"Hii..." The Butcher felt his entire being shake at Magnus' words.
He quickly crawled to pick up his mace and as he stood up, he swung at Magnus while spewing curses at him.
"Y-You brat! How dare you humiliate me!" The Butcher seemed hysteric.
Swing mindlessly left and right without a clear aim or strategy in mind. In his hysteric state, the Butcher seemed have forgotten the pain of his missing eye.
What happened was that Magnus casually swung his sword at his eye as close as he could get without actually hitting it. Then, unknown to the audience, Magnus had a thin strand of Darkness at the backside of the sword. It was his Darkness that claimed the Butcher's eye and stuck it at the tip of his sword.
Magnus watched his opponent filled with fear and desperation swing at him, with his small build and fast feet it was easy for him to dodge his opponent's attacks with ease. Strangely, he didn't feel much for this enemy of his, he just felt...calm.
Whoosh...
Whoosh...
The Butcher continued to swung at him and finally, Magnus decided to strike back.
"My turn..." He coldly said.
When the Butcher was swinging at him, Magnus moved out of the area of the arm the Butcher was using. Once outside, Magnus swung his sword upward.
Swoosh...
Ding...
After the swing, the Butcher dropped his mace and screamed again. "Ahh...!!!"
He held his arm that was holding his mace and the audience saw his four fingers was cut. Lying there on the ground, was four bloody, severed fingers. The Butchered became more afraid because now it was clear that there was a large disparity between their abilities.
"P-please...don't kill me. I, I regret killing those kids..." The Butcher pleaded.
But Magnus' expression didn't change was still disturbingly cold. Magnus brandished his sword, which made the Butcher squeal in fear.
"Hii...just-just spare myself, I swear I will atone for my sins..." The Butcher pleaded again.
Now Magnus spoke. "I don't care about whatever sin you've made...I only want your life."
And with that, Magnus swiftly swung his sword and slit the Butcher's throat, leaving him to bleed to death.
The audience was dead silent and it took them a while to react again, and it was explosive.
"Fuck! I just lost 5 gold coins betting on that weakling!"
"I did too!"
Others were lamenting and cursing the dead Butcher for not even being as fierce as the rumors say he is.
While there were those that celebrated.
"Alright! 2 gold coins after betting 200 silver on that kid."
"Well, well, well...I got lucky."
Then there was Scarlet and William, with William not knowing how to react. As instructed by his Lady, he placed 10 gold coins in Magnus' favor. At first, he didn't understood why the Lady would place this much trust in the boy. But it turns out he was in for a surprise.
But as the crowd wallowed in their misfortune and celebrated their surprising victory. They reacted again as Magnus pointed his sword towards the ring master.
Pressured and threatened, the ring master shivered and waited for Magnus to speak.
"I want...all the fighters you have."
His words made the crowd explode once again. Most of them thought that Magnus was way too ballsy to challenge all the fighter the pits has to offer, while some of them was interested if this boy could create a miracle again.
Even Scarlet was stunned by his proposition but then she smiled and nodded at the ring master who was looking at her for confirmation.
"Very well! Challenger Magnus has proposed a very interesting deal and the pits would gladly partake. Please place your debts while we arrange for this spectacular match..." The ring spoke as he had to keep appearances for his business.
The audience then began to crowd over the betting stand and while this was happening, Magnus walked over the Butcher's body but he quickly walked away.
"No Stigmata..."
After a while, the Ring master spoke once again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for waiting and now let us begin the very first one against a hundred match of the pits!"
The crowd cheered and it was then that Magnus walked toward the center of the pit.
"Let me first introduce this ferocious young lad that made a grown man beg for his life...Magnus!"
When Magnus reached the center, he spread his arms open as if to feel the crowd's excitement as they cheered and clapped their hands. I guess people really like it when the odds are against a person.
"Would you look a him...seems like he has flare for theatrics." Scarlet giggled when she saw how Magnus acted.
The ring master then spoke again and this time to introduce Magnus' opponents.
"As for his opponents a hundred men composed of degenerates, criminals and traitors...the scum of society." He seemed to be portraying Magnus as a hero-like figure and his opponents, the evil that must be purged.
Both eastern and western gates opened, out came fifty men from each gate thus forming a hundred. They were already briefed on what kind of match were they participating. Some of them were already sneering, thinking that this will be an easy kill, after all they were just against a child.
"Begin!" The ring master signaled the start of the match.
"You can't blame us for this kid." One of them seem like a fierce criminal, charged at Magnus.
"That's right, this is just business." Another one chimed in.
"Thanks for the easy kill."
A few more charged towards him from different directions and soon Magnus would be surrounded. The audience gasped and thought that maybe it was too much for the young lad. But at that moment, as his enemies were a meter away from him.
Magnus raised both his sword and swung down with all his might.
"Haa!!"
Boom!
There was like an explosion that rang out, dust and rubble burst out from the ground when Magnus struck. His sword broke into piece from the collision and shards also flew in different directions.
"Waa!!"
"What the hell!"
Those who were near him bore the full brunt of this blast and was also blown away.
A cloud of dust covered the parts of the pits and the audience could barely make out what was currently happening. But at that moment of confusion, they saw a figure move swiftly inside the cloud.
"Ah!"
Crack!
Then they audibly heard a slight scream before the sound of cracking bones. Inside the cloud, they saw a small figure jumping from one person to another as a series of cracking noises and screams of pain echoed from the dust clouded pits.
Inside the cloud, Magnus used the cloud of dust to his advantage and with his speed, he stayed low and moved swiftly. He jumped up to an opponent who was confused by the cloud. Magnus jumped over the enemies head, his hands caught hold of the enemy's head and after using Darkness to boost the strength of his arms, he twisted the enemy's head, immediately killing the man.
After that, Magnus jumped down and moved to the next person, breaking his hands and ribs before moving to another. He moved and broke the limbs of the enemy he could find while killing those that he deemed to be dangerous.
Soon the dust began to settle and the audience saw the result of Magnus' work.
More than ten men either had their head twisted, killing them or their limbs twisted to a weird way that they were left to wail in pain.
The Audience was in awe, some of them even thought that maybe Magnus could win. Scarlet smiled as she was right about Maagnus' potential.
William, who still had his doubts asked. "My Lady, no matter how we think about a hundred men is impossible for him."
Scarlet then turned to him, seemingly annoyed. "Those men are at most 5th Level- Topaz realm cultivators or weaker, Magnus was able to kill Amethyst level cultivator despite not having any cultivation, that is how much of an enigma he is. We need to learn more about him."
William backed off and thought about it. It was indeed strange that the kid was able to kill three Amethyst realm cultivators all the while not having any cultivation. Well, the crux lies at the situation back then and the mysterious Darkness that seemed to ignore the defenses of even an Amethyst realm cultivator.
Back in the pits, Magnus glanced around, observing the movements of those around him. Many of them cautiously moved towards him and then someone executed a Fist art. This man punched out, his fist burned as it flew towards Magnus. Another one, who had a sword used a sword technique and slashed towards Magnus.
And there was a third one threw a spear at him.
Magnus saw all three attacks coming at him and as they quickly came close at him, he spun clockwise and using his left hand, he blocked both Fist and Sword attack that was coming at him. The reason why he was able to do this was because he covered his hand in Darkness at the last moment.
Boom!
An explosion resounded when the attack came in contact with his harm and he used this explosion to hide the Darkness that enveloped his hand. While still in the spinning motion, Magnus grabbed the incoming spear and threw it towards the person who used a sword attack against him.
The Spear pierced through the man's chest, after that Magnus rushed towards an opponent. The man was startled but he still swung down his sword but Magnus was faster, with both hands he blocked the incoming attack and followed up with a smack to the face using his right hand.
Magnus then punched him in the gut before he rolled away as another opponent's sword came from behind. Instead of landing on Magnus, it split the head of the person Magnus was fighting.
"Damn, that's kid is really fighting all one hundred." Watching the fight, one of the audience commented.
The others were shaken awake from their shock they began to watch the fight more intently.
Magnus went from one men to another, more or less breaking their bones if not outright killing them. It was a strange and blood boiling sight, the audience suddenly caught on to something. A violet streak of light can be lightly seen.
"Look! That kid...he's smiling!" One of them shouted.
The others looked over and sure they saw Magnus smiling as he just used a man as a shield to block another opponent's attack. Then he just tossed him aside like a he wasn't even human.
"Would you look at that...that little monster is enjoying this! He's like a beast and this pit is his jungle.." One old man stroked his beard in interest.
More and more men fell under Magnus' hands and it didn't seem real, most of these men were at least 3rd Level- Topaz realm Cultivators but they were still easily killed by Magnus.
This was because at this moment, Magnus was connected with Gula. They did not switch places but was manning his body together. At first, it was Gula who forcefully moved Magnus' body but as they continued to fight...their will started to become one and they started to affect one another.
Gula was the spirit of the Stigmata on Magnus' chest, a great beast with great hunger and this affected Magnus as the urge to kill and devour the blood and stigmata of the defeated became stronger. On the other side, Magnus was openly accepting these urges, he started to enjoy them and though he didn't know it now.
As time pass by he will learn that he was broken more than he thought...
"Wraa!" Magnus growled like a beast as he killed another opponent.
Now, there were only seven left from the hundred men there were originally. Magnus sized them all one by one and found out that they were definitely the strongest among the bunch, with two of them being Amethyst realm cultivators. He had to admit that if all seven ganged up on him, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
One of the seven walked forward and the others expectantly looked as the this man came in front of Magnus and said.
"I am Adam, a former knight who was judged guilty of treason. I wish to know your name before we fight."
At this moment Magnus was still being affected by Gula and he tilted his head to the side in a disturbing manner and replied.
"I...don't...give...a...shit..." Magnus slowly and carefully uttered each word before he disappeared from his spot and appeared behind the man's head.
The man, Adam quickly reacted and ducked, avoiding the sweeping kick that was approaching at him from the back. He then took a step forward before turning around while simultaneously drawing his sword.
"I do not care if i die...but i will not have my honor be shamed."
He then attack with a flurry of sword slashes, Magnus was being pushed back. The audience reacted because now, someone appeared who could Magnus' equal. They cheered and some changed their bets.
Back at the pits, Magnus continued to step back, avoiding every attack with a smile on his face but then...
Magnus tripped over a corpse's leg and he fell back, losing his balance.
"It's over!" Adam shouted as he cleaved his sword down with everything that he has.
"Heh..."
Magnus saw the sword coming at him but his smile grew wider as he moved his right hand to the side grabbing something and he swung it! Blocking the enemy attack...
Adam's sword was blown up and he took a step back while Magnus back flipped a few times and when he landed, you could see the violet light in his eyes growing brighter. Adam saw this and frowned as he uttered in fear.
"Demon..."