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Chapter: 39
(I’m Not the Demon Cult Leader, I’m the Baby Head of the Family)
“If you do anything stupid, I’ll put a breathing hole in this kid’s body.”
Gale, who was gripping Ariel’s neck, placed his other hand on Ariel’s abdomen.
Seeing that, Karina could not move carelessly.
“Keuk… cough!”
Ariel struggled desperately to break free.
“Let go of her.”
Even at Karina’s furious voice, Gale only tightened his grip without saying a word.
“Are you trying to kill Ariel in a friendly match?!”
“Maybe that’s more beneficial than winning a friendly match.”
Karina read madness in Gale’s eyes, and in that moment, a chill ran down her spine.
“Ariel! Surrender!”
Karina shouted urgently.
“That bastard is really going to kill you! Raise your hand and surrender!”
But Ariel did not move at all, as if she could not hear her… or as if she did not even have the strength to raise her hand.
Since Gale was truly prepared to kill her, Karina could not rush in recklessly.
If she did, a hole could be opened right in the middle of Ariel’s stomach.
If these were the same bastards who had pierced a hole through Denian’s shoulder, then they were more than capable of doing it.
“Largo!”
Karina, burning with anger, called the referee.
In an instant, Largo jumped into the arena and grabbed Gale’s wrist that was holding Ariel.
“Ariel has lost. Let go.”
Before anyone realized it, Ariel had gone limp, as if she had fainted.
Gale frowned as he looked at Largo’s hand gripping his wrist.
His strength is insane.
If I commit murder here, my neck might get cut off by this man.
Largo, the Iron-Blooded Demon Emperor, had been building up his inner strength for a year already, and had recovered to a level above first-rate.
After quickly judging Largo’s strength, Gale loosened his grip.
Ariel collapsed, and Largo easily caught her with one arm and held her up.
Looking down at Ariel, Largo bit the inside of his mouth.
Then, with a dark expression, he spoke quietly.
“Ariel is unable to continue fighting.”
The rules of the friendly match allowed anything as long as no one was killed, so Largo had no choice but to announce the result.
After giving the judgment with a heavy face, Largo carefully looked toward Karina.
Karina’s purple aura in her eyes had sunk darkly.
This is bad.
It was the sign that appeared when Karina was truly furious.
Not the kind of anger that exploded outward, but the kind that sank deeper… and deeper.
If someone acted recklessly when she was like that, even allies could end up unable to recover their bones.
Judging from her eyes, she intended to continue the match no matter what.
Largo swallowed dryly and stepped back out of the arena.
“The match will continue as it is.”
Even after Largo left, Karina stood still like a statue.
Marien and Gale also could not move carelessly.
What is this? Did she lose the will to fight?
Karina was staring only at the ground with sunken eyes, but for some reason, the two of them could not move their bodies.
It felt as if their feet were trapped in a pitch-black swamp.
Then, Karina, who had been standing like a grim reaper wrapped in darkness, slowly raised one hand.
“I will call an ally.”
Despite the murderous atmosphere, her voice was extremely calm.
At that, Alvin, who had been sitting in the waiting area, stood up awkwardly and began walking out.
Seeing that he did not even carry a sword, Gale and Marien were momentarily stunned.
Karina did not care and continued speaking in a deeply sunken voice.
“Alvin, you’re done preparing, right?”
“Y-Yeah.”
After hearing Alvin’s answer, Karina let her sword hang loosely toward the ground and stared at Marien and Gale.
“Please take care of it.”
At her words, Alvin nodded, clenching his fists tightly as if nervous.
“I’ll do my best!”
The moment she heard that, Karina shot forward toward Gale.
Gale quickly raised his sword and took a defensive stance instinctively.
Kakang—!
With the sound of blades colliding, Gale was pushed backward.
Blocking Karina’s sword, Gale felt confused.
The strength coming through the blades felt much weaker than before.
Of course it did.
Karina’s inner strength was almost completely drained.
Because she had been trapped underwater by Marien and Gale’s combined attack, she had been forced to use inner strength instead of breathing, and her inner strength consumption was far greater than expected.
Gale, suspicious, rushed at Karina again and clashed swords once more.
He managed to block it, but he could feel himself being pushed back, even if only slightly.
As I thought!
Keeping his eyes fixed on Karina, Gale shouted toward Marien.
“Marien! She’s in a state where her strength has dropped a lot!”
“That monster’s strength dropped? Really?”
Marien also looked quite tired, and the power of his water streams had weakened compared to earlier.
Confirming Marien’s condition, Gale spoke firmly.
“If we attack together now, we can take her down! Suppress her in one go!”
At Gale’s command, Marien nodded while sweating heavily.
Earlier, with their combined attack, they had almost forced Karina into defeat.
There was no reason they could not do it a second time.
“What about the new guy who joined?”
Marien quickly searched for Alvin.
Alvin was crouched in a corner, fiddling with something and making rustling sounds.
“That guy isn’t another healing-type ability user, right?”
“No way. For now, he doesn’t seem like much of a threat, so we deal with Karina first.”
Gale and Marien charged at Karina at the same time.
Marien also seemed unable to freely use his ability anymore, so he drew his sword and began close combat as well.
With her inner strength nearly exhausted, Karina could only focus on blocking the two of them.
Then her gaze swept toward Alvin, who was crawling around on the ground.
Alvin was crouched low, installing something on the floor.
Good. Luckily, those bastards aren’t paying attention to Alvin.
If I can hold out just a little longer…
But then Gale stepped on something Alvin had installed.
Feeling something click under his foot, Gale looked down in confusion.
And then—
Kwa-BOOM!
A huge explosion erupted.
Gale quickly wrapped himself in a wind barrier and prevented major damage, but since he was caught in the blast, he rolled across the ground several times.
“Gale!”
Marien called out in shock.
Gale, covered in black ash, got up while cursing.
Tch, an explosive artifact?
“Don’t go near the devices that brat installed on the floor.”
Gale glared at Alvin and growled.
“It looks like an explosive artifact that detonates when stepped on.”
At Gale’s words, Marien frowned irritably and nodded.
“Got it.”
Alvin ignored them and continued moving around, installing artifacts everywhere.
They were not strong enough to cause fatal injuries, but they were annoying devices that could restrict their movements.
“We change the plan. Let’s deal with that guy first.”
At Gale’s order, Marien nodded.
At the same time, Karina moved in front of Alvin and asked him,
“Are you done setting them up?”
“Y-Yeah. More or less.”
Karina curled her lips into a grin.
“Good work.”
After saying that, Karina dashed toward Marien.
Taking advantage of Karina charging at Marien, Gale rushed toward Alvin.
He planned to remove the annoying extra first.
But at that moment—
Right before Gale reached him, Alvin cautiously raised one hand.
“E-Excuse me, Referee.”
At Alvin’s sudden call, Gale stopped in his tracks.
Largo also looked at Gale with a puzzled expression.
Alvin looked back and forth between Gale and Largo, then scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile and spoke.
“I… I would like to forfeit.”
At that, not only Gale and Marien, but everyone on Ludovico’s side looked dumbfounded.
Largo, thinking he had misheard, asked again.
“You’re forfeiting?”
“Y-Yes. Forfeiting is allowed… r-right?”
Seeing Alvin stutter and scratch the back of his head, Marien and Gale looked completely speechless.
Meanwhile, Karina was curling her lips upward with a sinister smile.
