WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Black Badger ◈
Chapter 94: Creature Loyalty Liquor (1)
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Please forfeit!
I gave voice to my inner thoughts.
“Forfeit!”
I clenched the hand that had been covering my mouth into a fist and waved it wildly.
“For! Feit! For! Feit!”
“So noisy.”
“Oh my God!”
Thud!
The human-faced bird dove straight down.
My heart sank with it. Bobby barely avoided the human-faced bird’s talons.
Its foot was large enough to cover Bobby’s entire upper body.
If it pierced her, she would die.
“Senior!”
I shouted as I watched Bobby try and fail to stab the talons with her spear because she lacked the strength.
“Forfeit!”
Boom!
This is driving me crazy.
Once again, she barely avoided the talons slamming into the arena. A small groan escaped me as I watched her black jacket tear against them.
Bobby’s face turned pale.
But she did not call forfeit as I wished.
[Ah! It looks like she is trying to break the chains!]
No.
There was no way my senior could cut through chains that even that human-faced bird could not break.
Still, she swiftly ran toward the chains and raised her spear. Pepper’s shadow fell over her as it rose back into the air after failing to hunt her down.
My heart pounded wildly.
The silver spear flashed as it reflected the light.
“Her strength...”
Ricardo’s mutter was swallowed by the noise.
Before he could finish, the spear tip struck the chain.
Clang!
Just as expected, she did not have enough strength.
The chain was intact, and the impact of striking it traveled up the spear and into Bobby. She let out a short groan and reflexively dropped the weapon.
Then, with an arm trembling faintly from pain, she hurriedly picked up the spear again.
Laughter burst from the crowd.
[Oh dear! It seems she forgot that her enhanced body is not functioning properly!]
The host laughed merrily from above.
[How could an ordinary human possibly break chains that Pepper itself cannot break?]
Disgusting bastards.
Frowning, I looked up at the crowd.
Then Asil’s urgent cry made me turn my head.
“Bobby!”
Ah.
Crash!
“Argh!”
The spear broke in two.
Thank God it was the spear and not her. Everyone in the waiting area let out a breath of relief at once.
The human-faced bird landed in the arena with its talons extended and shattered the spear instead of Bobby, who rolled away.
“I’m sorry!”
Bobby cried as she sprang to her feet.
“The spear!”
“Focus on the enemy!”
Ricardo shouted sharply.
“Don’t take your eyes off it!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bobby obeyed her senior’s instructions.
She gave up on retrieving the spear or attacking and focused on running away.
My heart nearly gave out as the same thing happened over and over, but fortunately, she was not seriously injured.
So far, she had been doing an excellent job avoiding its attacks.
[Even washed up, she still dodges well, like a loach.]
The host spoke with a cold laugh in his voice.
[But it seems her stamina is gradually running out.]
I would give anything to slap that man across the face.
His words made me feel worse because they were right. Even I could see Bobby’s stamina draining quickly.
Her breath was coming in desperate gasps.
She was already barely dodging. If she was even a little late now...
“Senior!”
I cupped my hands around my mouth and raised my voice.
“Please forfeit now! You’ve done more than enough...”
“Winter!”
Ricardo’s sharp shout.
“Above!”
Thud!
Too late.
“Argh!”
The talons caught her clothes.
The audience erupted with a cry of excitement.
Asil and I called our senior’s name at the same time. Bobby was dangling in the air, caught in Pepper’s talons.
Thankfully, she had reflexively ducked, so the talons had caught her clothes. If they had caught her body instead, she would have suffered a fatal injury.
But she was not safe even now.
“Bobby, please!”
“Forfeit!”
Asil cried urgently, and Bobby squeezed her eyes shut and shouted too.
The self-loathing and sense of defeat on her face weighed heavily on my chest.
“Forfeit! I forfeit!”
Crackle!
Those crazy bastards.
Electricity ran through the thick iron chains. It was strong enough to paralyze the human-faced bird called Pepper, if only for a moment.
Pepper stopped dead in the air. Bobby was dangling in the air as her jacket tore away, so thankfully the current did not reach her.
The human-faced bird’s talons went slack from paralysis.
My blond senior fell.
At the same time, the electric bars blocking my view vanished.
Thud!
Asil caught Bobby.
He moved with incredible speed.
[Wow! Just like a protagonist appearing to rescue the heroine in a crisis!]
The host shouted mockingly.
[But oh dear, it seems an arm is broken!]
It probably was.
If their enhanced bodies had been working properly, their bodies would not have suffered any strain, but now they were no different from ordinary people.
Neither Asil nor Bobby could be uninjured.
In fact, my seniors, who had rolled across the floor, could not move for a while.
The human-faced bird began flapping its wings again.
The delighted audience and host even found entertainment in Asil, his face twisted in pain, crawling toward the silver spear and fumbling for one half of the broken weapon.
I was too furious and miserable to speak.
The entrance on the other side of the arena opened.
“Senior!”
I barely suppressed the urge to break through the electric bars and run out as I shouted.
“Senior! Please forfeit!”
[Now then, allow me to introduce the second challenger!]
Bobby rose with a deathly pale face.
Her sluggish movements made it clear that she had suffered internal injuries. She steadied herself unsteadily and looked for Asil. Then, looking as if she might faint at any moment, she stared at Asil’s face and arm.
Asil waved the spear back and forth, signaling for her to return to the waiting area.
Meanwhile, another creature entered the arena.
[Our spider, Nemalda, is getting harder and harder to raise!]
It had many legs.
I had no idea why they called it a spider. I watched the insect-like creature, as large as a car, crawl heavily into the arena.
It had a round face dotted with many eyes like egg sacs, and an enormous cocoon-like body.
Asil turned to face it.
Ricardo, who had kept his mouth shut until then, shouted.
“Winter! Don’t stand there like an idiot. Get back here!”
Bobby turned her head sharply.
Unlike when she had walked stiffly into the arena, she now looked ready to cry at the slightest touch.
“Now!”
“Asil!”
A shadow passed over Bobby as she staggered toward us.
Watching the human-faced bird dive, I shouted until the veins stood out in my neck.
“Above!”
Kieeeek!
The human-faced bird’s talons struck Nemalda.
Asil had slid beneath Nemalda. The talons that had been aiming for Asil pierced Nemalda’s body. The spider creature staggered, spraying murky fluid. The stench of that fluid and blood filled the arena.
Did it die?
No. The staggering insect creature soon sprayed a poisonous liquid at the human-faced bird.
“Aaaaaah!”
The human-faced bird let out an all too human scream.
Asil lay flat beneath the spider’s body without moving.
[Smart!]
The host cried.
[Asil chose his position brilliantly, and now Pepper and Nemalda have begun fighting!]
The host immediately began excitedly commentating on the fight between the human-faced bird and the spider.
Meanwhile, the electric bars disappeared from view. Bobby walked into the waiting area as though collapsing.
Ricardo and I caught her at the same time.
The green-eyed senior carefully laid the gasping Bobby on the floor.
“Lie down.”
He spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t talk.”
“Asil’s arm...”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I spoke gently as I watched my senior cry, overwhelmed by self-loathing.
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle this properly.”
“I’m sorry. I...”
[Ah! Nemalda is about to show us its finishing move!]
The host’s voice struck my ears.
Because of that, I could not respond to Bobby. Ricardo and I sharply turned our heads. We straightened up and looked toward the arena.
No.
Can that thing even stand up?
[Body Slam!]
Boom!
Cracks spread through the arena floor.
For a moment, I wondered why it was throwing itself at the ground when its enemy was in the air. Then I quickly realized it was not an ordinary body slam.
The instant Nemalda struck the arena floor, poisonous liquid sprayed in every direction.
The human-faced bird screamed.
Asil, who had been getting away from Nemalda, was splashed by the liquid and collapsed as well.
“Senior!”
My stomach went cold at the sight of my senior sitting in the arena and coughing.
“Senior! Please forfeit!”
“He won’t come to his senses for a while.”
Ricardo spoke quietly.
I barely swallowed the breath caught in my chest. Asil needed to pull himself together and call forfeit quickly. Otherwise, even if he did not die immediately, he would get caught up in those creatures’ fight.
Or become their target.
What should I do?
Just as despair took hold of me, my senior spoke.
“We need to wake him.”
The war hero stared into the arena with eyes full of disgust.
I watched his gaze fly toward the silver spear and settle there.
“If it slaps his cheek, then maybe...”
The spear beside Asil wriggled.
I watched it melt into a round ball, then stretch upward into an oval. A long rod grew from the end of the oval and headed toward Asil’s face.
It was not as fast as the weapon transformations I had seen from Ye-hyeon in the video.
Still, the silver weapon steadily approached Asil and slapped his cheek.
“Forfeit!”
The moment I saw Asil narrow his eyes while coughing in confusion after being slapped, I shouted.
“Senior! Forfeit! Now!”
Asil’s lips moved.
I could not hear the sound, but I knew he had forfeited.
The electric bars in front of us vanished.
The door across the arena opened again.
The delighted audience. The host, announcing in an exhilarated tone that the traitor Asil Pisker had forfeited.
Ricardo Sordi’s chains fell to the floor.
“My turn...”
My senior smiled darkly.
He moved. The green-eyed man walked out of the waiting area. I watched the silver form-changing weapon that had slapped Asil’s cheek roll across the stained arena floor, then form a silver pool directly beneath the spider’s body.
Ricardo walked neatly into the arena.
The moment he stopped, the silver weapon became spikes and pierced Nemalda.
Kieeeek!
Its death cry echoed out.
The stench of blood once again heavily covered the arena.
Then I clearly caught Ricardo’s next words.
They were filled with hatred, resolve, and cynicism.
“It’s time to settle the score.”
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