Chapter 4: the unexpected victory

Without taking time to think, he shouted, "Hurry up! Go to the walls at the end of the arena!"

​When the children stood frozen, staring back at him, he realized the command wasn’t clear enough so by Pointing to the wall nearest to him, he yelled, "Get to that wall now! If we delay any longer, all of us will be slaughtered in a moment! I swear, you will die a horrific death!"

​The mention of death acted as a trigger. Terrified, the children bolted toward the far edge of the arena.

​Watching them scatter, the MC assumed they were fleeing in panic. He chuckled into his microphone. "Look at that, ladies and gentlemen! Some participants are already running before the show has even officially begun!"

​The audience erupted into laughter.

​"Alright," the MC continued, "let the show begin!"

​As the words left his mouth, a heavy wooden door at the cage in the center of the arena floor slid open. What emerged made Smith tremble; his fears were confirmed. A pack of wolves burst from the cage, led by a massive alpha wolf.

​Instead of mindlessly charging, the pack rallied around their leader. The alpha scanned the arena, assessing the potential threats, and swiftly divided his pack into four groups. With a low growl, he ordered them to launch probing attacks against each group of participants.

​Seeing the coordinated threat, Smith turned to the children. "Don’t panic! Listen to me! First, everyone carrying a shield, step to the front, squat down, and hold your shields tight to cover your entire body!"

​Visibly terrified, the shield bearing children scrambled to the front. They crouched low, interlinking their shields into a solid barrier that completely concealed their faces and bodies. From the outside, it looked like an impenetrable wall.

​Smith then turned to the rest of the group. "The rest of you, set the butts of your spears against the ground and the wall behind you, pointing the tips outward! When I give the command, stand your ground and align the spears over the top of the shields. If we don’t coordinate this perfectly, we will all be slaughtered!"

​The wolves were closing in rapidly, but the children managed to lock their improvised hedgehog formation just in time. The wall of shields, topped with a dense row of gleaming spearheads, presented a deadly obstacle. Realizing a reckless charge would only result in impalement,after seeing no visible openings the wolves halted, growled in frustration, and circled back.

​Smith breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the pack retreated.

​The other groups of participants did not fare as well. Many had favored swords and spears over shields, leaving themselves completely exposed without a defensive structure. Against the world’s most dangerous pack predators, they were picked apart one by one. Though the adult managed to strike back turning the arena floor into a mutual slaughterhouse they paid a heavy price. By the time the last wolf was slain, the non child groups had suffered devastating casualties.

​The MC’s voice boomed over the crowd. "As you can see, every group sustained heavy losses in the first round—except for our youngest participants, who didn’t lose a single soul! But don’t expect them to be so lucky in the next round, because the real challenge is about to begin!"

​The crowd erupted into bloodthirsty cheers. The MC raised his hands, motioning for silence. "Now, for the next round, we will have a Battle Royale! Only one group will leave this stage alive!"

​The spectators roared with excitement as the second round began.

​Smith knew the hedgehog tactic had only worked because the wolves lacked complex reasoning. Against human opponents, it would be useless. A grim reality set in: they were in a desperate, near-impossible situation.

​Yet, as the battle commenced, an unexpected dynamic unfolded. The remaining adult groups completely ignored the children. Viewing the kids as no real threat, the surviving groupd turned their weapons on each other, treating one another as the true competition.

​A brutal struggle ensued. Rivers of blood soaked the dirt as men fell left and right. Watching the carnage, the children turned pale; several threw up until their stomachs were completely empty. Still, they forced themselves to endure the sight, knowing that as soon as a victor emerged among the adults, their turn would come.

​After several agonizing minutes, the chaos subsided. Only three adults remained standing. Drained, bleeding, and severely injured, the survivors collapsed against the arena wall to catch their breath. Confident the children posed no danger, they let their guard down completely.

​An idea struck Smith. He leaned in close to the trembling kids. "They’re underestimating us," he whispered fiercely. "They think we’re just fish on a chopping board waiting to be sliced. Is that how you’re going to die? Just sitting here waiting for them to come slaughter you?"

​His words pierced through their terror. The children realized that waiting meant certain death. A girl with stark white hair and crimson eyes stepped forward, she asked. "What do we do?"

​Seeing their resolve harden, Smith nodded. "We fight them head on, They’re grown men, but they’re exhausted, injured, and out of breath. If we let them recover, we’re dead. We take our weapons and strike before they get their strength back."

​When the children hesitated at the thought of wielding the heavy weapons, Smith acted fast. He grabbed the long spears distributed earlier and snapped the shafts in half, turning them into lightweight, manageable short-spears.

​"Take these," he instructed. "They’re shorter, but you can actually thrust them effectively."

​Armed with the shortened spears, the children crept along the arena wall, closing the distance.

​The three surviving men saw them approaching but scoffed, assuming it was just a feeble display of bravery. But as the kids drew closer, the men realized something was horribly wrong. As the children advanced, they kicked away all the loose weapons scattered on the ground, pushing them far out of the adults’ reach.

​By the time the men realized what was happening, the children were less than ten meters away, charging with spears raised high.

​The men scrambled to stand they had rested their backs against the wall, effectively cornering themselves. Weaponless, bleeding, and utterly exhausted, they couldn’t muster even a fraction of their normal fighting strength.

​With nowhere to run, the survival could only watch in horror as the group of children closed in. The men who had survived both the wolf pack and the bloody battle royale were unceremoniously stabbed to death by the very children they had dismissed.

​A stunned silence fell over the arena. Even the MC stood speechless, utterly unprepared for the group destined to lose to walk away victorious. Catching his composure, he quickly masked his shock. The arena’s betting pool had just made a fortune—nobody had placed a wager on the children.

​"W-well!" the MC bellowed into the microphone, recovering his professional persona. "It seems our youngest group contains true prodigies! A stunning victory!"

​The audience, though bewildered by the sudden turn of events, broke into thunderous applause, thrilled by the unexpected twist.

​As the cheers echoed across the colosseum, the heavy iron gates open. Guards marched into the arena, ready to shackle the surviving children once again.