[127]
– As always, the resurrection match offers a new opportunity to those who have driven their lives into the mud!
Those who have driven their lives into the mud.
Chris realized that was referring to him, or more precisely, to Wolf.
‘Then the new opportunity is…’
Chris’s mouth went dry as he looked at Yuri standing before him. His chest tightened with tension.
The commentary, which Chris didn’t authorize, babbled on.
– Will Wolf be able to kill his master and start a new life?
Kill?
Chris stared into space, dumbfounded.
“…So this is what a resurrection match means.”
Chris unwittingly muttered to himself, and his face was broadcast on the screen.
It was very rare for Chris, who was usually in wolf form, to stand in the arena in human form.
When ‘Wolf’ competed, people were accustomed to seeing a majestic wolf, so facing this deflated appearance, a mixture of jeers, cheers, and whistles poured down from the stands.
“Kill him! Kill him!”
“I bet on you!”
“Either tremble before your master or die!”
The invisible malice, pleasure, and madness were clearer and more blatant than ever.
In some ways, it made sense. Wouldn’t it be more entertaining to see a human claw at another human than to watch a beast that couldn’t understand language?
Chris desperately checked on Yuri. He seemed quite composed.
‘Is he just pretending?’
“Nice new collar.”
Yuri whistled.
It was an uncharacteristically frivolous tone for him. Perhaps this was natural since all eyes in the arena were focused on them.
“Can non-fighters also enter the arena?” Chris asked with a pale face.
Hadn’t they thrown him into a maze to check his basic qualifications, and then made him go through a rookie hunt and debut match?
Yet Yuri, who had never participated in any competition, was suddenly allowed on the ring?
“Seems like it.”
Yuri shrugged.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“And you accepted? I thought you were terribly concerned about your own safety.”
Chris half-growled.
It was less an act of defiance against Yuri and more an expression of anger.
“They came to me and said they’d kill me if I didn’t step into the ring. What choice did I have?”
“Haha…”
Chris was on the verge of losing it.
From what he heard, Yuri hadn’t volunteered for this either.
‘Is that why they hid the true nature of the resurrection match?’
The life of a fighter who ends up in an illegal arena is predictable.
They’re gambling with their lives, trying to salvage an existence pushed to the edge.
Just look at Chris’s character ‘Wolf’ – a fugitive criminal from the Esper alliance who had his Guide held hostage by the loan shark ‘John Doe.’
If he just kills the creditor, he’ll be free from all that debt.
The moment when life can change as easily as flipping one’s palm – what the fighter thinks, what expression they wear, what actions they take – all of it is content for them.
Just then, Chris’s profile and record appeared on the screen. Next was John Doe.
[John Doe
Occupation: Loan Shark
Ability: None
Record: None]
It was the usual intro video, but today it somehow looked different. Perhaps because of the audience’s roaring shouts filling his ears.
They weren’t expecting a fair match.
‘Liberation, joy, cruelty, revenge…’
Chris felt an uncharacteristic surge of disgust.
– Let the game begin!
His insides were a mess. It was difficult to think clearly.
Bang!
At the sound of a gun fired into the air, Chris reflexively regained his senses.
Yuri stood across from him, holding a gun with the safety off.
‘So they gave him at least some means of self-defense.’
It made sense. What they wanted was a stimulating game, not a fair match.
Despite knowing the danger of the gun, Chris felt relieved.
This was a death match. Either he would die, or Yuri would.
If you asked ‘What should I do?’ the top priority was clear.
‘I should be the one to die.’
Chris doesn’t die.
His ability to transform into a wolf is, strictly speaking, the life force of another Esper that Anastasia had stolen.
When he was working as a Northern Light agent, Chris had died once at Yuri’s hands.
Not recognizing Chris in wolf form, Yuri had reached out his hand, and when he became a Guide, he realized Chris was an Esper and eliminated him.
‘Yuri said that after I lost consciousness, I returned to human form.’
The problem was, he didn’t know how to convey this thought to Yuri.
“Shall we try it like before?” Yuri spoke as he reloaded the gun.
“Like when I was taming a disobedient dog.”
At those words, Chris opened his eyes wide.
No one in the arena could have understood Yuri’s words.
Except for Chris.
“Fine.”
Chris lowered his eyes and moved his lips.
“But it won’t be as easy as back then.”
An emotion closer to relief than confidence brought color back to his face.
Chris pushed off from the ground and leaped. Rather than a full transformation, he borrowed only parts of a wolf’s appearance.
– Oh! Wolf is showing a new ability. Is he so frightened in front of his master that his fur can’t grow properly?
The mechanical voice poured out mockery as if it had been waiting. It was chilling how not a trace of humor was mixed in.
But Chris, paying no attention, pounced on Yuri.
As if it were a predetermined choreography, Yuri grabbed Chris by the neck and slammed him to the floor.
“Shh… think about your Guide.”
Yuri whispered as he drew closer.
“How frightened would they be if they knew you were showing your claws in public like this?”
Both the speaker and the listener knew what nonsense that was.
Chris, with a contorted face, made a growling sound while grabbing and pulling Yuri’s wrist.
Yuri, pulled forward slightly, kicked Chris in the shin and retreated backward.
Their interlocking movements didn’t cause critical damage to either of them, but they looked quite convincing from the outside.
This was because Yuri’s most frequent opponent in life had been Chris.
More precisely, the Esper Chris Danil who had lost his reason.
Before regaining his sanity, Chris was not only an obedient dog but also incapable of proper communication.
It took a long time for Yuri to make him understand that he needed to leave the house to work. When they were in the same space, Chris would often cling to him, craving guiding.
Even Yuri found it quite strange that he hadn’t killed Chris, who acted like a dog in heat.
But when he thought about it, he had always been generous with what belonged to him.
‘Perhaps… I knew even then that things would end up like this.’
So Yuri was familiar with Chris’s beast-like movement patterns.
Similarly, Chris also knew well how Yuri moved to subdue him.
A fist grazed his cheek, and Chris’s claws moved as if to scratch Yuri’s neck.
As Yuri evaded and grabbed Chris’s ankle, Chris jumped up and aimed for Yuri’s back. Yuri, quickly noticing the beast on top of him, ran and dropped him to the floor, while Chris used a falling technique to maintain balance before the collision.
These were movements that occurred in breathless instants.
The precisely matched movements seemed like they could twist the opponent’s neck if even slightly misaligned.
Chris could hear the excited crowd shouting wildly.
But he blocked out the noise to focus on Yuri.
The only variables were that they were fighting in a wide arena rather than a small room, and that sharp spikes were scattered throughout.
‘And that gun too.’
Whether the number of bullets was limited or not, Yuri only used it to hit Chris’s head when he approached, without even firing warning shots after the initial gunshot.
However, using the fact that Chris evaded whenever the gun was pointed at him, Yuri drove his opponent into a corner.
Chris wasn’t merely taking it either. As a result, one of Yuri’s wrists was twisted at a somewhat grotesque angle.
‘If only I could use telekinesis.’
He bit his lower lip in impatience.
Partial transformation wasn’t his own ability, so he couldn’t move with the precision he was accustomed to.
– Ah, I thought it would end instantly, but he’s lasting longer than expected!
When Chris was cornered, the commentary rang out over the arena as if to incite him.
– Wolf, are you acting so weakly because you can’t forget the taste of your master’s whip?
As if stimulated by those words, Chris pushed Yuri against the wall.
Thump!
Spikes scraped past Chris’s shoulder. Knowing the entire floor was covered in spikes and there was no proper place to step, Chris deliberately threw Yuri and charged himself.
– As I’m speaking! John Doe is cornered!
“You’re quite rebellious.”
Yuri moved his lips.
“Kill him! Kill him!”
The people’s shouts disoriented his ears.
Chris looked down at Yuri with cold eyes and only used strength above his neck.
“Let’s end this now.”
Chris, with a wolf’s head on a human body, looked quite bizarre. But simultaneously, the aura overflowing from that body was extraordinary.
The wolf’s mouth half-swallowed Yuri’s head, which was pinned against the wall.
But at the same time, something cold touched under his jaw.
Despite having his head in a predator’s mouth, Yuri remained incredibly calm.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t want a pretty hole in my jaw.”
A laugh was heard.
“And I don’t think you’re curious about the taste of my brain either. What do you think? Am I wrong?”
A chilling threat was embedded in the quiet whisper.
It was a bluff that if he couldn’t win, he’d die together with Chris.
– First round over! We’ll be back after a break.
Maybe it was his imagination, but for the first time, the narration seemed mixed with bewilderment. There wasn’t much one could tell from a mechanical voice.
‘But it can’t be time’s up for the first round already.’
Chris slowly retreated.
He felt his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
Freed, Yuri roughly aligned his twisted wrist. At the popping sound, Chris tightly closed his eyes.
Yet Yuri, who had just roughly fixed his wrist, waved to him with a composed face.
“Looking forward to the second round.”
Chris moved away without looking back.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
