Thud.
Letting my sword fall to the ground, I readied myself.
Thud.
The boar stomped its hooves into the sand and charged straight at me.
I waited a moment.
Step.
Then took a wide step to the right and ran forward. The angle wasn't ninety degrees like before—slightly less.
Swoosh.
As I ran past the boar, I felt a rush of air brush against my side as it swung its horns while turning.
Glancing back, I saw that while the boar hadn't completely stopped this time, it had lost almost all its speed while trying to turn.
Exactly what I wanted to test.
Its radius of movement when turning.
Step.
I continued running, glancing back every few steps.
While the boar's body looked heavy and slow—
Its speed definitely wasn't.
Thud.
The boar sped up, closing the distance, as it chased after me.
Seeing it right behind me, I jumped to my left.
Skrrt.
The boar's hooves slid through the sand as it tried to follow me, but it was too fast to stop at once. Instead, it skidded across the sand while struggling to turn.
Step.
I turned my head forward again and kept running.
I had confirmed what I needed.
Step.
Thud.
The boar was right behind me as I ran in a straight line away from the center toward the arena wall.
The memory that had surfaced earlier
It was about Matadors.
Spanish fighters, if you wanted to call them that.
They stepped into an arena with a bull and created thrilling shows while dodging the bulls' charges.
And just like a bull, the boar was superior in speed to humans. But it couldn't turn as fast as we.
Combined with their blind charges—
This was their weakness.
Step.
Thud.
The wall came closer, just like the boar behind me, which accelerated even more. Only a few meters remained between me and its sharp horns.
It was about to pierce my back just as I reached the wall.
But a few meters before it—
I leaped to the right.
Thud.
I rolled through the sand before sliding to a stop. My head turned at once, looking toward the boar.
And right then—
KRUNK!
The boar slammed into the stone wall.
It had tried to follow my movements with its head, but was too slow. Its massive horns pierced deep into the stone. Chunks of rock broke loose and fell to the ground at the impact.
Thud.
Thud.
It pushed forward and jerked back, trying to free itself.
But that wouldn't work.
Or—
It would.
If it had enough time.
Step.
I took my chance and stood up, rushing at it before it could free itself.
My feet pushed me off the ground as I jumped onto the beast's back. I flung my arms around its thick neck like a snake and held myself steady.
There is one bulletproof way to deal with a heavy beast whose fur and muscle act as armor.
I slid my right arm beneath its throat and used my left arm to keep the lock tight, gripping my biceps and pressing it against the beast's shoulder.
A chokehold.
Through my experience—a sure fire way to kill any opponent.
The beast had no hands and only legs. Its horns pierced the wall and were stuck, trapping it here.
There was no way for it to escape now.
I tightened my grip and pressed harder against the boar's throat.
THUD!
THUD!
The boar began smashing its head against the wall as breathing became difficult. I nearly fell from its back, but steadied my grip at the last moment.
My feet pressed against its stomach as a foothold while I tightened the choke even more.
Grr!
THUD!
Now it became a battle of endurance.
Which one of us would give in first?
Would the boar suffocate?
Or would it break free and throw me off?
Grr!
The boar let out a deep grunt as it slammed its head again against the wall.
THUD!
Then—
Slowly, its movements slowed, and it turned silent.
Forcing more mana into my arms, I tightened the hold further.
Until—
Thud.
The boar's legs collapsed, and it fell limply to the ground.
Even then, I held the choke a few seconds longer. There were too many movies in my head where the guy stopped directly and was ambushed.
I added ten more seconds.
Just to be sure.
Only when the beast stopped moving completely, not even twitching, did I release it.
Haah.
I let go of its throat and slid off its back before dropping to the ground beside it, breathing heavily.
Haah.
Only now did I realize that I had been holding my breath the entire time.
Haah.
A bad habit of mine.
Haah.
I pushed myself upright again and leaned against its corpse while calming my breathing. When my breath finally steadied, I glanced at the corpse beside me.
I couldn't believe it for a moment.
I did it.
Haaah.
Taking another deep breath, I shifted my gaze back toward the battlefield.
The other teens were still desperately dodging the boars as they ran across the arena.
On the far side, two boys were fighting one together.
Number 86 and 92.
The two who looked like brothers.
One drew the beast's attention, dodging and rolling through the sand while the other attacked its exposed back.
But—
It didn't seem to work.
The boar didn't slow down, and it looked like none of its blood was spilled, as if their sword strikes were nothing more than light taps.
After watching long enough, I turned my attention elsewhere.
To my right—
There was the small boy.
Number 158.
He was rolling in the sand while dodging the boar's attacks. The two battle axes he carried earlier were nowhere to be seen.
He must have thrown them away as well.
To my left—
Was the girl.
Number 74.
She gripped her spear tightly and sidestepped the boar's attacks while landing some hits. Slashing, stabbing, and pushing. She tried it all, but nothing worked.
The boar kept going as if nothing had happened.
Across the arena stood number 125.
Strangely, he was running in a wide circle with the boar chasing him. He only dodged if it became too dangerous and kept running most of the time.
I didn't know what his idea was, but it seemed like he wanted to tire it out?
Haah.
It didn't matter.
I glanced down at the dead boar beside me.
For a moment, I considered resting. Letting the others handle their own fights and just wait here for them to finish.
But—
Seeing the girl struggling on my left...
I just couldn't stay still.
She was drenched in sweat and landed one hit after the other, stopping only when the boar came too close, and she had to dodge.
At first glance, it looked like she was holding her ground.
As if she were winning.
But that wasn't true.
She couldn't actually hurt the boar and soon exhaust herself. Then, when she slowed and grew tired...a mistake would happen.
A slip of her foot.
Or a too-late dodge.
Something small.
But that would be enough for the boar to end it.
She would die if it kept going like that. And while I didn't really care whether another teen lived or died—
I just didn't want her to die.
I pushed myself off the boar's corpse and brushed the sand from my clothes before walking toward her.
Step.
I quickened my pace with each step until I was running.
Step.
The boar was chasing her, his back facing me. She barely dodged, avoiding its horns as she jumped aside.
Step.
As I ran toward her, I thought about the plan.
Should I use the same trick again?
Maybe she could even stab the boar while it was stuck in the wall. That might make killing it easier.
I had done it before and was already familiar with the plan. It was the best option right now.
But—
Glancing to the right, I saw 125 still racing his boar in circles, trying to tire it out.
Maybe there was an easier way to deal with these beasts...
I could even deal with two at once.
Step.
I made my decision and sprinted toward the girl.
She dodged another charge of the boar, rolling across the sand before scrambling to her feet again.
But—
She hadn't jumped far enough.
The boar slowed during its turn—
Then charged again.
Flustered by the boar's charge and close proximity, the girl panicked and just turned around to run away.
"Ah!"
That was when I appeared in front of her, making her scream.
My hand moved at once, reaching for her shoulder before I shoved her to the left.
Thud.
She flew several meters away before crashing into the ground, headfirst.
I heard some kind of scream or curse, but there was no time to dwell on it as the beast was already upon me.
Grr!
With the girl gone, it had switched its target and charged straight at me.
Step.
I lunged to the right, dodging its horns, and landed on the ground with a roll, easing the impact before I stood up and sprinted again.
I glanced over my shoulder, confirming that the boar chased me and not the girl.
'Good.'
My eyes shifted away from it, drifting through the arena before finding my next target.
'There it is.'
I pushed even more mana into my legs and accelerated.
Step.
Ahead of me—
Was another teen running away from a boar.
Opening my mouth, I shouted at him.
"125! RUN STRAIGHT AT ME!"
His head turned at once at my shout, eyes widening as he saw the boar behind me. But he immediately changed direction, running straight at me.
Both boars followed us closely, chasing us as we closed the distance between us.
Thud.
Their stomps drew closer with each step.
Thud.
Seeing that the distance shrank, I shouted again.
"GO RIGHT! I TAKE LEFT!"