Perfect Avatar
Chapter 217: Bet

Chapter 217: Bet

The cheers erupted and the boy moved forward slowly, his weapon at his side. The man in the wolf helmet growled in pain, his severed leg telling him to flee as quickly as possible.

"...urgh...damn...Why are you here?! Argh...shh...wait! WAIT!!!"

His bloodied leg hit the sand and his scream pierced the air.

"Argh...wait...fuck...you...was...that was your plan?...were you complicit?!"

Forced to sit, he leaned on Mercy, grabbing one of his sickles.

"Stay...stay where you are!...if you take one more step, I..."

As a gust of wind swept by, the terrifying noise of the morning star colliding with the wall reverberated throughout the arena, causing the man to tremble.

The excruciating pain that followed made him instinctively glance down at his chest, where he discovered his arm was gone and his torso was injured.

The sight of his injuries fueled him to unleash another round of agonizing screams.

Helpless on the ground, with only one leg and one arm remaining, he crawled pathetically. However, the monstrous figure pursuing him needed only a few strides to close the distance.

"...AIT!! Fuck....get away!"

Dora extended his hand over the man’s head, the audience erupted into a chorus of death chants. However, a remarkable occurrence took place. Contrary to expectations, a green light enveloped the man, putting a stop to his bleeding.

The spectators watched in astonishment as his wounds closed up, though his missing leg and arm remained unchanged. The crowd fell silent, entranced by this unfamiliar manifestation of power. Dora leaned in towards the man, moving closer to whisper in his ear.

"I won’t let you die."

He raised his left hand, revealing the second sickle he had just taken. The warrior was trembling more and more, completely helpless.

Dora raised the weapon in the air, motionless for seconds, and then, the metal fell on the man’s face.

"Wait!"

A piercing scream echoed through the arena, causing Dora to abruptly halt his attack. The sickle was mere inches away from its victim’s nose.

What made this moment even more unsettling was the realization that the voice belonged to Mercy, who was now on her knees desperately trying to hold her torn top together to cover her chest while pulling Dora by the shirt.

As the audience watched in awe, the red mist that had enveloped Lilith and Morgiana slowly dissipated, releasing them from their torment.

Dora, however, remained frozen in place, resembling a statue with the sickle’s tip gently grazing the man’s nose.

"...For what?"

The girl’s grip grew stronger. Without turning his back on her, Dora could feel that she was trembling, another reason to be incomprehensible about this situation.

"After this, after everything you’ve seen, you want to play the hero? You refuse to kill? Why do you keep making it harder?"

"It’s not your place to do this."

Voices began to rise from the audience, and amid the waning pressure of anger, a new fire covered the ground. Dora slowly looked behind him and then he saw it.

The red mist began to spread again, but this time directly from the ground. Behind the young boy, Mercy’s body gave off red vapor. She raised her head slightly, showing her eyes with irises surrounded by red light.

"I...will kill them. They’re mine...stay out of this."

The mist swirled slowly around her as if attracted by a magnet, or rather sucked in. Dora looked for a moment, then nodded.

"At last."

He pointed the palm of his hand at the gladiator and proceeded to heal him completely, regrowing his missing limbs, then did the same to the other warriors. He stood up, facing the most dangerous side of the arena.

"I want to bet on her, allow that."

All eyes became anxious and turned to one side of the arena, where the king of the giants was trembling.

The pressure of Wrath began to grow stronger, spreading everywhere, more intoxicating.

"...Nameless...How far do you plan to go...to provoke me?"

He slowly stood up, the earth beginning to shake and the screams of the audience increasing.

"You entered my tournament, you challenged me, you interfered in my fights, and now you order me around? Are you trying to take your chances? Or do you really want to die?"

He sent a wave of aura directly at Dora, powerful enough to shatter the earth beneath him, but the boy remains still, unaffected. With bright eyes, Dora pointed the morning star at Wrath.

"You’re holding this tournament for fun, aren’t you? You’re neither a king nor a general, you’re just a monster who enjoys battles, but do you really enjoy these ridiculous fights? I could kill any of your warriors instantly, is this the kind of fight you want?"

He pointed his morning star at Mercy.

"I intend to make this stupid tournament something You will enjoy, and if you really want to see a real battle, a real challenge, you’ll take this bet. I challenge this girl to a duel with all these bastards over there."

Iris slammed the seat next to her.

"What the hell?! Are you crazy?!"

The audience’s voices grew louder, some fainting under Wrath’s pressure. The mad, eyes glowing beneath his helmet, clenched his fists, the pressure increasing, but strangely disappearing as they reached Dora.

"...You want...to make a bet...against me? Is that it, Nameless?"

Dora, his eyes back to normal, smiled.

"No, I’m making a bet against this girl."

He pointed the morning star at Mercy.

"I challenge her to a fight to the death against the warriors who jumped on her."

Mercy stood up, her eyes red and her gaze possessed by an unknown rage. The audience exchanged gasps, slowly morphing into a symphony of cheers and an explosion of applause.

Wrath’s pressure subsided, but not of his own volition, his aura converging on the girl.

He remained silent for a moment, his gaze immersed in that of Mercy who did not look away. Then, a chuckle echoed through the arena, bursting forth with an explosion of mad laughter.

"Nameless... you’re a lot of fun... so you’re saying this thing will make my tournament more enjoyable?"

"It depends, if she’s as useless as before, then she’ll die, but if she doesn’t screw it up, you’ll have something to enjoy."

"...I see...so it’s still not sure...If she wins, I have fun and your life is in her hands, and if she loses...you don’t lose nothing? It’s not. This seems very appropriate, for the one who disrupted my game."

The earth shook again, more violently, Wrath clenched his fist in front of his face.

"If she loses, you will cut off your legs and open your chest, what about that?"

The earth stopped shaking, the pressure stabilized, Dora met the Mad King’s eyes, then turned to Mercy.

"Approved."