Death Game
"Alright, then. Time to fight."
Kang Jin-ho looked back at Alexia and Esmi.
"Fight or die. Esmi, you'd better fight. Alexia here isn't just after you—she wants to kill everyone."
"……."
Esmi's expression hardened.
But there were no other options.
Alexia staggered forward with a laugh first.
Her ruined face twisted into a grotesque grin.
"Gwood... I'll... give you...!"
Alexia glared at Esmi.
Just kill that bitch!
And then sacrifice all those idiot villagers as offerings.
The great Outer God might even restore her face.
I'll definitely get my beautiful face back!
The obsession to reclaim her lost beauty set Alexia ablaze like never before.
She was brimming with motivation to fight.
"Ethmi!"
Alexia shouted.
"Come at me! Even for thothe trash you love tho much, thwing your thtaff!"
Alexia spoke with bravado.
But with her front teeth gone, her pronunciation leaked out uncontrollably.
"……."
Esmi bit her lip.
She didn't want to fight.
But she couldn't avoid it.
"E-Esmi... you don't have to push yourself."
The terrified Village Chief called out to her.
"Great-uncle..."
Then she looked at the villagers who had tried to kill her but were now trembling in fear.
And finally, she turned to Kang Jin-ho.
"……."
His words echoed in her ears.
"If you lose, everyone here dies."
There was nowhere to run.
Esmi slowly raised the staff from her bosom.
It was a sign of her resolve to give it everything.
Determination gleamed in her amethyst eyes.
"I'll do it."
Esmi answered softly.
"If I win... I won't let anyone die."
Kang Jin-ho crossed his arms, watching her.
An entertaining show was about to begin.
"Start."
At Kang Jin-ho's signal, Alexia moved first.
"Come out! My Hydra!"
As Alexia swung her staff, a subspace ripped open.
And from it poured grotesque forms.
"Krraaaah!"
"Kieeeek!"
They were magic beasts.
But these weren't ordinary ones.
A troll's torso with ogre arms attached.
A chimera with three heads.
Their skin was black and rotting.
Outer God runes glowed red across their bodies.
Forcibly fused and empowered by the Outer God's might—the hideous monsters Alexia prided herself on as weapons of slaughter.
"Hiiik!"
"My God!"
The villagers screamed in terror.
Seeing those abominations, they truly grasped how terrifying Alexia was.
"Kill 'em! Kill that bitch!"
At Alexia's command, the monsters charged Esmi.
Thud—thud—!
The ground shook as the hideous beasts advanced in unison.
No fewer than twenty of them!
"Triple Shield!"
Esmi hastily cast a defensive spell.
Three transparent barriers unfolded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The monsters slammed into the magic barriers.
Each time, the barriers regenerated with Esmi's continuous mana supply.
Even the Outer God-empowered beasts couldn't break through easily.
"Hmph! Take thith!"
Alexia's pronunciation grew worse by the second.
But with her noseless, clownish face, she sneered and began chanting.
"Abyss Explosion!"
Her pronunciation was a mess.
But in magic, will was what mattered most.
A black orb shot from her staff's tip.
Kaboom!
The black sphere smashed into Esmi's barrier.
The first wall shattered to pieces.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the second.
"Flame Cannon!"
Esmi counterattacked.
A massive fire pillar engulfed the monsters.
But Alexia was prepared.
"Inverted Barrier!"
A defensive spell that reversed the properties of incoming mana.
It blocked the attack aimed at the monsters.
The moment Esmi's flames touched Alexia's barrier, they were nullified by opposing mana properties.
Scattered embers flew everywhere, starting to ignite the forest.
"Rail Gun!"
Esmi compressed and fired her mana.
The supersonic mana bolt pierced three heads on one monster in succession.
"Kyaaak!"
One monster collapsed.
But others immediately filled the gap.
Alexia had overwhelming numbers.
And the Outer God-enhanced monsters boasted incredible regeneration.
The fallen beast staggered back to its feet.
"Urgh."
Esmi, having slain it, fought back nausea.
The sensation of killing was utterly horrific.
Alexia knew that all too well.
"Ahahaha! Give up! You can't beat me!"
Alexia cackled through her mangled speech.
She gleefully unleashed attack spells.
"Lightning Spear!"
Dozens of black lightning spears, infused with dark mana, rained down.
Esmi switched to defense.
"Freeze Wall! Ether Cell!"
She erected an ice barrier and bound the monsters' feet in mana prisons.
But facing so many foes was overwhelming.
Bit by bit, Esmi was being pushed back.
"What are you doing!"
"Fight properly!"
"What the hell! Do it right!"
The watching villagers screamed from behind.
Seeing Esmi falter filled them with panic once more.
"If you lose, we're all dead!"
"Hurry up and kill that bitch! You're a black mage, aren't you? Can't you even do that?"
"This is frustrating! Get rid of those monsters!"
No cheers or encouragement.
Only blame and demands.
They hurled curse-like words at Esmi, who fought to protect them.
They didn't care that she battled for their sake.
To them, she was just a tool to save their own skins.
"Hear that, Esmi?"
Alexia giggled provocatively.
"That's how much thothe trash you wanna thave hate you. You really gonna fight for thothe thcum? Isn't it pathetic?"
Cold sweat beaded on Esmi's forehead.
"Jutht give up. It'll be eathier."
Esmi shook her head at Alexia's words.
The horrific insults and blame from behind gnawed at her heart.
But that wasn't why she fought.
She wanted to use her power to protect, not destroy.
She wanted to safeguard her only blood relative, her great-uncle.
"I won't give up!"
Esmi's eyes blazed with purple light.
Mana swirled around her like a storm.
The genius potential everyone called her was awakening in this extreme moment.
Woooong—!
"Wh-what?!"
Alexia panicked.
Esmi's aura had changed in an instant.
Not the beleaguered figure from moments ago.
Her mana density was surging dramatically.
"Darkness Hole!"
Esmi slammed her staff down.
A massive black hole opened beneath the clustered monsters.
A high-tier black magic combining gravity and spatial spells.
"Krreuk?!"
"Kieeek!"
The monsters screamed as they were sucked in.
Immense gravity crushed them, pinning them immobile.
Alexia fired spells in panic.
But they were nullified before reaching Esmi.
"This... can't be real?"
Alexia was aghast.
The power Esmi displayed wasn't ordinary 7th Circle level.
It felt like she was advancing to 8th Circle.
If she meditated calmly after this fight, she might actually reach it.
"Hey."
Then, Kang Jin-ho, watching the duel, spoke up.
"I said no holds barred, right? So why the hell are you fighting so honestly?"
Dissatisfaction dripped from Kang Jin-ho's words.
As if the fight was less entertaining than expected.
"This isn't a death game—it's just a duel. Tsk."
Fighting honestly?
Those words hit Alexia like a thunderbolt.
She's right! Why am I...?
Why had she only targeted Esmi?
Thinking about it, it was utterly foolish.
I just need to win!
Kang Jin-ho's rule was simple.
Win by any means necessary.
No rule against attacking the villagers.
If Esmi won, they lived.
But if she won, she'd been given permission to use them as sacrifices.
So she didn't need to save them for the Outer God.
She could use them right here as fodder for her victory!
"Kuhuhuhu! What an idiot I wath!"
Alexia cackled, swinging her staff toward the spectators.
Her eyes gleamed with greed at the villagers.
"Jutht take them hothtage!"
"What?!"
Esmi gasped in horror.
A dark red mana orb formed at Alexia's staff tip.
Its target wasn't Esmi.
It was the trembling villagers.
"Die, you thcum!"
Whoosh!
The mana orb arced through the air.
"Uwaaaak!"
"Save me!"
"Help! Somebody!"
The villagers screamed and scattered.
But the encircling monsters blocked their escape.