Daggers were fine, but I preferred a big, broad sword. That was why I chose the human-faced bird as my first target. I wanted something bigger than this silver dagger in my hand.

I ignored the heavy presence emanating from the open doorway across from the waiting area. Something was definitely in there, but it didn't seem about to come out. With a quick flip of the dagger, I adjusted my grip and turned toward the human-faced bird.

["It seems he's taking on Pepper first!"]

The enormous human-faced bird flapped on the ground. Even with its foot impaled on a spike, it was huge, and its agonized wingbeats were menacing.

["Can a new recruit with less than six months as a Badger take on Pepper with a dagger?"]

Actually, I was more comfortable with a sword than a gun. The drugs were still in my system, but my senses were sharp, perhaps because I was on edge. One corner of my mouth lifted as I ran toward the bird.

["The recruit is climbing up Pepper's thigh!"]

I'd be taking that head!

SHUNK

The blade went in cleanly. It was a familiar sensation. I knew that if I followed through without breaking the flow, the bird would die. I let the motion carry my blade through. I felt bone and muscle give way.

["Oh! Pepper has been decapitated!"]

The emcee shouted as I gripped its face in my left hand and jumped to the ground. The spectators' cheers struck painfully against my ears.

["That makes two down! It looks as if he's holding a human head. How grotesque!"]

Jeers and cheers echoed around the arena. I glanced down at the head in my hand, taking in its unfocused eyes and the blood pouring from the severed neck. I looked like I was holding the head of a general I'd beheaded. Just like in the old days.

With a small laugh, I lifted the head, then hurled it at the fake Taleb walking toward me.

CRACK!

Half the fake Taleb's head was crushed.

["Oh, dear!"]

"That's in poor taste..."

The emcee lamented while Riccardo offered his unruffled assessment from behind the bars.

"Did you hate looking at it that much?"

"It's unpleasant, isn't it?"

I answered without turning around.

I pretended not to hear the faint amusement in my senior's voice. Keeping an eye on the writhing, regenerating creature, I watched a stream of silver flow toward me: a fluid that refused to mix with anything else, like mercury spilled on the ground. I dropped the dagger into the silver pool at my feet, and it melted into it at once.

["Ah, this time Huu is recreating Pepper's face!"]

Huu became even more grotesque.

["Pepper's face on the new Badger's body!"]

"Yuck."

I offered my opinion flatly and reached out. The sword Riccardo had made for me in the waiting area was growing out of the silver pool again. It formed more slowly than before, but steadily took shape, right down to the smooth hilt.

The moment I gripped the finished sword, Huu charged, drawing back its Captain Hook arm. I drew my sword as well.

"Thank you."

I could feel my senior's gaze landing on me as I thanked him.

"This is better than the last one."

["Huu raises its arm!"]

The creature stopped right in front of me. I would end this in one blow. Just as it tried to cut off my head the way I'd cut off Pepper's, I swung my sword.

HUMMM

The sword strike cleaved Huu with a strange sound, then flew on, crashing against the opposite wall and scattering.

BOOM!

Ah. So physical attacks did work if you applied enough force. I felt a life wink out.

I looked impassively down at the creature as it lost its form and spilled onto the floor. A crude sword strike packed with power had been the right answer. Delicate swordplay was no use against this thing. All a refined strike would get me was copied...

I remembered fighting a similar creature alongside Ray. Lost in thought for a moment, I realized my surroundings were strangely quiet. What was going on?

The moment I looked up, a spotlight shone on me.

["Huu is down!"]

Cheers erupted like a starting gun. I narrowed my eyes at the vulgar noise and looked at the emcee on his hoverboard.

["Did you see that, everyone? Huu went down without a fight! My, this is costing us a fortune!"]

Was he so smug because Badgers couldn't lay hands on civilians? Or was he certain the fourth creature would finish us off? I watched him work himself up to match the excited crowd, then lowered my gaze and lifted the tip of my sword from the ground.

A heavy presence loomed in the dark passage. These people were in show business. They would have saved their best creature for last. As I stepped toward the entrance, which seemed to be drawing the air into it, my senior called from behind me.

"Hilde."

This time, I turned my head slightly.

"Who taught you swordsmanship?"

There was no amusement on Riccardo's face.

I knew perfectly well that almost no one in this world used sword strikes like that. I also knew Yun wasn't someone who taught them. It was only natural to be surprised when the fool who had clumsily swung a kitchen knife that had been stuck in his arm suddenly unleashed such a strike. But this wasn't the time to explain. Besides, I couldn't answer his question.

"I don't remember."

I gave him the truth with a bitter smile.

"I'll let you know if I remember."

Riccardo regarded me with that unreadable expression again. But before long, he gave a brief nod.

WOOOOOO

A mournful wail came from beyond the dark passage, like someone crying with their face buried in their hands.

WOOOOOO...

The mournful wailing grew louder. I waited for it to emerge into the arena.

The explosive cheers and jeers died down again. The emcee fell silent too, no longer running his mouth. Perhaps he meant to explain after it appeared in the arena. Or perhaps the sound, like a funeral lament, had cowed him for a moment.

I listened as the wailing changed into bleak, piercing sobs. Then I watched it enter the arena. Two enormous hands. It planted those emaciated hands on the floor and dragged itself out.

["No matter how many times I see him, I tremble with fear."]

The emcee's voice descended from above.

["Arthur, the Man with a Hole!"]

It raised its upper body. From the waist up, it resembled a human, although fingernail-shaped bones clung to its flanks, exposing mottled red tissue. At any rate, Arthur looked both like a patient dying of the Black Death and a creature that had only just crawled into the world.

But it had no face. More precisely, it had a humanlike head, but a round hole gaped where the face should have been. Its lower body was a tangle that looked like several organs twisted together.

How had the Mafia captured this thing? I leaned forward, preparing to swing my sword. Until it threw its head back and screamed through the hole.

AH, AH, AH, AH, AAH!

A shock wave. It swept across the arena toward me. My sharpened senses picked out the approaching wave with precision. Adrenaline surged through me, slowing the world around me. The wave approached, shattering the arena tiles. Like a sword strike, it would be sharp and deadly.

It wasn't particularly wide. I could dodge by rolling sideways. And if there had been no one behind me, I would gladly have done so. I did not want to meet that head-on. If only I'd had a choice.

["Hildebert Taleb swings his sword!"]

If I didn't cancel it out, my seniors would die. I swung my right arm, and the moment my sword strike flew, I knew it wasn't powerful enough.

THUD!

My sword strike collided with the wave and dissipated. My skills were rusty, and the sword was too light.

["He failed to cancel it out!"]

I raised the flat of my blade to eliminate what I hadn't managed to neutralize.

["Arthur's scream is coming!"]

The wave engulfed me.

BOOM!

"Kgh."

I coughed up a mouthful of blood. Staggering, I leaned on my sword like a cane.

CLANG

As the sword tip bit into the floor, the slowed world returned to its normal speed. A heavy ache spread through my chest. My ears opened, flooding with the sounds my concentration had shut out.

["My God! He took Arthur's scream head-on!"]

The emcee's voice boomed.

["I've never seen anyone stupid enough to take that head-on, let alone survive it!"]

Of course he hadn't. Anyone with a certain level of skill would have dodged it first. It wasn't an unavoidable attack. The proper response was to deflect it to one side or evade it, not take it head-on. But sometimes that wasn't an option.

I drew ragged breaths that smelled of blood, then smiled faintly as I watched Arthur raise its bones like saw blades.

"Is that your sword?"

Though it looked more likely to wield it like a saw or a spear.

"Good to meet you. It's been a while since I faced an armed opponent."

Not that this was an opponent I could afford to be so casual with.

BANG!

The fingernail-shaped sword struck the floor. The pain in my chest slowed me a fraction, and a long cut opened along my left arm.

["Arthur swings his bone sword!"]

THUD! THUD! BOOM!

Ignoring the stabbing pain, I dodged the bones as they smashed through the floor, the arena walls, and the creatures' scattered corpses. The attacks had both considerable strength and speed. Tiles crumbled, pieces of wall fell, and the bodies of Nemalda and Pepper burst, soaking the ruined floor. I rolled across that filthy ground, searching for an opening to counterattack.

That speed was insane. It was hard to imagine such an enormous body moving that fast. Despite having no legs and crawling on its hands alone, it was quicker than most four-legged creatures. Not long ago, its sword would have cut me down without my being able to do a thing.

But since my sparring match with Yehyeon, I'd focused my training on speed. Thanks to that, I found an opening to counter without taking any more damage. The moment I got behind Arthur, I held my sword straight.

BOOM!

I hadn't forgotten this sword technique either. The force of the strike traveled through the sword driven deep into the arena floor, raced through the ground, and struck Arthur. It screamed and pitched forward.

The spectators erupted in cries of "Wow!" Behind the bars, Riccardo muttered an incredulous "What the..."

But I had no time to react to either. It wasn't dead yet.

I pulled my sword free and climbed onto Arthur's lower body.

["Oh, dear! How rude!"]

Time to finish this.

["It seems he means to cut off Arthur's head just as he did Pepper's!"]

I braced a hand on the creature's shoulder and stood as it pushed its upper body up with both arms. Then I raised my sword high again. Its neck would be tougher than the human-faced bird's. Driving the blade down from above in a single thrust would be more effective than slashing through it.

Arthur whipped its head around to look up at me on its shoulder. The moment I faced that hollow face, I drove my sword down.

AH, AH, AH, AH, AAH...

The sword lodged in the hole. I hastily released my firm grip on the silver blade. Something dark red was creeping up along it. It looked like some sort of poison.

Was this its final death throe? The strength drained from Arthur's arms. Standing atop its upper body as it plunged toward the ground, I watched the sword become tainted dark red. I probably shouldn't grab that again...

THUD!

The moment Arthur fell with a heavy crash, I turned to look at Riccardo. My green-eyed senior had his arms folded and was staring at me in disbelief. Ugh...

"Sir."

Wracked with guilt, I spoke respectfully.

"I've contaminated your weapon. I'm very sorry."

It must be expensive.

My most respectful apology didn't seem to have worked. As soon as Riccardo heard it, he unfolded his arms, looking even more incredulous.

"Is that really what you should be saying right now?"

"Pardon? Uh... I thought it was..."

If that was the wrong answer, what was the right one? I could feel my own eyes trembling wildly. Thoroughly frightened, I looked at my senior. Then I spoke in a faint voice, doing my best to ignore the pain flooding in as the adrenaline ebbed.

"I-I could file a loss-and-damage report and try to get a replacement...?"

"First thing when we get back, you're planting your head on the floor."

["The match is over!"]

The emcee's shout drowned out my senior's terrifying voice.

["Incredible! The new Badger has claimed an overwhelming victory!"]

POP!

Fireworks burst brilliantly overhead, utterly indifferent to how terrified I was. Cheers and jeers rained down. The emcee shouted excitedly. Multicolored confetti fell onto my white hair. And there stood my furious senior, with me anxiously watching his every reaction.

The emcee's booming voice shook the arena.

["Hildebert Taleb is the winner!"]

And that was how I won the match.