Chapter 131: The North (15)

The wind blew. Due to the winter wind brushing past my limbs, I shivered slightly.

I was facing Baara. Baara was sitting in a chair, and around him, the beastmen following him were acting all dirty and sleazy with their flattery. Watching the beastmen snicker and snort, I felt an urge to kill.

But I couldn’t swing my fists at them. This was because a rather high fence stood between Baara and me. Like a contestant in a cockfight or dogfight arena, I stood in the center of a circular stadium, preparing to face my opponent.

Baara, holding a wine glass, was anticipating my performance, and I, with my fists clenched tight, waited for the opponent who would face me. The one-eyed demon and the goat-like demon seemed not to be my opponents today.

Baara said.

“Incubus. You are in that position now because you wanted recognition as a fighter. If you show a disgraceful performance that doesn’t meet my expectations, or if you forfeit during the fight, I will punish you for wasting my time by making you unable to live or die. Understood?”

I nodded. Baara pulled the corners of his mouth up high and flared his nostrils. Every time he moved his mouth, his white teeth flashed, making one flinch. On the stage, besides me, there was also a small imp. He was nervously glancing around, his legs trembling. Baara said.

“Imp! Hurry it up!”

“Ah, ahh……! F-f-from now on……! I will begin the entrance test for the Incubus Evan……!”

“Your voice is too quiet!”

The goat-like demon sneered at the Imp and threw a liquor bottle. As it narrowly missed the Imp’s head, the frail demon bowed low and screamed.

“Hieeeeeek!”

“Hurry up and proceed! Proceed, damn it! Huh!”

The one-eyed demon brought a training staff and poked the Imp’s head repeatedly. Baara seemed to find tormenting the Imp more amusing than my entrance test, as he chuckled along, even though the one-eyed demon was disrupting the flow.

The Imp abuse that occurred before my fight only stopped after about five bright red welts appeared on the Imp’s head. The Imp sniffled and called out the opponent.

“Ah, the, the participant for the entrance test is our Beastman tribe’s mighty war machine……! Thunder!”

A beastman with snow-white fur and hefty muscles stepped forward, cracking his neck. He looked like a wolf beastman, and perhaps because of that, his muscles seemed relatively lacking compared to Baara or the other beastmen. Baara gestured to the imp, who, grateful that his neck was still attached, hastily fled outside.

As soon as the Imp went outside, the door closed, and Baara said.

“Begin.”

Saying that, Baara leaned forward. He brushed off the beastmen clinging to him as if dusting them off, and began observing the stage with a serious expression. The goat-like demon and the one-eyed demon also lost all traces of laughter, sat down while watching Baara’s reactions.

And then, wolf fangs flashed before my eyes.

“Shit!”

While I was briefly observing Baara and my surroundings, the wolf beastman tried to bite my head. As he bit the air, his fangs clashed against each other with a crisp ‘ttak!’ sound. Baara said.

“Do you have enough leisure to be distracted?”

I didn’t have the leisure to respond to his provocation. This was because the wolf immediately twisted its body flexibly, trying to kill me. The sound of paws hitting the floor echoed in my ears. Dust and snow powder kicked up, and through the gaps, the wolf’s eyes glinted.

Once again, the wolf lunged, aiming for my neck, and as I dove into its embrace, I simultaneously struck its side with my fist.

“Kuaa!”

The wolf let out a pained scream, and the flesh on its side was crushed into the shape of my fist. The wolf’s body momentarily bent into a ‘C’ shape and then floated up. The wolf, still airborne, readjusted its stance. It placed its hands on the floor, lowered its body, and bared its teeth.

Blood seeped from between its teeth, which hadn’t managed to bite me even once. Was it internal injuries? I could only hope my punch had dealt a heavy blow. The wolf bristled all over its body and pulled itself back as far as possible. As if intending to use its own body like a slingshot, it aimed its head at me, changing direction according to my movements.

“Kwang!”

With a dog-like growl, the wolf’s body shot forward. I lacked the talent to read its movements and land a counter. I rolled with all my might, dodging the white trajectory. Piercing the spot where I had been, the wolf collided with the opposite fence.

Kwang!

Snowflakes scattered in the trajectory the wolf had passed. White snow powder and dirt rained down, and amidst the dust, the beast’s eyes glowed.

The wolf looked back at me, digging its claws into the opposite fence. He climbed down from the fence, clutching his side.

“Kuek……!”

He glared at me, showing fighting spirit, then staggered, vomiting a lump of blood. His eyes burned fiercely, but it was clear that the blow to his side had been quite significant. Gaining confidence, I took a step closer to him.

“Kuaaaaaa!”

The wolf roared at me, mouth wide open as if daring me to come closer. But with blood dripping from his mouth and clutching his side with one hand, the wolf’s roar wasn’t scary. I clenched my fist and charged with all my might.

Seeing my movement, the wolf instinctively took a defensive stance. At that moment, I stopped dead in my tracks. The wolf looked at me, who wasn’t coming, then flinched and looked at its own defensive posture. I smiled at him and said.

“Scared?”

“……Krrrrr!”

The moment rage exploded, it was like a pot that had been boiling for a long time finally bursting. The wolf glared at me, making a hissing sound like air escaping a kettle, then shook its head. A trickle of blood dripped from between its teeth.

“Kuaaaaaaaaa!”

Roaring with its mouth wide open, red droplets of blood scattered in all directions. With both arms held forward, eyes rolled back, it charged at me. Since it had tried to bite and tear roughly just before and got hit in the side, this time it intended to immobilize me. Moving faster than I could pull back, the beast tackled and embraced me. Before it could fully grab me, I stomped down with all my might. It was purely an instinctive action.

I felt my toes crushing and its sharp claws bouncing off.

“Kkuuaaaaaak!”

Black claws flew through the air, and the wolf’s body tilted. Its feet were crushed, making it unable to maintain its balance properly. I delivered a strong kick to the knee of the falling wolf.

The opposite leg, which should have supported its body, also broke, and the wolf collapsed with its legs spread wide. I grabbed the wolf’s head and drove my knee into its snout with all my strength. The long snout, which could be considered the wolf’s symbol, was pushed by my knee and crumpled into an unrealistic shape. Teeth flew out in all directions, scattering fragments, and its protruding tongue became shredded flesh, bursting with blood droplets.

The wolf’s body floated up into the air, and I raised my hand, confident of victory. The goat-like demon and the one-eyed demon stared with wide eyes, as if they hadn’t expected my victory. Baara, sitting askew, nodded and then applauded me.

“More than I expected…… you’re alright. I understand your confidence in wanting to work as a fighter. But.”

I stiffened at his assertion. Because a terrible future awaited if I were rejected here. Just as my body and mind were freezing with tension, Baara said.

“You’ve never properly learned to fight. This fight was won simply because your weight class was better than this guy’s. If you face someone of similar weight class skill, you’ll struggle, and if you meet someone stronger, you’ll have no chance.”

It was true. I had never systematically learned martial arts or trained. Baara gestured. The huge Bison Beastman I had seen before entered the arena. Baara said.

“Train that guy. His weight class is decent, so teach him the basics thoroughly.”

The Bison Beastman nodded.

I looked at his blunt face and thought.

Thank god that bastard Baara isn’t teaching me himself.

The training would start tomorrow. I straightened my chest, which had been tense, and let out a sigh. Not far from the arena, imps were gathered, whispering amongst themselves. I approached cautiously, muffling the sound of my footsteps.

“We must summon Drak-Sai-nim.”

“For our blood vengeance. He must surely come to this land.”

“For our comrades suffering here, we must kill that filthy Baara and turn this place into a paradise for imps.”

They were having quite an interesting conversation. If that Drak-Sai guy came, could I fight Baara? While receiving training like this was fine, I felt like I might end up becoming an executive in Baara’s faction, an incubus serving a gay boss. This wasn’t a matter of whether he treated me well or not.

If the boss is a homosexual and I’m an incubus, fuck, what would people think of me? I had to escape, even for the sake of my image.

I approached them intentionally making noise with my footsteps. The imps, who were no match for me, scattered like rats in surprise when they heard my footsteps. One imp, unable to escape, sat down on the floor and peed itself.

“Ah, aah……! Ugh……! Wh-what is it! What’s going on, Incubus!”

“The plan you guys are hatching. I’m kind of interested.”

The Imp said coldly.

“Get lost! This is an Imp’s business! How can we trust you enough to tell you!”

“I had Imp friends too. What’s happening here, the abuse, it doesn’t feel like someone else’s problem. K-sai, Krik-sai. They were all like my brothers.”

An Imp hiding in the corner said with a surprised face.

“Y-you know those guys?”

I said with a smile.

“Of course, they were like brothers bound by blood.”