Colosseum of Nightmare (1)

Just like before, Reed's gaze darkened and the next thing he found himself in was standing in a Colosseum. He wasn't standing in the middle but near one of the two entrances of the arena level while the concentric rows around them— the stone seating area— were empty.

Like the last test, they couldn't move and they couldn't speak. However, they weren't made to stand in a circle. The sixteen contestants stood in a straight line with Reed being quite a few contestants away from their side of the entrance.

In fact, to his right stood one of the two remaining muscular gentlemen. His body, although did not seem too pronounced, just the muscular cuts of his arm and exposed calves made Reed understand that the youth took his leg day seriously.

To his left, further away from the entrance, stood a rather thin youth. While the muscle guy had short dark hair, the one to Reed's left actually had a head full of blue hair but to his roots, the hair strands had a dark brown tint. It looked like the boy had his hair dye.

The craziest thing, however, was that the blue-haired boy held a sharp sword. The shape of the unsheathed sword and the slight curve of the blade made Reed think of the northern katana but that was the only thing Reed knew.

In fact, his own gun was hidden in his underwear.

The last thing Reed wanted was for others to feel intimidated by him in such a tense situation so this made the muscular gentlemen and the well-dressed blue-haired boy look towards Reed's boxers.

It looked too packed as if Reed's erection was stuck to the flat of his crotch!

'Fucking perv... getting a hard-on in such a situation...' the dark-haired youth scowled while the blue-haired youth had no opinion.

"Welcome to the second test, my wonderful contestants! Now, from the other side, your opponent will walk out one by one. Only you or the opponent can live. Use your gifts and natural talents to survive!"

The golden screen appeared in the middle of the arena but this time, Reed was sure that he did not hallucinate as the words definitely looked like dripping blood!

"The first Contestant, step forward."

The screen changed and everyone saw one of the remaining girls reluctantly step forward. Out of a total of 9 girls, two of them had already died and now, the sum total of girls and boys were 7 and 9. The girl who stepped forward was quite beautiful. She had long golden hair and the dress she wore looked quite pretty, as of before being kidnapped, she was going to some form of social gathering. No weapons could be seen on her at first glance, making Reed and a few others slightly curious as to what she may have gotten as her prize.

*Drrrrrrr*

The metal gate slowly opened in front of others. The other entrance was pitch-black and nothing could be seen for a while. The duration almost made the blonde contestant lose her mind but she bit her lips and clenched her jaws. Unknown to others, her nails seemed to have an extraordinary shine as she continued to gaze at the other side.

*Step*

*Step*

Soon, hollow steps filled the arena. The sound of the footsteps seemed to resonate with the blonde contestant's heartbeat as her body grew tense. Her shoulder arched up slightly and her waist was bent as if ready to pounce on whatever that was going to come her way.

'Is she a fighter? It looks like she opted for combat courses...' Reed gulped. He was familiar with this stance. Although he himself opted for theoretical courses since he did not wish to become a warlock or other combat-oriented professional, he had seen plenty of fighting videos and spars between women... for his own enjoyment. This stance was one of the basic ones!

"Huh? Where am I?"

Everyone was stunned.

The person to appear from the opposite entrance was not a monster or a beast. Instead, wearing a cream suit skirt was a middle-aged woman with pale blonde hair that reached her ears. Her hands still held a suitcase and it looked like she had just come out of a meeting.

"Ah... mom?" The blonde contestant gasped and everyone shivered.

Mom? A relative...

Everybody's mind couldn't help but think of the worst as they recalled the contents of the test.

But not the girl herself.

"Mom!" She ran towards the middle-aged woman in a hurry. Her frustration breaking out in tears as the woman looked at the girl in surprise.

"Sweety? Why are you here? What is this place?"

The woman hurriedly walked forward and hugged the girl in a warm embrace.

"Mom, I— *hic* I don't know!" The girl snorted and sobbed, "Please save me! I'm so scared!" She hugged the woman, her hands unwilling to let go of her as they both slumped on the arena in each other's embrace.

"It's alright, mom's here," the woman whispered and stroked the girl's head.

"Shush now, take deep breaths and tell me what happened. I'm here. Nothing will happen to you!"

Every other contestant knew it was a lie. They had seen five heads exploding!

It was at this time, everyone except for the sobbing contestant noticed a change.

The middle-aged woman who coaxed the girl had a weird smile on her face while her hand which stroked her head suddenly bulged. The change was swift but grotesque. The sleeves of her jacket tore and her smooth milky arm turned into demonic claws covered in dark green scales and three sharp, red nails.

*Sshhhhk*

The demonic hand pierced into the girl's head and Reed's eyes widened. He wanted to scream so terribly loudly but none of them could speak at all.

They all stood in horror as the hand stabbed the back of the girl's skull before pulling out a chunk of greyish matter with a fountain of blood instantly drenching the cold hard ground. They couldn't even see the girl's reaction as she slowly fell on the woman's lap.

"It's okay... It's okay..." As if a broken record, the woman kept her smile and cooed gently, coaxing the corpse. The woman lowered her head and slowly opened her mouth and just like last time, her face went through a transformation. Just like her arm, her face grew a layer of dark green scales. Her lips turned dry and jagged teeth protruded out as her mouth widened, allowing others to see a long tongue flicking out. Meanwhile, her blonde hair turned into flaming orange hair and her eyes grew yellow and bestial.

'A... demon...' Reed's breathing was already paused. He tried to look away but once again, the strange force made sure to keep his eyes open and towards the direction of the beast as it bit the front of the girl's face.

What once was a beautiful face, something that Reed wouldn't even imagine getting close to, was not bitten off! Blood instantly filled the demon's mouth as she pulled back, revealing a bloodied hole with cut-off bones sticking out.

Reed's mouth was instantly filled with his own vomit as his stomach churned.

Disgusting!

'Disgusting! Disgusting, Disgusting!' He wanted to vomit out but couldn't. The only path was the one of return and Reed's expression twisted.

Not only him, but most of the contestants also had the same reaction except for the blue-haired youth next to Reed.

In fact, interest flickered in his eyes as he observed everything calmly.

But it wasn't over yet.

The sound of the girl being devoured continued to echo. Many of the contestants were already crying, including Reed. If they felt despair while trying to find jobs in this society, they now felt that their earlier problems couldn't have been simpler.

The girl's clothes, her entire body, and even her shoes and other accessories were devoured but strangely, the demon did not devour the highest tips of her fingers.

No, the demon did return to eat the girl's fingers but it tore her nails before eating them.

Only after the girl was completely devoured did the demon stand up. Its body still wrapped in the cream suit skirt with one of the sleeves in tatters but under the horrified gaze of contestants, the demon slowly turned back into the woman.

The girl's mother.

She still had a gentle smile and her eyes exuded unending warmth but below her heels was a large patch of bloodied mud.

Smiling at everyone present, the woman nodded as if greeting them before turning back and walking away.

"The second Contestant, step forward."

The words on the screen changed while the nails on the ground disappeared in a soft white glow.