I looked to my side and behind me, several slave prisoners were being dragged by The Graendall soldiers. I was extremely frightened that I would be pulled and thrown directly into the arena. In my mind, perhaps Hellraider would see and remember me again if I were in the same arena there. But the question was whether this was the right place for me to convince him again. He was severely injured after fighting far more monsters, with all elite monsters attacking him.

  I began to understand that Hellraider's real name was some kind of curse that must not be known by him. If I did the same thing as in hell, this would become a new and even more serious problem, because I was being watched by many Graendall soldiers. If I entered the arena together with Hellraider, I would only avoid the rampage of the other fighters and slowly but surely persuade him again without threatening him by mentioning his real name anymore.

  However, what happened was that I was not dragged by the soldiers. Only me and three other prisoners were left behind and told to remain here. Would I only watch Hellraider's actions, or would I be put into the next round? I thought about strategies to survive if, in the worst case, I had to fight in the next round.

  Below, many other prisoners were already ordered to enter the arena. Roughly counted, there were about thirty people. The soldiers who brought Hellraider immediately unlocked the chains and padlocks and then ran back into the arena gate. The event began, and the prisoners below started fighting one another with bare hands until the last drop of blood. I tried to focus on Hellraider, who was now surrounded by several prisoners trying to attack him.

  When one of the prisoners approached him, Hellraider immediately punched the man's head quickly and with tremendous force, causing him to collapse to the ground, and Hellraider stomped his foot onto the unfortunate prisoner's chest, making a heavy stream of blood burst from his mouth. The prisoner died instantly. I heard The Graendall soldiers roar loudly again upon seeing Hellraider's brutal act. This was truly inhumane. I would rather those prisoners rot in jail than suffer such a tragic fate like this.

  Hellraider continued committing his savage acts against the other prisoner fighters who attacked him. Besides using the same method as before, Hellraider finished off others by choking them, lifting them into the air, and slamming them to the ground, followed by another brutal stomp to the chest or head. The unfortunate fighter's face was completely crushed by Hellraider's stomp.

  I had once read in the game lore that the people of Grivendal had slightly stronger physical structures than Earth humans because the gravity here was somewhat higher. This was also what caused my body to tire more quickly on my first day in Grivendal.

  But what made my stomach churn was when Hellraider forced an enemy to lie face down, locked one of the fighter's arms, pulled it with tremendous strength until the fighter screamed, and brutally tore the arm off his body, ending it by smashing the fighter's head until it burst and blood splattered everywhere. Hellraider kept repeating his savage slaughter until only he remained standing alone.

  What made me furious was that The Graendall soldiers instead cheered even louder as Hellraider committed those barbaric acts. Truly, what happened here was far from what could be called civilized humanity, even though scientifically and technologically they had advanced far beyond the civilization of my world.

  The brutal arena battle ended and was won solely by Hellraider. Several Graendall soldiers entered the arena, pointing weapons at Hellraider. Suddenly, the soldiers fired a taser-like weapon at him, causing him to collapse and barely move. I saw that Hellraider still seemed conscious and grew even angrier toward the soldiers. They immediately wrapped chains around his body and legs and dragged him into the lowest section of the coliseum.

  While I was still processing what had happened, suddenly my arm was forcibly pulled by one of the soldiers, as were the remaining prisoners beside me. I was taken down to the lowest part of the coliseum as well.

  "W-what will I dooo…???? I have not committed any crime at aaall…!!!!! Why must I fight toooo…????" I said to the soldier.

  The soldier looked extremely shocked and stared at me sharply.

  "SHUUUT UPPP you slaaave…!!!" he shouted right into my face. I fell silent again and could only lament my fate in the arena.

  I stood in front of the big gate together with the other prisoner fighters. I looked to my right and left and saw many of them beginning to snarl angrily. The gate opened, and we were pushed inside by the soldiers who aimed their weapons at us. I entered the arena, and once again the roaring cheers of The Graendall soldiers echoed from the stands.

  The lowest arena gate was then closed, signaling the start of the fight. I began to look around as the prisoners started fighting one another. I had to carry out my plan to avoid the fighters for as long as possible. And sure enough, several prisoner fighters began chasing me, and I immediately ran away from them. This felt exactly like being chased by patrol dogs. I ran around the arena, and whenever a fighter tried to intercept me, I quickly performed zigzag maneuvers to deceive and slip past him.

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  I began to hear mocking shouts from The Graendall soldiers growing louder and louder. Perhaps they were watching a fighter who only ran away.

  "Damn it, you barbaric civilization…!!!!" I muttered angrily while continuing to run and evade the other fighters.

  But it seemed that because I was distracted by the jeers from the spectators, I was suddenly rammed hard by one of the fighters who came running from my side. I fell to the ground, and the fighter immediately kicked my back, sending me flying and rolling several times. While my body was still in pain, I was suddenly lifted and slammed hard onto the ground. I tried to get up as quickly as possible to escape, but the fighter suddenly kicked my face, sending me flying and rolling again.

  As I lay on the arena floor with my face already covered in blood, I looked up at the bright and scorching sky of Grivendal. Moments later, I saw someone approach me, bending down with his face facing mine. I instantly remembered who it was.

  Why was Simone suddenly in this arena?

  "Poor Johann… this is why I discarded you. Remember my words from the beginning. You will never be equal beside me!" said Simone.

  I then felt something growing within me. Was all of this because I viewed my surroundings only with my na?ve mindset? Why, even after hell, had my perspective not changed at all? If I continued like this, would they keep playing with me forever?

  "W-watch out… Simoneee… I will repay what you did…!!!!!" I shouted as my anger burst out.

  I woke up again and saw the fighter charging toward me. When he was right in front of me, I kicked upward hard into his groin. The fighter immediately doubled over in agony, clutching his genitals as both of his knees fell to the ground. I immediately stood up, kicked his face until he collapsed face down, and stomped on the back of his neck until he lost consciousness.

  The remaining fighters attacked me one by one. I fought them using another technique—sweeping their legs quickly to knock them down, then rendering them unconscious again by kicking their faces and stomping their necks. Another method was deceiving them like a basketball player dribbling past a defender. Once I successfully tricked them, I kicked their buttocks hard, just like Simone had kicked my chest, sending them falling, and I knocked them unconscious the same way as before.

  I kept doing this repeatedly to the remaining fighters. I then realized that the noise in the stands was growing quieter. When I had knocked out the last fighter, I saw everyone lying on the arena floor. Some were dead, and others were unconscious—those were my doing.

  I walked closer to the stands and looked upward, where The Graendall soldiers stood silently staring at me.

  I then shouted at the top of my lungs,

  "YOUUU… IGNORAAAANTTT… FOOOOOLLLLLLLLSSSSSS…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

  Right after I shouted that, I suddenly felt an agonizing electric shock surge throughout my entire body. I immediately collapsed to the ground.

  Ahh… it seemed I had also been shot with a taser-like weapon just like Hellraider. But because I could not withstand the shock, I lost consciousness again.

  I regained awareness again, but I did not feel myself lying on a bed. I was now bound at both arms, positioned half-standing while resting on my knees. I was inside a closed room that seemed to still be within the coliseum. I saw on my right and left two Graendall soldiers holding whips.

  Ohhh… nooo, could it be that I was being punished for violating the arena rules…???

  When the soldiers realized I had awakened, one whipped my back while the other struck my chest alternately. I felt intense pain.

  I had struggled to avoid brutality in the arena earlier, and now I was being punished with whips because of it. Truly, morality and decency in this place were completely broken.

  I then shed tears and cried softly.

  After I could no longer count how many times I had been whipped, suddenly someone accompanied by other soldiers entered the torture chamber. I saw that this person was also part of The Graendall and perhaps a high-ranking officer, because his armor was very different from the others here.

  Many The Graendall common soldier's armor have dark blue base with white and black pattern decoration. The higher official ranks have gold lining on its.

  His armor has dark blue and more sophisticated gold lining and ornaments. He also wore large golden fur cape and white mantle. He then removed his helmet, which is similar to helmet of the leader of ancient Greek Spartan Army, and I could see his face. Instantly, I remembered clearly who this military leader was.

  He was Gruzhnil, one of the supreme commanders of The Graendall military order. He had a tall, massive, and muscular build exactly like Hellraider, but with darker skin, white short hair on his head and eyebrows, and yellow eyes.

  In the storyline of The Mayhem, he was extremely strong yet wise and honorable, earning the title "The White Lion," making him the most famous commander in Grivendal Empire. Gruzhnil was an important character who had a closer relationship with Hellraider, mainly because he interacted with him frequently, even though Hellraider himself never responded to him in the game.

  Commander Gruzhnil approached and sat on the chair prepared in front of me. He did not speak immediately, but observed me first.

  What would he do to me after this?