Chapter 322: The Beginning of Hell
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Derek's words caused a violent uproar.
"Fuck this and fuck you, I quit!"
"Whoever wants to play, go ahead, I personally won’t risk my life on this shit!"
Most of the contestants were enraged, they pulled their swords out, wanting to leave. It seemed like these illegal mercenaries were ready to fight their way out as they drew their weapons. However, the few mages who Derek had hired had already started to cast a spell before they could even finish their sentence.
Walls started rising from the ground to form a cage which trapped all the participants inside. Some of them who tried to escape got caught off guard as they hit the wall, there was no way for them to escape.
The mages flew in the air above them and looked at them coldly.
"A word of advice, don’t think about escaping again." Derek's voice came from the other side of the wall, "Since all of you are trapped here, you have no choice. Instead, you should start thinking about how to stay alive throughout the hunt."
Obviously, he did not quell their anger by saying this. Most of the contestants were even more stirred up, they slashed at the walls with their swords, trying to break the walls and get out of the cage.
However, a thorn rose from the ground ended their resistance.
"Ah—!"
Piercing screams came from the cage, even the nearby birds were frightened and flew out of the woods.
What they saw was a mage in the sky who had his hands stretched out toward them. And on the ground, one of mercenaries who had tried to break through the walls and was now impaled on a large spike sprouting from the ground. Blood poured out of him like a fountain.
Inside the wall, it went dead silent. As the others looked at the sharp thorn drilled through his body, they could not help but gasp and involuntarily took a few steps back.
Even for those who had fought countless underground battles... … they could not bear to look at this gruesome scene.
Suddenly, one of the wealthy sponsors suddenly piped up, "Oh, why did u kill him. There’s only so little prey this year and you have already killed one, we want a refund."
Derek quickly went over to appease them: "Sir, please calm down... ..."
As most of the contestants were scared stiff, no one dare to act rashly - even after hearing what they said.
Since the mages had range on their side, it was obvious that they could easily deal with these short-ranged fighters.
While the contestants were excited, he hid within them, observing any changes in the situation. When the few mages attacked, he carefully analyzed their strength and found that they were stronger than he initially suspected.
He counted, the organizers invited a total of six mages. Benjamin was thinking whether or not he should make a move, but fighting six of them at once… he wasn’t sure if he could kill all of them.
If one of them managed to escape, Benjamin's identity would be exposed, and he might make some enemies. This would cause him endless troubles.
Therefore, he restrained himself and watched what was happening quietly.
But looking at the reactions of the other contestants, Benjamin suddenly had an idea.
He grinned, but quickly hid it.
"I believe that all of you understand the rules of the game - as long as you stay alive for seven days, the money is yours." After he appeased the rich businessmen, Derek once again spoke to the contestants, "First, throw your weapon to the side and break your own hands. Those who break their hands first will receive their gold coins earlier and get a head start to start hiding in the woods. They will have more time to hide and the possibility of them surviving will be higher."
After hearing this, the mercenaries went silent for a moment, most of them still hesitant.
Derek continued, "I can only say that there is not much time left for you. In fifteen minutes, the hunt will begin. If you are still here, the hunters will have to kill you here."
This was the straw that breaks the camel's back, after hearing what Derek said, some finally chose to give in.
They threw their swords aside, crossed their hands, bent it behind them and heavily fell back. This caused a series of screams, and when they stood up again, their hands were lifelessly hanging by their sides.
Derek nodded his head in satisfaction.
The mages continued to cast spells, blowing out those who have broken their hands, whereas Derek’s mercenaries watched them closely to prevent anyone from escaping. After inspecting them, they hung the bag of gold coins on their waist. After this, they rushed into the forest without looking back.
Once someone made the first move, it lifted the psychological burden of the rest them.
It was probably because they realized that they had no choice, and that this was the only way was to survive. Therefore, there was no point in being angry, instead, they became even more determined as they fought to break their hands first so that they will have better chances of surviving.
Benjamin followed the crowd without making a sound, broke his hands just like the rest of them, and entered the woods.
In less than two minutes, more than 20 contestants had disappeared into this particularly silent forest.
Derek grinned.
He turned around, looked at the impatient businessmen and said slowly, "Sir, please be patient, the seven days of hell that we are looking forward to will begin shortly."
Two of the wealthy businessmen nodded. Their fat faces revealed an excited smile.
At the same time.
In the woods.
The contestants ran into the woods without thinking of fighting each other, all of them choose a path and soon disappeared into it. Some of them tried to enter the woods and escape from another direction, but when they came to the edge, they found underground mercenaries guarding it. Since they did not have a weapon, they chose to give up.
In short, staying in the woods was their only option, it seemed that the only thing they could do was to think of ways to stay alive.
As for Benjamin ...
Shortly after entering the woods, he began to activate the water element sensing technique. After making sure that there was no one around, he continuously used dozens of healing water ball to heal the hand that he broke earlier and soon regained mobility.
The meek attitude that he had put on earlier had also disappeared as he straightened his waist.
"... …The game, is it about to start now?"
He rubbed his wrist that were still slightly sore, raised his gaze the clouds through the overlapping branches of the trees, and sneered coldly.
Then, he closed his eyes and scanned his surroundings. When he opened his eyes, he had decided on a direction and flew toward the shallow clouds.
One of the rules of "Seven days of hell" was to let the prey escape first. So, since the mages and wealthy businessmen had not yet entered the woods, Benjamin could act without worrying.
He was prepared to give them a grand welcome ceremony.
Seven days of hell… let’s see who will be in hell at the end of this shit?
Thinking of this, Benjamin’s eyes glowed with killing intent as he flew faster.
Half a minute later.
At the other corner of the woods, a mercenary contestant fell to the ground and was frozen inside an ice prison, not being able to move.
"You... …how did you know… ..."
He raised his head with eyes gleaming in fear. He thought about how they were together just an hour ago but now Benjamin was floating in the air, looking down on him.
His jaw was gaping, he wanted to say something, but was too scared to utter a word.
In the moonlight, Benjamin smiled at him and slowly opened his mouth. The words that came out of Benjamin’s mouth sounded like the words of God to the mercenary.
"Let me ask you, do you want to pick up your sword again and cut those bastards outside into pieces?"