Phantom of the underworld

"Waaah!! Monster!!!" All of the species' heads turn toward the direction of the voice.

It was a guy with a shabby looking dolphin head and a razor sharp fin like those of a shark.

It was obvious he was still young and still in the prime of his youth as a talking fish. The other species were curious at his shouts, and some were annoyed by his loud voice. The scary looking creatures glared at him with bulging eyes, making the young fish shiver in fright.

"Hey, walking fish. Who are you calling a monster just now?" His exaggerated reaction had attracted unwanted attention.

Cayden looked at the inhuman creature in front of him and couldn't help but slap his forehead. An orc, huh?

"I .. I!" The young fish was so scared that he stumbled on his legs as he stepped backward. The orc with its metal plates on its naked torso placed his pillar like arms on his waist and loomed over the young fish.

"Who are you calling a monster?"

Cayden vaguely remembered that these idiots take 'monster' as an insult very seriously. Which is ironic since they really are monsters.

"A – a – a human!!!" The young fish's scream is like a huge bomb sent to destroy them all. Everybody fell into deadly silence. Each of their faces turned extremely dark and they glared at the young fish. Especially the orc who was above him.

"Where?!" The orc's heavy, rough voice boomed in the arena. He wasn't looking at the young fish anymore, but was whipping his head from left to right to search for the human.

And Cayden, who was standing in the corner silently, was unluckily spotted.

"YOU!!!!" The orc pointed its huge, fat thumb at him. His eyes are full of hatred and accusations.

Cayden did not answer. He wasn't feeling particularly nervous. He's already here, what was he supposed to do then? Hide and cower?

Just because he's the only human among the thousands?

From the corner of his eyes, a sudden black light flashed. Cayden was in a daze for a few seconds before recovering his wits.

That thing just now…

It looks like his suspicion was spot on.

That fucker is here to overlook this game.

Cayden was only preoccupied for a few seconds. And that's all it took for the orc to magically appear in front of his face. It's ugly huge nose, green mossy skin, bulging eyes and breath that's so bad it was as if his mouth was a known house for maggots was inching to kill him on the spot.

"What are you doing here?!" The orc lifted his chin up. Looking at the skinny, fresh young human in front of him, it was obvious this puny guy was too weak.

He's roughly the same age as that yapping, walking fish!

If the orc will squeeze that slender neck, who knows if it will produce a hole to puncture human blood like a leaking fountain?

"Are you here to be our play toy?!" It seems the attention of the crowd was drawn by the orc's booming voice.

Their interest was peaked because of the presence of a single human in their midst. All of the monsters gathered together like flocks of ducks. The orc looked over his shoulder and was pleased by this.

His mouth spread widely.

"Oh, yes, I could really use a toy to ease my boredom." The orc raised his pillar like arm and twisted it in a clockwise direction.

Meanwhile, Cayden remained expressionless. He had not spoken a single word right after landing in this place. Nor does he plan to give this ugly orc the satisfaction he wants.

Even if his dead blank eyes did not show it, Cayden was extremely annoyed inside. He really wanted to beat someone at this moment. If it weren't for the fact that the fucker is sitting on his throne, watching this scene with gleaming eyes, he could have punched that ugly face out of his view right now.

The orc was clearly looking for trouble.

As if he'd done it by accident, he suddenly changed the direction of his arm stretching and swung his arm right at Cayden's face!

The orc was about to laugh and measely expressed his lousy apologies for 'accidental hitting' but found something was wrong very quickly.

Why did his hand touch nothing except dead air?!

The orc looked down and found the human was no longer before him!

"Waaaarrgghhhh!!!!"

At this moment, a loud, clear voice suddenly interrupted the awkward silence. The orc almost embarrassed himself in front of the public and was feeling lucky when the attention was torn away from him for a moment.

The shout belonged to the same young fish who yelled monster earlier.

The fish's face is not as ugly as one might think. He's actually pretty good looking, not to mention his childish fish face that made him almost look like an underdeveloped bloating fish with shark fins.

His face right now is obviously pale and almost devoid of color. His thin lips are trembling, and he is still groveling on his knees.

All the thousand species turned their attention to him. Finding his expression really strange, they follow his line of sight, which was looking up.

When they did, their faces instantly changed.

A mixture of expressions passed over their different animal faces. Some gleamed with amazement and delight. While some are nervous and instantly shiver in fear like the fish.

Then all shades of different expressions disappeared as they simultaneously lowered their faces and bowed.

"Hail, the great god of the Underworld!"

The being at whom they are looking was suspended in his huge throne, which was floating in midair. The throne is made of the same material as the twenty pillars. All black and shiny, his exposed slender wrist, which has no skin, was reflected on each black crystal.

The being was wearing a huge black cloak that covered most part of his face, making it difficult for those species on their knees to see what he looks like.

But Cayden recognized him.

He was a god in the Dark Tower.

The ruler of one of three worlds in the Afterlife, the phantom of the underworld.

One thing's for sure, this god clearly hated his guts.