The match for the next day was a swimming competition in an Olympic-sized pool.
Kramer was exempted from the match. It turned out that the one who survived being a sacrifice received a free ticket directly to the end match. The native boy was relieved he no longer had to go through an experience like yesterday.
Jack and Master were again occupying the top two ranks. This time, however, Master was the first while Jack was second. Master proved to be a better swimmer despite Jack having higher physical stats.
The last and therefore, the sacrifice, was Naomi. She was nominated last because she couldn't swim. She was still hanging around the starting place, almost drowned, when everyone reached the other side.
With the sacrifice decided, they were transferred to the sacrificial room. It was an even larger room than yesterday. A large pool was at the center of the room, covering three-quarters of the entire floor.
They were wondering where Naomi was because they couldn't see her anywhere. That was until Kerry pointed at the pool below. They saw it then. The water was clear, allowing them to see what was beneath it.
Under the water was a steel cage. Naomi was inside that cage.
When they were wondering what this was all about, Aglea appeared above the pool.
"The third sacrificial round!" She announced. "Will the sacrifice be saved today? Or will she perish?"
After letting a dramatic five seconds pass accompanied by the sound of drums which no one could figure out where it originated from, Aglea said, "Ten minutes."
She disappeared. Following her disappearance, they heard a rumbling sound as if something was opening under the pool. They looked back into the pool and saw a huge deformed black shark swimming out from the wall of the pool.
This shark started attacking the cage.
The cage seemed to withstand the assaults for now. But they did not doubt that its durability would only last for a maximum of ten minutes.
"What should we do?" Stefan asked. There seemed to be nothing up here except for what seemed like an ice box at the corner of the room.
They went to that ice box and opened it. Inside was chock-full of bloody meat.
"What are these for?" Dina asked.
Almost all of them turned to the pool upon the question.
"You don't think… These are for that thing, do you?" Stefan asked.
"Let's find out," Jack picked up a piece of the meat. It was a huge chunk and was coated with dripping blood. It was both disgusting and nauseating.
Jack threw that piece into the water.
The shark who was just about to ram itself into the cage again, suddenly turned around. With incredible speed, it swam toward where the bloody meat was at.
Since the meat had just dropped into the water, its position was still close to the surface. So, when the shark approached, they got a clear look at the thing. It was terrifying. It had six eyes, all blood red. Its skin was cracked and layered with sharp thorns. When it opened its huge mouth, three rows of saw-like teeth filled that mouth.
The mouth chomped the chunk of meat and quickly reduced it into tiny pieces. It continued to go after those pieces of meat. When the meat was no more, it swam back to the cage.
"Uh… Should we throw more?" Stefan asked.
"What's the use?" Winson said. "We are just delaying its progress. There is only one ice box here. Once the meat in this box is gone, it will still go back to the cage."
"… It's a distraction," Jack said.
"What?" Stefan didn't understand Jack's words.
Jack turned to Master. "You already know, right? You don't say anything because you have already given up on this round."
"Correction. I would have told you soon if none of you figure it out," Master said. "Because I know one of you will gladly take the risk and go down there."
"Go down there?" Dina asked.
"There is nothing up here except for this ice box," Jack said. "That means whatever saves Naomi is down there inside the pool. These meats here are to distract the shark while I go down there to look for clues."
"Your majesty, I will accompany you!" Kramer exclaimed. He had been exempted from the match but he was still brought here with the others.
"That's brave of you, but no. Out of all of us, I and this a*shole are the fastest swimmers," Jack said while pointing at Master. "Other than the two of us, all of you just stay up here. I can't afford to worry about any of you down there."
"I won't go…"
"I know you won't go in," Jack cut Master's words. He then turned to the others and said, "You people need to time the meat properly. Throw them into the pool one at a time, and not too fast! Wait until it is finished with the first meat before you throw in the second. Stretch the time it stays on the surface for as long as possible."
Stefan nodded. "We will buy you as much time as we can."
"I will be counting on you all," Jack said and then ran to the opposite side of the pool. When he was in position, he shouted, "Okay, throw the first one in!"
Stefan took a piece of the meat and threw it in. As before, the shark was immediately drawn to the bloody meat.
When Jack saw the shark swim toward the meat, he jumped into the water. Inside the water, Jack didn't immediately swim down. He first observed the shark. If their theory was wrong, the shark would ignore the meat and come at him instead. If that happened, he still had the time to climb out of the pool.
When he saw the shark ignore him and started biting the meat, he was convinced their method was correct. He immediately kicked the water with all his strength and swam toward the cage where Naomi was in.
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