"The newly arrived cult leader wants to enter a deathmatch with the 'beautiful beast'!"
"The 'beautiful beast' won't even spare one contribution point?"
"Could the cult leader already be hit by his spell?"
"Ohh, then it wouldn't just be one contribution point. The beautiful beast might earn 50 contribution points this time…"
As he listened to the discussion in the audience stands, Ash forced a smile as he wrapped his fist in bandages. "It seems that you are indeed feigning weakness."
"On the contrary, I feel that you are the one hiding your strength to lure me into a trap." The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned Igora smiled and said, "You are the Four Pillar Deities Cult leader who dared to go against the Blood Frenzy Hunters, while I am just an ordinary swindler. No matter how I think about it, your martial strength should be greater, right?"
It was true. Before the deathmatch with Igora, Ash had asked Runner about Igora's criminal record.
After all, almost every criminal would make their introduction on the news channel before they came in, so the criminals' resume were almost transparent to each other, just as everyone now knew that Ash was the leader of a small cult that had been taken down by the hunters.
Igora Borgin was also known as "The Deceiver". He worked in the insurance industry and was put in jail for swindling many wealthy people and obtaining large amounts of money. He was a spiritual sorcerer and possessed a series of mental manipulation spell spirits, such as "Contract".
Although the prison theoretically prohibited the use of spell spirits, the prohibition was only "direct", rather than "complete".
Spiritual sorcerers like Igora, who focused on mental cultivation, could still evoke the power of their spell spirits through verbal spells, hints, body language and so on. It was like the team invitation Igora had sent to him in the hall. Once Ash had agreed to it, the spell spirit would silently imprint itself on his mind.
It sounded like Igora did not have any direct combat ability, but—
Ding!
The lights around the Deathmatch Society went silent again. Only the hologram above the arena attracted everyone's attention.
[Igora Borgin Stakes 46 Contribution Points]
[VS]
[Ash Heath Stakes 1 Contribution Point]
Everyone would only stake the lowest limit in a deathmatch, which meant that Igora had already fought 45 battles!
According to Runner, Igora had won all past 45 battles!
Then why did Ash agree to this deathmatch?
Because he had already agreed to it.
When Igora jokingly asked if Ash would come to the deathmatch, Ash also responded jokingly with a "sure, sure". At that time, he had already fallen into a trap—he could no longer go back on this joke.
It was hard to describe this feeling—it was not that his body was controlled, but that his concepts had been altered. This was just like having the absurd notion that "water is poisonous" in his mind. Ash was very certain that he had to fight the deathmatch with Igora.
Ash did not know what the consequences of rejection would be, because the thought of "rejection" would not even appear in his mind. It was as if even thinking, the freest action of all, had been shackled.
"That's why you shouldn't casually respond to any invitation from others in the future."
Sword Maiden leaned against the railing and said lazily, "You are the Terminus Observer. The way I see it, you should reject the goodwill and malice of anyone and say 'no' to everything. You should use your own power to conquer all and your own will to rule everything. You should reign the world like a demon king—"
[No!]
"You brat…"
Just as Sword Maiden was choking, a transparent barrier rose around the arena, announcing the start of the deathmatch.
As a 'ding' sound rang in his mind, he felt as though a shackle had been released from his body. The chip at the back of his neck no longer restricted them from attacking each other!
At the same time, Igora leaned forward, and his athletic build charged forward like a cheetah!
Ash immediately raised his arm to defend himself and dodged to the side. However, Igora seemed to be able to predict Ash's reaction early. Igora used a slide tackle to make Ash lose his balance and directly land on his face!
Even though Ash quickly recovered and stood up, he still could not avoid Igora's follow-up attacks. He was punched in the stomach and almost vomited out bile.
"Clench your teeth." Igora reminded him "kindly" and punched his temple again!
Ash was dizzy from the beating. He leaned against the wall and used his arms to protect his vital parts. However, Igora seemed to be able to predict all of his movements in advance. Every straight punch and hook hit the places that Ash could not defend against. After a while, Ash's face was bruised and swollen. He fled while getting beaten up in an extremely sorry state.
He roared in his heart, [Has the experience transfer not started yet? If this continues, I'll be beaten to death!]
[It hurts! Sword Maiden, quick, possess me and kill this blonde!]
[Mommy Sword Maiden, save me—]
Sword Maiden replied perfunctorily, "Almost there. The more you get beaten up, the faster your experience will be transmitted. Also, don't just get beaten up. Try to fight back!"
[Can counterattacking speed up the experience transmission?]
"No, but it'll make this deathmatch more interesting. After all, it's actually quite boring to watch your one-sided beating."
Although Sword Maiden said that, she was actually a little surprised.
It was within her expectations that Ash would be beaten up like a rubber ball. After all, this was the Shattered Lake Prison. Ash participating in the deathmatch here was like a little lamb taking the initiative to walk into a pack of wolves. It would be strange if he wasn't eaten whole.
She had thought that Ash would reveal a disgraceful and humiliating side, like kneeling down to beg for mercy or break into tears. However, although Ash was in a sorry state, he still did his best: he leaned against the wall as much as possible to reduce the impact and used his hands to protect the triangular area on his face. After falling to the ground, he quickly got up instead of lying on the ground and being suppressed… What surprised Jian Ji the most was that Ash did not cry.
As a soul from another world who had a sheltered life and never experienced bloodshed before, his willpower was unexpectedly tenacious, and he even had a certain level of psychological coping ability.
He had been nagging at the Sword Maiden in his heart to relieve the pain by talking to her. Furthermore, he was not distracted. His defensive movements became more and more agile, and his evasive reactions became faster and faster. It was as if…
It was as if he was a sponge soaking up knowledge.
Sword Maiden suddenly had a feeling: even without her, without the Sorcerer Manual, after experiencing the pain of his initial transmigration, Ash would still be able to adapt quickly to this cruel if seemingly beautiful world .
He was not a weak person at heart. Once his environment changed, his true nature would be exposed.
As expected… he was the Terminus Observer…
Thud!
Ash felt that the bones in his arms were burning as if they were on fire. The Sword Maiden was urging him to counterattack, and it just so happened that he was also a little angry from the beating. Even a doormat had some temper, not to mention that Ash wasn't someone who was willing to take abuse in the first place.
He had his own methods in the workplace. Aside from not talking back to his superiors, he was not willing to lose out at all to his colleagues. Furthermore, he was capable, knew how to suck up to people, and was loud enough when he asked for credit. Hence, he was actually doing quite well in the workplace. Otherwise, his boss would not have made him the new game's operations team leader.
Hence, he took the opportunity and recalled the military boxing he had learned during military training. He did a horse stance and punched back!
"Soft and cute."
Igora turned his head as if he were shopping, a disdainful smile on his face. Igora deftly avoided his fist and punched him in the face.
"You!"
"You—!"
"You—you—"
Not only was Ash unable to curse, none of his punches landed.
Igora was able to seriously injure Ash with every punch. Ash couldn't dodge them no matter how he tried, while Igora could avoid Ash's straight punches with a slight twist.
From an outsider's point of view, they didn't seem to be fighting, but acting. It was as if Ash was voluntarily sending his face to collide with Igora's fist.
"There it is again. The trick of the beautiful beast."
"Looks like the remaining 49 contribution points from the cult leader will all be bagged by the Beautiful Beast."
"Hmph, it's all just fancy tricks. If it were me—"
"What would happen if it were you?"
"If it were me, he would immediately squat down to check if I'm still breathing!"
"Although we can't beat the Beautiful Beast, Master Tyger can definitely beat him!"
The white-haired old man, Tyger, hurriedly shook his head. "No, no. Young people nowadays are stronger with each generation. Old people like me will become your stepping stone sooner or later…"
'Old man, can you let go of the railing before you say this? You've almost turned it into a twisted doughnut!' Everyone cursed inwardly. Suddenly, someone looked at Runner, who was in the arms of a strong man. "Runner, can you see through the tricks of the beautiful beast?"
"I don't know. Besides, it's useless to say it. We'll have to fight to find out." Runner smiled. "However, I don't want to fight with the Beautiful Beast. He's not my type. Don't worry, my dear. As long as there is still breath in your body, I won't cast my gaze at anyone else."
The brawny man Runner was leaning against was covered in cold sweat. He forced a smile in the darkness.
In the arena of the deathmatch, Igora shook off the blood on his fist and asked casually, "Do you know why I won all past 45 deathmatches? My physical fitness is not that good, and my reflexes are not that fast. But why is it that you just can't hit me, while I can hit you every time?"
It's true. From the battle just now, Ash discovered that Igora's physique was actually similar to his. Even a random strong man could suppress Igora, not to mention a monster like Tyger "The Diamond". The two were clearly on the same level, but Ash could not touch Igora with anywhere other than his own face.
It would be fair if Igora's boxing skills were very good, but Ash could feel that Igora's fighting skills were only average. Otherwise, Ash would not have been able to hold out for so long at all.
We're all rookies here, so why are you the only one who can pick on me?
"I've defeated orcs, trolls, and goblins before. Many of them are physically stronger than me, but they all fell in this arena and transferred their contribution points to me," Igora said slowly. "There's only one reason why you and them ended up like stray dogs—
"You're all livestock.
"Your lives never belonged to you.
"From the moment you stepped into the arena, your neck was already bound by the chains I prepared for you. Before I squeezed out the last bit of your contribution points, you are my livestock!
"There is only ever one fate for livestock—
"To be bled, skinned, and then…" Igora handsome face looked down at Ash from above. He licked his lips, revealing a cruel smile. "…sliced into delicious shapes by their master! "
"Continue, Ash Heath. Don't even think about surrendering. There's no rule for surrender in a deathmatch. Don't worry, I'm very gentle with my livestock. It'll be over soon."
Ash straightened and twisted his neck, spitting blood. "Yes."
On the audience stand, Sword Maiden also nodded and said languidly, "It's time to end this."