Freedom [1]

"Get out of the way? It's been a while since I thought a wolf cub came in, but it turned out to be a crazy dog."

Marku adjusted his dual swords and aimed them at Eren.

It seemed as if the miraculous energy flowing from the twin swords extended sharply and pierced Eren's chest.

'Strong.'

This was Eren's first thought as he stood completely under the control of Supervisor Marku.

His whole body tingled, and all his senses became tense and sensitive.

Marku was on a different level from Gletch.

Of course, it may have felt that way even more because the weapon Marku was holding was a real sword.

'Which one will come first?'

Behind Eren, gladiators were trying to get up to the second floor, and since Bhatia and his men were nowhere to be seen, he could well expect them to attack soon.

Eren took careful steps and headed forward little by little.

The good news was that for a few days, the supervisor had watched the gladiators spar one-on-one.

Every single movement Marku made was in Eren's mind.

'You only get one chance.'

If he let his guard down, he had no chance of winning. He had to finish it before then.

Eren waited for Marku to make the first move.

"What are you doing? Instead of killing him right away, I'm telling you to rip him to pieces!"

Altanic, who was standing behind, shouted.

He couldn't even run away for fear that another gladiator might come.

When it seemed like the standoff was prolonging, it was Marku who moved first.

The burden was great because his mission was to protect Altanic.

In an instant, Marku narrowed the distance and swung his dual swords in sync.

One attack was aimed at Eren's shoulder and the other at his waist.

Looking at the expected sword path, it was not an attack that could be blocked with a short sword.

Marku thought that Eren would naturally pull back, and he planned to deliver a fatal blow at that moment.

This was the method he chose because it was the attack he was most familiar with and confident about.

The problem was that Eren already knew how Marku's attacks would be linked.

Eren's center of gravity shifted backward due to the dual sword attack.

Then Marku took a step forward as if he had been waiting.

Right then, Eren suddenly leaned forward as much as possible and slashed the short sword at Marku's foot.

At the same time, the sword Marku swung aimed at the shoulder cut through the air, and the sword aimed at the waist scraped Eren's back.

'Ugh!'

Eren, who gritted his teeth and endured the pain of his raw flesh being peeled off, did not miss Marku's momentary stagnation.

Give the flesh and take the bones.

Slash—!

As soon as he pulled out his short sword, he cut Marku in a straight line from his crotch to his chest.

Perhaps due to a lack of strength, the body did not split in two, but blood poured out as it split into two sides.

Thud!

Marku collapsed.

He couldn't leave anything to say.

In just one move, he became a corpse.

Altanic stood there in shock with his mouth wide open, then slowly flinched back.

The moment Eren wiped the blood from his face, he turned around and started running away.

Eren slightly turned the short sword he was holding with one hand and threw it lightly.

The sword, which had a gentle curve, got stuck exactly in Altanic's butt.

Thrust—!

"Ahh!"

Altanic fell to the ground, clutching his buttocks and trembling.

"This! This dog!"

He fell face down and started crawling on the floor using both hands.

Eren suddenly appeared like a ghost and grabbed the short sword stuck to his hip.

"Aaaah! What the fuck! How dare you, a slave!"

"People…."

Eren walked next to him, still holding the sword, and spoke in a whisper.

"You treat me like a wild animal, so do you think your life is precious?"

"So? Am I the same as slaves like you?! Why don't you take out your sword quickly?!"

Altanic looked at Eren with eyes full of contempt and screamed.

Crack!

Eren turned the stuck short sword left and right.

"Quaaa! Take it out right now! Take it out right away!"

Altanic's screams, along with the sound of bones grinding, filled the second floor of the main building.

"I'll do as you wish." Eren had no intention of taking any more time.

The wound on his back was deeper than he thought. Immediately, he pulled out the short sword and stabbed it back into Altanic's neck.

But he soon gave up on thrusting and instinctively leaned back.

His back was curved like a shrimp. It was incredible flexibility.

Boom!

Something heavy passed right over his body. One of his slightly raised shoulders was swept away by the great sword.

"You crazy guy!"

The person who swung the great sword at Eren was the leader of Tripolas, who had just arrived from the annex.

It was Bhatia.

It was then. Surprisingly, Eren bounced back like a spring and clung to Bhatia, who swung his great sword, like a ghost. And he swung the short sword briefly.

"What?"

Bhatia, who did not expect that Eren would dodge his great sword and even counterattack, gave up the blow for a moment.

He raised his head and pulled back to quickly dodge, but the tip of the short sword cut him from his chin to his cheek.

Spurt—!

Blood splattered.

"Ugh! You rat!"

Bhatia swung his great sword again. But it just drew empty space.

When Bhatia came to his senses from the pain, Eren had already run away. But Eren's hands were empty. The short sword was not visible.

Bhatia looked at Altanic, who was lying limp next to him.

Before he knew it, a short sword was deeply embedded in his neck.

"Aaaah! I'll kill you!!"

Bhatia, who thought he had been tricked, could not hold back his anger and screamed.

At that sound, the Tripolas crew gathered together.

"Leader!"

"Captain! Are you okay?!"

"Go after him now! We must catch him alive!"

Bhatia shouted desperately, cupping his chin with one hand.

Then his men ran after Eren towards the main building entrance, in the opposite direction of the training ground.

Since Altanic was also dead, the gladiators were of no interest to them. All they had to do was catch Eren.