper body was almost human-like, though nail-shaped bones with exposed mottled tissues clung to its sides. In any case, Arthur looked like a patient dying of the black death, or like a life-form freshly crawled into the world.

But it had no face.

More precisely, it had a human-like head, but a round hole gaped there instead.

Its lower body was tangled like knotted organs.

How did the mafia even capture this thing?

I prepared to crouch my upper body and swing my sword.

Until it threw its head back and screamed from the pierced hole.

Ah, ah, ah, ah, aak!

Shockwave.

It swept through the arena. My sharpened senses precisely captured the approaching wave. Adrenaline surged through my body, slowing the world around me. The wave advanced, shattering the arena tiles. Sharp and lethal, like a sword slash.

The range wasn't wide.

If I rolled to the side, I could dodge it.

And if no one was behind me, I would have gladly evaded it. I had no desire to face it head-on.

If I'd had the choice.

[Hildebert Talev swings his sword!]

If I didn't cancel it out, the seniors would die.

I swung my right arm, and the moment the sword slash flew out, I knew it lacked power.

Kung!

The sword slash collided with the wave and fizzled.

My skills had rusted a bit, and the sword was too light.

[Cancellation failed!]

To block what I couldn't cancel, I raised the flat of the blade.

[Arthur's scream is incoming!]

The wave engulfed my body.

Kwaang!

"Keurk."

I spat out a handful of blood.

Staggering, I used the sword as a cane to steady myself.

Chang. As the sword tip plunged into the ground, the slowed world snapped back to normal speed. Heavy pain spread around my chest. My ears rang, and the noises I'd blocked out in concentration came flooding in.

[My god! He took Arthur's scream head-on!]

The announcer bellowed.

[Whether foolishly tanking it or surviving unscathed, it's a first!]

Yeah, figures.

Anyone with a decent level of skill would have dodged it. It wasn't an unavoidable attack. Rather than meeting it frontally, deflecting to the side or evading was the proper technique.

But sometimes, you don't have that luxury.

I caught my breath, reeking of blood, and flashed a small smile.

While watching Arthur raise its bone like a saw blade.

"Is that your sword?"

It seemed more like something to swing like a saw or spear than a proper sword.

"Nice to meet you. It's been a while since I faced an armed foe."

But this wasn't an opponent I could afford to banter with leisurely.

Kwang!

The nail-shaped sword stabbed into the ground.

The chest pain slowed my reaction slightly, and my left arm took a long gash.

[Arthur swings the bone sword!]

Kung! Kung! Kuung!

Ignoring the stabbing pain, I dodged the bone as it smashed the ground, the arena walls, and the scattered creature corpses.

It was an attack with solid power and speed. Tiles shattered, walls crumbled, and Nemalda and Pepper's corpses burst, soaking the already messy floor.

I rolled across the filthy floor, searching for an opening to counter.

The speed was insane.

It was hard to imagine such a massive body could move that fast. Despite crawling on just two hands without legs, it outpaced most four-legged creatures. If this had been a while ago, I'd have been helplessly sliced by its sword.

But after sparring with Ye-hyeon, I'd focused my training on speed.

Thanks to that, I seized the counterattack timing without taking more damage.

The moment I circled behind Arthur, I held my sword straight out.

Kuung!

I haven't forgotten this sword technique either.

The sword slash transmitted through the blade that heavily pierced the arena floor. The shock rode along the ground and struck Arthur.

Arthur screamed and tumbled forward.

The audience erupted in "Wah!" cheers. From behind the bars, Ricardo muttered in disbelief, "What..."

But I had no time to respond to them.

It wasn't dead yet.

I yanked out the sword and climbed onto Arthur's lower body.

[What! No manners!]

Time to end it.

[It looks like he's going to sever Arthur's neck just like Pepper's!]

I planted my feet on the shoulder of the creature as it lifted its upper body with both arms.

And raised the blade high once more. The neck would be tougher than the harpy's. Stabbing down from above in a single strike would be more effective than slashing.

Arthur whipped its head around and looked up at me perched on its shoulder.

The moment I met that sunken face, I drove the sword down.

Ah, ah, ah, ah, aak...

Sword plunged into the hole.

I hurriedly released the silver sword I'd gripped tightly. Something dark red was crawling up the blade.

Some kind of poison.

Like a final death rattle. Power drained from Arthur's arms. Standing atop the upper body that slammed down, I watched the blade become polluted dark red.

I shouldn't grab it again...

Kung! As Arthur collapsed heavily, I turned to look at Ricardo.

The green-eyed senior was shooting me an incredulous glare with his arms crossed.

Aigoo...

"Senior."

Overwhelmed with guilt, I spoke in a polite tone.

"I polluted the weapon. I'm truly sorry."

It'll cost a fortune.

My most courteous apology didn't seem to land.

Ricardo's expression turned even more incredulous upon hearing me, and he uncrossed his arms.

"Is that what you have to say right now~?"

"Yes? Uh... I thought it was..."

If that's wrong, then what's right?

I could feel my pupils trembling wildly.

Scared stiff, I looked at my senior.

Then, in a faint voice.

Trying to ignore the crashing pain as the adrenaline faded.

"Sh... shall I process the damaged item and requisition a new one...?"

"When we get back, I'm smashing your head first, you idiot."

[Match end!]

The announcer's shout drowned out my senior's terrifying voice.

[Surprisingly! The newbie badger claims an overwhelming victory!]

Peong! Fireworks burst in the air. Magnificently overhead, heedless of my utter terror.

Pouring cheers and boos.

The ecstatic announcer's cries. Colored confetti rained down on my white hair.

And the furious senior, with me anxiously watching his mood.

The announcer's booming voice shook the arena.

[Victory for Hildebert Talev!]

And so, I won the match.