It was a large and majestic oval Colosseum.
Shouts like thunder were echoing everywhere.
Most of the stands were occupied by slave demons in the workhouse.
Apparently, the execution ceremony seemed to be an entertainment to relieve the stress of slave demons suffering from hard labor.
Ironically, this way was strangely no different from humans. Suho sneered at that.
Using provocative shows to make the public a target for venting their anger.
This behavior has been practiced countless times by humans in a surprisingly long history.
[… It wasn't like this in the past.]
Esil's voice seemed to suppress anger.
[The Colosseum was originally the exclusive property of demon nobles. It was used to measure each other's strength by arranging gladiators from each family. It's kind of like a rank war.]
However, now that all the demon nobles have disappeared, this seems to have turned into a hobby for those who wanted to imitate the nobles.
"The tyrant… What was his name? Everyone seems to call him a tyrant or a tyrant king."
[It's not enough that he dares to imitate a noble, and call himself a king! I couldn't have imagined it was in the past…!]
"Esil is a boomer."
[What?!]
At Esil's bewildered reaction, Suho smiled and glanced over the crowd.
"Anyway, among all these demons… It seems like the tyrant isn't here."
[Earlier, Nukira also mentioned that the tyrant only showed his face occasionally in the Colosseum. It's the first match, so it's probably not worth watching.]
"I see."
Just in time, the demon who hosted the execution ceremony shouted loudly at the audience.
"Attention everyone! The opponent who will execute our one-horned man is-!"
The door opened on the other side of Suho.
"The one-armed ruthless slayer!"
Swoosh!
An enormously muscular demon appeared with a tremendous shout.
[One-Armed Maniac]
As the name suggests, his one arm was cut off, but the remaining forearm was extremely intimidating.
Laughter erupted from the crowd.
"Puhaha! Are they sending out a one-armed person for the first game!"
"This is going to be over too soon!"
"A one-horned man and a one-armed man fighting!"
"This is worth seeing!"
Suho realized what the demon guards muttered about the word "concept" and smiled.
"They have good planning skills."
It was a thoroughly planned show.
The contrast between one-horned Suho and the one-armed demon was actually creative.
However, given the clear difference in weight and appearance between the two, it was not very fair.
Anyone could tell why the show was called an 'execution ceremony'.
"He must really find my looks ridiculous."
[You shouldn't be complacent still. That guy is a demon that has been saturated with light-blooded poison.]
As Esil had said, an ominous mana power emerged through the whole body of the light-blooded demon.
It was clear from the crowd's reaction, that he had been famous for living in the Colosseum for a long time.
"Pft. Is it this guy this time? He looks delicious because he's soft-looking."
The light-blood demon looked at the small and tender Suho and licked his lips with a meaningful look.
Suho murmured.
"I think I know how he's still alive after taking the light-blood poison."
[As much as his blood boiled away, it must have been replenished by sucking the blood of other demons. With that, he could have powered up again.]
Esil's words were correct.
However, there was one fact that even Esil overlooked.
Light-blood poisoning is accompanied by excruciating pain.
The light-blooded demon who had endured that pain for a long time was now a complete berserker who could no longer feel pain.
Swoosh!
"Kehehehe. Can you hear me? Everyone is waiting for a scream to come out of your mouth."
The demon looked up at the cheering audience with a cruel smile.
"But, rejoice. They do not wish for your quick death. I want this show to last as long as possible. And I…."
Lick.
With a snake-like tongue, the demon approached Suho with a leisurely gait.
As those big muscles got closer and closer, a strong aura overflowed.
"I'm such a sweet demon, I can't possibly fail the audience's expectations. So be grateful. Saying that I will kill you as slowly as possible…"
But-
Slash.
Suddenly, the light-blooded demon's vision flipped over, and Suho's figure disappeared in front of him.
"…?"
Bewildered for a moment, the demon tried to turn his head to find Suho.
But it was impossible.
'This…'
Something is strange.
No words came out of his mouth.
In front of Suho was a giant headless demon standing with its back turned?
That body part that was very strange yet familiar…
'M-My….'
At that moment, the maniac realized.
His head was now in Suho's hands.
That was his last memory.
[You have killed a one-armed light-blooded demon.]
['Vulcan's Horn' devours the demon's soul.]
Thud!
The body of the huge mad-blooded demon fell to the ground.
Along with that, there was a heavy silence inside the Colosseum.
"…"
In that suffocating atmosphere, even the host was perplexed and at a loss for what to do.
Suho, who in an instant cut the demon's neck off, just stood tall with a nonchalant expression on his face.
He turned his head and looked at the host.
"Is there anyone next in line?"
['Title: Demon Slayer' buff…]
The host instantly felt a chill at that gaze.
As if he met his nemesis.
* * *
… Swoosh!
Then, a tremendous shout erupted as if the Colosseum was about to burst.
"One Horn! One Horn!"
"Hey! Did you see that?"
"I saw it!"
"What? How could someone like him…!"
"Kyaaaa! What's next! Did you hear that? He wanted to fight the next one right away."
"It's been a while since a brave demon appeared!"
"Right! The time has come for even the one-armed demon to die!"
A number of reactions filled with admiration and astonishment poured in from the audience.
However, the most surprised among them were the demon guards who sent Suho without much expectation.
"Eh, does this make sense?"
"The one-armed man has eaten more than ten demons…!"
"What the hell did you do with One Horn?"
"Could it be that his speed is amplified when he eats light-blooded poison?"
"It doesn't matter now! The game is over too soon!"
From the point of view of the demon guards, it didn't matter which demon died at the execution ceremony.
Because no matter who dies, it just needs to be stimulating.
The problem was time.
What the demon jailers wanted is to show the audience the brutal and desperate look of the gladiators at the execution ceremony as slowly as possible.
In that way, they hoped that the slaves who were exhausted from hard work would be relieved of their stress, and that the tyrant king would personally stop by the Colosseum to deal with the malevolent energy that the slaves radiated.
"Granted that it was fast, it's still too fast!"
"To think it ended before the tyrant king showed any interest!"
"If it was going to end this quickly, it would be a waste of time to bring the slaves here in the first place."
"If I had known it would be like this, I would have told One Hord one in advance to fight as slowly as possible."
Eventually, they turned their attention to the warden, who had a serious expression behind him.
"Uh, what should we do, Chief Warden?"
"The one-horned man wants to send the next one. This is what I'm talking about. If it ended like this, the atmosphere would be…"
"That's right…"
The warden was gritting his teeth as he glared at Suho, who was still in the middle of the Colosseum.
The one-armed man had been a mad-blooded horse that had been raised with great care, but it was too futile to use.
However, he muttered with a sly smile as if he had come up with an idea.
"No. This was better. It's been a long time since a useful guy appeared. Let's see how far he can hold out."
"What? That means-"
"Yes. Let One Horn do what he wants. Send the other guy out before the crowd cools off."
Although the one-armed maniac had been popular among slaves for a while recently, it was only a passing fad anyway.
"It's time for a new wind to blow. Hehe."
When the order of the jailer was issued, the demon guards hurriedly ran to the prison.
Meanwhile, the host, who suddenly came to his senses, shouted at the audience.
"Incredible! A round of applause to the one-horned man who killed the one-armed man in one swoop! Especially today, we will continue the next execution ceremony!"
Swoosh-!
Just then, the guards brought another demon out of the prison.
"Hehe. One-armed was dead? Too bad. I was going to eat him."
The newly brought out demon was licking his lips.
That smirk already gave the impression that it was such a bummer.
"Oh, wait. He hasn't eaten one-armed yet, has he? Even if I wasn't the one who killed him, can I eat one-armed instead?"
"Do whatever you want, but don't put your guards down. Play with it as slowly as possible."
"Hehe. There's no way I would."
Slide!
Just like that, the door on the other side of Suho opened and the second demon appeared.
[Mid-Level Mad-Blooded Horse]
"Mid-level? So, was the guy I just killed a lower level?"
[This is not the time to judge the ratings. Since he ate light-blooded poison, the power amplification rate varies depending on how much blood he has sucked.]
Esil warned Suho in a tense tone.
"Amplification rate…"
Suho's eyes shone brightly as he pondered on those words.
"That's the same for me anyway."
[Item: Vulcan's Horn]
Difficulty to obtain: ??
Type: Sword
Attack +40
A sword crafted from the horns of the greedy demon Vulcan.
Vulcan's powers are imbued, dealing more damage.
-Effect 'Destruction Desire': Increases physical damage by [83%].
-Effect 'Demon Devourer': The power of Vulcan becomes stronger as it devours the demon's soul.
[Devoured Demon Soul: 53]
Verification has already been done.
Even though Vulcan's Horn was 'mounted' on Suho's head, its performance was still intact.
"Besides, he just had 11 demon souls."
[It must be the souls of the demons he has eaten. He would have swallowed every single drop of blood and even a single bone fragment from the executed corpse.]
"Great."
After all, it would be much more efficient than the workhouse.
Suho's eyes flashed and he looked up at the mid-level horse that had just appeared in front of him.
Without hesitation, he killed it again.
"Ack…"
Blag.
[You have killed the mid-level light-blood.]
[Vulcan's Horn devours the demon's soul.]
…?!
Again the shouting stopped and silence came.
But this silence was much longer than the first.
The demons were silently looking down at Suho with astonished eyes.
"Okay, next."
The two executions were completed in less than a minute.
It was an unprecedented event since the beginning of the execution ceremony at the Colosseum.
However, the reaction of the crowd was already far from Suho's interest.
Suho turned his head and looked into the eyes of the demon guards, no, the chief guard sitting behind them, and opened his mouth.
"Or you can come out yourself."
"…"
At that provocative gaze, the demon-like eyes of the head of the demon shook.