Chapter 96

[Domesticated Minotaur]

“Moooooo!”

An enormous bull stood on two legs in the center of the colosseum, roaring. Before it stood Suho, a small, frail-looking one-horned demon. Facing such an enormous magic beast made him look all the more insignificant.

[... Looks like they brought over a magic beast from the labor camp.]

“Looks that way.”

In human terms, it was like dragging an ox away from plowing a field and putting it in a bullfight. Except this particular ox was incredibly muscular and walked upright like a person. It snorted repeatedly, ready to charge Suho the instant its magical shackles came off.

[Will you be all right?]

“Who? Me?”

Suho chuckled as he asked, but Esil repeated her warning in a worried voice.

[Domesticated or not, a minotaur's strength is beyond anything you can imagine. More importantly, its hide is thick, so it can take an incredible beating. If things go wrong, forget all this and summon all of us.]

Summoning his shadow soldiers here would effectively put an end to his demon impersonation. And if it came out that Suho belonged to a different race, every demon here would undoubtedly attack him at once.

Normally, of course, he could keep fighting while replenishing his forces from the corpses of his enemies. Against demons, however, it was a different story.

[Extraction is impossible because the mana is contaminated.]

Demons could not be extracted as shadow soldiers. That meant that if all these demons launched an attack, Suho would have to stand against them alone.

Despite Esil's repeated concerns, Suho merely gave her a knowing smile.

“Don't worry. I'll hold out as long as I can until the Tyrant King crawls out.”

However tough this thing was, surely it couldn't be worse than Ammut's daily quests.

Goosebumps prickled along both his arms at the thought that he would have to do another daily quest as soon as he got back.

Whatever the Demon Jailers made of that sight from afar, knowing smiles spread across their faces.

“That's right. What does it matter whether that little bastard is a surviving demon noble? He's so weak.”

“Judging by that single horn, either other demons drained most of his blood, or he got lucky and drank a few drops of a demon noble's blood that caused some freak mutation.”

Behind them, however, the head jailer simply stared hard at Suho, without a trace of complacency in his eyes.

“One to start.”

At last, he gave the order.

“Send out two more in five minutes. Then four more after another five minutes.”

“Head Jailer, will he last that long?”

“You idiots. Why do you think we're using minotaurs?”

The Demon Jailers nodded at his words.

These days, minotaurs were thoroughly domesticated by the demons and raised on fodder in the labor camps. But they had been very different creatures in the wild.

“Minotaurs are vicious, savage creatures by nature. They use overwhelming violence to crush every bone in their prey's body and pound its flesh to mush before they finally eat.”

Whatever Suho really was, their duty was to make this execution as long and gruesome as possible.

“Thank you for your patience! The execution will now resume!”

CLANK!

With the announcer's cry, the shackles binding the minotaur came undone.

“Mooooooo!”

As though it had been waiting for that very moment, the enormous magic beast charged Suho with terrifying force.

RUMBLE...!

'It's fast!'

A huge cloud of sand billowed up as its massive fist came crashing down over Suho's head in an instant. The common assumption that something so large would be sluggish proved utterly wrong.

KABOOM!

The sheer destructive force shattered the ground where Suho had stood. That was only the beginning as the minotaur unleashed a wild barrage of punches.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

“Moooooo!”

The slaves in the stands were cowed by the tremendous sight. They were being reminded just how terrifying the stupid livestock they used to pull carts at the labor camp truly were.

'Yes. That's exactly the reaction we want.'

Satisfied looks spread across the Demon Jailers' faces at the slaves' gratifying response.

But then it happened.

“Mooo?!”

Suddenly sensing something, the minotaur jerked its head up, its fist still buried in the ground.

There, above the thick cloud of sand!

Suho had leaped into the air at some point and was bringing his sword down from overhead.

SWISH!

At that instant, the minotaur swung its arm straight up at him.

KABOOM!

A shock wave generated by its tremendous muscles tore through the air, surging upward toward Suho.

[Dodge...!]

As Esil cried out her warning, Suho twisted in midair, lightly stepped on the creature's fist, and sprang even higher.

'Its reflexes are impressive, too.'

His eyes flashed in midair. But why did that look make him seem as though he were choosing meat at a butcher's shop?

“Ooooooh!”

“Wow! He dodged that!”

Cheers erupted from the stands. Seeing Suho put up a respectable fight despite the overwhelming difference in size, the slaves had found themselves rooting for him.

SWISH!

Just then, Suho slipped behind the minotaur and drove his sword into its shoulder.

CRUMPLE!

The Hell Iron Longsword buckled pathetically on impact.

“Bwahahaha! Look at that!”

The Demon Jailers burst out laughing. That worn-out sword could never have pierced a minotaur's thick hide in the first place. Hadn't they given him weapons like these precisely to make a fool of him?

Having anticipated all of this, Suho calmly turned the sword, now bent at a right angle, and plunged it straight into the minotaur's eye beside him.

“Grrroooar!”

At last, the minotaur roared in pain and thrashed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

It struggled violently to shake Suho off, but he grabbed its massive horn with one hand and barely managed to hang on. Then he raised his other fist, a meaningful look on his face.

“This is going to hurt a little.”

WHINE!

[The buff from ‘Title: Wolf Slayer’ is applied.]

Wolf Slayer.

The buff that increased all his stats by 40% against beast-type monsters wrapped around his fist. Suho drove that power into the creature's face with all his might.

BANG!

“...!”

For an instant, the minotaur's vision went dim, and it saw stars. Then, a beat later, came a bewilderingly tremendous impact.

“Mooo?!”

“You can really take a punch!”

Rather than being disappointed that the minotaur had withstood the blow, Suho cheered and brought his fist down again. Over and over! Again and again! As though testing just how much punishment it could endure.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

“Mo...!”

An endless outpouring of utterly overwhelming violence!

Before long, the minotaur's face began to cave in mercilessly, slowly collapsing.

“Wh-what the...!”

The Demon Jailers sprang to their feet in horror, all at once. The minotaur was dying, unable even to scream properly!

“Q-quick, send out two more! No, send out four!”

CLANK! CLANK!

At the head jailer's flustered command, the gates holding the magic beasts opened in unison.

[Oh?]

Watching from within the shadows, a little ant's eyes narrowed into thin crescents.

[So you were quite thoughtful after all. The Young Monarch will be delighted.]

Beru was right.

RUMBLE...!

Still standing atop the fallen minotaur with its horn in his grip, Suho raised his head. Then he grinned at the four beasts newly charging toward him.

“That's right. The more, the better.”

At that moment, Suho began using his power in earnest.

“Gray, Spirit Possession.”

[‘Pet: Gray’ possesses you.]

WHOOSH!

His hair began turning silver.

“Oh! One-Horn is...!”

“He was a shapeshifting demon?!”

“I've never seen a trick that only changes your hair col—!”

But the commotion in the stands abruptly died away. An immense presence had suddenly opened its eyes behind Suho, like a halo.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, drools at the sight of prey running straight toward him.]

A chill ran through them.

“Mooooooo?!”

Caught in that unidentified gaze, the charging minotaurs were seized by instinctive terror.

[‘Effect: Fear’ activates.]

[All targets' stats decrease by 50% for 1 minute.]

The minotaurs' frenzied charge slowed visibly.

Was it because the demons had domesticated them for so long, suppressing their wild instincts?

“Mooooooaar!”

The minotaurs did not even notice that their stats had decreased. Instead, they hammered their fists at Suho all the more desperately, trying to shake off that unsettling feeling.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

A merciless rampage.

Their thick, muscular arms slammed down wildly, creating shock waves. The resulting clouds of dust filled the colosseum, and the excitement in the stands rose along with them.

“Waaaaaaah!”

And then.

[Using ‘Skill: Iron Body Arts’.]

THOOM!

“Mmph?!”

A minotaur suddenly came flying backward out of the thick dust.

Then...

BANG!

“...!”

Another flew out and slammed into the wall.

What had just happened?

BANG!

A third minotaur crashed into the wall and shook its dizzy head.

“What on earth...”

“...is going on in there?!”

As every demon doubted their own eyes, the dust settled a little, revealing One-Horn's—no, Suho's—enormous silhouette for all to see.

“Th-that appearance?!”

Every demon's eyes widened in shock, slaves and jailers alike.

At some point, Suho had also used ‘Skill: Giant’s Armor’, growing to roughly the same size as a minotaur. With black energy coating both hands, he had locked hands with the minotaur and was matching it in a contest of strength.

He grinned.

Amid that fierce struggle, Suho looked straight into the minotaur's eyes and curled his lips upward.

“You're pretty strong, huh?”

“Moooo!”

“But you know what?”

Suho smiled, baring his white teeth.

At that moment...

RUMBLE!

“Mooogh?!”

His strength suddenly increased, and the minotaur's knees buckled in alarm.

“I've been hitting the gym really hard lately.”

Seizing the opening, Suho raised his fist and crushed the creature's body.

KABOOM!

“...!”

As a soundless scream burst from the minotaur's mouth, Suho bent at the waist and began pounding it to a pulp in earnest.

Yet there were no more cheers from the spectators watching him. Suho's overwhelming, spine-chilling battle had brought a long-forgotten figure back to the minds of the older demons.

“V-Vulcan...”

A quiet voice slipped from someone's lips. That single name began spreading in every direction like wildfire.

“Lord Vulcan...?”

“Vulcan?”

Belated realization filled the startled demons' eyes with horror.

“Aaah! N-now that you mention it, that single horn...!”

“It looks exactly like the horn of Vulcan, the Demon of Greed!”

An enormous silhouette they had long forgotten flashed through the demons' minds.

An imposing bulk.

Destructive, savage power.

Vulcan, the greediest of all demon nobles!

“M-my goodness. It's true...”