Cole Xander thought he could finally have a perfect rest today, so he strode to the arena with a big smile when the announcer called his name.

The spectators chanted his name and shouted for his victory. He bet many of them had betted for him. Too bad their undefeated champion would rest peacefully today for he had planned his own death, and this deathmatch would be his last fight.

It was probably the happiest day in the life of Cole Xander for he would finally reach true freedom. The freedom of choosing his own death. For him, living in this hell didn’t matter anymore. He had had enough of killing his gladiator brothers.

The announcer, who was sitting in her place, cleared her throat, and the crowds calmed down. She gripped her mic and shouted from the bottom of her lung. “And introducing his opponent! Standing at 178 cm and weight 73kg. He is the dark horse of Hell’s Kitchen’s underground deathmatch arena. With the record 13-0, no one has posed a threat to him before! And now, this challenger bares his fang against the undefeated champion, Cole Xander. Here he comes! The Swift King, Caseeeyyyyy Howaaard!!”

With the cheer of spectators, the iron bars on the opposite side slid up, and the opponent that would grant Cole a perfect, honorable rest ambled to the middle of the arena. He was a young man at the height of Cole’s chest, and he carried two swords in his hands. His smooth black hair fell to his shoulder, and he had a rather pretty complexion, but everyone in this stadium could vouch for the might of this young man. Never tasted defeat, the spectators wouldn’t look down on him if Cole died in his hand.

“We finally will have a fight, big brother,” Casey said calmly. There was no sign of fear in his expression as if he was confident that he could defeat an undefeated champion with the record 113-0.

Cole felt relieved about his attitude. He didn’t want to die at the hand of someone who feared him. “Heh, you seem confident, lad. No hard feeling when I kill you, alright?”

Casey smiled. “I won’t lose. They will grant me freedom if I win.”

“Heh. Same here.” Cole snorted. “Don’t know what you have done to make them angry toward you. They actually will burn my lifetime contract if I kill you. Imagine, Howard, I can finally breathe the fresh air of the outside world.”

The referee stood in the middle of them and spread her hands. “There is no rule. We decide the winner when one of you dies. Are you ready?” Both fighters put on their fighting stances, and the referee lady stepped back until she was far enough. After that, she swung down her hands. “Fight!”

Cole extended his greatsword and let Casey’s twin swords touch the tip of the blade. It was a greeting and hidden message saying ‘no hard feeling between us’.

The winner would live with the loser’s blessing. There was mostly no hard feeling between gladiators. The reason was most fighters were sworn brothers behind the arena.

“Don’t hold back, Brother Cole,” Casey said before he leaped back and put on his graceful fighting stance again.

Cole’s heart thumped fast when he heard that, and he felt his blood flow throughout his body. His bad habit was kicking in again. It was the habit of imagining something bad he could do to his opponents, a habit that awakened the sleeping berserker inside him.

Cole imagined many things, like slicing the young man’s bowel, strangling the disarmed young man until his neck snapped, bashing his head with his sword, etc. Thinking of those things, he licked his lips. However, he immediately regretted his action. He had let his berserker nature get the best of him again.

Cole bit his lower lip and shouted to himself, ‘I have had enough of killing! Just rest already! They won’t grant you any freedom if you win. Your contract differs from theirs. Let the young man win and have his freedom.’ With that thought, he let out a long sigh, and his body cooled down. “Come.”

Cole lifted his greatsword as Casey charged at him, and he swung it down, but the young man flipped to his side and bruised his left shoulder. Cole ignored the pain and pivoted his waist to the back, swinging his sword toward the young man’s neck.

Casey arched back, evaded the sword a hair away, and then somersaulted several times before landing again. Having evaded death, the young man’s breathing became rough.

Cole licked his lips and grinned. “What’s the matter? Come again.”

Casey leaned forward as he ran to him again. He came like a swift swallow.

Cole thrust his greatsword, but the young man flipped his body and passed over his head. Casey saw an opening and didn’t let the chance slip away; he bruised Cole’s nape.

“Tsk, too shallow,” Casey complained.

As Casey landed on the ground, he turned back to face Cole. He pointed his sword at him and shouted, “What are those amateurish moves? Are you joking with me?”

Casey might have missed the chance to deal critical damage, but Cole’s simple attack motion made him think the man was holding back. He was sure of it because he had watched all of Cole’s fights. The man fought like a beast. Ferocious. Fast and Furious.

The crowds berated Cole, and some of them threw many things into the arena. The owner of this underground deathmatch arena, who was watching in the balcony on the top of Cole’s entrance gate, shouted at him, too. Many people betted to his win, so looking at him playing around unamused them.

Cole only looked down and rubbed his bleeding nape. The scar wasn’t deep. He realized Casey hadn’t been serious yet, too. He faced the young man and said calmly, “Come again. Don’t you want freedom and to see your girlfriend? Put me to rest already.”

Hearing his words, Casey widened his eyes. “You really are playing around! Cole Xander, screw you! Don’t you remember our talk before this fight?”

Many fighters were sworn brothers, and they held no grudge for the winner. To reach that state of mind, two fighters would have a talk to know each other. They talked about each other’s wishes and many things. As the result, many of them could sympathize with each other.

Cole always remembered every fighter he had talked to, including Casey. All of them met the same fate. Dead. They had died in his hands. For every blood that splattered his living body, his mental burden increased. How came he felt nothing when had sympathized with them. He thought of them as his biological brothers in this cursed place.

“I don’t care anymore. Just come straight to me. I won’t put up a fight.” As he said that, he thrust his greatsword to the ground and closed his eyes.

……

A few days ago before Cole ‘the Berserker’ Xander vs Casey ‘the Swift King’ Howard.

Cole Xander was meditating on his bed when someone knocked on the door of his room. The intruder opened the door before he permitted them to enter. The intruder was none other than Casey Howard.

“Hello, sorry for the intrusion. I rarely saw you outside, Cole.”

Cole opened his eyes slowly and said, “Sit.”

Casey pulled a chair before the bed and sat. They only stared at each other, and Cole seemed to have no intention of opening a conversation. Breaking the ice, Casey asked him first. “Um, what’s your wish, brother?”

“I want to rest.”

“Oh? Do I come at the wrong time? Forgive me.” As he raised his butt from the chair, Cole raised his hand and shook his head. Casey felt relieved that he didn’t bother Cole, and he sat again.

Cole smiled. “That’s not it. Even if I win, they won’t free me. I have a different contract than other people.”

“How so?”

Cole leaned back and stared blankly at the ceiling. He remembered the scene where a man in a black suit had sold him to this illegal underground deathmatch arena. “Someone has sold me to the owner of this place. I am his slave. When you have won ten matches, you can challenge the champion, and the owner will grant your wish if you win. My job is to crush those people in the last battle.”

Casey rested his chin on his hands and put on a serious expression. “And I am your next opponent, brother.”

Cole closed his eyes. “Of course, I won’t hold a grudge if you kill me, but can you even do that?”

“I will try my best, and also I have a favor.”

Cole kept his eyes closed because he could predict what the man would say. “What is it?”

“Don’t hold back. I watched your fights. I admire your ferocity in the battle.”

Cole opened one eye and looked at him. “What’s your wish, Howard?”

It was Casey’s turn to look at the ceiling and lean back, but he straightened his posture again. He remembered he was in front of the undefeated champion, so he needed to act composed. “Let me tell you about myself first. I volunteered to take part in this underground arena.”

Cole straightened his body when he heard that. No sane person would voluntarily join this underground arena. Most fighters were homeless people one could encounter in subways and everywhere. The owner of this place had kidnapped them. The minority of them was just a psychopath, and Cole didn’t hesitate to kill them. He needed to hear Casey’s reason, so he could judge if he was worth his pity. “Why?”

Casey told Cole about his story. His girlfriend’s family had an enormous debt to the owner of this place, and they couldn’t pay their debt. His girlfriend’s father could compensate by becoming a fighter in the deathmatch arena, but out of pity, he volunteered to take part in his stead. Casey didn’t have a family anyway, and he considered them a family.

Cole rubbed his thin beard. “You realized that if I am serious, there’s a high chance you can die, right?”

“Nah, I will win. Besides, if I lose, it is an honor to die in your hand.”

“I don’t understand. Don’t you have someone important?”

“I do. They watched every of my fight. Every time, they are worried about me, and sure I want to come back to them. However, I learned something important in this place. Honor. The fighters here are chill to each other, and it amazed me. I don’t mind if I die by any of you. Not that I plan to kill myself.”

“I see. How old are you?”

“19. Why?”

“You have a great wisdom for someone of your age.”

Casey laughed. “Don’t make things awkward, brother. How about you? How old are you?”

Cole smiled and gestured for Casey to go out. “I will tell you if you win.”

“Does that mean you won’t hold back against me?”

Cole shook his head and chuckled. “Get out, you battle-crazed maniac.”

“I will take that as yes. Good night, brother,” Casey said as he closed the door of the room.

Cole lay down again. He had watched Casey’s fights, too. His might was comparable to him, but his next opponent was still young. He had killed and crushed many people so far, but none of them was younger than him. Could he kill a young man that had family and goals in his life?

Cole turned to the wall of his room. He felt sick of becoming people’s wall. Maybe dying in the hand of a younger man that was as strong as him was a good idea. He clenched the spray on his bed. “I have decided. It is my time to die.”

……

The mocking shout of spectators and the constant call from Casey didn’t make him waver. Cole still stood firm with his eyes closed. Even if there was no honor in his death, he had had enough. The berserker wanted to rest.

After calling Cole several times, Casey finally fed up with his opponent’s antique. “Fine. If that’s your way, I will have my way, too.”

Cole heard rushing steps coming to him. Wind bruised past him and a sharp blade sliced his left lateral, and then his back, and then his right waist. These pains were nothing. He didn’t care about mocking shouts from participants, but his heart felt hard. His lower lip bled from gritting it too hard, and tears flowed down his eyes.

The barrage of attack suddenly stopped, so Cole opened his eyes. Casey welcomed him with a straight punch to the face. He fell on his back, but he immediately stood again.

The blood from his nose flowed to his mouth, and Cole licked it, but he instantly regretted it. His heart thumped fast again, and bloodlust surged to his brain. It worried him because he didn’t know if he could withstand this feeling any longer. “Why did you stop, Casey? Kill me in an instant.”

Casey had sheathed his swords on his waist. He only came to him with his fists. He was throwing a left hook to the liver.

Cole knelt and spurted saliva to the ground. He looked up at Casey and grinned. “Nice one, but this isn’t a boxing ring. Come on.”

“Shut up! You can’t even hide your bloodlust! You are a battle-crazed maniac, just like me and others! That’s what they made us, and that’s why you never lost. So, just come to me with the intent to kill!”

“You will lose.”

“I won’t. Trust me. I will grant you a perfect rest, so just be serious about this fight. Believe me. No one has defeated me ever before.”

Cole stared straight into Casey’s blue eyes. There was no fear. He had been confident this whole time. He decided to trust him, so he stood up again. “I have disrespected you. Honor. I remember what our motto is. ‘No grudge between us. All for honor’.” Cole pulled his great sword from the ground and suddenly laughed maniacally as if a demon had possessed him.

The crowds silenced as Cole’s laugh boomed throughout the arena. Casey grinned too. This was the Cole he admired. The Berserker Cole Xander.

Casey unsheathed his swords and charged at him. He was like a bullet. As he was a few centimeters away from him, he ducked by instinct, and a great sword passed above him. He felt relieved to have evaded it, but the attack had let his guard down.

Cole kick his face and sent him flying back. Casey crashed against the wall and coughed blood.

“Fast! He is not like before,” Casey thought. He straightened his body again, but Cole was already standing before him. The berserker gripped his head, slammed him again, and then swiped him across the arena’s wall, leaving a long trail of blood. After one turn of swiping Casey across the arena’s wall, the berserker tossed his body to the sky and smashed his body down with the middle blunt side of the greatsword.

Casey wasn’t allowed to feel his pain as the berserker could come to him again. Out of fear, he was rolling to the side. Meanwhile, Cole had stomped the ground where Casey had used to lay.

Casey's expression was grim when the ground under Cole’s foot cracked. “Such power,” he exclaimed.

Casey leaped to Cole. It was his turn to show his might too. However, Cole welcomed him with a thrust of his greatsword.

Casey evaded the stab in the air, but the blade still scratched his cheek. He was swinging his sword to the berserker’s kidney, but the berserker landed a front kick to his bowel, stopping his attempt. He coughed out blood, but he couldn’t succumb to the pain. He stepped back several times and threw one of his swords at Cole.

Clank

Cole caught the sword with his teeth. His act surprised Casey. However, Casey had prepared a countermeasure.

Casey shouted as he plunged from the air and slashed the berserker’s chest. “You are inhuman, brother, but I win.” Or so he thought, but Cole could still swing down his great sword with full power. Casey evaded it by flipping his body in the air.

The spectators could barely keep up with them, but they still cheered for them regardless. Even the announcer could only shout hyped nonsenses because of their ever-changing movements. Both fighters were inhuman. The Swift King lived up to his title, agile and flexible. The Berserker was also fast, and all his attacks packed massive damages.

They were eager to see the outcome of this fight, and the final came upon them at least. Cole lifted Casey and strangled him. On the other hand, the Swift King gurgled air into his mouth as he sank his nails into Cole’s wrists and kicked his solar plexus repeatedly.

Having taken many kicks, Cole coughed up blood and let him go. The Swift King still had a hard time breathing, but he immediately picked up his sword on the ground and stabbed Cole’s chest.

“This is the end. I win.”

Cole knelt and grabbed Casey’s hand. His ferocious expression slowly turned into a radiant smile. “Thank you.” He fell on his back and controlled his rough breath.

The spectators cheered for Casey, the new undefeated champion. Some of them shouted to finish Cole, but the berserker’s fans argued against them. Casey ignored them. Even without them telling, he had to put his opponent to rest. He knelt beside him.

“In the end, you held back against me.”

Cole coughed and forced himself to laugh. “What are you talking about?”

Casey shook his head and said nothing. He was lucky to survive. “Do you have any last word?”

“Leave this underground arena. You don’t belong here. One more thing, I want to answer your question from before. I am only 22 years old.”

Casey’s eyes widened. “You are as young as me. You… if there is a next life, I hope you—”

“Enough chitchat. I prefer there is no afterlife or next life. I want to stop thinking and rest in the void.”

Casey nodded. “One more thing. Are you happy right now?”

Cole smiled widely. “This is the happiest day in my life. Thank you, Casey, my brother. Because of you, I am finally… free.” As he said that, Casey stabbed his heart.

Darkness engulfed his vision. The bell of death rang in his imagination, and he thought of them as his sign to rest.

Cole wondered what would happen next, and his curiosity was answered as he suddenly saw a speck of light in the middle of the darkness. He reached out to it and felt the warmth as if he was really grabbing something. After that, he dropped his arm to the ground and let out his last breath.

……

You have absorbed an experience card. You are qualified to become an explorer of Doomsday. Transporting your body to the brand new universe.

Hearing the sound in his head, Cole opened his eyes. He found himself lying on the white floor. He looked around and saw many white pillars in this unfamiliar place. Not only that, he saw many people lying on the floor around him. He stopped focusing on others and observed a blue screen in front of his face.

Name: Cole Xander (Level: 1 [0/125])

Race: Human (Bronze)

Class: -

Strength: 2

Vitality: 2

Agility: 2

Intelligent: 2

Wisdom: 2

Free Points: 1

Active Skills: 0

Passive Skills: 1

Blessings: 1

Debuff: 1