Chapter 299: No Mercy

Chapter 299: Chapter 299: No Mercy

Chapter 299: No Mercy

The blinding light of the blood-red fire finally dissipated, and the dense smoke cleared from the arena.

Thousand of spectators leaned over the railings, holding their breath as they stared down into the magma-veined pit.

Embedded deep within the cratered stone wall was Viperstrike.

His dark green scaled armor, reputed to be a Mystic-Grade defensive artifact, was completely destroyed.

His limbs hung at unnatural angles, and a pool of dark blood rapidly expanded beneath him.

He was entirely paralyzed, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.

A middle-stage Domain Master, an infamous executioner who relied on the most insidious, lethal poisons, had been utterly crushed by a Silver Rank 1 fighter!

"He won... Asura actually won!"

"A Silver Rank 1 youth defeated a middle-stage Domain Master!"

"Did you see that fire? It burned away the Domain of Miasmic Decay in a single second!"

Up in the stands, Rhain’s six subdued Domain Master slaves—Skullcrusher, Deathblade, Bloodfiend, and the others—were staring at the arena floor, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Viperstrike was a notoriously clever killer who had frustrated countless experts in this arena.

Yet against their Master, he had been dismantled and crushed like a brittle twig.

Looking at Viperstrike’s terrible condition, a profound dread filled the six slaves.

They suddenly realized just how incredibly fortunate they were to have surrendered when they did.

Their Master was a monster.

But the most intense reaction did not come from the slaves.

In the upper tiers of the colosseum, a massive figure entirely clad in blood-red armor slammed his hands onto the stone railing.

CRACK!

The solid stone crumbled to dust beneath his grip.

It was Bloodaxe—Viperstrike’s elder brother, a Level 6 Domain Master, and one of the most powerful executioners in the Gold Rank 2 tier.

His eyes reddened with grief, watching his brother reduced to a half-dead state.

Down in the blistering arena, Rhain did not spare a single glance at the roaring crowd or the stands.

He walked leisurely toward the cratered wall, dragging the broadsword behind him.

The tip of the heavy blade carved a shallow trench into the scorched earth.

Rhain stopped directly in front of the gasping assassin.

He lifted the heavy broadsword, resting the dark, blood-stained steel casually against Viperstrike’s exposed throat.

"Are you ready to take a Heavenly Vow?" Rhain asked, his voice chillingly calm beneath the demonic Asura mask. "Submit, and I will let you live."

Viperstrike coughed up another mouthful of blood, but instead of the desperate, begging terror that Skullcrusher or Deathblade had shown, a hoarse, arrogant chuckle escaped his lips.

Even though his body was broken, the serpent mask hiding his face shifted as he tilted his chin upward defiantly.

"You... cough... you think you’ve won?" Viperstrike sneered, his voice low and weak.

He raised a trembling finger at Rhain.

"If you kill me, or enslave me, my brother will tear you to pieces," Viperstrike threatened, his eyes glinting with a vicious, unyielding arrogance. "You know who he is. Bloodaxe. A Level 6 Domain Master. He is sitting right up there, watching us."

Viperstrike forced a confident, haughty grin.

"I have a better idea," he proposed shamelessly. "Let me go. We keep our respective Blood-Iron Tokens, call this match a draw, and walk away. You get to keep your life, and my brother won’t hunt you down and peel your skin off. It is a perfectly fair trade."

Up in the spectator stands, the crowd went dead silent as they heard Viperstrike’s words.

Frantic whispers broke out immediately.

"He’s using his brother’s name again!"

"I remember this! An year ago, a middle-stage Domain Master cornered Viperstrike just like this. But when Bloodaxe threatened him from the stands, the victor actually backed down and let Viperstrike live!"

"Will Asura do the same? Bloodaxe isn’t just any fighter; he is a ruthless butcher. Offending a Level 6 Domain Master in the Crucible Arena is a guaranteed death sentence!"

Everyone watched with bated breath, wondering if the unstoppable Silver Rank 1 demon would finally bow his head to the harsh reality of the underground hierarchy.

As if on cue, a thunderous roar erupted from the upper tiers.

"BOY!"

Bloodaxe’s booming voice tore across the colosseum, infused with the overwhelming pressure of a Level 6 Domain Master.

"If you dare to touch a single hair on his head, I swear to the heavens I will hunt you down! I will shatter every bone in your body and make you scream for a hundred days!"

The oppressive threat rolled down into the arena, reaching everyone’s ears.

Down in the pit, Rhain’s eyes slowly shifted toward the upper stands, locking briefly onto the roaring, blood-armored giant.

Then, his gaze returned to Viperstrike at his feet.

Rhain’s dark grey eyes turned chillingly cold.

He knew exactly how the laws of this hell operated.

In the Crucible Arena, showing mercy out of fear was the ultimate sin.

If he hesitated for even a fraction of a second, if he bowed his head to a threat shouted from the stands, the entire underground metropolis would instantly mark him as weak.

A laugh suddenly escaped Rhain’s lips.

"A draw?" Rhain asked, tilting his head slightly. "Tell me, Viperstrike. If I were the one lying there with my bones shattered, would you have spared my life and called it a draw?"

Viperstrike’s confident grin faltered for a second.

He knew exactly what he would have done.

He would have slowly dissolved Rhain in a pool of venom just to hear him scream.

But still, Viperstrike believed his brother’s name was his shield.

"My brother—" Viperstrike started to say.

"If your life is of no use to me," Rhain interrupted emotionlessly. "Then there is no point in you living."

Rhain simply pulled his arm back.

"WAIT—"

Swoosh—!

The heavy broadsword swung upward in a mesmerizing arc.

Dark crimson blood sprayed uncontrollably.

Viperstrike’s head was cleanly severed from his neck.

The head flew high into the air, spinning several times before it landed with a heavy thud onto the scorched sand.

It rolled for a few feet before coming to a complete stop.

The serpent mask had cracked upon impact, revealing the face beneath.

Viperstrike still had that arrogant, confident smile plastered across his lifeless face.

His eyes were wide open, entirely failing to comprehend that the youth had actually dared to kill him, right up until the exact microsecond his vision plunged into eternal darkness.

The colosseum was struck by a paralyzing fear.

Thousands of masked killers stared at the severed head resting in the dirt.

He actually killed him!

He didn’t care about the Level 6 Domain Master!

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

An earth-shattering roar of boundless grief and unimaginable rage exploded from the upper tiers.

BOOM—!!!

Bloodaxe lost his mind completely.

His Level 6 Domain Master aura erupted with such ferocity that the stone seating around him pulverized into dust.

The protective arrays shielding the spectator stands crackled and flashed violently, struggling to contain his explosive wrath.

"I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL DRINK YOUR BLOOD! I WILL TEAR YOUR SOUL TO SHREDS!" Bloodaxe shrieked, slamming his massive fists against the golden barrier.

But he didn’t jump into the arena.

No matter how deep his grief, or how burning his rage, the laws of the Crucible Arena bound him.

If he interfered in a concluded death match or attacked a fighter from the stands, the Nine Seats of the Crucible Throne would execute him before his boots even touched the sand.

Trapped by the unbreakable rules of the underground, Bloodaxe pointed a trembling finger directly at Rhain standing calmly below.

"ASURA!" Bloodaxe roared, his voice so high that it hurt his own throat. "I ISSUE A FORMAL, BLOOD-OATH DEATH DUEL! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"

The crowd gasped.

A Blood-Oath Death Duel!

It was the highest form of challenge in the Crucible Arena.

Once accepted, it could not be canceled, bought out, or interfered with by anyone.

Even sparing a life was out of the question.

Only one man would walk out alive.

Down in the arena, Rhain calmly cleaned the blood off his heavy broadsword, storing the weapon back into his spatial ring.

He didn’t even need to think about it.

If he refused the challenge, a Level 6 Domain Master consumed by vengeance would simply use his massive wealth and connections to orchestrate a thousand different, covert assassinations against him in the streets.

It was far better to face the rabid dog in an open ring where there was nowhere to hide.

Rhain raised his head, his dark grey eyes locking onto the raging giant in the stands.

"I accept," Rhain replied, his voice placid and entirely indifferent.

The referee, hovering nervously on his stone platter above the magma, finally came to his senses.

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, the referee hastily raised his hand.

"T-The Blood-Oath Death Duel is formally recognized!" the referee shouted, his voice echoing across the stunned colosseum. "The match is scheduled for tomorrow morning! The first bout of the day!"

With the challenge set, Rhain turned his attention back to the referee.

"My winnings," Rhain demanded.

The referee scrambled to comply.

He hurriedly pushed the massive spatial ring containing the nineteen thousand Blood-Iron Tokens toward Rhain.

Rhain casually caught the unimaginable fortune, storing it away without a second glance.

With a swirl of his dark robes, he turned his back on the furious, screaming Bloodaxe and walked leisurely out of the arena.

As he stepped out of the colosseum gates, his six Domain Master slaves hurried to fall into step behind him.

They kept their heads bowed, their massive bodies trembling uncontrollably.