Chương 11: An Invitation to Hell

Ah.

When the Crimson Ringmistress raised her hand, Yuto already knew what would happen next. He was also aware that resistance was impossible. He couldn't just stand there and do nothing, however. So he pulled Flokiro, who was stretched out on the ground, into his arms and turned his head away. He looked at Garon and Lugil, who seemed to be marveling. The owner of the Colosseum, Eville, had just died at Yuto's hands. It wasn't just them. Every fighter, Evomon, and guard was watching him in shock.

There was also some kind of expectation in their eyes. It was because of what the Crimson Ringmistress had said. They were hoping that this chaos was about to end. Many of them wanted this, but Yuto knew the truth. She was a cruel monster, and she would not grant mercy just because she was satisfied. She had already spoken about this. Only those who pleased her would survive.

If she felt that she had seen enough and that nothing more interesting would come out of this, then she would expect no further entertainment from the others.

"Run..." Yuto began.

"Run away—" Before he could finish, a red storm descended on the Colosseum. There was no screaming. No opportunity to scream was granted. At that moment, when blood-red ether settled on the Colosseum, all sounds ceased. The humans and Evomon who had been killing each other, struggling to survive, the guards who had been swinging their weapons, and the slaves who had been hiding under the bodies, trembling with fear, were all swallowed up. Yuto watched with eyes wide open.

Garon and Lugil, who had been walking over with smiles on their faces, disintegrated. They didn't even realize they were dying until they were gone. The same was true of Jackie. First, the body concealing him turned to powder, followed by Jackie himself.

"Oh..." Yuto looked down at Flokiro, who was in his arms. He was badly injured and breathing rapidly as he looked up at Yuto. Even now, he was relieved that he had protected Yuto. It was amid that relief that Flokiro's body was eaten away by the ether. Flokiro turned into powder and blood and fell apart. Light surrounded the powder, and suddenly, he was a fist-sized Evostone.

"No... no!" Yuto gripped the stone in despair. That was when the red storm finally died down. Yuto was the only living person in the Colosseum now. Human bodies had turned into ash and scattered, only their blood, clothing, and other possessions lying around on the floor. The Evomon had all turned into Evostones and dropped to the ground. As Yuto stared blankly at the scene, he heard someone's footsteps. He turned around slowly.

The Crimson Ringmistress, who had wrought havoc in this Colosseum, had forced its inhabitants to fight, and had then killed them all out of boredom, came down to the arena with a smile.

"Congratulations," she said. She stood there with one hand resting on her waist and tilted her head to the side as she looked down at him.

"How many people and Evomon were there? Over a hundred, I would presume. You're the only one who survived. How does that feel?" she asked.

"Ugh..." He trembled all over and got to his feet unsteadily. His instincts warned him that she would be the death of him, but he ignored the feeling. The emotion bubbling inside him was far too strong for him to be patient.

"Aaaah!" Yuto screamed and rushed at her. At that moment, he was neither thinking rationally nor considering the consequences. He forgot the fact that she was a monster far beyond his abilities, and that attacking her would only result in his death. All he wanted was to kill her, and the thought controlled him. He swung his sword at her neck with all his strength. All it took was two fingers to stop the blade. The amusement in her red eyes intensified. Yuto twisted the blade, but it didn't budge.

He dropped it instantly and tried to attack her with his bare hands. His hand went for her neck again, but it struck nothing but air. The Crimson Ringmistress had leaned back slightly. She was snickering at him now, and he lunged again. A hand grabbed his neck with wicked speed he could not react to. He grunted. The narrow arm lifted him up by the neck as if he weighed nothing. His throat constricted. He began to choke and his vision turned red. He gripped her arm and struggled, but the arm refused to budge.

"Why are you so angry?" the Crimson Ringmistress asked with a smile.

"You survived. I'm here to congratulate you. Why are you attacking me?"

"Die..." Yuto squeezed out his voice from his strangled throat.

"I will... kill... you!"

"Hahaha!" The Crimson Ringmistress burst into laughter.

"You want to kill me? Then how exactly are you going to do that? You know as well as I do that if I squeeze a little right now, your neck will snap." Yuto said nothing, his wide-open eyes glaring at her. Her smile broadened as she returned his gaze. She saw no fear or supplication in his eyes, only the desire to kill. He was the one who was in danger here, but the boy was genuinely only thinking about killing her.

I will kill you. Someday, even if it isn't today, I will find you and kill you. The powerful hate, the shout that could not emerge from his choked neck, reached her all the same.

"Hahaha..." Her red eyes curved mirthfully.

"Good. Good. Very good." She released him. He fell to the floor, but he lunged at her again even though he was coughing and struggling to breathe. As he tried to grab one of her legs, she kicked him in the head. She could have easily cracked his skull, but she did not. Yuto went flying. He refused to give up and came again, but she stepped up to him and planted her foot on his chest.

"Take this," she said. She looked down at him and raised her hand in the air. Red light gathered and turned into a small card. The Crimson Ringmistress dropped it beside his face and whispered to him.

"It's an invitation to my arena," she said. She bent over and looked at him up close. The face that was contorted with hatred and anger, and the eyes that rippled with killing intent, gave her a shiver of joy.

"Right now, you're a boring person. But I love that look in your eyes. So, make yourself stronger and come to see me again. Don't forget the hatred you feel for me and become so strong that you can, in fact, kill me." She beamed at him as if genuinely excited by the thought, and the sight of her smile seemed to burn into Yuto's eyes.

"I will be waiting." She turned into a red mist and vanished. Now Yuto was alone in the empty Colosseum. He lay on the ground, gritting his teeth. He had been unable to do anything. He hadn't known it would be like this. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't even scratch her. One day... Yuto clutched the spot on his chest where she had stepped and got up.

I will kill her no matter what.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It didn't feel like the first time he had felt such hatred. It had to be his first time seeing her. But a strong sense of déjà vu came over him. Somehow, he knew her, and it wasn't just by hearing her name somewhere. He knew her; he resented her, and he wanted to kill her. In fact, he had killed her. When she grabbed him by the neck and tossed him to the ground, a memory had started floating around in his mind.

He remembered a burning arena, a woman whom he had by the neck. At the center of that arena was a grin on her face. She had not moaned even when his sword pierced her chest. It was as though her own death had somehow pleased her.

Am I seeing the future? Or is none of this real, just a figment of my imagination? No matter how much he tried, he couldn't figure it out. He gritted his teeth and turned away. Blood had pooled everywhere in the Colosseum. That blood was the only visible trace of Garon and Lugil. His teeth ground against each other. He hadn't known them for more than a week. He didn't share any special memories with them. But amid this chaos, they had chosen to protect him instead of attacking him.

He, on the other hand, had been unable to do nothing for them.

"I will avenge you... at least." That was the only promise he could make to them. They were already dead, after all. Then he realized that he knew nothing about these boys other than their names. Biting his lip, he gripped the invitation that the Crimson Ringmistress had left him.

Flokiro.

When Evomon died, they returned to Evostones, and waking them again took a great deal of ether. In other words, they could be brought back to life if there was enough ether to do it. Yuto walked unsteadily and gripped the Evostone. It was a light red color and had a soft warmth to it.

"Flokiro..." Yuto said. He had no idea how he knew that name, but at least he knew one thing for certain. This tiny creature had thrown itself in the way of danger many times in order to protect him. In fact, he knew that the Evomon had always done this—many times. Yuto gripped the stone and turned away. The Colosseum had high walls, and there were no stairs. Yuto went over to where Eville's body had been lying. Under a pile of clothes that had been soiled with dirt and blood was a golden key.

Yuto didn't know what it did, but he grabbed it and headed into the waiting room where the fighters had been. Eville's key didn't fit the barred door, but oddly enough, as soon as he brought the key close, the lock opened by itself. Apparently, it was a master key that could open every door in this establishment, as it had belonged to the master of the Colosseum.

For now, I will leave this place. He chose to focus only on that thought as he began to walk. There were no survivors. The red light that the Ringmistress had released hadn't just killed the fighters of the Colosseum. It had even killed the guards and slaves who hadn't been inside the arena. Proof of this was the blood and clothing lying around throughout the underground corridor. Yuto ignored them and used Eville's key to open doors as he made his way onward.

He felt another sense of déjà vu as he continued to move on. He had been here before. He had lost everything and been the only survivor as he walked somewhere underground. He thought he could hear a distant whisper coming from somewhere.

[Starter Quest: Escape from this place.] [Reward:???] The words were on one side of his vision, rippling. This wasn't exactly how he had planned it, but in the end, he was able to escape.

And when I do, will I be able to learn something? At the end of the corridor was a staircase leading upward. Yuto gulped and climbed the stairs. He found a steel gate at the end of the stairs, which he opened with the key. A cold wind blew against his face. It was night outside. He was free of the musty underground air and breathed clear, cold air instead. He took a deep breath without realizing it. The frosty night air sank into his lungs, which were tainted with blood and dust. He stared blankly outward.

There were gravestones everywhere. This was a cemetery on the outskirts of a city. Hundreds of gravestones stood in rows under the moonlight. The door through which he had just emerged was the back door of an old crypt in one corner of the cemetery.

A public cemetery... Below the resting place of the dead, the living had struggled to kill each other. It felt like such a mockery. But maybe it actually made sense. Those who died below would never get a proper grave of their own. Garon, Lugil, Jackie, and others whose names he didn't know and who would never be buried in a cemetery, would have to be content with the underground Colosseum as their resting place. He gritted his teeth and moved on.

The moment he took a step out of the shadow of the crypt and his foot landed in the dirt, the interface glitched.

[Quest complete.] [Reward:???] A dark screen appeared in front of him. The words, which had remained question marks the entire time, distorted noisily. The entire screen shook as if it were about to break. Then the question marks shattered, replaced by new words.

[Reward: the Void] The Void. He felt something surge inside his chest as soon as he saw the word, and it wasn't because his heart was beating faster. Something had woken up deep inside him, at the very root of his soul. He choked, clutched his chest, and fell to his knees. An inky blackness spread upward from his chest, and wrapped around his body like smoke. It was cold, dark, and endlessly deep. It was a power that was different from anything he knew about. What's this...?

He felt as though his heart was being frozen solid and then burned, as if his very being was being reconstructed from the start. The pain was terrible, as if his blood was being replaced with some inky black fluid. He heard static in his ears. It was like nothing he had ever heard before, and in between those noises, he heard a voice.

"Remember." It was the soft voice of a little girl.

"Remember who you are." His vision went dark, and suddenly he couldn't see the moonlight, or the stars, or the gravestones. It was just an endless blackness that spread out in front of him. On the other side of the darkness, in the distance, was a girl with black hair. Her black eyes were watching him.

"Remember why you had to return."

Who are you? He wasn't able to vocalize the question that echoed inside his mind. Her voice mixed with the beating of his heart. Only the girl and the darkness were in his vision now, but soon a new screen appeared. [Status window unlocked.] [Void Skills unlocked.] [Status window.] Level: 1 Stamina: 10 Ether: 10 Strength: 10 Agility: 10 Charm: 10 Remaining points: 100 Void Skills: Void Steps: Lv. 1 Void Hand: Lv. 1 His heart kept beating loudly in his ears. The darkness beyond the screen distorted suddenly.

As it split apart, scenes that were not part of his reality flashed past. He saw a burning kingdom. A falling castle. A golden-haired man holding a sword covered with blood, and a woman lying dead in front of him. A girl was sitting on the floor, crying, while an Evomon knight lunged at him with a loud cry. He saw himself spilling blood on the floor as he walked through some underground space, only to fall over in the end.

A dark appendage he shoved into his chest. This... Desperately, he reached out toward everything he saw, but the memories were just beyond his ability to recall. He almost felt as if he could touch them, but not quite. Every scene that had spread through the darkness broke and scattered.

Are these my memories? His emotions were running wild. He felt a powerful impulse to destroy and to kill. Rage and bloodlust filled him. The darkness faded a little, and it was sucked into his body, causing him terrible pain. He fell onto his stomach and clutched his chest. He heard something break inside him, and the darkness that had been sucked in became two hands that burst from his back like wings. They gestured in the air as if they intended to take hold of the sky and break it. He felt as if he might faint.

He had escaped the Colosseum, but he still had so many questions. And the darkness ran amok amid his confusion. The dark hands moved as if they had a mind of their own, hungry to grab hold of something and destroy it. And below those hands, Yuto fought to retain his sanity.

"Hmm." Then somebody walked up to him. She did not seem to be human. This woman was wearing a black eyepatch. She had long ears and had no shoes on her bare feet. She put down a bottle of alcohol that she had been drinking from and stared him in the face. He wasn't aware of her, however, or able to raise his head. The incredible power that had entered his body refused to let him control it.

"Look here, kid," the woman said. She attached the bottle to her waist and softly walked over to him.

"You seem to be having some trouble there. Do you want me to help you?" He couldn't answer her. The most that he could do was grit his teeth and desperately fight the power that tried to make him lose control, the impulses and powerful emotions that came along with the memories. The woman shrugged at him.

"I'm not hearing an answer from you. Well, I will do as I please, then." She strode up to him, and at that moment, the dark hands that had grown out of his back lunged at her. She grinned and made a slight gesture, and the darkness was torn apart.

"You, kid..." the woman said, reaching for his chest.

"You now owe me." The rampaging darkness suddenly went quiet and returned inside him. At the same time, he passed out completely. She began to carry him on her shoulder.

"The Void, huh?" She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.

"Fate works in mysterious ways." Yuto did not hear her mutterings.