Senka was sitting on the floor with his sword resting on his shoulder, waiting in the room used for the contestants of this tournament. The tension in this place was high with everyone in the room carefully observed each other, determining their strongest rival.
Some men tried to provoke Senka earlier but he ignored them. Funnily, they got angrier when he didn't do anything toward them. He sighed in relief when the guards came. He would win easily, but he didn't want to get disqualified from this tournament.
He always thought that people were selfish.
He was familiar with this emotion since he was young.
Like those mongrels who got angrier when he didn't fall to their provocations, like his mother who decided it was better for him to die, or like his adoptive father who took him in because he saw what he could do.
He was sick of people. Every single one of them.
But he needed them to survive, he refused to end up the way his mother wanted him to be, gone without leaving a single trace in the world.
So, in the end, he was also like them. A selfish person.
From this room, Senka could hear the applause and cheer resounding in the Colosseum. He closed his eyes, thinking that among those crowds of people, she was there. Since the day he carried her from that burning village, he kept watching her secretly, admiring her courage and selflessness.
He knew she was just another sacrificial pawn for that blonde guy. Then they deemed her useful for their grand plan, just like himself. The girl, Serena, the name she was given, didn't suspect a tiny bit that they were raising her to be a monster's bait someday.
Until here, he was still thinking that it wasn't his problem.
But that girl... The more he watched her, the more he interacted with her, the more he cared about her.
When she sneaked outside from the inn, behaving erratically, he followed her. As if someone was guiding her, she went to the prostitution district and stopped at the high-class prostitution building there. He decided to show himself to that girl when she looked in trouble. And, for a reason impossible to believe, she told him why she came to that place. He didn't sense any lie. No, he knew this girl didn't have a capability to lie for such a thing.
If he never knew this girl had once sacrificed her life to save a stranger, if he never knew she wasn't capable of harming living things, or if he never knew she wouldn't mind getting into a disadvantageous situation for the good of them all, he would refuse to help her that night. An innocent girl liked her entering that damn place, also because she wanted to save a suspicious creature who invaded her mind.
She was too kind, she wasn't suitable for living in this vile world.
He didn't want her to get hurt.
That's why that night, despite her telling him to stay above the ground, he kept following her. And just as he thought, she was in danger. He slaughtered the monster that was trying to kill her.
Then something he didn't dare to dream of happened... She fell into his arms. And at that moment, he realized he wanted to hug her tight, he wanted to keep protecting her.
Since then Senka had resolved to protect her. He wouldn't allow that wicked magician to take her somewhere away. He wouldn't allow that sly guy to sacrifice her for his plan. As long as she could be happy, he would do anything for her.
And it was for her that he wanted to win this tournament.
He finally found someone he wanted to protect.
It was the first time he felt like this.
It was the first time he regretted losing his voice.
"Alright! All the contestants for the last block gathered! Your match is going to begin soon!" The guard who entered the room announced the news.
He didn't care about those mongrels who were aiming at his back or that triple swords guy who claimed he was famous, or that burlesque man who spit every time he talked. The last man standing would be him.
He stood up, held his sword, and headed toward the fighting arena.
The ground that was in the shape of circle still had a lot of space even a hundred people stood there. On the spot he was standing, there were trace of blood left on the ground from the previous matches.
The elimination round that used battle royal system would only leave one winner for each block. And out of a hundred individuals who fought in the arena, there would only be one winner by the end of the match. A harsh brutal match.
After announcing the name of some famous participants, the announcer started the countdown for the match to begin. All those people who were standing on the arena readying their stance.
"Aaand the match begins!"
As soon as the announcer ended his line, Senka swung his sword. With his unsheathed sword, his first victims were those four mongrels who provoked him earlier. He mocked them in his heart, they had too many opening that it was beyond ridiculous. He hit them with his sword and they lost their consciousness even before they touched the ground.
With his incredible speed and strength, he knocked every costentang who came his way, or every contestant who were distancing themselves from him. His opponent didn't have time to blink when they realized they had been thrown outside the arena. Although, most of them had lost their consciousness the moment Senka's sword struck them.
He quickly gained attention as the announcer focusing on him.
"Oooh, who is that guy on the left corner?! He is as fast as lightning! Striking everything in its way! He is facing The Monk... Oh, The Monk Dai quickly defeated! Ah, he defeated another person! Hmm, I got his name... Senka! His name is Senka!"
The announcer kept talking, "He doesn't even sheathe his sword and he just beat Triple Swords Vaughan! This young man is truly incredible!"
Senka heard the announcer mentioning the name he just hit. For him, this was not even a warming up exercise. His old man was harder to beat than this 99 people combined together.
The attention of all people in the Colosseum now focused on Senka. It was clear as day that this nameless guy whose name they never heard of was on the different level.
"He really is strong..." Rena said in amazement.
Rena thought before Senka was strong, but it was something normal in this world. But now, looking at his figure completely crushed many of his opponents without batting an eyelash, she knew now that he was super strong.
Instead of fighting with each other and reducing their opponents, the contestants stopped in amazement when Senka swept them like a tornado. Then they grouped together trying to bring him down, acknowledging he was an opponent they couldn't defeat alone. A threat to them all. But the number of contestants kept reducing. From 100 contestants at the beginning of the match, there were only 50... 30... 10...
Now that there were only less than 10 people standing on the arena, they surrounded Senka just like wolves trying to corner its prey. These people who were still standing were strong warriors who had their own portions of fame. They raised their guards against him. None of them didn't want to make any single careless move after witnessing his capability.
"What is he...?! His movement is like a beast!" One of the contestants who held a broadsword talked to the guy next to him.
"Sshh! Don't ta-"
Before the guy could finish his sentence, Senka dashed and tackled him. He fell on the floor and Senka hit him with his elbow. Sensing the opportunity, the other guys tried to attack Senka. But, as fast as he could attack them, he was even faster dodging their attack.
Seven people left.
"Take this!"
A curved sword tried to cut his side, but not only he dodged it easily. He spun his body and dropped a kick on the guy's back. The sound of bone cracking was replaced by the sound of tiles breaking in less than a second.
Six people left.
Not waiting for them to attack him, he dashed toward the nearest opponent. But the coward leaped backward, trying to keep his distance desperately. Chasing a scared opponent was a waste of time, so he pulled his sword and threw the scabbard toward him with 30 percent power. The tip of the metal scabbard hit his head and he fell on the ground, unconscious.
Five people left.
"What... what a move! I've never seen a scabbard being used that way in this tournament! A knight could never do that!" The announcer shouted.
After he unsheathed his sword, he was like a tiger showing its claw. However, he stabbed his sword on the ground, leaving his opponents bewildered.
Now barehanded, Senka, who always had a cold expression on his face, smirked daringly. He lifted his hand and moved his finger, telling them to come at him.
"Oh, he provoked them! As if he is saying that he doesn't need his sword to defeat them! What a fearless man!"
He cornered the rest of the guys to attack him, it was troublesome if they kept distancing themselves away from him. He wanted to finish this boring match quickly.
Forming a triangle formation, three of them come to his direction. Using his sword as an axis, he rotated his body and landed a kick on each of them. One of them was strong enough to block his kick.
"Bloody Hunter Khan blocked Senka's kick. Finally, someone who can stop him!"
(He is not bad.)
"You... Are you really human?" Khan, still not moving from the spot, spoke.
Even with arm protectors, the impact of Senka's kick broke Khan's right wrist.
(What define human exactly?)
In less than five minutes, 99 warriors who stood on the arena had fallen, leaving one man standing. The Colosseum was quiet, just like the calm before storm.
"T-the winner of Block 8 is White Lightning Senka!"
The thunderous roar filling the Colosseum. As if the winner of the tournament had been crowned. That day, Senka also got a title.
---
Duke Andorra clenched the armchair. The memory of two decades ago returned in his mind, he had disposed that woman and her newborn child. It was careless of him not to confirm their dead bodies.
He came here to Valia Kingdom because of that Selkie, who would have guessed that he would find that infant was still alive. His appearance and his physical capabilities, there was no mistake that he was one of them. And the skill he was showing, he was nearly as strong as Vermillion, his finest creation.
Duke Andorra drew his conclusion, all the recent incidents... The prototype must be related to all of them.
"Vermillion, follow him. If possible, capture him." Duke Andorra said.
"Yes, Father." And the boy hiding in the shadow answered him.
---