Thanatos cut the neck of the half Jotun, and his head fell to the side. The area of cold disappeared.

"That took too long. I hope no one heard me." He ran past the dead body and reached the restricted area.

He hugged the wall as he watched the guards standing around a device that had mana around it. In the center, a stone with several rings rotating was emitting mana everywhere.

That must be the device controlling the collars. If I broke it, everyone could fight, and a revolt would start.

For the plan to work, he needed to kill twenty guards and make sure they didn’t call for backup. Most would consider that impossible or very unlikely. But after having that fight in the hallway, Thanatos's senses were sharp as a sword.

The frozen skin on his shoulder, the pain of the cuts on his arms, the adrenaline of fighting a strong opponent, the pleasure of seeing his strategy work and attain victory. All of these things make fighting so much fun and addicting.

Twenty people? After that Jurgen guy, I could kill one hundred of them before they could call for backup. He had a smile while thinking about it. He took a few seconds to prepare and enter the main room where the massacre began.

The guards were surprised but didn’t have time to respond. It was like a devil had entered the room. It moved fast from one victim to the next. No one could activate the [Alarm] spell.

Thanatos looked around after cleaning the place. No alarms or reinforcements were coming. He moved to the device and cast [Detect magic]. It was full of spells to extend his range and duration. It controlled all the collars. Trying to deactivate it would take too much time, so the best thing was to destroy it.

It had a spell to protect it from damage, so he had to do it with his own hands.

"Here we go!" He put his hands together and slammed the device. It broke into pieces and the rings shattered. At that moment, all collars lost their power source and came undone.

Hundreds of slaves saw the collars that kept them in check fall in pieces from their necks. It couldn’t have been at a worse time, as Rashaka was watching the fight in the arena along with one of the council members. A thousand kicks, Sertus.

***

"What is happening? Beru Beru?" Rashaka looked at his secretary, but he had the same astonished expression.

The sounds of surprise came from several floors. The slaves noticed and began to fight. The announcer tried to keep the crowd calm, but the fights began throughout the coliseum.

"Boss, the guards that were supposed to guard the device aren’t responding. Someone sabotaged it!" Alumi told him the situation, and he raced outside to command his men to contain the revolt.

"Well, well, well, Rashaka. It looks pretty bad. You have a member of the council and you let this happen today of all days. Are you sure you want to keep managing the coliseum?" The man had a smug smile as he spoke.

Sertus was one of the ten members of the council. Not only that, but he also earned his spot by killing the previous member when he was the number one ranked warrior in the coliseum. He earned his freedom over ten years ago, under Rashaka’s rule. He looked like a normal demi human tiger, but he was strong enough to destroy cities alone.

"You know I can have you killed for this, right Rashaka?"

Rashaka bit his lip and swallowed. He thought about all the times he had made Sertus do his dirty work. He used him like a pawn to kill insubordinates and put on shows to lose on purpose and have the bets go in his favor. This was payback for all those years.

You damn tiger! I raised you here. Without me, you would have died in this arena while the crowd cheered for your pain. It is because I gave you chances and power that you climbed back into society. Did you forget all those times you licked my shoes to gain favor? UH!

He couldn’t say that. He only kneeled down and put his head on the ground.

"Lord Sertus, please give me another chance. We can contain this revolt. There is no need to tell the other members of the council. Please let me show you!" His forehead was buried deep in the floor.

"Hahahaha, relax, Rashaka. It is not like any of the slaves have escaped yet. In fact, I want to help. You just need to do something for me."

"...?"

"Lick my shoe." He put his foot in front of Rashaka’s face. He clearly hadn’t forgotten all those humiliating times.

"GR...!"

"Do it and I will let this pathetic revolt go past my eyes instead of removing you from your position."

Rashaka’s eyes were filled with anger, but he grabbed the shoe and licked it. He was the coliseum owner. He wasn’t going to let them take it from him.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You like the taste, fucker!" After a decade, Sertus tasted the sweetness of vengeance. "You like it, having me lick your shoes and lose fights on purpose for your fat pockets. Consider this mercy. I’m only letting you go because I want to make you lick more shoes. But if a single slave escapes, I’m killing you on the spot. The only good thing you did here was make strong warriors like me. If you can’t keep this place in check, then you’re worthless."

Rashaka stood back up, and Sertus took a seat.

"Go down there and help Alumi with everything. Send all the magic users to recalibrate the device, and I want to know exactly what the human is doing!" He was about to lose his voice from so much screaming, but he didn’t care. His coliseum and his own life were on the line.

***

As soon as Thanatos broke the device, a shadow jumped on his back. A pair of claws slashed the air instead of his back.

"Who are you?" he said as he jumped to the other side.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! So fun, you’re the human, you killed Jurgen too right I saw his body in the hallway, ahahahahahah!" It was Lum, the vicious beast.

"You don’t have to obey him anymore; your collar fell off. You’re free. You can escape. This is your chance." He tried to reason with him, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Escape? Ahahaha, why would I leave this paradise? I can fight and kill all day here. You killed Jurgen and Uru. You’re pretty strong." He began to salivate. "I want to taste your flesh. Strong prey is always tasty."

Thanatos didn’t have time to lose before he could attack; someone else came from above. A green fervent sword tried to slash his arm. He blocked with magic, but the blade still managed to wound him.

A sword that managed to pass my [Strengthening]. He watched as the woman moved the sword in her hands.

"That level of magic defense, your reaction speed, and your muscles are amazing! I want it! Give me your body!" It was Ereba Zos, the Skinchanger. She had an evil gleam in her eyes.

"My body?"

"Yes, I must have it. Tell me what race you are? Are all of your peers like this, or are you an exception? Maybe you are half-bred between two species. Please tell me!" She was going mad with desire.

"HEY! EREBA THIS PREY IS MINE!" Lum yelled at her. He didn’t have the collar, so he was more than willing to kill her and have her as desert.

"UH! Shut up, you mongrel! Can't you recognize nature’s beauty? I came running as soon as I sensed Jurgen's magic, but he was so useless that I had to wait for you to break the device so I could enter. I’m not going to let anyone else have your body [Double enchantment: Acid and Poison]." She was going to kill Lum if he tried to get in the way of her new body.

"What the hell? I guess that Jurgen guy was the only sane fighter." He didn’t want to fight, but running away from these two was going to be difficult. The room was big, so he decided to stay here.

The three of them look at each other, waiting for the moment to commence the brawl. As a piece of the device hit the ground, Lum and Ereba jumped at Thanatos.

He dashed quickly to the side and dodged Lum’s claws. Ereba came and attacked from above. The sword hit the floor and broke it. Thanatos watched acid seeping from the blade.

Acid and poison too. I can't let her hit me. The memory of his death by poison was fresh in his mind.

Ereba moved like she was dancing, gracefully and precisely. Not a single motion was wasted. Her attacks came from all directions and didn’t give him any room to breathe. He already felt the sharpness of the blade, so he had to block with his claws. Each hit made the acid corrode them a little more.

Lum took the chance and jumped like a wolf, slashing Thanatos's arm. The blood flowed with violence, and his arm almost fell if it wasn’t reinforced with magic.

"[Acid spear]"

"[Ice wall]"

Thanatos raised a wall to defend himself against an acid attack by Ereba.

CHUMP... Lum fangs took a chunk of his leg. Thanatos was backed up against a corner.

He wasn’t going to die again. No one could save him anymore. No more second chances. He focused his mind and let his body merge with his intuition. The world around him seemed to slow down to a crawl. It was like when he learned his own fighting style in the fight against Grul.

He was only thinking about the battle and his opponents. Everything else was unnecessary.

An enchanted sword and an agile opponent. He blocked the sword and raised his other hand to block the fangs threatening to bite his arm off. With an unnatural serenity, he cast.

"[Necrotic wave]" the necrotic energy, slowed down Lum’s movements for a few seconds, but it was all he needed.

He advanced toward Ereba and engaged in her mad dance. One, two, three, fifteen, twenty-two attacks were blocked. He was right in striking range. His claws were deformed and melted by the acid. He could also feel his hands losing the sense of touch from the poison, but he didn’t hesitate. He aimed at her belly.

"[Strengthening]!" She could also reinforce her defense. At that moment, the hand changed direction, and her arm was stabbed.

Thanatos grabbed the sword with the other hand and slashed at Ereba.

"[Strengthening]!" She cast the spell again over her whole body and undid the enchantment of her sword to reduce the damage.

She waited for the blade to cut through her body, but she didn’t feel anything. Instead, a ball of fire was aimed at her face.

Thanatos changed tactics again and instead used his other hand to throw a [Fireball] at point blank range.

"AAAHHHHH!" she screamed as the fire engulfed her body.

Lum recovered the energy in his muscles and jumped again. This time he used a combination of abilities.

"[Boost] [Devour]" The combination resulted in the increased size and power of his jaw. His mouth became harder than steel; he could bite through anything with his technique.

Thanks to [Boost] his speed also increased and he launched himself like a missile straight at Thanatos's back.

My prey!

Without looking back, Thanatos uttered a spell. "[Ice spear]"

The ice lance came from the ground and shot right through Lum’s jaw. He was too predictable.

"[Lightning ball]" he threw the electric ball and killed Lum without glancing at him. He moved across the smoke and kicked Ereba’s chest. The ribs and lungs came from the back as his leg pierced her body.