Ch.248The Final Opponent Appears

‘BANG!’

“What the hell is going on!? How can you not beat one drunk girl!?”

Young Madam Josephine Hawkins of Hell’s Garden pounded the table in fury, but her subordinates could only bow their heads in silence, unable to offer even a single excuse.

The men gathered here were all accomplished fighters.

Among them, the two dispatched to stop Seti’s winning streak were individuals with combat-related skills, each capable of easily subduing most opponents single-handedly.

The dreadlocked man who participated in the 5th match possessed the skill “Momentary Acceleration,” allowing him to achieve superhuman speed for brief periods.

The muscular brute who fought in the 8th match had the skill “Insight,” which visually displayed the trajectory of incoming attacks within his field of vision.

In other words, the dreadlocked man could, albeit momentarily, match the speed of a Felifolk, while the muscular brute possessed a watered-down version of Will’s danger detection ability.

But what were the results of the matches where these two were deployed?

The dreadlocked man was knocked out by Seti’s counter uppercut, which somehow anticipated his momentary acceleration.

The muscular brute collapsed like a rag doll, unable to handle Seti’s fierce attacks as she circled around him.

They might have stood a chance against an ordinary Felifolk, but against the tribe’s greatest warrior bearing the guide feather, they were simply outmatched.

“Why isn’t that girl getting drunk when she’s not even a Dwarf? Did you properly check for magic?”

“Without a doubt, Madam. No magical reactions were detected on Ellem Lu Seti when she entered the match.”

“Ughhhh… what kind of natives are these Felifolk anyway?”

Josephine bit her handkerchief and stomped her feet in frustration at Seti’s unexpected prowess.

In truth, this underground fighting arena was a trap designed to suck in participation fees and gambling commissions by dangling an incredible prize as bait.

The harsh conditions of consecutive matches and the “special” whiskey that was quickly absorbed into the body should have been insurmountable for any race except Dwarves. They had even secured fighters with various combat skills as sweepers in case a Dwarf entered the competition.

Yet all these measures were failing to stop a single girl, leaving Josephine in a state of anxiety beyond words.

“At this point, we can’t afford to be picky about our methods. Tell the round girl to come up immediately after the 9th match starts, and prepare to send down the one in the corner room.”

“Him as a sweeper? Are you serious?”

“It’s not legally problematic, is it?”

“Well, no, but if people find out he’s the 10th opponent, we might lose all future participants…”

“We’ll lose participants anyway if that girl takes the artifact. If that’s the case, we should choose the option with fewer losses.”

“…Understood, Madam.”

The man who received Josephine’s instructions ran toward the corner room at the end of the corridor, despite his bewildered expression.

After all, they were merely hired help. There was no reason for them to worry about the establishment’s survival against their employer’s wishes.

~ ~ ~ Hell’s Garden Underground Arena ~ ~ ~

‘WHACK!’

“Guhk!?”

‘Thud~’

“…Eight! Nine! Ten! K.O!!”

‘Ding ding ding ding ding~’

Seti’s aerial spinning kick, launched after pushing off the chain-link fence, struck the lanky challenger’s face squarely.

With the referee’s ten count, the ninth match also ended in Seti’s victory.

Only one match remained.

Sensing that today would mark the first-ever 10-win streak since the underground tournament began, the audience erupted in passionate support, chanting Seti’s name.

‘Waaaaaaah~’

‘Seti! Seti! Seti! Seti!’

After finishing the match, Seti sat on a makeshift chair in the corner of the ring, catching her breath and trying to recover her condition as much as possible.

Even with Seti’s exceptional skills, she couldn’t avoid taking a few hits during nine consecutive matches. Judging by her slightly flushed face, the alcohol was starting to affect her.

Without the liver activator, she might have been staggering several matches ago.

“Will she be okay? She’s starting to look tired…”

“I’m not sure if it’s better for her to rest a bit longer since the next match preparation takes time, or to start as quickly as possible before the alcohol affects her more.”

“Seti~ Hang in there!”

Seti responded to Mina’s encouragement—which was as loud as the men’s cheers—by raising her hand in a V sign.

Though she looked somewhat tired, she seemed capable of handling one more match without much difficulty.

Just as I thought this, the arena once again filled with even louder cheers.

The round girl had appeared, wearing only panties with her bare upper body, barely covering her exposed breasts with one arm.

‘Woooooah~’

‘The round girl is here!’

‘Final! Final! Final!’

The reason the male spectators in the arena were so excited—

—and I emphasize, the male spectators EXCLUDING myself—

The reason for their excitement was simple.

With Seti achieving 9 consecutive wins and facing her final match, this was the moment when the round girl would remove her last piece of underwear and become completely nude.

And then, the fully naked round girl would give Seti her final whiskey mouth-to-mouth—an incredibly sensual show about to unfold.

“There hasn’t been any suspicious movement around the whiskey yet, right?”

“No. No one has gone near the whiskey bottle or glass during the matches.”

The winner’s whiskey is opened after the first victory and placed on a display stand outside the arena along with the glass from which the first drink was taken.

The round girl brings it in and pours it directly in front of the winner, and while the winner drinks, the round girl performs her striptease.

In other words, the whiskey bottle and glass are exposed to the view of the contestant and numerous spectators from beginning to end.

Unless something was done to the whiskey before it was opened, there was no opportunity to mix in any foreign substances.

‘Ooooh~~!’

‘Wheeew~!’

As the round girl, who seemed about to enter the ring with the whiskey bottle, began pulling down her panties in front of the whiskey display, the men—excluding myself—let out exclamations of admiration as if they had finally found the paradise they’d been searching for.

The men excluding myself, to be clear. Let’s not get confused on this point.

“Feel free to enjoy the view without worrying about us.”

“That’s right. Where else would you get to see something like this? Hehehe.”

“If master wishes, I would anytime…”

“Airi unnie.”

I half-listened to the banter of the four women while discreetly observing the round girl’s movements.

Not because I wanted to see her naked body, but to make sure she wasn’t tampering with the whiskey.

With Seti’s 10th consecutive win within reach, this timing was the only opportunity left for Hell’s Garden to do something.

The now fully nude round girl, amid the cheers of men, took the whiskey bottle and glass and climbed into the ring, circling around Seti with suggestive movements.

She then opened the whiskey bottle, poured a little into the glass, and with a somewhat nervous expression, took the whiskey into her mouth.

Next was her turn to pass it to Seti mouth-to-mouth… but at that moment, something unexpected happened.

‘Snap’

“Huh?”

‘Glug glug glug’

‘Ooooh~?’

Just as the round girl took the whiskey into her mouth, Seti snatched the bottle from the round girl’s other hand and began drinking straight from it.

After drinking enough whiskey to satisfy the onlookers, Seti returned the remaining bottle to the round girl and sent her out of the ring.

Her attitude of not casually allowing just anyone to touch her lips was admirable, but I worried whether the whiskey she just drank would affect her performance in the match.

‘What? Why didn’t they do the mouth-to-mouth thing?’

‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss…’

Some spectators expressed disappointment at missing the sensual kiss show between the two beautiful women.

But when the door to the contestant waiting room opened and Seti’s final opponent appeared, the voices demanding a kiss between Seti and the round girl vanished as if they had never existed.

‘H-hey… look over there!’

‘Why is THAT coming out here!?’

‘Sh-should we call the sheriff?’

A towering figure over 2 meters tall with a leopard’s head, growling with a murderous expression.

The sudden appearance of a Beastkin caused murmurs of unrest among the spectators.

The only reason they didn’t panic and flee was because they saw the Beastkin opening the chain-link door and climbing into the ring, along with the collar of subjugation around his neck.

“That’s surprising. I never thought they’d bring out a Beastkin.”

“But how… I thought slaves wearing collars of subjugation couldn’t harm settlers?”

“It’s slightly different, actually. The only person they absolutely cannot harm is their master. For others, they can engage in some aggressive behavior if their master permits it. Of course, if an innocent citizen gets hurt as a result, the master would be held accountable, so permission is rarely given.”

So that leopard-headed Beastkin has been given permission to commit acts of violence against his opponent in the ring.

Whether he actually intends to have a match rather than tear apart everyone in sight with that murderous look on his face is another question entirely.

“The final challenger is the mighty Beastkin fighter, Kasim! Now, ladies and gentlemen! Place your bets!”

With the announcement to begin betting, the murmuring spectators began flocking to the counters one by one to place their money.

But none of us could move, forced to watch the two figures in the ring where a bloodbath seemed about to begin at any moment.