Chapter 181: Heracles (6)
Poseidon was slightly impressed.
He had expected her to be strong, but not this strong.
Above all, the sheer volume of magical power she possessed felt almost like looking at a divine beast species. For a human to have enough mana to completely envelop their entire body like that was simply absurd.
“A human with the mana capacity of a divine beast species… How many beings out there can even wrap their own body in it and achieve conceptual manifestation?”
Divine power or mana ultimately varies in both quantity and quality from individual to individual. Only the most exceptional among the various races—those whose names are remembered throughout history—could casually wield what Aresia was handling so nonchalantly.
At this point, it was worth considering whether one of Aresia’s parents carried some extraordinary bloodline.
“Well… it’s inefficient, so I wouldn’t prefer it myself. But guys like Ares would probably love this style.”
After devastating the arena with a lion-shaped mana-infused punch, Aresia suddenly switched off like a machine whose power had been cut—returning to her usual dumb, vacant expression.
“Master! Did you see? Did you see this body’s amazing performance?!!”
Then, like a puppy desperate for praise, she charged straight at Poseidon.
“Huh? Did you see it? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
From Poseidon’s perspective, dealing with this hyper-energetic slave was simply exhausting.
But what could he do? He was the idiot who had spent an astronomical amount of money to “hire”(?) her.
“Yeah, yeah, I saw. Just—stay still for a second!”
“Okay!”
At least, ever since he bought her that [Medea’s Lovey-Dovey Cake], she at least pretended to listen.
“Sigh… Still, at this level, I can probably leave that 9-year-old to you. Dealing with him personally would be a hassle anyway.”
“Hm? Who…?”
“You… seriously forgot? The whole reason I entered this tournament.”
Only then did Aresia finally remember the original purpose of her ridiculously wealthy master.
Apparently, caught up in the long-forgotten heat and thrill of the coliseum battles, she had completely blacked out on why she and her master had even signed up in the first place.
“Ah!”
“Good grief. Well done, really well done. You really cause every kind of trouble possible.”
“Hehe.”
***
The audience, frozen in shock after Aresia ended Abaddon—the rising star who had quickly built infamy and fame in this coliseum—with a single punch, finally erupted into belated cheers.
Whether they were regulars who always lingered in the coliseum or newcomers who had come specifically to see the so-called “legend” Aresia, witnessing a battle between beings who had surpassed a certain threshold was insanely exhilarating.
And above all, the sight of this monstrous human in disguise acting all cutesy and clingy in front of her “master” mage—
It was more than enough to ignite the deepest desires of everyone who came to this illegal fighting pit.
Whether they had previously thought slavery was barbaric, inefficient, or even just a scam disguised as employment—seeing that monster behaving like a leashed dog was more than enough to make them reconsider their stance on owning slaves.
For example, it was common knowledge among those in the know that a significant number of Aresia’s previous owners had died by her own hand.
To be precise, those who had violated the clearly written terms of their contracts—thinking they could treat her like a typical barbaric slave from the outside world—had met their end at her hands.
Regardless of the reason, even people who had previously been reluctant to own slaves were now having second thoughts.
And that meant not only the coliseum but the entire slave industry was experiencing a massive resurgence.
“Hahaha, Lord Njord. We are truly grateful. Thanks to you, not only our coliseum but the entire slave market that supports it is receiving roaring cheers.”
“Is that so? Glad to hear it. But did a merchant like you really come all this way just to thank me for that?”
Poseidon—posing as Njord—looked at the merchant standing before him.
This was the very same merchant who had originally brokered the contract between him and Aresia.
And Poseidon knew exactly what kind of person this merchant really was.
“Oh no, how could I possibly waste Lord Njord’s precious time? Let me get straight to the point. Lord Njord—or rather, great Mage—would you perhaps be interested in making a lot of money?”
***
By now, there was hardly anyone left in the coliseum who didn’t know the name of the mage Njord.
He and Aresia had advanced through the tournament by systematically crushing one famous name after another.
After defeating Abaddon, the master-slave pair had breezed through their next four matches against renowned powerhouses without any real difficulty.
At this point, just hearing the names Njord and Aresia made everyone in the coliseum hesitate to face them.
Of course, the [Belt of the Amazon Queen] was an incredibly tempting prize—but when weighed against their lives? Most people just shook their heads.
Well… only Njord knew that the belt had originally been forged from Ares’s war-gear, which was why reactions were so one-sided.
That said, they hadn’t actually given up. They had simply expanded the battlefield outside the arena itself.
“That’s why every meal comes pre-poisoned, ambushes happen while sleeping, and curses fly at me nonstop.”
Njord shook off the curse around his hand with an annoyed expression.
If he had known it would be this annoying, he never would have accepted the merchant’s deal.
“No, seriously—how the hell did they even get their hands on [Circe’s Iron, Poison, and Root]?”
Njord clicked his tongue at the persistence and sheer audacity of the people participating in this tournament.
Sure, assassination attempts and curses were to be expected in a place where killing each other was the norm—but using a curse that could even kill its own caster?
“Ugh… what am I supposed to do with this?”
In front of the muttering Njord stood roughly twenty assassins—along with a curse born from their corpses that was now devouring the entire hotel.
Wherever the massive tree-root-like mana coiled, people convulsed like epilepsy patients and died in agony. It was far from a pleasant sight.
Looking at the hotel manager standing there with a stunned, despairing expression only made it worse.
“Ugh… this curse tastes terrible…”
Even Aresia refused to eat this one, calling it disgusting. That alone showed just how vile the curse really was.
(For reference: ever since achieving conceptual manifestation, Aresia had taken to consuming curses, magic, and poisons to fill her stomach and increase her mana.)
‘Tsk tsk. No wonder decent criminals won’t touch these types. Bringing something they can’t even handle and just self-destructing…’
If left alone, it was obvious the curse would gradually expand its domain, eventually spreading beyond this hotel and engulfing the entire lodging district.
“But this has nothing to do with us, right? It’s the fault of the idiots who cast it.”
“Yep yep, as expected of Master.”
“Then let’s just leave it and move to a completely different hotel in another district, Aresia.”
“Wooo!! Then let’s go to Medea’s Lovey-Dovey Hotel!! It’s so expensive I could never go there before. A franchise run by witches—curses like this can’t even breach it!!!”
“Yeah, yeah, lead the way. And get ready to stand there with your hands up when we arrive.”
“Ehh?! Why?!”
“Because this time you even hid your true level. I distinctly remember the slave contract saying you were at the Archon (leader/ruler) rank.”
“…….”
Aresia gaped in genuine shock, as if she had completely forgotten.
More precisely, her expression screamed “I totally blanked on that!”—but what could be done? The end result was still deception.
Above all, once someone reached a certain level of mastery, ordinary slave contracts lost almost all controlling power.
That was why different ranks required entirely different contract methods. In short, up until now the contract between Aresia and Njord had barely had any real effect.
Perhaps sensing the seriousness of the situation for once, Aresia’s shoulders slumped powerlessly. She lowered her head and followed meekly behind Njord.
She had always thought—much like the merfolk said—that all slave owners were more or less the same. She never imagined she would meet a master she actually liked this much.
“Master…”
“What?”
Poseidon glanced at the drooping Aresia and decided he should probably go easy on her this time as he answered.
In hindsight, she had seemed borderline during the contract process. Perhaps she had only fully achieved conceptual manifestation after fending off ambushes and swallowing curses.
So right now, she was likely at the very beginning of the Hero (Heros) rank.
Above all, Aresia was a woman overflowing with talent—and to him, she posed no real threat.
He liked talented humans.
“…Still, you’re still buying me the Lovey-Dovey Cake, right? You know that?”
Crack!
For the first time in his divine life, Poseidon genuinely felt pure irritation. Only now did he finally understand how other people must have felt.
Completely against his will.
“Aresia.”
Njord smiled sweetly as he looked at her.
Aresia lifted her head with an expression that said “Yep, that’s my Master!”
“Punishment. All. Day. Long!!!”
BOOM!
But whyyyyy?!
***
At the same moment Aresia and Njord were bickering—
The various factions lurking in the shadows of the merfolk pirate crew’s black market were assessing the outcome of this latest curse.
—Hmm… So that monster finally reached her true level.
—Indeed. They say not even a scratch after being hit with that curse. And her so-called master mage is completely unharmed too. It’s confirmed.
—Hmph. More importantly, has anyone actually investigated that mage?
—We did. Found nothing.
—What? Even your [Kryptos] group came up empty?
—Yes. More precisely… at some point our entire investigation team vanished. Without leaving a single trace.
—Ufufufu, looks like he’s an even bigger fish than we thought.
—Seems that way. From the very beginning, the fact that someone would spend that much money just to “own” Aresia as a slave already proved he wasn’t ordinary.
—Then just kidnap him! Simple!!
—Idiot. Do you want the merfolk pirate crew to wipe us all out?
—Hmph! Unlike you cowards, we’re already prepared to clash with the merfolk pirate crew if necessary.
—Tsk. How stupid.
—What did you say?!
The masterminds behind all the annoying ambushes Njord had been dealing with were now gathered in one place.
Their ultimate goal was to annihilate the merfolk pirate crew and monopolize this black market. Naturally, they wanted to make use of the powerful newcomer Aresia and her mage.
All to inflict even the slightest wound on the pirate crew’s captain—the greatest threat to them.
For example, the very fact that Aresia had ended up enslaved was also the result of their schemes.
—Enough. Re-evaluating Aresia’s strength is already sufficient. She already stole that monstrous woman’s sword and weakened her power. We could launch the operation right now if we wanted… but our goal isn’t just to kill that monster and the merfolk pirate crew, is it?
—Ugh… true.
—Exactly. We could try right now. But if it ends in mutual destruction, the only ones who benefit are the cowards.
—Ufufufufu… So does the leader have a good plan? Aresia is following that mage far more loyally than we expected. Our original plan this time was to make her kill her master, wasn’t it?
—That… let’s just keep watching for now. And if necessary, we can use others. Above all, it’s still unclear what that monstrous woman plans to do with Aresia.
—I see. We’re not the only ones watching anyway. In that case, there’s one more thing I’d like to bring up.
—What is it?
—It concerns the little monster. I want to pit that child against Aresia in this tournament and see what happens.
The figure appearing on their screen was a young child who should still be by his parents’ side.
A 9-year-old boy with black hair and black eyes—far too young and innocent a name to be coming out of these criminals’ mouths.
—I see. So this is the new monster who suddenly appeared?
—Yes. From what we’ve confirmed, he may even surpass Aresia in potential. I want to test him. If he proves useful, we should dig deeper.
—Fine. I agree.
—Same here.
—I agree as well.
—Hmm. I’ll agree too.
—Then it’s decided. We’ll proceed with the manipulation immediately. The mage already agreed to it anyway. No need to worry about getting caught.
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