The beast seemed to feel the danger even without seeing it, but unfortunately for it, the realization came too late.
It happened fast.
Too fast for the monstrosity to react.
The gold-red fractures of Gil's shield snapped together, executing a fierce, monstrous bite of their own directly onto the monster.
The jagged edges passed through the struggling shadows around the creature, dispersing them into red motes upon contact.
They bypassed the thick hide, the skin, and the muscle effortlessly, leaving no visible damage whatsoever on the outside of the beast.
But then, just before the two halves of the shield could fully meet, they paused, as if encountering resistance for the very first time.
And the thing—the seemingly invincible, transformed beast—froze.
Then, it began to shudder violently.
Hnghn...
One would struggle to believe that such a weak, pitiful whimper could truly come from such an imposing creature.
It was so slight that, aside from its brethren in the arena, even the frenzied Gil almost missed it.
But he didn't.
The sound spurred him further.
Clutching feebly at the monster with his remaining limbs, he bit even deeper into its flesh, his clouded mind fixed on only one thing: Make this beast suffer as much as possible.
His spiritual set of jaws pressed onward, clamping around something deep within the creature's core, inflicting an unseen, agonizing pain.
"HNnnnnnghn!"
This time, the monster groaned louder, the strength visibly draining from its body until it could barely stand. Its face, previously a picture of absolute confidence, contorted in raw suffering.
With suddenly slow, clumsy movements, it set Gil's left shoulder free, its sole intent now to retreat.
But even in his current state, Gil had no intention of letting it go.
Summoning strength from who knew where, his eyes completely bloodshot, Gil held fast to the creature, increasing the pressure of his spiritual bite.
The beast's struggles grew weaker and weaker until it lost the strength to even move or whimper.
The jagged, gold-red jaws of the shield drew closer and closer together, and then, with a flash of light, they crushed whatever internal resistance they had encountered in a soundless motion.
As for the beast...
It staggered.
One step,Two.
It looked down at Gil.
Its mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Then...
With a final, full-body shudder, it collapsed to the ground, strangely still.
A second passed, followed by another, and then another, but the creature continued to lay stiff on the dirt.
Its features remained frozen in an expression of pain, fear, and utter confusion, as if it couldn't fathom what had happened to it even in its last moments.
Who knew how many captives it had tormented, or how many had suffered beneath its claws?
At least now... it would never harm anyone else again.
In that instant, a stunned silence hung heavily over the arena and the stands alike.
Even the blood sea grew perfectly still and flat.
Doubt, confusion, and unease spread silently through the crowd. The spectators couldn't make sense of what had just unfolded in front of them.
One moment, the beast was torturing Gil, seemingly intent on making him suffer a slow, painful death.
They had heard Gil screaming, they had seen him struggling futilely, and they had witnessed his desperate attempt to bite the monster.
But what they had thought was a vain, dying gesture had produced an effect that was anything but.
They couldn't reconcile what they knew with what they saw.
Yet, no matter how incredulous it appeared, the sight of the lifeless monstrosity was the clearest proof.
Then how?
How did it die?
Some particularly sensitive people in the crowd seemed to have caught a brief flash of something, but they were unsure of themselves.
All eyes—from the trembling captives to the executives in the luxury lounge—converged on the young man.
Standing shakily, Gil seemed to snap out of his frenzied state.
Looking down at the dead beast at his feet, his expression shifted from surprise to a vague, instinctive understanding.
Then, a wide smile spread across his face.
"Ha... ha... ha. Hahahahahahahahaha!"
He laughed.
Low at first, then louder and louder, until the sound of his manic laughter was the only noise resounding through the entire space.
The spectators looked on, their moods complex.
Never before, as far as any of them could remember, had this grim place echoed with such a sincere, triumphant laugh.
It was a laugh filled with pure satisfaction, relief, and pride.
It seemed to say: Look! I won.I didn't run away.I triumphed. I am still standing here alive!
He laughed so hard that he ultimately collapsed onto his back.
Sharp spikes of agony shot through his body, but he refused to stop, continuing to laugh even as he lost more and more blood.
His strength ebbed away, and his golden shield faded into nothingness.
This was the weakest he had ever been, and he could feel death actively beckoning him from the edge of his consciousness.
Yet, paradoxically, he had never felt so alive, nor so proud, in his entire life.
"Ha... haff... haff..."
Finally, truly void of strength, he let out a faint, trailing chuckle and passed out, a joyful smile still etched onto his lips.
Unfortunately, the beast he had felled was not the only one left in the arena.
"Grrrrrrr..."
"Grrrrrrrr..."
"Grrrrrrrr!"
After the strange demise of one of their kind, the remaining monsters had initially been spooked, even halting their attacks on the other youths.
But seeing Gil pass out, completely defenseless, seemed to reignite their predatory instincts. All of them, without exception, turned and rushed toward Gil, their fangs bared and poised to tear him apart.
Not only the beasts, but the blood sea itself grew agitated. Several shadows began to emerge from its depths, rushing toward the unconscious youth, their motives unknown...
The nearest beast reached Gil first, lunging directly for his throat. Then...
Slash.
Its head flew high into the air, severed cleanly from the rest of its body, spraying dark blood everywhere.
The other beasts, arriving a fraction of a second too late, recoiled in absolute terror.
Not daring to advance any further but too terrified to retreat, they prostrated themselves against the stone floor, shivering violently and refusing to move.
The blood sea instantly calmed down again.
Unnoticed by anyone until that exact moment, a figure had appeared in front of Gil.
It was a tall man wearing a grey cloak, his short, cinder-colored hair catching the arena's dim light. His deep, dark blue eyes crinkled as a wide grin spread across his face, perfectly mirroring the one Gil had worn before losing consciousness.
Scrutinizing the boy, Hector murmured, "I knew it would be a waste to kill you." His grin widened.
Crouching down, he took stock of the young man's condition. Oblivious to the blood and grime, he examined the wounds, his expression remaining entirely unchanged until he reached Gil's left arm.
At that point, he paused, frowning slightly, before continuing his check.
All in all, Gil's life hung by a single, fraying thread, but Hector didn't seem to be in any particular hurry.
"Don't die yet. I have many plans for you," he said.
Finally, pulling a small vial from beneath his cloak, he forced the contents down Gil's throat.
Within moments, the boy's breathing smoothed out, and a hint of color returned to his pale face.
Satisfied, Hector stood back up.
Things are about to get lively, he thought.
"HECTOR!" a loud voice boomed from above, calling out to him.
"What?" Hector asked, thoroughly annoyed at being distracted from his thoughts.
"I should be the one asking you that! What do you think you are doing down there?" one of the executives standing by Lucius's side shouted down into the pit. "The test isn't over yet! You can't just do as you wish!"
Hector looked up at the man, completely unimpressed.
Then, ignoring the speaker entirely, he turned his sharp gaze toward Lucius and said coldly, "Keep your people in check, or else..."
The executive who had been shouting grew pale, instinctively taking a step back before catching himself.
Lucius, not even sparing his subordinate a glance, spoke up. "I apologize on his behalf, Hector. But he isn't wrong, is he? The test isn't—"
"Are you blind, or are you doing it on purpose?" Hector cut him short, narrowing his eyes.
Pointing a single finger toward the beast Gil had slain, he said, "The kid bested your pet. The test ended the exact moment it died, and you know it."
Lucius looked down at his dead beast, then at the unconscious Gil. After a long, heavy silence, he conceded, "Right. Your favorite won."
Pausing for a moment, he leaned forward slightly. "Though, I couldn't help but wonder... how exactly did he do that? Do you know?"
Though he left the rest of the question unsaid, it was easy for everyone to guess what he meant.
How had Gil done it?
Lucius wasn't the only one pondering the mystery; everyone present was thinking the exact same thing.
Looking closely at the carcass, aside from some shallow, external bite marks on its neck, the monster's body was wholly intact.
There wasn't a single fatal wound in sight, nor anything that could logically explain its sudden death.
It had simply... stopped living, without anyone being able to explain how.
An uncomfortable unease spread through the stands at Lucius's words and the implications behind them.
If Gil could kill a transformed beast like that soundlessly and tracelessly... what about them?
Though no one in this place was ordinary anymore, they all still feared the unknown.
A brief, cold smile flashed across Lucius's lips before being replaced by a hint of gravity.
Even he wasn't entirely immune to that fear.
Faced with their inquisitive eyes, Hector looked deeply at Lucius, his smile returning as he finally replied, "I already told you. I don't know."
Then, his smile vanished, his eyes turning dead and icy. "But that kid is mine. You heard me? So keep your little schemes to yourself."
Having said his piece, Hector brought his hand up, holding his palm flat like a blade, and made a swift, horizontal slashing motion toward the remaining beasts.
Nobody even saw him move.
Splaaaaat!
Heads rolled.
Blood erupted into the air in a single, synchronized spray as every remaining monster was instantly cleaved apart, as if sliced by a massive, invisible sword.
Hector executed the move effortlessly, never once breaking eye contact with Lucius.
Everyone held their breath in sheer trepidation, waiting and expecting the two powerhouses to clash after such an open provocation.
But Lucius surprised everyone by letting out a light, smooth chuckle instead.
"Thanks for helping me clear them out. They were indeed becoming a bit of a liability anyway," Lucius said, his smile receding slightly as he continued. "After all... a dog that can't be controlled ought to be put down, right?"
Leaving them with that ominous sentence, Lucius turned on his heel and walked away, the two remaining executives following closely behind him.
Hector watched the man leave, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Then, effortlessly hauling Gil over his shoulder, he began to walk away before pausing to look back at the arena floor.
"Darius! Get these two treated," he shouted, gesturing casually toward Greg and the tomboy, who were both still out cold on the dirt.
"Got it," Darius agreed from above.
Only after their departure did the rest of the arena finally erupt into hushed, frantic chatter.
From the surviving captives picking themselves up from the bloodied floor to the spectators murmuring in the stands, after everything that had transpired, they all had only a single name echoing in their minds and on their lips.
Gil.