Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 14 Overcoat(2)

Translator: BaeBae Editor: Chazathan777

“Aughh ahhhh!”

The man who was pissing himself threw down his shield and sword and ran for the hills.

“No!”

One gladiator screamed for him to come back but once he fled, the desert trolls didn’t miss the opportunity for such an easy picking.

With a sharp shriek, three trolls surrounded Juan’s group at once. The man who had fled banged on the closed metal bars and screamed.

“Let me out! Something’s wron…..!”

Ooo Ddduk! The man’s head was ripped off.

Meanwhile, Juan and his group scattered in all directions from the incoming desert trolls.

Luckily, the trolls instinctively rushed towards the weakness first, so there were no other casualties except one.

But it was going to be difficult for the group to come together as one again as everyone had scattered.

It was every man for himself. And anyways their survival rate looked higher by joining Lecto’s or Rampage’s groups instead.

‘That’s good.’

For Juan, it was better that the group had scattered.

First of all, he was confident he would not get caught by dull monsters like desert trolls.

There were many other easier targets all over the place. It was important to save his stamina for opponents further on in the match.

Juan looked at Lecto’s and Rampage’s groups, who were watching the people in Juan’s group get slaughtered. Unlike before, Lecto was refraining from taunting the trolls.

‘He’s made the same judgement I suppose.’

The more they got tired or full, the more monsters lost their aggression.

Non-aggressive monsters were easier to hunt.

The desert trolls decapitated two more people after their first kill.

People began cheering again at the abundance of bloodshed.

For the trolls, it was time to feast. The contestants killed during the first round were immediately cleaned up, so there wasn’t an opportunity to eat.

This round, time was plentiful.

After being starved for weeks, the desert trolls ate to their heart’s content. The trolls entered a lethargic state during their meal time.

In the meantime, Juan carefully looked at his surroundings. Recalling his memories, there was something that couldn’t be located unless it was searched for from inside the arena.

‘It’s definitely here somewhere…’

As the desert trolls were finishing up their meal, the other two groups started moving. Trolls with full stomachs were usually a good target to hunt.

Desert trolls would become complacent after eating a meal in order to preserve the nutrition in their bodies as long as possible.

They dug themselves underneath the sand and slept for a few days until they needed to feed again. Thus, they were at their weakest when they finished their meal.

Rampage acted first.

Rampage and his squad moved slowly but sturdily towards the desert trolls.

Moving as a single unit they looked formidable. The desert trolls had their guard up and were growling lowly.

Having already eaten, they weren’t so eager to fight. However, Rampage’s soldiers had transformed into a killing machine.

“Kill em.”

Rampage gave a simple command.

Three sharp spears were thrust forward from the gaps between the shields. From the desert troll’s perspective, they never saw it coming.

The first victim started screaming as a spear was driven through its eyes.

The crowd started cheering as the monsters were receiving injuries for the first time today.

The spear was driven through the desert troll’s head then pulled back out to drive it in again and again around its body.

Not long after, the troll gave its last breath and died. Desert trolls had a slow regeneration as their metabolism was slow as well.

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The two trolls that were left let out a threatening roar but were hesitant to attack.

Instead, they resorted to throwing decapitated heads and bones to no avail as the shields easily stopped them from causing harm.

Rampage’s soldiers slowly started moving forwards, putting pressure on the trolls.

The trolls were backing off when their heads were suddenly smashed open with a puuh-suk sound.

Lecto, who had split the desert trolls’ heads roared.

“A fitting method for a bitch like you Rampage!”

“Crazy bastard.”

Rampage clicked his tongue as he retreated a step back. The sudden attack from Lecto’s men took the trolls by surprise and were easily slaughtered. While Lecto received the merits this time, Rampage was looking at the bigger picture.

This wasn’t the only fight.

They had to endure five battles and each round became increasingly difficult as more powerful monsters were deployed.

He was content leaving the satiated desert trolls for Lecto to take care of.

The crowd was elated when Lecto sprayed the trolls’ blood on the sand floor of the arena. He even performed an act to look as if he was drinking blood from a troll’s head that he’d cut off.

Rampage had an obsession with performing on stage, while Lecto had the acting skills.

This was one of the traits that helped him stay as Champion for so long.

Rampage was a brilliant warrior, however he didn’t have Lecto’s showmanship capabilities.

‘And the third character.’

Yet to reveal his true face, the main protagonist that no one anticipated.

Though Daaron had a small hope he would become the dark horse of today’s match. He observed the whole arena trying to locate the child.

As if he was biding his time for the right opportunity, he was nowhere to be seen.

Daaron didn’t even think of the possibility that he’d been eaten by the desert trolls.

A suspicion started growing on Daaron’s face as he failed to track down where Juan was.

It was the same result no matter how hard he searched

Daaron swung his body over over the palisade. An unnerving look filled his face.

‘He’s not here.’

Juan couldn’t be seen inside the Colosseum.

*****

Juan began concealing himself when everyone’s attention shifted towards the desert trolls.

Not a single person from the crowd nor a gladiator were watching him.

While there wasn’t normally anywhere suitable to hide inside the open arena, for Juan, all he needed was dead bodies, blood, and sand to conceal himself.

He used the blood to make the sand stick to his body, forming a layer of camouflage.

‘Then…..concealment.’

Juan dispersed his mana like fog around his body to dim his presence.

He was able to do this because he had excellent control at manipulating his mana. One couldn’t have achieved this merely by knowing magic. While he’d lost most of his mana, his expertise in manipulating mana didn’t go anywhere.

And like a snake hidden beneath the sand, he stalked his prey. The blood that had been sprayed over the ground had stained the sand. It was a slaughter everywhere.

Juan analyzed the entire Colosseum from beneath the sand where he was hiding. He’d felt the movement of an enemy’s blood.

Inside the Colosseum, a sizable amount of mana created from snake blood was being directed somewhere.

Back when he killed Taltere, his goal was to simply take his head. But now, he first had to find where Taltere was hiding.

Juan didn’t doubt for a second that Taltere would be at the other side of this blood trail.

‘But…there’s….not enough blood.’

There wasn’t enough blood to figure out where the blood was heading to. A more assertive behaviour was required to know who was pulling the strings.

Juan glimpsed at director Daaron. While he was the most suspicious candidate for now, it looked as if he wasn’t faking it.

‘I might need a little help.’

While Juan was contemplating, the arena had turned into chaos.

Once the desert trolls were ripped apart, Lecto and Rampage started growling and taunting each other.

It looked as if a fight was gonna break out at any moment, yet the two stood their ground.

In a roundabout way, this was them signalling to hurry up and send in the next set of monsters.

Juan recognised this signal and observed what the director’s response would be.

Just below the director’s area, a soldier pulled on a complex set of chains and the Colosseum’s north gate started to open.

‘There.’

Juan suddenly blasted off, having waited patiently for this moment.

Blink.

The scene around him went blurry, along with his body feeling like it was pulled forward. Juan instantly arrived at his desired location.

Juan skimmed past a fellow gladiator, but he didn’t notice anything but a breeze.

Juan stood next to the prison cell and looked around curiously.

There were two soldiers inside.

He swiftly drove his knife into one of the soldier’s neck, who was snickering at the events that were unfolding in the arena.

“Kuk, Kuakuukuk….”

“Huh? What? Oi, what’s wrong?”

Juan squeezed himself past the cell bars and crawled inside.

The cell was made to keep grown adults and monsters in place, not skinny children.

The other soldier pulled out his sword as soon as he saw Juan. Effortlessly, Juan proceeded to stab his knife into the soldier’s skull the moment he entered the prison room.

Juan didn’t even feel an ounce of sympathy.

To clean his dirtied knife he swung his knife down, and the blood on it splattered on the floor.

His attention shifted to the mechanical devices.

‘Nothing’s changed since then huh.’

Everything was exactly the same as when he beheaded Taltere. Back then, Taltere’s priests had made many mechanical devices to satisfy their god.

Those who proclaimed to worship the emperor were using the same methods to operate this device that belonged to a god that the emperor slew.

Juan lifted his head and looked at the Colosseum.

Screaming gladiators swinging their swords and soldiers putting their lives on the line for money. The exhilarated crowd that were giving away their money to see such a gruesome event.

On the arena’s floor, the crazy woman’s and faun’s blood pasted into the sand.

Looking on, for a strange reason, Juan felt refreshed.

It felt as if he took off a blindfold that had been covering his eyes.

Yes. The world has already been like this.

If someone cleaned up rubbish, there was someone there to diligently place the rubbish back.

It was nothing to be disappointed about and be called unfair.

It was unsurprising, just like how he was stabbed in the back with a knife.

“I guess that means you’re all confident that you won’t get stabbed in the back, right?”

Just like Juan had his blindfold taken off, he was going to take their blindfolds off as well.

“I’ll let you all enjoy this in person.”

*****

Once the north gate opened, a giant snake slithered into the arena.

It boasted a huge length that if stretched, would cover the circumference of the arena.

A high pitched cheer erupted from the crowd.

“Uuuu wahhh! What is that thing?”

“Serpent? Is it a serpent? But, doesn’t it live in the sea?”

“It could always be a sea snake! They can live on land!”

“How on earth did they manage to bring that here?”

As expected, Lecto panicked at the size of the snake. The event had plenty left to go and yet something as tough as this already? It wasn’t an understatement to say it should’ve been the final boss.”

Lecto looked up at Daaron. His stern expression stayed the same.

‘Are you telling me to die here?’

It wasn’t uncommon to see champions dying, but Lecto didn’t want to die halfway through the day. He at least thought he would die at the hands of another champion.

“Lecto!”

He heard someone call out from behind.

“Lets surround it! We’ll distract its head, you strike its body!”

It was Rampage.

It looked like he was also panicking at the sight of its size. But his title as an ex-centurion wasn’t for show.

Rampage slammed his shield to get the snake’s attention. The snake hissed back threateningly, however, it couldn’t easily gobble up Rampage’s group that was well equipped with shields.

The snake changed its mind and used its tail to constrict Rampage instead.

Then, Lecto rushed in. The snake contorted as Lector’s scimitar pierced its scales.

“How do you want it served! This big piece of meat…”

Lecto’s words stopped. He had noticed the west gate had begun to open.

This round hadn’t finished yet a new gate was opening?

Lecto looked at Rampage in panic. He too had a surprised look on his face.

However, his eyes weren’t looking west, but somewhere else.

The east gate was also opening. No, from every direction, monsters were flooding in.

“What, the fuck is this?”

Lectro screamed. More than ten different species of monsters like desert trolls, slime, mountain lions, giant ants and more flooded in.

The crowd cheered at first, seeing such an overwhelming amount of monsters.

But the cheers didn’t last long. Once the gladiators were swept aside from the waves of monsters, it had turned to screams.

They weren’t here to see a one sided massacre, they were here to see a human champion struggle for success.

“This…what are you thinking….!”

Lecto looked up at Daaron.

Daaron also had a face ridden with shock.

Rampage and his group were surrounded by orcs. They withstood like an island until it collapsed.

Blood and bits of flesh were thrown aside from where he’d just stood.

Lecto’s survival instinct kicked into gear as he saw his rival die in such an absurd manner. Something was off.

“Move! You little monster bitch!”

Lecto struck down at a desert troll’s head who was inching closer. However, his scimitar was left stuck in its flesh.

The giant snake shook its body as monsters were crowding around him like ants and started attacking.

Lecto grabbed it’s scale and held on for dear life.

If he fell, it was certain death.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

The snake shook around and straightened its body towards the sky before limply slamming back down.

It’s head had fallen towards the crowd and a few spectators were crushed to death.

After a brief silence, a new panic mode kicked in.

“Aughh ahhhh! Save me!”

“What are they doing…. Don’t push! I said stop p….!”

“Where are the guards!”

People who were enjoying a slaughter fest till just now, had tears and despair on their faces now that they were the one’s being targeted.

The narrow corridors were crowded and only a few managed to escape. Most suffocated or were crushed to death by the stampede.

But that wasn’t all.

Bits of rails had fallen inward, which created a staircase from the arena to the podium.

The monsters began their way up the stairs or used the snake’s body to get to the spectator area. The crowd stuck at the narrow exits were pounced upon.

A brutal slaughter took place.

A river of blood streamed into the arena.

“Blimey…”

Lecto who was stuck underneath the snake looked on at the spectacle. This was an opportunity for him.

Monsters had moved up towards the podium, lessening the amount left in the arena.

Lecto forced his body out from underneath the snake’s corpse. He had a sprained ankle but could still move.

“I will live through this. I will survive and….”

At that exact moment, a large shadow loomed past his head.

Lecto blankly raised his head.

A radiant sun. And a large shadow.

That’s the last thing he saw.