Chapter 93

WOOOOOO!

Thunderous cheers poured down on Suho in the vast, imposing oval colosseum. Most of the stands were filled with demon slaves from the labor camp. Apparently, this execution was entertainment meant to relieve the stress of their grueling labor.

Suho let out a wry laugh at the irony. In this curious respect, they were no different from humans: using sensational spectacles to give the masses a target for their frustrations. Humans had employed that very method countless times throughout their long history.

["... It wasn't like this in the old days."]

Esil's voice sounded as though she were holding back her anger.

["The colosseum used to be exclusively for demon nobles. Each clan would put forward a gladiator to measure its strength against the others. A sort of contest to establish the pecking order."]

Yet now that all the demon nobles were gone, it seemed to have degenerated into a hobby for someone who wanted to play at being nobility.

"The tyrant, huh... I wonder what his name is. Everyone seems to call him the tyrant or the Tyrant King."

["As if daring to imitate nobility weren't enough, he calls himself a king! In the old days, that would have been unthinkable...!"]

"You're a real old fogey, Esil."

["What?!"]

Suho chuckled at her flustered reaction and swept his gaze over the stands.

"Anyway, out of all these demons... I don't think the tyrant's here."

["Nukira told us earlier that the tyrant only shows his face at the colosseum occasionally. Since this is your first match, he probably doesn't think you're worth watching yet."]

"Guess so."

Just then, the demon serving as the execution's announcer bellowed to the spectators.

"Now! Your attention, everyone! The opponent who will execute our One-Horn is—!"

RUMBLE!

The gate opposite Suho opened.

"The merciless butcher, One-Arm!"

WOOOOOO!

An enormously muscular demon emerged amid the tremendous roar of the crowd.

[One-Armed Frenzied Blood Demon]

As his name suggested, one arm had been severed, but the remaining arm was immensely imposing.

Laughter erupted from the stands.

"Bwahaha! They're sending out One-Arm right from the first match!"

"It'll be over too quickly!"

"One-Horn versus One-Arm!"

"This should be worth watching!"

Suho chuckled as he realized what the Demon Jailers had meant when they'd muttered about a "theme" earlier.

"They've got a knack for planning a show."

This was a meticulously planned spectacle. The contrast between Suho with his single horn and the demon with his single arm certainly had entertainment value. But given the obvious difference in their size and appearance, the match was far from fair. He could see why they called this show an "execution."

"Looks like they seriously underestimate me."

["Don't underestimate him. That demon is thoroughly steeped in Frenzied Blood Poison."]

As Esil had said, ominous mana rippled over the Frenzied Blood Demon's entire body. Judging by the crowd's reaction, too, he had clearly made a name for himself in this colosseum over a long time.

"Grrr. This one's next? Looks tender and delicious."

The Frenzied Blood Demon smacked his lips, giving the small, delicate-looking Suho a knowing look.

Suho muttered, "I think I see how he's managed to stay alive this long after taking Frenzied Blood Poison."

["He must have replenished the blood that boiled away by drinking other demons' blood. And he'd have grown that much stronger again in the process."]

Esil was right. But there was one thing even she had overlooked. Frenzied Blood Poison caused excruciating pain. Having endured that agony for so long, the Frenzied Blood Demon had become a fully fledged berserker who could no longer feel pain.

WOOOOOO!

"Hehehe. Hear that? They're all waiting for the screams that'll come pouring out of your mouth."

The Frenzied Blood Demon looked up at the cheering spectators with an utterly cruel smile.

"But rejoice. They don't want you to die quickly. They want this show to last as long as possible. And I..."

He licked his lips, his snakelike tongue flicking out as he approached Suho at a leisurely pace. As that muscular bulk drew closer, an overwhelming aura poured from him.

"I'm such a kind demon that I simply can't disappoint the audience. So be grateful. What I'm saying is, I'll kill you as slowly as I possibly—"

It happened then.

RIP!

The Frenzied Blood Demon's vision suddenly flipped upside down, and Suho vanished from before his eyes.

"...?"

Momentarily bewildered, he tried to turn his head to find Suho. But he couldn't.

'This is...'

Something was wrong. No words would come out of his mouth.

And what was that?

Why was there... a gigantic headless demon standing in front of him with its back turned?

That body, so unfamiliar and yet so familiar...

'Don't tell me that's my...'

At that moment, the Frenzied Blood Demon realized that his head was in Suho's hand. It was his last memory.

[You have defeated the One-Armed Frenzied Blood Demon.]

['Vulcan's Horn' devours a demon's soul.]

THUD!

The Frenzied Blood Demon's massive body toppled to the ground. With it, a heavy silence suddenly descended over the colosseum that had been filled with cheers and jeers.

"..."

In that suffocating atmosphere, with even the announcer too flustered to know what to do, Suho simply stood impassively. He had torn the Frenzied Blood Demon's head clean off his neck in an instant.

He turned to the announcer.

"Isn't there another one?"

[The 'Title: Demon Slayer' buff...]

The announcer felt a sudden chill under that gaze. As though he had encountered his natural predator.

* * *

... WOOOOOO!

A beat later, a tremendous roar erupted, loud enough to shake the colosseum.

"One-Horn! One-Horn!"

"Hey! Did any of you see him move?"

"I did!"

"Bullshit! Even I couldn't see it, so how could the likes of you...!"

"Ha! Another one! Did you hear him say he wants to fight the next guy right away?"

"It's been ages since we've seen a demon this brave!"

"Yeah! It was about time One-Arm died anyway!"

Cries of admiration and astonishment poured from the spectators. But the most shocked of all were, naturally, the Demon Jailers who had sent Suho out without expecting much.

"H-how is this possible?"

"One-Arm had eaten more than ten demons...!"

"What trick did that mere One-Horn use?"

"Could his body be the type that gets a speed boost from Frenzied Blood Poison?"

"That's not the issue! The match ended too quickly!"

In truth, the Demon Jailers didn't care which demon died in an execution. As long as it was sensational, any death would do. The problem was time.

They wanted the executions drawn out as long as possible, showing the audience the gladiators' cruelty and desperate suffering. That would relieve the exhausted slaves' stress, and they hoped the malevolent energy the slaves released would entice the Tyrant King to visit the colosseum in person.

"That was far too quick!"

"It ended before His Majesty the Tyrant King could even take an interest!"

"If it was going to end this quickly, the time we spent gathering the slaves here was a bigger waste."

"If I'd known, I'd have told One-Horn beforehand to drag out the fight as long as possible."

In the end, they turned toward the head jailer, who stood behind them wearing a grave expression.

"Wh-what should we do, sir?"

"One-Horn's asking us to send out the next one. If we end things after he went that far, the crowd will..."

"Ngh..."

The head jailer ground his teeth as he glared at Suho, who was still being cheered in the center of the colosseum. One-Arm was a Frenzied Blood Demon he had painstakingly nurtured, only for him to be rendered useless so pointlessly.

But then an idea seemed to occur to him, and he muttered with a sly smile, "No. This is actually for the best. It's been a while since someone useful turned up. Let's see how far he can last."

"What? Surely you don't mean...!"

"Yes. Give One-Horn what he wants. Send out another one before the audience's excitement cools."

The One-Armed Frenzied Blood Demon might have been popular among the slaves for a while recently, but he was only a passing fad anyway.

"It was about time for something fresh. Hehehe."

At the head jailer's command, the Demon Jailers hurried off to the cells. Meanwhile, the announcer finally recovered his wits and shouted to the spectators.

"Truly incredible! Give a thunderous cheer for One-Horn, who defeated One-Arm in a single stroke! And today, as a special treat, we'll proceed straight to the next execution!"

WOOOOOO!

Just then, the jailers brought another demon out of the cells.

"Hehehe. One-Arm's dead? What a shame. I was going to eat him."

The newly released demon smacked his lips in apparent genuine disappointment. His brazen manner suggested he already thought nothing of the Demon Jailers.

"Oh, what's this? That guy hasn't eaten One-Arm yet, has he? Hey, if I kill that little runt, can I eat One-Arm too?"

"Do as you please. Just don't let your guard down. Toy with him as slowly as possible."

"Hehehe. Of course."

RUMBLE!

The gate opposite Suho opened, revealing the second demon.

[Intermediate Frenzied Blood Demon]

"An intermediate, even though he's just a junkie? Was the one I just killed a lesser demon, then?"

["This isn't the time to worry about rank. He's taken Frenzied Blood Poison, so how much his strength is amplified depends on how much blood he's drunk."]

Esil's warning was tense.

"How much it's amplified, huh..."

Suho's eyes shone as he considered her words.

"The same goes for me, anyway."

[Item: Vulcan's Horn]

Acquisition Difficulty: ??

Type: Sword

Attack +40

A sword made from the horn of the greedy demon Vulcan.

Imbued with Vulcan's power, it deals greater damage.

- Effect 'Destructive Urge': Increases physical damage by [83%].

- Effect 'Demon Devourer': Vulcan's power grows stronger as it devours demon souls.

[Demon Souls Devoured: 53]

He had already confirmed it. Even with Vulcan's Horn "equipped" on his head, the item's effects were fully applied.

"Besides, that last guy had eleven demon souls in him."

["They must have been the souls of the demons he ate. He would have swallowed every last drop of blood and fragment of bone from the bodies of those he executed."]

"Perfect."

He'd thought this place would be much more efficient than the labor camp.

His eyes flashing, Suho looked up at the Intermediate Frenzied Blood Demon who had just appeared before him. Then, without hesitation, he killed this one too.

"Guh..."

THUD.

[You have defeated the Intermediate Frenzied Blood Demon.]

[Vulcan's Horn devours a demon's soul.]

...?!

Once again, the cheering stopped and silence fell. This time, however, it lasted much longer than before. The demons stared down at Suho wordlessly, their eyes filled with shock.

"All right. Next."

Two executions had ended in less than a minute. It was utterly unprecedented in the history of the colosseum's executions. But Suho had already lost interest in the spectators' reactions.

He turned toward the Demon Jailers—no, toward the head jailer seated at the very back—and stared straight into his eyes.

"Or you can come out here yourself."

"..."

At that provocative gaze, the demon head jailer's fiendish eyes flickered.