79 Risk And Result

I've gotten into quite a strange situation. There is no sound to be heard except the painful breath escaping me, still gravely wounded.

'How the tables have turned.' I think mocking myself for the switched role of the annoying breathing pattern. He used to be breathing like a mad dog but now look at me. Unable to keep my cool because of the crucifying pain.

A sense of suspense hangs in the air, my previous taunts having created anticipation and expectation in everyone's gleaming eyes.

'Well, that's no pressure at all.' I think sarcastically, feeling many gazes on my body.

My fast breathing slows down, maybe even to a speed unnaturally slow.

A breath every 5 seconds, a breath every 10 seconds, a breath every 30 seconds.

It has been a minute since my last breath, I breathe in like I'm a newborn infant taking its first breath.

However, this time it's not merely for show or anticipation. I breathe in as I summon all the souls of the defeated insects to be devoured. Thousands of small light purple shapes come toward me. They rush into my mouth as if they're water breaking through a dam.

'Well, there's no going back now.' I realize, remembering the warnings of Ashmodai. The soul can be a feeble thing, and the chance that I die absorbing this amount is pretty high. At least if that's the ending granted to me. I don't know if a person can live whilst his soul is destroyed, but I'm not that eager to find out.

The souls are still pouring into me, making my head spin and thus also giving me an appropriate headache for this absorption. If I had to describe how this feels, then I would describe the soul as cloth and the "cloth" that represents my essence feels like it's slowly being torn apart.

You know something's wrong, you feel a sense of panic or perhaps even dread. Yet you don't actually feel pain. Not a physical pain at least, there is a certain pressure. But perhaps I might be making things up for what could be my last moment.

I look towards the stand, searching for a little girl with dark green eyes. She's not particularly hard to find, I just have to search for a large headless knight with green fire coming out of its armor, a gambling devil, an archdevil who has diamonds and crystals embedded in his skin, his brother who has 6 golden eyes or the most famous succubus in Lucille's Light.

After about 10 seconds, I find our little stand-out group, eyes filled with fear, surprise, and anticipation. Seeing Eli's innocent eyes look at me with clear fear and sadness, I feel a wave of shame and guilt wash over me.

'I probably should take a rest after this bloody tournament. Otherwise, she might get a heart attack.' I somehow manage to think about the future, even in a dire situation like this.

Finally, the stream of souls seems to have ended. My head is still pounding, almost making me believe that it's going to split open.

'I survived… I actually survived.'

"Hahahahahahahah!" A burst of soft laughter comes out of my mouth. I'm simply in sheer disbelief that I've managed to survive this abundant "stream" of souls. A crackling sound resembling that of sparkling electricity happens each time I laugh, as some lingering souls haven't been properly absorbed.

The arena is dead silent, with no insects buzzing, no heavy breathing, no cheers, just silence. The old man looks rather shocked at the sight that happened before his eyes. Not one of fear or excitement, but closer to the shock you experience when you see someone pull off something impossible.

"What look do I have now?" I ask the old man in a mocking tone, not hiding my smirk or the hatred in my eyes.

"..." The old man stays silent, seemingly dazed.

Receiving no response from my opponent, I make my way toward him. The fight hasn't been won yet and if there is any chance of getting my arm back then I should probably try to wrap this fight up rather quickly.

I walk towards my opponent, blood-bound spear in my right hand. He doesn't react in any way, perhaps still dazed. I raise my spear as a purple shimmer starts to appear around it. The sound of thunder and the ripping of paper fills the arena, as I strike the old man.

My opponent finally seems to have gotten out of his daze. He quickly tries to dodge my spear but fails to completely get out of the way. His right arm is cut off in one veil swipe. When the spear struck, you couldn't feel any resistance, it felt like cutting butter instead of his rotten bones.

The arm that I've managed to cut off falls on the ground before a light purple light envelops it. The skinny, malnourished arm suddenly dissipates when it has been completely engulfed by this light purple light.

"Perfect." I hear the old man say under his breath.

He launches towards me, managing to hit me in the stomach with his remaining hand. I flinch from his incredibly strong punch, even coughing out an exasperated breath. A see-through purple ethereal stream flows out of my mouth. This purple ethereal stream starts to make its way throughout the entire arena.

It looks gorgeous, the different tints of purple clashing yet creating an even prettier sight. It has this majestic feeling about it, a feeling so vivid yet unfamiliar. Even more of this purple ethereal starts to stream out as even my eyes and ears start to leak this mysterious force.

The different shades of purple make their way towards the old man, engulfing him in a way that makes it looks like this energy, these souls, are embracing him. A faint and calm buzzing sound can be heard coming from this purple stream. The thousands of insects souls that I've absorbed embrace their master for the last time.

"Good riddance." I say towards my opponent, who still stands right before me.

All streams of purple rush towards the old man. Clashing so fiercely with each other that they give off this blinding light show.

Then the lights dissipate, as if nothing ever happened, as if it was all just something from your imagination. However, it has left behind proof that it did happen. Because when the purple colors disappeared, a rotten skeleton that shows no signs of life was all that remained.