Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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>Translator: Vine
>Chapter: 42
>Chapter Title: A Predator's Appetite
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[ Sa...ve me... ]
She grinned and pointed to her own face with her index finger. She seemed overflowing with confidence in her skills.
Having come from the top floor, her abilities were all but proven.
“What do you think, Iris? Want to come learn swordsmanship?”
At my words, Iris’s lips parted.
“Don’t, know.”
“Hm? You don’t know?”
Iris shook her head from side to side before slowly uttering a single word.
“Sword.”
She doesn’t know the sword. Did she mean she didn’t have a swordmaster? After some more probing, I discovered a surprising truth.
“Iris... you’ve never learned to use a sword before?”
Iris nodded. She stammered that the first time she had ever held a sword was in the arena.
“Wow...! Our Iris is a genius!”
As I praised Iris, ruffling her hair, a blush crept onto her cheeks.
“Kuhuhu, you really must become my disciple!”
Bianca’s eyes sparkled as she moved to hug Iris. Or rather, she tried to. The moment she reached for her, Iris slipped away like a cat, moving from my left side to my right.
“I love that about you, too!”
A pleasant laugh escaped me as I watched Bianca, who seemed completely smitten with Iris.
‘They might not become master and student right away, but it looks like they could be good friends.’
For now, Iris only clung to me, but I was sure a day would come when she would communicate with others and laugh with joy.
For that day to arrive, it would be good to have people like Bianca around her.
Waaaaah—
As I was lost in thought, the sound of cheers drifted in through the window. It was much quieter than on the previous floor. I suspected the room was magically soundproofed.
“Oh, is it that time already?”
Bianca clapped her hands and stood up.
“Since she said no, I’ll get going for today. If you change your mind, be sure to tell me next time we meet. I’ll come down often!”
Bianca flashed a charming smile and walked toward the door, saying she would be on her way. Iris and I saw her off.
“Goodbye. Please feel free to visit anytime.”
“Thank you!”
Bianca gave a bright smile and left.
“She seems like a good person.”
“...”
Iris showed no reaction, simply gazing at my face.
*Creeak, click.*
The door closed, leaving only silence in the hallway.
***
“Hmhmhm.”
Bianca walked down the ornate hallway with a light step, a pleasant smile gracing her face. Her steps halted before a door carved with a beautiful pattern.
*Click.*
The door opened smoothly and without a sound, revealing the splendid and cozy facilities befitting the arena’s top floor.
Humming a tune, Bianca entered the room and closed the door. She crossed the large living room and went into the room where her weapons were stored.
“This time, it has to be this one, right?”
She lifted a sword similar to the one Iris had used. She checked her reflection in the blade, so sharp it sang as it was drawn, then burst out laughing.
“She’s never learned the sword? Isn’t that, like, the genius of the century?”
Bianca wiggled her hips excitedly, her cheeks flushed. Her shadow swayed along with her movements.
“If she’s that good without any training, how strong will she be once she learns? Ahh—, I’m so excited.”
Bianca swung the sword lightly. Though it was a playful swing, it carried the mesmerizing yet terrifying killing intent of a top-floor gladiator.
“It would be best to raise her properly before eating her, right? Or should I just swallow her whole right now? Hmm...”
Bianca stopped her sword dance, tossed the weapon carelessly onto a rack, and fell into thought, one hand on her chin.
“I’ll raise her until she’s just a little weaker than me, then I’ll eat her. Playing it safe is always best! Right?”
As if in response, her shadow split wide open. Between the parted shadows, sharp, thorn-like objects, each as thick as a grown man’s forearm, grew in dense clusters.
*Slither.*
What was once a shadow gradually pushed through the floor, taking form. It looked like a monster pulling its head out of a sticky, black swamp. Bits of flesh from some unidentifiable source clung to the irregularly grown thorns.
*Gurgle, gack.*
The monster’s voice, which bubbled up like boiling water, was a sound so foul it would have made anyone who heard it retch. But Bianca’s cheeks flushed as if she were listening to the babbling of a beloved baby.
“Right? I’m so smart!”
Bianca said, humming.
“This next match will be a piece of cake!”
Power on the top floor was granted to only ten individuals. But new slaves arrived endlessly, and countless challengers vied for a spot.
In this place where only the strong survived, Bianca had held on for a very long time.
She grew stronger without ever hitting a wall, as if she knew no limits. Moreover, she was a difficult opponent to prepare for, as she could expertly wield dozens, even hundreds, of different weapons.
Bianca had secured a position as a sky above skies, a being whom challengers to the top floor dared not even speak of defying.
But she was known as the ‘Lazy Genius.’ She was never seen practicing her swordplay and was always busy either lazing around or keeping a man on her arm.
She was able to live like that entirely thanks to the power of her shadow. Her shadow possessed the ability to devour things and absorb all their powers, transferring them to its master.
She would befriend talented slaves with a kind face, and when they let their guard down, she would swallow them whole and absorb their abilities.
That was the secret to how she remained at the pinnacle of power.
“Hehe, when he’s sad after his little sister dies, should I take him as my concubine?”
Her targets this time were both Iris and Rian. Iris was her prey, and she planned to make Rian her concubine.
“Well, in a way, I’ll be no different from his little sister, so it won’t matter, right?”
Once she swallowed Iris, all of Iris’s abilities would become hers, so she would be no different from Iris herself. She laughed, indulging in this miraculous logic.
She would soon learn the hard way that eating the wrong thing can lead to trouble, but for now, she was simply happy.
***
A week had passed since we’d settled into our new home.
It was only after the rat beastkin told me a new match had been scheduled that I clapped my hands and exclaimed, “Ah! That’s right!” I’d completely forgotten about Gargandoa.
After the rat beastkin left, I told Iris I was going to the restroom and headed for the bathroom. Standing before the sink, I called for Gargandoa in my mind.
*Shwoong.*
A glimmer of light gathered on the back of my hand, forming a fist-sized, dark-red ball of light. Soon, the light dripped down like a liquid.
From within the light, Gargandoa appeared, now shrunken to the size of a knife, not even a dagger. I was taken aback by how much smaller it was, even more so than when I first saw it.
[ Sa...ve me... ]
Gargandoa’s voice sounded like that of a patient on death’s door. I immediately made a small cut on my wrist. It looked a bit like I was self-harming, but it didn’t even sting.
*Slurp—.*
Like a sponge soaking up water, the blood seeped into the sword. A second later, the demon sword mumbled in a dying voice.
[ So... tasty...? ]
As if the delicacy thrust before its mouth had brought it back to its senses, the sword began to tremble faintly. Then it started to suck up the blood frantically.
[ Haaaah! This, this is it...!! ]
It sounded so starved that it abandoned its dignified tone and let out a wail. The cut was too shallow for the blood to be absorbed properly. I dug into the wound, and blood gushed out with a spurt!
*Woong—.*
The blood that had shot into the air was instantly sucked into the sword. Thanks to that, my clothes weren’t stained.
[ Heup—... Hah, haaahk! ]
Listening to that voice, which sounded like it had completely lost its mind, I felt a little sorry.
‘The poor thing must have been starving.’
Watching its foolish state, I found myself treating the demon sword like a child.
The gushing blood was swallowed by the sword without a single drop being wasted. Aside from the few drops that fell when I first made the cut, the sink remained clean.
“Hey now, there’s plenty. Eat slowly.”
Like a grandmother feeding her long-awaited grandson, I soothed the half-crying demon sword. Without any hesitation, the sword drank the blood like a madman.
A good while passed like that. Having regained most of its original size, the demon sword spoke as it continued to absorb the blood.
[ How could you just neglect me?! ]