RAWWWRR!
The sound tore through the air like a serrated blade.
The cages didn't just open. They exploded.
Three colossal beasts launched into the arena, landing with bone-jarring weight. The ground shuddered beneath our feet.
Their crimson eyes swept across the space, gleaming with feral hunger.
We froze.
Not from cowardice—but from disbelief.
I had expected something small. A palm-sized imp. A rat with fangs.
Not… this.
These weren't beasts.
They were nightmares given flesh—towering monsters, muscle-bound and snarling, each one easily capable of cleaving a grown man in two with a casual flick of their claws.
What kind of sick joke is this?
My stomach twisted.
And the worst part?
We were the punchline.
I grabbed Rona by the shoulders and shook her like a soda can about to explode.
"Rona! You said it was a cat and a bunny!"
I jabbed a finger at the three hulking nightmares stalking across the arena, each one radiating the kind of bloodlust that made your liver scream in advance.
"Those monsters look nothing like the cute, cuddly pets normal people raise! Look at them! Baleful eyes, sharp, gleaming teeth—you can literally see your reflection on those teeth! Drooling mouths, and claws bigger than my head! They're ready to rip us apart any second!"
Rona blinked. Ronald screamed.
"We're gonna DIE!!"
Rona puffed up indignantly and opened her mouth to respond. "Rona doesn't—"
SLAP!
Ronald and I slapped our hands over her mouth simultaneously.
Too late.
Three sets of red eyes snapped toward us like searchlights.
Their bodies coiled.
Their smiles widened.
Rows of glistening, dagger-shaped teeth gleamed beneath curling lips.
The killing intent hit like a brick wall made of knives.
Pressure. Heavy. Suffocating. Impossible to move.
Even my thoughts started glitching.
...Oui? This ain't good at all.
RAAAAAWWRRR!!
They didn't roar.
They detonated.
The shockwave ripped the ground apart. I didn't even register my body flying until—CRASH!!
Stone. Back. Pain.
I was embedded in the wall like a decorative statue.
"Youch... That actually hurt!" I groaned, pressing a hand to my skull.
But the real problem was—
My butt was stuck.
Firmly. Lodged.
Like a dumb cartoon character that just got thrown into a painting.
I kicked my legs helplessly. No good. I was trapped.
I can't die wedged like this! That's too embarrassing!
"LLYNE!!"
I glanced up. Rona and Ronald were sprinting toward me, eyes wide.
"Guys—THEY'RE COMING!!"
The ground vibrated. No, pulsed.
Three monsters barreled toward us, claws dragging, jaws wide, shadows stretching long like death itself.
I thrashed harder.
"LET ME GO!"
Without a word, they grabbed my arms.
Tight.
Too tight.
Then they pulled.
Muscles strained. Veins bulged. Desperation twisted into resolve.
"PULL!!" I shouted, legs flailing. "PULL LIKE YOUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT—BECAUSE THEY DO!!"
Behind Rona and Ronald, three monsters charged forward—each step a thunderclap echoing through the narrow corridor.
"Harder!" I screamed, heart hammering like a war drum.
The beasts didn't pause.
Didn't hesitate.
Didn't slow.
Their claws scraped against the cracked stone floor, drool hanging from jagged jaws.
BOOM!
The monsters slammed straight into the far wall behind us, the impact shattering stone and swallowing the entire arena in a dust-filled explosion.
Silence.
Not dramatic silence.
Deathly silence.
The crowd froze, eyes wide, squinting into the storm of dust and debris.
No movement.
No cries.
No blood—yet.
Had we been flattened? Pulverized into chunky red stains?
Center stage, Mr. Gregory stepped forward, grinning like a man who thought he just watched a magic trick where the rabbit gets permanently erased.
He sucked in a theatrical breath—
HOOOOOUFFFF!
—and exhaled a massive gust, blowing the dust away like a stage curtain being yanked open.
The floor was revealed.
Empty.
No corpses.
No limbs.
No blood.
Just silence.
Mr. Gregory raised the microphone like a judge declaring a verdict.
"They're dead."
The crowd exploded. Cheers. Applause. Laughter.
But—
We weren't dead.
Not even close.
[A few seconds earlier —]
Right before the monsters could slam into us, Rona and Ronald yanked with every ounce of strength they had—
Pop!
I shot out of the wall like a cork from a champagne bottle—
—only to immediately faceplant into the ground.
CRACK.
"My head…" I croaked, pain blooming behind my eyes like fireworks. "At this rate, I'm going to be permanently stupid."
Beside me, Rona tilted her head, blinking innocently.
"You can be more stupid?"
"Are you replacing Shorty now that he isn't here?" I rolled my eyes so hard I could see last week's regrets.
Rona tilted her head innocently. "Maybe?"
"You want some beating?" I clenched my fist.
Rona giggled and shook her head.
"What are you guys doing? THEY'RE HERE!"
Ronald's scream sliced through the air. High. Real. Terrified.
I snapped my head toward the dust cloud.
Three shadows emerged.
Massive. Ferocious. Teeth bared. Eyes burning with crimson hunger.
—No time to think.
MOVE.
My body reacted on instinct. I grabbed both their wrists and yanked.
Roll.
"They're relentless. Reminds of Ma whenever she got a call from the principal because of my mischiefs in school."
A split second later—
BOOOOM!
The monsters barreled into the wall where we'd just been. The ground shattered. A shockwave tore through the air. Debris rained down like a meteor shower.
Our ears rang.
Our chests heaved.
But we were alive.
Barely.
The monsters snarled, rising from the rubble.
Bloodlust steamed off their backs. Claws scraped deep trenches into the stone. Their crimson eyes scanned the haze like predators denied a kill.
They were hunting.
I clenched my jaw, heart pounding in my throat.
They wouldn't stop until we were dead. No—until there was nothing left to bury.
Behind me, Ronald clutched my sleeve with shaking fingers.
"W-What do we do now?"
Rona giggled. Actually giggled.
"This is fun."
"…How is this fun?" Ronald yelped, eyes wide.
I didn't have time for this.
My eyes swept the crumbling arena. A gap between pillars. Shadows curling behind fractured stone.
A path. Maybe.
I grabbed their wrists, dragging them forward.
"This way," I said.
No plan. No strategy.
Just survive.
We dove into the swirling dust—our only cover.
Up above, the Masters leaned over the railing, eyes scanning the smoke, waiting for a verdict.
Waiting to confirm three deaths.
Let them wait.
We weren't dead.
Not yet.
And they hadn't seen the last of us.