episode_0053

Episode 53

“It’s all over, Leon.”

“Huh…?”

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in bed.

‘Surely I was being urged on by Erin just a moment ago?’

-Thump… thump…

My heart is beating fast and my mind feels hazy as if it’s filled with fog.

“Haha… I guess you’ve been really tired lately.”

I wiped my wet lips excitedly, wondering if I had drooled while I was sleeping.

“Write…Is that so…?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any particular health problems, so I’ll end it here for today. Leon, go inside and rest. ”

Erin spoke to me with a bright smile.

-Shudder…!

As Erin’s eyes met, blood began to pool in her lower abdomen.

Before an embarrassing situation could arise, I got up from my seat and headed towards the door.

“…Thank you for your hard work, Erin.”

“Hehehe… See you tomorrow, Leon.”

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Erin, who was left alone in the room after Leon left, hummed a song as if she was in a good mood.

“It works well…”

-Click…

Erin smiled with satisfaction as she put away the burned-out incense.

“Should we try something a little more effective next time?”

#

My heart won’t calm down after seeing Erin.

-Thump… thump…!

“Is it arrhythmia?”

For a moment, I had a suspicion that there might be something wrong with my health, but Erin checks me every day, so there’s no way that’s true.

“You’ll be okay if you rest.”

A familiar figure appeared in the hallway leading back to the room.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Chris.”

As soon as I saw Chris’s face, I came to my senses.

One of the few dangerous figures in the Colosseum right now who can threaten my chastity.

I don’t know about anything else, but I want to awaken Sword Auror quickly because I’m anxious because of this kid.

“Why are you so nervous? I just came to see your face.”

“I never want to meet you again in my life.”

“Hehehe, if you keep acting like that, I don’t know what to do when I get excited?”

-Churup…!

I felt goosebumps run down my spine as I looked at Chris, who was looking at me with dangerous eyes as if he was hunting prey, and his mouth was watering.

“Shit…! Don’t do something like that, it’s creepy. So what’s your business?”

“I said I came because I wanted to see your face?”

“Stop talking nonsense and get to the point.”

“Hmm… I think you’re about to go over the ‘wall’, so I wanted to help you out a little.”

Why is Chris interested in my growth?

“Why…?”

“Uh…it’s a secret. Anyway, if you’re interested, come see me tomorrow.”

“That would never happen.”

For some reason, I feel like something big will happen if I accept that offer, so I plan on never going to see him.

“Oh, but be careful, they’re about to start ‘picking’ at the Colosseum.”

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The Slaughter, a large-scale melee held once every three years in the Colosseum of Caracalla, involved herding over 200 gladiators into the arena at once and forcing them to kill each other until only 10 remained.

This selection, which is strictly an individual event, is one that all gladiators, excluding newcomers and those who have participated before, must participate in without fail, so I will also participate this time.

Just like a poison jar, all the weak gladiators in the Caracalla Colosseum are filtered out and only the truly strong ones survive and are recognized by the audience and the Colosseum.

“Get rid of it…”

I thought back to the information I had heard from Nuwalkris while lying on the bed.

It is on a different level from the Battle of Poitiers that happened before.

At that time, if it was a 50-50 fight, the selection was strictly an individual battle.

No matter how strong a gladiator is, if his stamina runs out, there is no telling what will happen in a large-scale melee.

Even some of the gladiators who have recently entered the ranks of the 4th tier or higher will be participating in this large-scale brawl, so if I, who doesn’t know how to handle the Sword Aura, want to survive…

“I need to plan the operation well.”

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The next day, I went out for a bit and stopped by a general store that specialized in medicine.

-Tiring…

“Welcome.”

As I opened the door and went inside, a brightly smiling clerk greeted me along with the sound of lanterns.

“Are you looking for something?”

“One each of a very strong stimulant and a continuous mana recovery potion.”

-Nod…

The clerk nodded at my words and took out a red-tinted vial and a blue-tinted vial from the shelf.

“You can give me 2 gold coins for 1 Florin each.”

It’s incredibly expensive, but it’s cheap if you think of it as the price of your life.

-Jjallang…

I gave the clerk two gold coins, took the potion, and left the general store.

“Hoo…”

Excessive use of stimulants is not good for my body, but… I’d rather have my body slightly damaged than die without being able to survive.

During the match, you can only have weapons and equipment, so drink everything before the match starts, use stimulants to make your body feel less tired, and use persistent mana recovery potions to recover the mana consumed during the match.

There will definitely be people like Amana who dope before the game, so doing this rather than doing nothing increases the chances of survival.

“Now all that’s left is…”

I stopped by the blacksmith shop and was recommended an iron helmet that would cover my face by the blacksmith I was now quite friendly with.

“Why are you suddenly looking for a helmet with a face shield? You said you hated it because it obstructed your vision.”

“To cover my face.”

“Why the face?”

“I feel a bit awkward saying this myself, but…”

I became quite famous at the Caracalla Colosseum, and my face was widely known to the audience and other gladiators.

If I reveal my face, there may be cases where those who know that I am quite strong in melee combat avoid me…

I decided to cover my face as there was a high possibility that several gladiators would join hands and attack me.

‘Honestly, I think that in order to survive, we need to team up and take out the strong guys.’

If possible, it is important to hide your identity and survive until the second half without being noticed by others.

“You must be really famous, hehehe… This is 1 Florin gold coin.”

The blacksmith handed me a helmet that looked like an iron mask.

-Cheolguruk…

When I put on my helmet and lower my face shield, my field of vision on both sides is significantly reduced.

“It’s a bit disappointing that the field of vision on both sides is reduced…”

In a melee, having a narrow field of vision is a huge penalty.

“Even if it’s not a helmet, no matter what kind of mask you wear, your vision is inevitably obstructed.”

-Nod…

As the blacksmith said, I couldn’t help but accept that covering my face would block my vision.

I think it would be better to give up a bit of sight rather than being raided by other gladiators and having their aggro drawn.

“I’ll live happily.”

-Tiing!

He flicked a gold florin with his finger, threw it to the blacksmith, took his helmet, and went outside.

“Hehehe, make sure to survive and see you next time.”

##

-Ladies and gentlemen, this day has finally come!

The host’s solemn voice echoed through the Colosseum filled with spectators.

-Gulp…! Gulp…!

In the waiting room before the game started, I took the potion out of my pocket and poured it all into my mouth.

“Oh my.”

It tastes like strawberry candy.

After a while, perhaps due to the awakening effect, my mind becomes clearer and I feel elated.

-Thump…! Thump…!

I feel like my senses are becoming sharper to the point where I can feel my heartbeat.

“Come out now!”

The manager ordered all the gladiators in the waiting room to enter the arena.

-Clang!

Following his instructions, he took off his helmet’s iron mask and headed to the arena with the other gladiators.

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-Kugugugu…

The heavy iron gate opened and the dry dirt floor of the stadium was revealed.

-Thump…thump…

He entered the arena with over 200 other gladiators and took up a suitable position on the outskirts of the arena, intending to fight with his back to the wall and protect his rear.

Before we knew it, the large stadium was filled with over 200 gladiators, and a sharp tension flowed from the way they looked at each other.

-From now on! A large-scale brawl will begin!

-Booow!

-Wow!

-Kill him! Kill him!

The Colosseum was filled with excited cheers from the crowd as the horns sounded to signal the start of a large-scale brawl.

-Chaeng! Chaeng!

-Kuaaaak!

-Die! Die!

As soon as the match started, the sound of gladiators fighting could be heard as they rushed towards their closest and most vulnerable opponents.

-Sreung…!

‘First, I calmly conserve my stamina and mana, and defend my position while assessing the battle situation.’

There is a wall behind you, so you only need to pay attention to the front and sides.

-I don’t like you, but this is just a temporary alliance!

-Ha! Stop grabbing my ankles!

A scene where two people, who seemed to have eaten a team, were attacking a muscular gladiator who looked a bit strong stood out.

-Kang! Kang!

-These kids are cowardly eating the team?

-Kagagak!

-Phew!

-Kwaaak!

A muscular gladiator who falls after being struck in the back by a sword during a two-on-one fight.

He was a fairly strong gladiator, as I knew, but he was stabbed by another gladiator who attacked him from behind and fell.

As I turned my gaze to look elsewhere, I noticed that gladiators who looked somewhat famous and strong were being conspicuously restrained by other gladiators.

‘As expected.’

Covering one’s face and hiding one’s identity was an excellent choice.

If I can keep my place like this without being noticed by men as much as possible and until the numbers decrease considerably…

“Hahahaha! Are you hiding in the corner because you don’t want to die? ”

A gladiator who seemed quite confident in his skills discovered me, left alone, and ran towards me.

I thought that if they showed themselves as weak as possible, they would attack other strong gladiators first, but it seemed that there were some who targeted weaker gladiators first.

‘Well, I have to reduce the number before I die anyway.’

I decided to kill as much time as possible with this gladiator who was after me.

“Come on.”