— GRRRR!!!! —

It growled sinisterly, its flesh showing signs of necrosis and cold rage in its glowing purple eyes. It glanced at its surroundings with a piercing gaze:

- At the walls of its prison

- At the employees that had mistreated it

- At the excited spectators happily commenting

- At the ghoul that had turned it into this aberration

Jack couldn’t help but gulp, sensing the profound hate directed at him. He remembered well what had happened every time he had created a Macabre!

Rat —> Raised an army to kill him.

Deer —> Chased him and had been killing humans ever since.

Troll —> ?!?

He could feel the spectators’ blood lust as they chanted for the Troll to eat him. This was BS: why couldn’t they support the underdog!

He gnashed his teeth, at an impasse. It wasn’t like he could reason with the enemy nor run! He’d die, and so would she, and then he’d be afflicted by that goddamn curse!

The Troll gathered its power for one final and decisive strike. The ghoul would soon die and— It was suddenly interrupted by melodious laughter.

”Hahaha, how silly!!! The undead Troll is about to attack its master, talk about ridiculous! Go on, kill each other. I’ll reward the victor!” Theron was beyond entertained.

”?!?”

The Troll twitched as it heard this voice, locking on the arrogant Dark Elf Boss. Somehow this bastard’s voice brought out so many emotions, mostly dark and deep rancor.

It seemed as if its very being was telling it that it needed to kill this man at all costs. It couldn’t divert its eyes at all.

”Oh? Who do you think you’re looking at with such eyes? What an ugly, dumb thing! Still, I’m in a good mood, just gouge your eyes out, and I’ll forgive you.” Theron proposed.

Cheers from the crowd accompanied the grand declaration. The man was so magnanimous, only digging the eyes?! This was a weak punishment, all things considered.

Sadly for everyone involved, it wouldn’t just end like that. One dumb Troll just had to escalate things.

”Elf…Bad! Elf….Kill!” a guttural voice escaped the gray creature’s mouth.

— Complete Silence! —

What the hell?! This puny creature dared to challenge the Overlord of the Raven-Heart House?! Was it tired of living, or was it tired of living?!

None dared say anything, for this was an incredible disrespect. Whether they cheered or booed, they could be misunderstood way too easily, so they would tacitly wait.

”Pfft— Hahaha! I wonder how long it’s been since someone has dared to challenge me!” Theron guffawed, the gallery paying him lip service.

Anger and madness tinged his laugh, as well as nostalgia. It was as if he was reminiscing about his time on the battlefield in another life, lost in thoughts.

To Jack, this situation was the best outcome.

In the complete stillness, a gorgeous lady approached Theron, shyly embracing him. The current Lyriana looked so promiscuous, akin to a professional seductress.

”Husband, this little one prays that she can witness your might!” She begged with stars in her eyes, utterly “lovestruck”.

Theron grinned. Who wouldn’t want the adulation of a beautiful woman! Still, he had seen through her trick. This dumb girl was trying to cozy up to him to change her fate.

Would he spare her later after their wedding night? Of course not! He devoured others not because he wanted but because it brought him more power.

He suddenly felt playful as he decided to give her hope. Her despair later on tonight would be all the sweeter.

”Alright, I will, but only for the sake of this new lovely wife of mine.” He answered her agreeably yet did not fall for her act at all.

He was the epitome of elfliness and knew it!

In fact, he was so flashy and awe-inspiring that his aura had eclipsed Lyriana’s subtle move. Jack inwardly had to praise her reverse-pickpocket skills.

”Now, shall we have some fun, hehe.” Theron’s chuckle had barely left his mouth that he had teleported in behind the Troll, slicing some of its flesh off!

— Thunderous Cheers! —

The crowd went wild as they witnessed the one-sided, nightmarish violence that ensued. Theron was thinly slicing part after part of the Troll without any sign of stopping.

He even stayed in place from time to time, letting the Troll hit his handsome face…but it didn’t make him twitch one bit. Was this guy invincible?!

— GRRRRR! —

The creature had taken on way more than it could chew….not that it could chew much of anything in its current sorry state. The Giant Macabre Troll even looked as if a small puppy getting tortured.

”Kill….Elf…” It weakly protested with the little strength it still had.

”Tch— How weak! So boring.” Theron didn’t have any more patience as he extinguished the creature’s unlife completely, the spectators kissing his ass again.

That’s when the elf turned toward the actual cause of this creature. Judging by his expression, he was 100% about to end his life, something Jack could do nothing about!

”Any last words?” Theron held a sword high, ready to bring a painful end to everything.

Fighting? —> He may as well commit suicide

Beg? —> Totally as useless and unbecoming

He only had one last chance as Lyriana came closer with a disdainful expression.

”Husband, I have a fun idea. He should kneel, kiss the dirt and entertain us, perhaps with a song? This is the least he can do.” She happily suggested.

Jack knew exactly why she had suggested this:

1. To buy time.

2. To mess with him!

Back when he was scheming and carefully crating his survival plan, he had offhandedly mentioned that his information was from a song. Yes, a song!

While he didn’t remember every detail about the Dark Elves, he would never forget this god-awful abominable tune! It was the kind that stuck to one’s head like a parasite.

It told the love story between a noble of the Moon Spider House and a simple commoner elven girl. As if often was, the difference in status doomed their union, yet none gave up.

The conclusion was as expected: the girl disappeared and was considered dead. Still, it was relevant because that young lover was now a powerhouse in his clan.

Luckily, his timing didn’t matter much, considering how little Dark Elves themselves cared about time.

”Sing, or die. Pick one!” Lyriana cheekily repeated her ultimatum.

”F-fine, I’ll sing.” Jack could only obey, hoping for the best.

— ♫♩ Once Upon A Time, A Divine Elf Maiden ♫♩ —

His singing was so great that the spectating elves couldn’t help but create a commotion. They already wanted to reward him for his singing!

They suggested fun stuff like beheading him, filling his mouth with manure, and even asked themselves if they really needed eardrums…

”You call this singing?!” The elf overlord was as angry as baffled. He had never heard something so horrid, not even sound attacks and mental torture ones.

Jack’s life flashed before his eyes as the elf went for the beheading.

3

2

1…

A miracle happened!

”Theron, you dare!!!” A powerful voice echoed in the Arena.

An incredibly powerful-looking Dark Elf appeared above them, flying on some sort of demonic lizard creature. A mutated wyvern with perhaps some dragon bloodline?

Everyone was confused, except for a ghoul and one dark elf lady. This man was the very hero from that earlier song. He had actually been baited here by the two of them.

Dark Elves in general would always be mistrustful and didn’t enjoy cooperating with others well, especially someone weaker than them. Thus they had used a roundabout method.

”Dare? What bull** are you spewing in my territory! I would have already slain the intruder for the offense were it not you!” Theron sneered, not giving an inch.

”Good, you’re good! How do you explain this then?!” The intruder bellowed as he activated a resonance magic.

That’s when something in Theron’s pocket began burning. It was so hot that he had no choice but to bring it out before it burned his entire clothes! What the hell was that?!

Even he was confused as he held the bloodied red gem that shone like a small sun. It just happened to have the Moon Spider’s sigil on it.

More importantly, this was the very gift the big shot in the sky had given his missing wife. This pointed to the Butcher being the killer.

”You killed her! It’s you!! Where’s her body? Give her back!” The invader thundered as he guided his mount to attack.

Discussion? There was no need for any. He’d much rather capture and torture until the truth came out!

That’s when Theron finally realized that he had been set up all along. His new naive sacrificial wife had turned out way thornier than he had imagined.

How had she even gotten this thing?!

”Listen. This isn’t mine, it’s—” He tried justifying himself, but the attacker knew not the meaning of pausing. He relentlessly threw all kinds of dark magic at his target.

It would have almost seemed romantic had Jack not known the true reason for his obsession. The missing wife had been a sacrifice too, one possessing a rare constitution.

Finding her was way out of Jack’s means, but the song told of the gem’s whereabouts!

The subordinates went to help their leader, but the newcomer hadn’t come alone. Dark elves came out of everywhere! Reason and logic? Both were out the window!

That’s when another trap of the duo activated as all the slaves, and magical beasts were released at once, flooding the Arena and increasing the chaos even further.

Jack grinned, for the miners had accomplished their task perfectly! It was now time for them all to slip away during the confusion. No one would care about weaklings like them…