After a while, a large and majestic building appeared in front of Suho.
It was a colosseum surrounded by high walls of bizarre shapes, demons or skeletons.
"Go in."
The supervisor handed Suho over to the guards at the Colosseum and immediately went back to the workhouse.
Clank!
The solid iron door closed, and Suho looked up at the new demons he had met.
[Demon Jailer]
'Demon jailer…'
As soon as Suho saw the new demons he met, he measured their attack power.
Judging by the orange color of their name tags, they were quite strong, but they weren't ones with no chance of winning in a fight.
The demon guards who took over Suho were the same in assessing Suho.
They started talking to each other while scanning Suho up and down.
"It's been a while since a useful guy came in."
"Such a shame that you have a small body."
"That's why it's better. Don't you know gladiators have concepts or identifiers these days?"
"Well, he has only one horn, which is unique, so it's nice."
"Let's call this guy One Horn from now on."
Regardless of Suho's will, a nickname was created on the spot.
[Pft. One Horn…]
Suho heard the sound of Esil suppressing her laughter.
[Congratulations. You got a new name. Originally, among demons, nicknames are rare.]
Clank!
"Keep quiet."
"If you cause trouble, we'll get killed or something right away."
The demon guards put Suho in a solitary cell surrounded by dark iron bars.
The moment they moved away, Beru's face popped out and he gritted his teeth with bloody eyes.
[Eck! How dare those cheeky bastards! If you give me an order, I will cut their bodies into five parts immediately…!]
[Don't show yourself, stupid.]
[What?! How dare a mere bee call me stupid?!]
[I'm trying to understand the situation here. Master must have plans for everything. Also, I'm not a bee…]
Squeeze.
[Krrrk…]
Suho trampled on Beru and Quay, who were showing their faces at each other, and looked out of the prison bar.
The demons who were trapped there first were watching their side with interest in the dark.
"Is he new?"
"He's a very ugly bastard. He has one horn."
"How long will this guy last?"
Eerie voices were whispering about Suho.
In fact, Suho was looking closely at the dark iron bars that were imprisoning him.
When he tapped it with his finger, he felt a strange counterattack.
'It doesn't seem like an ordinary iron.'
[It's a prison made of hell iron. It's a hard metal stained with demonic energy, so it's mainly used to confine demon prisoners.]
'Demonic energy?'
At Esil's explanation, Suho smiled strangely.
'Then, could something like this happen?'
Suho gripped the barbed wire made of hell iron with his hand and his eyes lit up.
Swoosh.
[The 'Title: Demon Slayer' buff effect is activated.]
Suho was able to forcibly bend the iron bars.
The demon slayer buff, which increases all stats against demons by 40%, was applied even in such a hellish place.
"Oh my!"
The eyes of the other demon prisoners who witnessed the scene widened in astonishment.
They were taken aback seeing a small one-horned demon do that.
"How can he touch and move the hell iron effortlessly?!"
"This means he can run away whenever he wants!"
"Hey! If you're going to escape, open my cell as well!"
Suddenly, the demons who were watching Suho screamed noisily.
But not everyone was so surprised.
"Tsk. These pathetic bastards. It's no doubt you are the ones imprisoned here like this. Even if you escape from here, you will only be eaten by the guards outside."
The demons nearby glared at the sound of someone clicking his tongue in the corner.
"What? Who are you calling pathetic?"
"Oh well, a dying old man has nothing but bluff!"
"Do you think anyone can do such a thing? Then, let me bend your neck like that!"
The prison suddenly became noisy with profanity.
"Pray that you don't see me at the next match!"
"Someday I will chew and eat that old man who's all talk."
However, the old demon brushed away all swearing towards him, and then laid back and lay down leisurely.
Suho looked at him with strange eyes.
'… Could it be that he was giving me advice?'
Suho put the bent barbed wire back to its original state.
He was just experimenting out of curiosity anyway, and he had no intention of running away.
[Were you originally this strong? I didn't think it was this far when we were fighting the mid-level demon earlier…]
At Esil's startled voice, Suho only laughed.
'I just confirmed the title effect.'
Was it because of that?
Even though Suho had been captured in a den full of demons alone, he did not look nervous at all.
On the contrary, it was regrettable that he passed from the workhouse to the prison without any problems.
'If I killed all the demons in the workhouse, I'd get some experience.'
He needed to be patient.
If he had made a fuss, he wouldn't have come that far comfortably.
The level of the slaves at the workhouse was at a grievous level even among the low-level demons, so it seemed that even if Suho hunted hard, he wouldn't get much experience.
'But it's different here.'
From the moment Suho set foot in the prison, his sensory stats were alerting him.
It wasn't because of the guys talking only with their mouths nearby.
The real thing was far away.
'It's better to catch one big one than hundreds of small fish.'
A faint smile crept across Suho's lips.
It's the Colosseum he's looking forward to.
But why?
Throb.
His heart has been beating ever since he got there.
'No, let's not get confused.'
To be precise, he had been feeling that from the 'Vulcan's Horn' attached to his forehead.
Like it was a living creature.
'What is this?'
It was an interesting place in many ways.
* * *
"One Horn, come out."
Guards came for Suho again.
The iron bars opened, and Suho meekly followed the guards.
The moment he passed by the solitary cell of the old demon who warned him earlier…
[… If you want to live long, don't eat the food the guards give you.]
'Huh?'
When Suho suddenly turned his head to the side at the sudden voice in his ear, the old demon just turned his back and lay down.
Suho pondered on the old demon's words.
'Don't eat the food?'
After a while, just as mentioned, the guards put grilled beast meat in front of Suho.
"Eat. It is a special treat given only to newcomers to the Colosseum."
"It could be your last supper, so don't leave anything behind."
The guards were giggling meaningfully.
Suho stared down at the beast meat, steam rising up.
It didn't look like much, but it smelled good.
If he had been an ordinary slave in the workhouse, as soon as he smelled it, his eyes would roll back and he would devour it.
But then.
Someone who had slumbered in the distant World of Rest quietly opened its eyes.
[The Queen of Insects, Plague Monarch, licks her lips while looking at the light-blood poison mixed in the food.]
'Light-blood poison?'
A strangeness appeared in Suho's eyes.
Querehsha, the Plague Monarch, woke up after discovering a hidden poison.
An information window popped up in front of Suho, who ate countless of Querhesha's poisonous insects and obtained her protection.
Ring.
[Poison: Light-Blood Poison]
A poison that causes the blood to boil when ingested, temporarily amplifying one's strength.
However, there is a fatal side effect that each time you use mana power, it is accompanied by extreme pain, and your lifespan gradually decreases as blood is consumed.
'Light-blood poison… Was this what the old demon warned me about?'
As Suho just stared at the monster meat without touching it, the guards started urging him.
"What are you doing?"
"Was it because you are small that you don't have much appetite?"
"You should eat now to gain strength."
Suho's hand moved gently and grabbed a piece of the demon meat.
The guards' eyes flashed insidiously.
Suho started chewing on the beast meat without hesitation.
'It's quite edible.'
To Suho, who had also eaten Querehsha's poisonous insects, this level of depravity was nothing.
Ring.
['Poison: Light-Blood Poison' was ingested.]
[Starts decrypting.]
[Detoxifying…]
The blood in Suho's body suddenly became hot and then disappeared in an instant.
[Detoxification has been completed.]
[You have acquired 'Poison: Light-Blood Poison'.]
Suho didn't care and continued to eat the beast meat.
It was obvious why the Colosseum newcomers were being fed that light-blood poison.
'Regardless if the lifespan of the slaves is shortened, the guards must be trying to make the slaves fight more fiercely by squeezing off their strength as much as possible.'
The problem, however, was that the characteristics of light-blood poison were quite similar to something Suho was familiar with.
'It's similar to stardust. This… is not a coincidence.'
The stardust the demons developed at the factory was also a medicine that temporarily amplified their strength.
Suho asked a question to Querehsha, who was watching him.
'Querehsha, do you know about stardust?'
After a while, the answer came.
[The Queen of Insects, Plague Monarch, snorts that it is a crude poison developed by demons.]
A new information window popped up.
[Poison: Stardust]
An incomplete poison that compensates for the disadvantages of light-blood poison.
By sacrificing human suffering and death, they succeeded in removing all side effects of light-blood poison.
Temporary amplification of mana power during ingestion is the same as light-blood poison, but it has the disadvantage of short retention.
'These crazy guys.'
After checking the information window, Suho's expression hardened terribly.
There was only one thing that Suho thought of about the manufacturing process of stardust.
Burning living humans in mana fuel called Mist Burn.
At that time, it was the "stardust" that solved the problems with extreme pain and boiling blood side effects of light-blood poison.
'Extremely demonic.'
Passing all the pain on humans to build strength.
Silent anger began to boil inside Suho.
The body of the demon guards trembled when they felt an unusual aura.
"H-How is he taking it in so well?"
"He should start to feel weak when he uses his mana power."
"Hmm. Anyway, when you're done eating, get up."
At those words, Suho quietly stood up from his seat.
[Use 'Poison: Light-Blood Poison'.]
The light-blood poison that flowed from Suho secretly spread in all directions.
As the intangible poison slowly seeped into the bodies of the demon guards, Suho's eyes grazed with a cold bloody feeling.
'I'll give it back to you as it is.'
'And you, too, will die in pain with burning blood from within.'