"I'm impressed. You endured Werk's 'snake bite' and my lashes. But don't relax yet, because there's still the third punishment," Alad said after he finished his last whip.
"Then, without further ado, so you two can finally get home, let's proceed to the third punishment," Alad continued.
"In the third punishment, I will change the rules a bit. If you choose Will to get punished, then he would be punished according to what the punishment is. But if Crestia would take the punishment, then it would get tripled," Alad explained.
"That's not what you said earlier. That's unfair!" Crestia protested, though she was clearly scared.
"Huh? Who said you could object to my decisions? Do you want me to just kill both of you here?" Alad threatened Crestia.
"N-no... Sorry," Crestia replied.
"That's what I want to hear. For now, I'll let it slide. But do it again, and you know what will happen. Do you understand?" Alad asserted.
"Y-yes..." Crestia answered.
"Then let's proceed. For the third punishment, it would be as I said earlier. Will needs to fight fifty people in the arena consecutively without rest. If he wins, you can go home now. But can Will still fight in that state he's already in? HAHAHAHAHA," Alad taunted.
"Does that mean if Crestia takes it, she needs to fight 150 students?" I asked.
"Oh, that's right! I feel bad for letting her fight 150 people; she might die. So, I'll change the punishment for her," Alad said.
"Let me think... ah! I've come up with a good idea," Alad said, a malicious grin on his face.
"If Will takes the punishment, then he would need to fight fifty students. But if Crestia takes the punishment, how about letting you dance at the center of the arena for an hour, stark naked," Alad suggested with a satisfied expression.
"Whatever you choose, it would satisfy the spectators, of course, whether it's Will taking a beating or Crestia taking humiliation. HAHAHAHA," Alad added.
Just how evil is this guy? Is he an incarnate of a demon?
"I'll give you three minutes to decide and talk about who will take it. But didn't Crestia say she would take the third punishment?" Alad provoked Crestia.
"W-will, y-you can decide... I know I'm the one who's supposed to get the third punishment, but, but... I can't bring myself to do it, that's why Will, please decide. If it's your decision, I would do it," Crestia said while crying.
"Eh? I thought you would take the third punishment because you don't want Will to get hurt anymore? Are you lying when you said that? Even I feel a little bad for Will, but it seems like it's okay for you if Will takes a beating instead of you just showing everyone your body," Alad provoked Crestia.
"CAN YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!" I shouted, surprising everyone.
"I'll take the third punishment, so shut up already and proceed with it," I said to Alad.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA if that's what you decided, then let's proceed," Alad said, clearly enjoying the situation.
"Cirris, take Crestia and lock her in the other room," Alad ordered Cirris.
"What are you doing?" I asked with a piercing gaze.
"Huh? Of course, I need protection if you've gone berserk," Alad said.
"As long as you haven't beaten the fifty students in the arena, Crestia would stay locked up in there," Alad said.
"But don't worry, I don't break my promise. As soon as you beat those fifty students, I would release Crestia, and the two of you can go as you please," he added.
"That's why do your best to beat those fifty students. Wait for me here," Alad said and left, along with Werk, Cirris, and Crestia, leaving me alone in the room.
My whole body was in pain. Maybe Werk broke one of my ribs when he used 'snake bite' on me, and those lashes from Alad inflicted much more damage than I thought, giving me bruises all over my body.
After about five minutes, Alad came back with a sword in his hand and threw it at me.
"Take that. That will be your weapon. It's a bit rusty, so be careful in using it because I won't give you another sword if you break it," Alad said.
"Now, let's go," Alad said, then opened the door.
As I stood up, my body felt heavy and was screaming in pain. It's as if I would pass out if I relaxed my body for even a bit.
"Hurry up!" Alad shouted.
After that, the two of us left the room and proceeded to the arena. As we arrived there, the two of us went straight to the center of the arena, and all of the people were staring at us.
"Now, it is the most awaited part of today's session, an event held by none other than me, where you can triple your money in only one bet," Alad said, and all of the people present in the arena looked and listened carefully to him.
Is Alad really that important here? Why do these people respect this piece of garbage?
"For today's event, I will have this person here fight fifty people consecutively without taking a rest. The challenge for all of you is to bet how long he would last. Isn't that exciting?" Alad said, pointing at me.
"Now cast your bet, and the one who gets the right answer on how many people it would take until he falls will get their bet tenfold," Alad said, exciting everyone in the arena.
"Now, it looks like it excites everyone. Please proceed to betting first before we start the fight," Alad continued.
As people lined up to place their bets, I overheard two students talking:
"Hey, isn't that guy weak? Maybe he won't even beat one person. Should I bet for zero?" said the green-haired student.
"No, Alad won't let that guy participate if he's that weak. Maybe he's just hiding his strength, pretending to be weak so he can fool us," replied the dark-haired student beside him.
"Well, it doesn't matter. I'll trust my gut feeling that he's weak. Just look at him; it's clear he can't even fight," the green-haired student said.
After listening to some students' opinions, the betting period came to an end, and the match was finally starting.
Before Alad officially started the match, he called me forward and said something.
"By the way, those fifty students you'll be fighting also owe me money, and their condition for participating is if they beat you, I would forgive their debt to me. They'll be desperate to win, so do your best," Alad said and then stepped back to the arena.
"Without any further ado, let's start the match!" Alad shouted.
"Let me introduce the star of the show who will fight fifty people, Will!" Alad said, but there was silence.
"It looks like you don't have any fans here. HAHAHA," Alad remarked before proceeding to introduce my first opponent.
"Now, the first opponent who will try to beat Will is a third-year student, Railan!" Alad announced.
"You better win. I voted for zero!" shouted the green-haired man before.
"Now that everything is set, let the first match begin!" Alad shouted, and both Railan and I took our respective stances.
Railan was the first to attack. He rushed toward me, preparing to cast a skill.
This guy was desperate to win, thinking I was weak. Maybe that's why he didn't put much effort into his defense and attacked head-on.
"Vertical arc!" Railan shouted as he struck vertically.
He was really rushing things, using an intermediate skill from the get-go. But with his desperation, it was easier to predict his moves.
In my current state, I couldn't take that attack head-on. I needed to parry it.
I predicted where his attack was coming from and parried it, leaving everyone in the arena surprised.
After parrying his attack, it left him wide open, and that's when I activated my skill.
"Single shot!" I shouted, doubling the damage of my attack.
I was using a real sword now, so I shifted my sword first and used the back of my sword to hit Railan.
He fell to the ground, and I kicked his sword out of the arena.
"W-what just happened?" the green-haired student exclaimed, unable to believe what he had witnessed.
"The winner of the first match is Will!" Alad announced, leaving everyone in the arena surprised by what had just transpired.