"GO RIGHT! I TAKE LEFT!"
125 heard my shout and nodded before abruptly shouting back.
"MY RIGHT OR YOURS?!"
Hearing his question, I nearly stumbled while running. But there was no time to answer. Only a few meters remained between us.
So we just jumped.
Thud.
Thud.
We both jumped to my right at the same time and rolled through the sand. Glancing back, I saw that my plan had worked.
THCK!
SMASH!
The two boars charging behind us had no way to follow our movements at their speed and helplessly crashed into each other.
Thud.
Then both collapsed to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Haah.
Taking a breath, I pushed myself off the ground and looked beside me.
Number 125 was still lying there with wide eyes, staring at the collision.
Turning my head back toward the beasts, I waited for the dust to settle.
"Are they dead?"
125 asked the same question I was thinking.
The dust slowly settled, and I was able to see the boars again.
"No," I said. "But they'll die soon."
Both boars had their horns embedded into each other's chest and head. But they were still alive. Their limbs twitched slightly, and low grunts escaped them. But the wounds were fatal, and they would succumb to them soon.
Haah.
I let out another breath and shifted my gaze toward the remaining boars.
92 and 86 were still trying to somehow inflict a wound on their opponent, while the short boy was slowly tiring from all the dodging.
Only two boars remained.
Step.
The sound of footsteps made me turn my head.
Step.
The girl I had pushed away earlier was walking toward us.
She seemed a lot calmer now after gaining a moment to rest. Her clothes were covered in sand, and she still held her spear tightly in her hands as she stopped a few meters away from us.
Staring directly at me, she said, "Thank you."
I just nodded before turning my gaze back toward the two remaining boars.
It was time to end this and return to our cells.
Thinking that, I took a step forward.
"29."
But stopped at the call of my number and glanced back.
It was 125.
"We'll take care of the boar on the left," he said. "Can you handle the one on the right and buy us some time?"
I considered it for a moment before answering.
"Yes."
Step.
Walking forward again, I headed toward the short teen on the right.
He was exhausted from all the dodging and running, but he was in a better shape than the girl had been, since he hadn't tried to attack the boar and had only focused on evading.
Step.
Picking up my pace, I ran toward him.
Glancing back, I saw that the other two had already joined the siblings.
It shouldn't take them long to kill theirs if they used my methods.
I just had to buy some time.
Haah.
I pushed even more mana into my legs and charged forward.
The short teen dodged the boar once again and was now running away while the beast started another charge.
Seeing an opportunity to take its aggro, I dashed in from the side toward the boy and—
Thud.
"Ah!"
—bumped into him from the side, throwing both of us into the sand while the boar dashed past us.
The teen let out a scream at the sudden impact, but stopped when he realized it was me and not a beast attacking him.
Pushing myself up, I looked down at him and said.
"I will take over."
The teen lay frozen on the ground, eyes wide and mouth open, before stammering.
"O-Okay… thanks."
Shifting my gaze away from him and toward the boar, I saw that it had already turned and fixed its eyes on me.
Thud.
Stomping its hooves into the sand, it lowered its head and charged again.
Thud.
A cloud of dust rose behind it.
Seeing that I had its aggro, I ran.
Step.
The boar accelerated, closing the distance between us.
I glanced back and was about to jump aside—
But stopped that thought as I saw something shine in the sand a few meters ahead of me.
It was one of the boy's battle axes.
There was something I wanted to try against these beasts.
And for that, I needed a weapon.
Deciding to do it, I pushed more mana into my legs and dashed forward until I reached it. Lowering one hand toward the ground, I grabbed the shaft and threw myself sideways.
Swoosh.
A breeze of air passed my side as the boar's horns narrowly missed me.
Thud.
I rolled through the sand for some time before stopping and standing up.
The beast had tried to turn toward me but could only slide helplessly through the sand due to its speed. Finally stopping, it turned fully and fixed its gaze on me again while stomping its hooves into the ground.
Thud.
Seeing that it was about to charge again, I ran.
Step.
Thud.
The boar chased after me while I sprinted straight toward the wall.
It was the same trick I had used before.
Reaching the wall, I jumped aside and let the boar smash into it with full force.
THUK!
Its horns sank into the wall first, followed by the rest of its head.
SMASH!
The boar was stuck.
Seeing the helpless beast in front of me, I tightened my grip on the axe before swinging at it.
Shing.
I aimed for its underbelly.
The weak point of heavily armored beasts.
Not because I knew it.
I just thought about a movie I had seen.
Jurassic World.
Those Ankylosaurus dinosaurs are just like the boars. Heavily armored. But in the movie, a T-Rex had ripped its belly apart as if it were paper.
So why shouldn't the same work with these boars?
Slrrsh.
Grraa!
The axe cut into its thick hide, but it wasn't deep enough to make it bleed. Still, it had at least made the beast shriek in pain.
So I struck again.
Slrrsh.
Grraa!
The second strike made it jolt and scream before it continued trying to pull its horns out of the wall.
The blows weren't drawing blood yet.
But enough hits would surely work.
Slrrsh.
Slrrsh.
I pushed more mana into my arm and attacked again and again, targeting the same place. At some point, after dozens of strikes, I almost gave up and considered another method.
But—
Slrrsh.
Drip.
Blood.
It finally started to bleed.
Seeing that, my resolve surged, and I attacked even faster.
Slrrsh.
Slrrsh.
Slrrsh.
Haah.
Slrrsh.
By the end, I had slashed at its stomach over and over without pause, even my breathing turned ragged.
Drip.
Drip.
A puddle of blood had formed beneath it.
Its stomach was now covered in deep cuts that split the flesh open, with parts of its organs hanging out of it.
Only its outer layer was protected by thick hide. After spilling the first drop of blood, my blade cut through its flesh like butter.
The boar had stopped trying to free itself and just stood there helplessly.
And—
Slrrsh.
Thud.
With my final strike, the beast finally collapsed.
Haah.
Haah.
Panting heavily, I let the axe fall from my hand and to the ground.
Thud.
Haah.
Using my sleeve, I wiped the blood from my face and tried to calm my breathing.
Haah.
Hah.
I was exhausted.
Repeatedly striking in fast succession wasn't anything new to me. But now it was coupled with the mental strain of controlling the new and denser mana.
That was what had worn me down.
Physically and mentally.
Sweat had completely soaked my shirt, and more still ran down my face.
Haah.
Looking away from the corpse and toward the other side of the arena, I saw that the four other teens had already slain the last boar as well. They were lying on the ground around its corpse, just as exhausted as I was.
Hah.
At least it was over.
Thud.
I let myself fall to the ground and leaned against the dead boar.
That was when the sound I had shut out returned.
"Yeaahh!"
"29!"
"125!"
"I knew they would do it!"
The crowd's cheers echoed through the arena. Even John's voice could be heard as he gave another speech.
But I was too tired to care.
So I simply closed my eyes and rested.