246: Victory by any Means

“GWAAAARGH!” the bearkin, Number Sixty-one roared in tearful agony, as he was helpless to stop Number Seven from torturing him, limb by limb. Each attempt at defense was countered with such brutality, that the bearkin resigned to simply endure the unavoidable torture without doubling it with fruitless provocations.

As Number Seven worked over his two potential opponents, he left The Cleaver on the ground between the bearkin and the leopardkin. In one last act of defiance, the leopardkin grabbed the long weapon that broke his knees and used it to strike at Number Seven’s knees, but unlike how Number Seven did it, the leopardkin kept the sharp edge toward the target.

However, the attack proved futile as Number Seven simply stepped on the weapon, slamming it on the ground. That alone was enough to completely neuter the attack of such a weakened opponent.

As punishment, Number Seven hacked off the leopardkin’s left foot. The beastkin screeched in agony, but before he could bleed out, Number Seven heated up The Cleaver in one of the nearby fire circles and pressed the glowing, red hot blade against the leopardkin’s wound, cauterizing it.

The bearkin watched this brutal punishment with relief that he finally got a moment’s rest at the expense of his duel opponent. It wasn’t like he had any ill will toward the leopardkin. The bearkin’s mind simply operated on survival mode, grasping at anything that would prolong its rest from the mind-breaking pain.

But, with the timer above the arena slowly approaching the final minutes, Number Seven calculated that he could proceed with more fatal torture methods, as his targets only needed to survive for some minutes more.

The bearkin were known for their endurance, and Number Seven decided to use it to his advantage.

“You know what you have to do to make this stop,” Number Seven said to the bearkin, took The Cleaver into his hand, and cut open the bearkin’s stomach with the hot blade to another broken cry. He then pulled out the bearkin’s intestine, ripped it apart, tied one end around the handle of his weapon, and began spinning it around the handle, slowly pulling more and more out of the bearkin.

“WHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” the bearkin cried. By now he was ready to do anything to make the agony stop.

Gathering what little strength he had, the bearkin turned to his side and sloooowly, painfully pulled away from the torturer, inadvertently aiding in his own disembowelment. However, this allowed the bearkin to reach the leopardkin and, with a single bite, rip apart the jugular veins of the leopardkin, killing him.

“THERE! DONE! JUST—PLEASE—NO MORE!!” the bearkin cried out for mercy.

“Was that so hard?” Number Seven asked. “If you had fought to the death from the beginning like you were supposed to, I would not have had to do this!”

Number Seven halted the torture of the bearkin and waited for the leopardkin to bleed out. The moment that the torturer confirmed the death of the leopardkin, he cut off the head of the bearkin, ending the suffering of his final opponent of this round in a single strike.

“Finally, Number Seven secures the killing blow and advances to the next round!” Thelicia cheerfully announced. “It took a while, but Number Seven proved to be not only strong but also resourceful! A true favorite in these games, unlike those two trash lovebirds!”

Beatrice turned her head and saw a circle of fire surround “the Fridge”. Another victor as the time ran out.

While Beatrice’s head was turned, another cloud of dark fumes was unleashed at the succubus’s blind spot. Beatrice dodged the fumes just in the nick of time and jumped in the opposite direction to increase the distance from the toxins as fast as possible while avoiding several circles of fire that multiplied in the arena, protecting the victors of this round.

That was when Number Sixty-six appeared behind Beatrice, anticipating the safest route Beatrice would take, and opened her mouth to vomit deadly acid all over Beatrice, just like she did with the monster. The snake lady already had her fingers down her throat, when Beatrice turned around, closed the distance, and cut off the snake lady’s arm in a single swipe.

“GHYAAAAA~!!” Number Sixty-six screamed as she tumbled to the ground, spraying blood uncontrollably from the open wound.

“Sorry,” Beatrice said as she walked toward her wounded opponent. Beatrice then kneeled next to her handpicked teammate and said, “Compared to whatever that thing was, your movements seem so slow that you might as well be standing still.”

“DIE!!” the snake lady screamed and opened her mouth to unleash another attack right in Beatrice’s face. However, Beatrice simply pointed her index finger right inside the snake lady’s mouth and used her [Extend Claws] Skill to pierce straight through to the girl’s brain, swiftly ending the girl’s life.