Extra's Revenge: Reincarnated As A Slave-Chapter 63: Hollow Technique

Rey was smiling.

It was a sincere, almost pleasant smile.

His action shocked the crowd.

They could see his opponent closing in on him, yet he wasn’t making an attempt to flee.

Had he suddenly given up?

Did he see no point in struggling any longer and simply forfeited the match?

No one would blame him for doing so, since his opponent—The Iron Giant—was ranked Number 5 in the Coliseum.

He was an absolute tank; a juggernaut that could not be defeated by ordinary means.

Rey, on the other hand, usually relied on ordinary abilities but utilized special tricks to come out on top.

His powers were neither flashy nor destructive.

There was very little way for him to breach the Iron Giant’s defenses and take him out for good.

The slave probably realized that and gave up.

So...

... Was this the end?

"No! Fight back!"

"I placed my bet on you this time!"

"At least win the first round! Come on, you bastard!"

"Everyone was hyping you up, so I placed my entire savings on you. Don’t lose!"

"Win! Fight back, Cursed Boy!"

The same people who had sought out his downfall started screaming at Rey to take action.

To win!

If only they knew that he truly wanted to... but could simply not.

Rey listened to their cries and simply laughed.

He had made peace with his position.

Yes, he was going to lose.

He would die, too.

But—

’This isn’t the end...’ He closed his eyes as he felt his skin rapidly burning up and an unspeakable level of pressure close in on him.

’If this Technique ends up being successful, then I will surely return and haunt all of you who made this happen.’

Something stirred within his Soul at that moment. His body remained still, but the darkness inside had already broken forth.

An eerie power was manifesting.

’Chaos Art...’

The Iron Giant’s massive fist reached Rey at that moment, shattering every bone in his body and ripping out his heart in one fell swoop.

It was too late, though.

The Technique had been completed.

The same one that he had desperately tried to master all this time as his insurance in case his plans went south.

He never expected things to turn this complicated, but this was the final trump card he had saved for emergencies like these.

Unfortunately, he still hadn’t mastered it.

There was a high risk of failure.

This was why he didn’t have great confidence in it and only used it as a last ditch option upon realizing there was no other way out.

The highest sequence of his hidden power—

’Hollow Technique #6: Soulless.’

And then...

... Everything turned blank.

*********

"How underwhelming..."

"After surviving so many battles, to think he would just be one-shotted by his opponent."

"It was inevitable, though. There was no way out for him, considering how notorious the Iron Giant is."

"Yeah. He doesn’t play with his food, and it is next to impossible to get past his defenses."

"Cursed Boy might have been Rank 8, but there exists a massive gap among ranked individuals in the Coliseum."

"Still, I expected some resistance. To think Cursed Boy got eliminated in the very first round..."

"Damnit! I lost so much money!"

"Now I don’t even think I’ll enjoy the remaining fights. It seems the House will win again this year."

"Don’t say that. There are still those with potential, you know?"

"Whatever..."

The Coliseum was filled with many comments after the just-concluded match between Cursed Boy and Iron Giant.

It was the last match in the First Round.

There was a short break before the second round began, which was why so much commotion spread among the audience.

Many were disappointed by this outcome, while others seemed to have been expecting it.

Nevertheless, the majority of the audience were displeased by the underwhelming manner with which Cursed Boy lost.

They expected some struggle, at the very least.

Wasn’t that how he usually was?

This caused many to suspect foul play, but without evidence to back up their suspicions, they could only swallow their thoughts and cut their losses.

Still, a good number of the audience frequently glanced at Augustus’ private section.

They couldn’t help but wonder what the deceased slave’s master was feeling.

After all, his dark horse had finally been put down. The era of Cursed Boy and his miraculous feats of victory... was now over.

******

"Young Master... I am sorry for your loss."

Although Logan showed deep surprise at the outcome before him, his gaze hiding considerable pain, he made it a priority to comfort the silent Augustus.

It was his duty to do so, but he was also trying to probe the Young Master.

Logan wanted to know if Augustus knew this would happen beforehand. It would explain a lot of his strange behaviors lately.

Unfortunately, he did not receive any confirmation from the Young Master.

Instead, Augustus remained silently aghast.

He hid his sorrow in a deep sigh.

’How do I tell Amara about this now? She will be distraught once the news reaches her...’

Augustus already knew she would blame him for putting Rey in such a dangerous tournament, but without proof of his agreement with the Duke, her blame would not have any leg to stand on.

’I promise to make it up to you somehow, little sister. I will work hard in this new job of mine and support the family however I can. I will also make sure only the best candidate will serve as your escort in the Academy!’

Augustus knew very well that all of these things were simply to ease his conscience.

But he could not help himself.

He felt deep guilt.

Apart from guilt, there was also another emotion that swelled from the pit of his stomach.

—Shame!

’As expected... losing feels awful.

Augustus had been on the winning streak for so long that he forgot what it felt like to be the loser.

Now, he had to face that embarrassment.

Sure, he gained a lot of benefits in the shadows, but in the meantime, he had to endure the scrutinizing gazes of the audience.

It felt awful.

’I’ll just ignore them. Once this Tournament is over, I’ll go see the Duke and finalize our arrangements. Amara is currently isolated from the outside world, so I doubt she’ll hear the news until she returns to the Estate in the coming few weeks. I’ll have to tell her then...’

Augustus was already coming to terms with the situation and planning his next move.

He was a Noble, after all.

Life goes on.

’I wonder if I should recover the body. No, he’s just a slave. Once he is stripped of the Artifacts I gave him, which will be returned to me, his body will be cremated per the standard practices of the Coliseum...’

While Augustus was thinking this, he did not notice the grim frown on Logan’s face.

And, although only displayed briefly, the murderous intent locked in the old man’s deep purple gaze.

******

FSHUUUU....

A certain mysterious power stirred amidst the corpses of the slaves.

All of them were in a pile, awaiting cremation in an abandoned room yet to be turned into a furnace.

Yet among these dead bodies... one was showing unnatural changes.

Its fatally wounded body began to heal at a rapid pace, and the pale color of skin grew even darker until it became ashen.

Then, it rose to its feet.

"Haaa... I succeeded." A deep, slightly distorted tone left the living corpse’s lips.

Black cracks formed all over his body, and the whites of his eyes had turned dark. He had nearly lifeless grey eyes, but the rest of his features remained the same.

Black and white hair.

A handsome, young face.

A well toned body now naked after the Armaments and clothing he had on had been stripped from him

Anyone who saw this walking anomaly would recognize him as the deceased Cursed Boy.

But he was no longer deceased.

Neither was he alive.

He was neither—an undead abomination that dwelled in the realm in-between.

A true entity of chaos.

—Soulless.

[A/N: Finally!!! If you have made it this far, I congratulate you. We are slowly approaching the climax of Volume 1, Arc 1. As you can see, the predicted route that many of you expected did not come to fruition. That is because the true nature of this story is just like Rey—chaotic. Now, we will witness the birth of something truly extraordinary.]