Not long after the match, Rey was guided to another room where only he and a guard occupied, as another set of slaves was taken to the arena to resume the entire process once again.
Even from where he sat, Rey could hear it all.
He felt it—the madness.
He could also sense the restless, indignant gaze of the guard assigned to watch over him.
The look of disgust he gave Rey was even worse than Leon's.
'I guess my existence is just that repulsive to residents of the Land of Nether…'
Rey was clearly aware that the hostile stares he received were not merely due to his slave status.
'Well, now that I think about it, it could also be because of the brutality I displayed on stage. Did I kill one of the slaves that he happened to bet on? Who knows?' He shrugged quietly, not really caring much for those details.
He already achieved his goals for the night, so he was plenty satisfied.
As for the corpses left in his wake… he didn't even think about them for a single second now that it was all over.
It was almost like those lives never existed, to begin with.
Not long after he waited in the room, Logan came to fetch him, and he was taken outside the coliseum. One glance at their parking space told him that his Master had already departed, as he only spotted one carriage.
Not even Leon's carriage was waiting.
"You'll be riding with me," Logan spoke curtly before entering the carriage and waiting for Rey to sit right next to him.
Rey's gaze rested on the interior and observed that it was a lot more spacious than it appeared from the outside. It also looked far fancier and a lot more comfortable than the one he was previously in.
He also noticed the lady right next to Logan, on the other end of the seat.
'I spotted her when we were leaving. Is she some sort of maid?' Rey wondered as he entered the carriage with such meek submission that anyone would think that the performance he gave in the coliseum just moments ago was an illusion.
Compared to the savage killer back then, he now had the demeanor of a humble slave.
Even when he noticed the hateful glare of the young woman he shared the carriage with, he maintained an air of decorum. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, snorting arrogantly while constantly casting looks of contempt at him, but he ignored them all.
To Rey, these looks were worthless.
They might as well be air to him—simply not worthy of notice.
Instead, his mind was occupied with other thoughts.
'I'm riding with Logan, not Leon. That means something about the previous arrangement has changed. Regarding the extent of this change, though, it seems I'll have to wait and—'
Before Rey could finish thinking, Logan's voice suddenly echoed within the carriage.
"You know your place quite well as a slave. That is a noteworthy trait. Keep it up, and you and I won't have any problems… understand?"
Rey nodded slowly. "Yes, sir."
"Good." Logan continued speaking, his deep monotone commanding an air of authority that you would not expect given his lanky physique. "You will still be supervised by Leon, and none of your arrangements in that respect has changed. However, from now on, the Young Master has deemed it so that you will start a special training."
'Special training, huh?'
Rey's heart leaped for joy as a broad smile formed in his innermost consciousness.
He was deeply glad.
Why?
Because he had clearly shown more worth compared to the other slaves, qualifying him for a higher privilege that most wouldn't be privy to.
Of course, Rey knew the reason he was being shown this special treatment.
It wasn't for his benefit.
Rather, it was to help his Young Master win more.
'I suspect that he wants me to do even more things for him, which is why he has included this special training. I can only expect to face even more hurdles than merely facing Chaos Dwellers, as I have shown considerable competence in that field already…'
Despite clearly being used by his Master and also the possibility of facing even greater danger than before, Rey was still pleased.
The reason was simple.
'I'll now have more opportunities to grow stronger and learn about this world.'
As a normal slave, his options were limited.
Now, as a slave under special training, he could accumulate more power and find methods he wouldn't have had access to before.
The road to the future was hard, but he didn't fret in the slightest.
This was only the beginning.
'So tell me…' Rey grinned internally.' What kind of special training will I be receiving?!'
"I will be in charge of this special training. Normally, Young Nobles learn about it from early childhood and gain formal mastery in the Academy, but in rare cases, the privilege to obtain this power is shared with loyal servants and vassals… very rarely a slave. You should count yourself fortunate, young slave."
'Fortunate, my ass!' Rey nearly rolled his eyes. 'You people just want to use me, and possessing this power will make it easier to do so. Stop pretending like it's some kind of privilege I should be grateful to you for.'
Despite feeling this way, Rey was actually feeling quite thankful.
But only to himself.
After all, it was only because of his own efforts that he managed to make it this far and gain such a rare chance to learn an uncommon power.
"It is called Ancient MajiK… the power given to the residents of the True Realm by the Ancient Gods of all existence."
'W-what?!'
The moment Rey heard this, he immediately froze.
Ancient MajiK?
True Realm? Ancient Gods?
Where had he heard all of these words before? He searched his memories and the deepest recesses of his soul, finding only one answer!
'Those bastards who ruined my world! They used that power… Ancient MajiK!'
They claimed to descend to his reality from the True Realm, and they were direct subordinates of one of the Ancient Gods.
'If I remember correctly, the God they served was called—'
"We, the denizens of the Land of Nether, worship the Chaos God, K'haos, as the one true lord of all… And as his descendants, we possess a strong connection to the Authority he holds. In essence, we are the supreme bloodline. You, however, are a cursed half-breed who shares bloodlines with those repulsive Aethers!" The young lady in the carriage suddenly spoke up, her disgusted tone radiating with all kinds of emotions.
But Rey filtered all of them out.
Only one thing mattered.
'Ancient Chaos God… K'haos…' His eyes bulged. 'So it was you!'
No matter how hard Rey tried to forget his tragic past and the pain it brought, he simply couldn't.
Every night when he closed his eyes, he remembered…
'The two who destroyed my world: one of them was Balaam, and the other called himself Zagan. They referred to themselves as one of the 12 Archdukes who served the Ancient Chaos God. That means they came from this place, the True Realm… the Land of Nether!'
That meant this strange place he now occupied was the home-world of those devils!
'And Ancient MajiK… they used that power to completely overwhelm me and render my Skills useless. I was completely powerless before them, all because of that mysterious power, but now… it seems I am about to learn it for myself.'
Rey's eyes flashed with bright light as he chuckled to himself.
'Good! Let this be my first step towards revenge!'
First, learn their power.
Then—
'I'll devour everything—both you and your Ancient God! All of you will die at my hands!'