"ROOOOARRRR!!!"
The Chaos Dweller was free, its colossal body leaping forward as it ravaged its newfound freedom and the several prey that now littered its domain.
Rey witnessed this but didn't panic.
He could see the other slaves shrink back in fear, many of them running towards the periphery of the stage, as they tried to keep as much distance from the monster as possible.
Rey found this to be a foolish move.
'You're only cutting off possible escape points by keeping your back against the wall like that…'
Despite thinking like this, he could not blame the slaves.
They were terrified, and they knew they stood no chance against this grotesque entity.
Even Rey knew he couldn't win—not like this.
Which was why his intentions didn't lie there in the slightest.
'Soon, the chaos will begin. Only then will I have a chance…' His eyes flashed with ominous light as he packed his sharpened bones—tightly gripped a partly shaved skull on one hand, and one of the bones on the other.
The other bones were placed in his pockets.
Bones aren't too heavy, but they can still do considerable damage if sharpened well and struck at the right angle with the right level of force.
Rey naturally knew this, so he knew he had made all the preparations he could possibly make.
Now, he just needed a chance!
BOOOM!
The Chaos Dweller began to move, its four-meter-tall body rapidly traversing the space.
All the slaves shrieked, running around like rats as they did their best to create as much distance from the monster. Their movements were scattered, random, and completely left to instinct.
But Rey was different.
He began to run, moving his small body with purpose as he charged in a particular direction.
Not away from the Chaos Beast… but towards something.
—Someone.
BAM!
With a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes, he used the skull in his hand to hit one of the slaves in the head, causing the unsuspecting fellow to stagger in shock. Then, while he was completely defenseless, still recoiling from the sudden attack, Rey stabbed forward with his other hand.
The hand holding the sharpened bone.
SQUELCH!
Instantly, he stabbed right at the base of the skull, pulling out the bony dagger, and then piercing other parts of the neck.
It was a ruthless move—quick and precise.
The slave could not survive.
He died almost instantly, perishing before his body even hit the ground.
Despite just committing such a cold and calculated murder, Rey's eyes widened like a madman as he desperately searched for his next victim. His lips were curled up, even as his cute face was stained with blood.
At that moment, he looked like a harbinger of chaos.
A specter on the battlefield!
'Hehe! One down, thirty-four to go!' He laughed to himself, hurriedly moving to his next target.
Because most of the slaves had their attention on the Chaos Dweller, no one really paid attention to him. Only the audience had noticed his radical move. This allowed him to approach his next target without suspecting anything.
Then, once again—
BAM!
He violently smashed the running boy's head, causing him to collapse on the ground. Then, he sliced his throat and made him bleed out right there.
There was a reason he didn't kill him completely like the first one.
Rey looked back and confirmed—
The Chaos Dweller was coming towards him!
'It'll take some time before he bleeds out, but his current injuries will make it unlikely that he stands. As such, the Chaos Dweller will finish him off for me. Not only does this reduce my competitors, but it also slows down the Chaos Dweller and prevents it from reaching me.'
This was his strategy.
Rather than powerlessly running away from a monster he knew he couldn't beat, hoping he would be the one to survive until the very end, it was more effective to actively hunt down the competitors and guarantee his victory.
'I've targeted two of the three likely winners. If I can eliminate all the potential victors, my chances of survival are higher. I'll only have to stick close to the other slaves and sacrifice them once the Chaos Dweller approaches me.'
If he kept this up, he would be the eventual survivor of this survival match.
But—
Such cruelty… such vile tactics… how could someone who once saved the world do something like this? Here he was, brutally killing others, causing so much death, just to preserve his own life.
How could he do such a thing?!
'I don't care anymore!' Rey's eyes showed hollowness, only possessing a strong will to live, nothing else.
In his past life, he hesitated to take lives—even guilty ones.
He lived by a code, and he always prioritized saving as many lives as possible. If it were the 'Rey' of the past, perhaps he would have sought a way to take down the Chaos Dweller, cooperating with the other slaves to ensure his victory.
But… he was different now.
After seeing the cruelty of life, watching everything he loved die alongside his world, he no longer cared about petty details like these and the ideals he previously held dear to his heart.
His heart had become consumed by one thing.
—Revenge!
'Even if I managed to take down this Chaos Dweller, what's to say there wouldn't be a second one? By exerting my efforts to kill this one, even if I got the assistance of the other slaves, if a second Chaos Dweller appears, I'll be the weakest, and the slaves would gladly see me die if it means they get to survive. What about those betting? Would they be satisfied with seeing all the slaves live? No! All but one slave has to die for the Master to gain the cash prize. This is how the game is set, which means I should operate within the confines of that requirement.'
Rey understood that he couldn't act as he did in the past.
Back then, he felt like he could do anything.
Like he could change the world.
Now he understood.
'H'Trae was bound for destruction, but I didn't let it happen, hence gaining the attention of those higher beings who punished my disobedience and burned everything to the ground. If I choose to be stubborn here, the same fate awaits me.'
Hence, that meant one slave had to survive this round no matter what.
So why not him?
'They're all going to die anyway. Might as well make their deaths quicker!' Rey thought to himself, not even feeling an ounce of guilt within him.
From the beginning, he knew he had to survive.
Even if that meant others would die.
He had to avenge his fallen world and his family.
This wasn't his world.
None of these slaves knew him or cared about his fate, so why should he be expected to do the same? In the end, they would be happy if he died, and they would even kill him with their own hands if it ensured their survival.
The only reason other slaves weren't actively killing one another was simply due to a lack of knowledge that came with experience.
They were all scared, unable to rationally assess the situation like him.
If they could, wouldn't they be like him?
All of these thoughts swirled in his mind as he hurriedly approached the other slave and struck him with the skull. This one was tough, and he tried to resist Rey, even pushing him away.
But Rey got back up and tackled him, forcing the ground.
Then, he got on top of him.
"Survive… I must survive!" He bashed his head with the skull several times until the object cracked and eventually shattered into pieces.
By the time he was done, only the brutalized corpse of the victim was left behind.
Rey slowly stood up, feeling aches all over his body as exhaustion began to tug at him. Screams of dying slaves and cheers of the riled-up audience invaded his ears, but he heard none of them.
Only his racing heart and shaky breaths filled his resolute mind.
His head was consumed with a single thought.
"Win at all costs!"