From her expression alone, it was clear—

she wasn’t ready for that.

’Killing one of her own... will leave a mark on her,’ Ethan thought, scanning the surroundings carefully, memorizing as many monsters as possible.

’But... she might not have to stain her hands today...’

’...if everything goes as planned.’

Ethan was lost in thought ...

until the sudden eruption of savage cheers snapped him back.

The entire arena trembled with excitement.

He understood instantly.

The giant man was about to fight.

The monsters’ reaction to him was unnatural—

as if they were cheering for an undefeated champion.

A creature that had never lost.

Never been defeated.

The man stepped into the arena ...

chosen to open the spectacle.

The beginning of the carnage.

Opposite him, a monstrous creature was dragged forward.

Before the stunned eyes of both hunters and beasts,

a massive quadruped emerged ...

covered in thick fur,

with a long tail tipped by a venomous stinger.

It resembled a lion ...

but larger...

far larger.

With horns.

And the tail of a scorpion.

"...A Manticore," Ethan muttered, his expression darkening.

Manticores were rare monsters ...

all of them powerful,

with immense physical strength

and lethal venom that could kill with a single strike.

Even Aura Armor wouldn’t guarantee survival against such a creature.

It rivaled elite-ranked fighters.

Its size alone dwarfed the giant man.

And yet—

the man didn’t flinch.

He stood there calmly,

that same eerie smile resting on his face,

his narrowed eyes fixed ahead.

Then—

slowly—

he turned his gaze toward Ethan.

A knowing smile formed ...

as if telling him to watch closely...

and enjoy the show.

The Manticore was restrained by several black-masked creatures,

struggling violently against its bindings.

without warning ...

they released it.

The beast let out a deafening roar,

stronger than the fiercest lion’s.

And in the next instant—

it lunged.

Its speed was inhuman.

A blur of death rushing forward.

But the giant didn’t move.

Not even an inch.

He made no attempt to dodge.

"Impossible...!" Raiden shouted.

"Is he planning to take that head-on?!"

The Manticore weighed a ton.

Taking its full charge ...

its sheer mass and momentum ...

was suicide.

It was impossible.

And yet before their very eyes ...

the impossible happened.

The Manticore’s entire body flipped violently upon impact—

as if it had crashed into an immovable force.

The giant man absorbed the collision completely.

He didn’t move.

Not even slightly.

Like a mountain—

a man forged from iron.

The Manticore crashed behind him,

suffering the greater damage from the impact.

It struggled to rise again—

to attack once more.

But the giant was already there.

Standing before it.

Watching.

Smiling.

Slowly, he raised both arms high into the air,

locking his hands together.

And then he struck.

His fists came crashing down like a hammer upon the Manticore’s skull.

The blow seemed simple ..

almost casual.

But the result—

was catastrophic.

A terrifying shockwave rippled outward.

The Manticore’s head slammed into the ground—

its teeth shattered, blood bursting forth—

all from a single strike.

The Manticore, enraged, lashed out in retaliation .. its venomous tail snapping forward, aiming straight for the man’s face.

But the giant caught it effortlessly with one hand.

Then, with brutal force, he swung the creature through the air ... using its own tail as leverage before slamming its body into the ground with overwhelming strength.

His grip tightened further, and he began to swing the beast left and right,

smashing the arena itself with its body.

Within moments, the fearsome Manticore was reduced to nothing more than a mangled mass of shattered bones and crushed flesh.

A creature of that size now seemed weightless in his grasp ...

like a feather.

After a few more devastating blows,

the monster fell lifeless.

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers.

They understood now ...

the victor resembled them only in form.

In every other sense...

he was a monster.

That display of raw, overwhelming power left everyone frozen in place,

struck by the sheer gap in strength.

"You’re telling me... a mere prisoner possesses that kind of power?"

Some of the hunters spat those words in disbelief,

finally grasping the severity of their situation.

If a prisoner was this strong—

then just how powerful were the creatures that had imprisoned him?

The thought alone was terrifying.

"He has a blessing that enhances his physical strength. There’s no other explanation," Ethan said calmly, maintaining his composure.

The giant was clearly capable of using Aura Armor ...

yet he hadn’t even needed it.

He had fought an elite-level beast using nothing but raw physical strength.

That realization only made him more frightening.

Ethan quickly concluded ...

the man had likely reached King level...

the same tier as the elders of the Heart clan.

’What is a monster like that doing inside these cells...?’

The thought lingered ...

but he had no time to dwell on it.

The next match began almost immediately.

Compared to the first battle—the explosive, blood-soaked spectacle—

the following fights felt dull.

So much so that the monsters began to grow restless.

The matches alternated between hunters fighting beasts...

and hunters forced to fight one another.

Those were the hardest to watch—

seeing comrades turned against each other,

and worse ...

both fighters executed if they refused to fight.

The brutality continued for a while.

Raiden faced a beast in his match—

and, fortunately, emerged victorious.

Soon after—

it was Chai’s turn.

The young archer turned toward Ethan as his name was called.

Ethan nodded, urging him forward.

Taking a deep breath,

Chai stepped into the arena ...

fully aware of his mission.

Find the creatures responsible for the curse.

Expose their positions to Ethan.

Conditional curses required proximity from the caster ...

which meant those creatures were here.

Hiding among the crowd.

"So this is your plan, Ethan Heart?"

A voice came from behind him.

"Relying on that boy?"

Ethan turned slowly ...

meeting the gaze of the giant who had approached without warning. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"And what of it?" Ethan replied with a faint smile, not denying it.

The giant chuckled.

"Relying on others will get you nowhere."

"You’ll only succeed... by relying on your own strength."

Those words gave Ethan a clearer picture of the man’s nature.

A warrior who trusted only himself—

and nothing else.

"You might be right," Ethan said briefly, turning his attention back to Chai.

"But that boy isn’t weak."

"You’ll be surprised by what he can do."

Placing his faith in him ...

Ethan watched.

The match was about to begin.