Pick Me Up Infinite Gacha! Novel - Chapter 340
## Chapter 340 – The Sword Waiting to be Drawn (5)
<Aaron’s Parallel Story Episode 11>
***
Time passed.
The man fought in five more bouts.
The high-ranking gladiator, Nameless, had a record of 17 wins, 0 losses.
He had concealed his strength during those intense battles, but now he had reached a point where he could no longer do so.
His fellow gladiators began to subtly avoid him.
The White Demon guards’ gazes towards him increased in distrust and hostility.
“If you master the sword, you might survive!”
He sometimes remembered the old man’s shouts.
However, the man did not follow that voice.
Become strong, and then what?
At best, he would become a high-ranking White Demon’s dog, living off scraps.
Or he would simply engage in plundering and oppressing other humans.
‘Am I… waiting for death?’
The old man had not reappeared since then.
The man thought that perhaps the old man was not wrong.
He was dying.
His innate talent was being buried and corroded deep within him.
He was a sword.
A sword without a sheath, rusting, about to break.
What would change if he drew that sword?
Even if he removed the rust and sharpened the blade, what good would it be?
The sharp blade would only scatter blood and flesh everywhere.
He would become a tool of slaughter, taking countless lives.
‘A light that forges destiny?’
He laughed bitterly.
The honor, pride, and nobility that always appeared in chivalric literature were nowhere to be found in reality.
As a child, he loved his parents, but his parents sold him to the coliseum for a few coins.
As a young man, he trusted a companion older than him, but that guy exploited him for his own benefit.
Since his birth, he had been thoroughly betrayed.
Therefore, he ignored the rumors circulating.
Rumors about a liberation army fighting against the White Demons somewhere nearby.
It was said that the leader of that liberation army was seeking warriors who would fight for the freedom of humanity.
‘Is that what the old man wanted?’
That he master the sword, join the liberation army, and free humanity from slavery.
Thus, end the era of the White Demons and usher in a new era for humanity.
According to rumors, the leader of the liberation army was called a hero, and many followers were loyal to him for his noble character.
‘…….’
But he didn’t believe it.
He had seen too much greed behind smiling faces.
He was simply continuing to die slowly.
Soon after, rumors about the liberation army were overshadowed by another story.
This new story was far more sinister.
It was about the destruction of the world.
An apocalypse army had appeared from somewhere and was ravaging the continent.
They did not distinguish between humans, White Demons, or animals.
They killed and burned everything they encountered, returning everything to nothingness.
Rumors about the liberation army were quickly forgotten.
The reality of the apocalypse became increasingly palpable.
Although the man was trapped in the coliseum and could not get out, the rumors spread among the gladiators.
The north of the continent had been completely destroyed.
Several White Demon settlements, built on top of human cities, had been razed.
The White Demons had formed an army, but they were no match for them.
Weapons did not affect them.
The world was ending.
Those were the rumors.
The rumors became more real when the bouts in the coliseum stopped.
The bouts, which were supposed to be held at least once a month, had not been held for three months.
The view from the bedroom window became more desolate.
“What’s going on?”
“They say the world is ending.”
Even the most enthusiastic gladiators in combat training had stopped practicing.
They gathered in groups and murmured.
“They say they’ll be here soon.”
“The apocalypse army?”
“So we’ll all die?”
“What are the White Demons doing?”
The man sat quietly in his usual spot on the sand hill.
He could feel the anxiety of others.
“Why aren’t there any bouts? All the spectators have fled!”
“What?”
“They’re all gone. The high-ranking White Demons have fled. More than half of the citizens have also left. They say this city is doomed.”
“Then why don’t they let us out?”
The gladiators murmured everywhere.
“They say the king is preventing it.”
“They say he kills anyone who tries to leave.”
“Damn it! They say the apocalypse army is coming! Why won’t they let us escape?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
The man organized the information from the rumors.
An unstoppable force of destruction was approaching this city.
The high-ranking White Demons had already abandoned the city, and many citizens were trying to escape.
Despite that, the city was still functioning because the king was preventing people from fleeing.
The king had deployed his army to kill any escapees, whether White Demon or human.
“So, we’re all going to die, aren’t we?”
“We have to do something.”
“If we wait, we’ll die. We must act now.”
The gladiators reached a consensus.
That night, they would break into the locked armory, get weapons, and escape the coliseum.
The rumors about the destruction of the city had become a fact.
“…….”
However, their gazes turned towards the man.
Their eyes reflected a mix of fear and hope.
“Excuse me…”
“What do you want?”
“Shouldn’t you try to escape too?”
They knew how monstrous the man in front of them was.
“Ahem. I mean, we should go together…”
“Go away.”
“Ah, understood.”
The offer was rejected in an instant.
“Damn bastard.”
“Then die here alone.”
“I never liked you anyway.”
The man ignored the criticism.
The gladiators huddled together and continued planning.
Normally, they would betray and fight each other, but now they united around the common goal of survival.
“Once we get out, let’s loot the noble mansions. There’s bound to be something useful.”
“Food?”
“We’ll steal it.”
“We’ll kill any witnesses, whether woman or child. We don’t want any trouble.”
“We’ll hide in the alleys, and when the surveillance weakens…”
While they were planning their escape, hurried footsteps sounded on the stone floor.
There were also metallic noises of iron plates clashing, and the dull sound of metal hitting the stone floor.
“¿……?”
The gladiators realized the danger, but it was too late.
Coliseum guards appeared from all over, surrounding the training ground.
“What are you murmuring about?”
“Uh, we’re talking about… training…”
“How many times have I heard you planning to escape?”
The guard captain pointed his spear.
Although he looked human, a horn protruded from the hole in his steel helmet.
He was a White Demon.
“Uh, you must have heard wrong. Ha, ha…”
A gladiator smiled uncomfortably and looked at the man.
A plea for help.
The gladiators’ freedom was relatively guaranteed for a reason.
The coliseum, built in the era of humans, was designed to make escape impossible without directly confronting the guards.
There was no other way out except by defeating the guards guarding the exits.
“No, it must have been a misunderstanding. Yes, yes.”
The gladiators kept looking at the man.
The man sighed.
“Are you part of this too?”
The guard captain looked at the man.
His face showed a slight tension.
The man let go of the belt holding his sword sheath and threw it away.
“No, I’m not. Do what you want.”
“What?”
“Damn traitor!”
Clang.
The guards drew their weapons in unison.
“Anyway, dying from the plague or from spears and swords is the same. If you want to try it, go ahead.”
A muscular giant stepped forward.
He drew his double-handed war hammer.
He was also a high-ranking gladiator, the leader of this group.
“Damn White Demons, so what? We have wielded swords too! Let’s fight together! If we join forces, we can win.”
The giant shouted.
“Everyone, take your weapons. We have the training swords. Form a line.”
There was no response.
Amid an eerie silence, the giant looked back.
No one was moving.
The gladiators, with their heads down, just looked around, not daring to act.
The sooner they moved, the greater their chances of dying.
They didn’t want to risk their lives for the benefit of others.
“What the hell is going on? Why isn’t anyone moving?”
“…….”
“Damn it! Did you guys go crazy? Here and now…?”
The giant turned his head in anger.
At that moment, the guard captain lunged forward.
“Eh…!”
He turned his head, but it was too late.
The spear pierced the giant’s heart.
Gush.
Blood spurted from his chest.
The giant’s face showed disbelief.
The veteran gladiator fell without drawing his weapon.
“Run!”
At the same time, the gladiators scattered.
They tried to flee in the confusion caused by the giant’s death.
“Kill them all.”
A dozen White Demons lunged forward.
Their speed was that of a wild beast.
Their faces showed bloodlust and glee.
“Ha, ha, ha!”
“I’m going to gut them!”
Although they were just guards, the White Demons were still White Demons.
Their physical abilities far surpassed those of humans.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have allowed the gladiators to roam free.
Besides, except for the high-ranking gladiators, they were not allowed to carry weapons.
Most of the gladiators only had training swords.
“Save me!”
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh!”
Blood splattered everywhere.
Screams echoed.
The man, sitting, closed his eyes.
‘How stupid.’
If they had cooperated as the giant suggested, they might have had a chance.
There might have been a small opportunity.
But instead of cooperating, they betrayed each other.
It wasn’t surprising.
This was the nature of the human world he had known.
A place where the damned tried to drag each other to the abyss.
“Gather the bodies. We need supplies.”
It was all over in less than ten minutes.
The White Demon guards began to gather the bodies and scattered parts.
The man was the only one left.
“I’m sorry. I’ll recover your sword.”
“Go ahead.”
The guards loaded the bodies onto a cart and left the training ground.
The man stood up.
The smell of blood permeated the air.
He didn’t like that smell.
Similar incidents were occurring throughout the coliseum.
The coliseum was surprisingly large, with other dormitories and training grounds besides his own.
Probably, any group that tried to escape or rebel had been exterminated.
‘Is the same thing happening at the city gate?’
They were killing those who tried to escape.
It didn’t matter if they were White Demons or humans.
All by order of the king.
‘Why?’
The man didn’t understand.
But he wasn’t trying to understand either.
The White Demons were like that.
In any case, his daily life didn’t change much.
The only difference was the place where he remained motionless.
The training ground was closed.
He spent his time sitting on the bed in his room.
Time passed in silence.
The man didn’t think about anything in particular.
He simply let time pass meaninglessly.
He was paralyzed.
Although his room, intended for high-ranking gladiators, was large, it had no windows or access to the outside.
He couldn’t tell if it was day or night.
Except when he went out to eat porridge in the dining hall, he didn’t move from his room.
“…….”
At that moment.
He heard footsteps outside the door.
Although there were no windows, by his perception, it was dawn.
Knock, knock.
They knocked on the door.
“May I come in?”
A male voice came from the hallway.
“What is it?”
The man responded, and the wooden door silently opened.
A man of calm appearance entered.
His steps were so light that no vibrations could be heard or felt.
He was a trained man.
‘I’ve seen him before…’
He was a high-ranking gladiator like him.
Moreover, he was known as the strongest gladiator.
If the bouts had continued, sooner or later he would have faced him.
“Are you Nameless, the high-ranking gladiator?”
Creak.
The door closed.
“My name is Kainil.”
“So what?”
“Please, could you help us?”
Said the man who called himself Kainil.