Looking at his next opponent Eric couldn't help but get a bit surprised and startled as he didn't expect something like that to happen.
And he wasn't the only one who was shocked like that, as a lot of people were shocked and dissatisfied with the matchup.
After all, Eric's next opponent wasn't stronger than the previous one had fought, at least from the information he had handed to the organizers he wasn't.
In fact, according to that information, he was even weaker than Eric was. But if that were the truth then he wouldn't have reached this round.
For that reason, Eric couldn't help but look at the guy with doubts and worry, as he tried to find whatever useful information that he could.
In these cases, the crowd was the best source of information and the moment that he learned of his opponent he opened his ears wide for whatever rumor he could hear.
Apparently, his opponent was a Dark Magician, or what Eric would like to call, an irredeemable and bloody dangerous weeb who would give him quite a run for his money.
The guy's main weapon was a pair of metallic but extremely easy to move gloves, that seemed to be a peak 1-star artifact. If it had only been refined a bit better during the process it would have become a 2-star artifact.
It was clear from the weapon he wielded that this guy had a deep background and that he wouldn't be easy to deal with, but Eric wasn't afraid of him.
In fact, Eric wasn't even afraid of the strongest Masters participating, but that didn't matter for now, as he had to focus on the opponent in front of him.
One look at the guy and he could tell that he had 'drawn' a lot of blood. Considering by the weapon he was using in the fight, this guy seemed like a truly brutal killer.
This type was rare, as they found pleasure in killing and violence. People who could keep a part of their head straight in that situation were extremely rare.
"Heheehhehe~! You are finished this time brat! I will rip your heart apart, and then enjoy it in my meal! I didn't expect that I would get so much money for a brat like you!"
"Oh!? Who would pay that much money for a brat like me!"
"Heheheheh~! Do you think I would tell you!? All you need to know is that your death is fixed!"
"I beg to differ, I will take that name out of your mouth while you give soul and die!" Just say your prayers!"
"Hehehehehehaahahahahahahaha~! Interesting brat! Let us see if you have the skills!"
With that said, the gloves guy immediately launched himself in an attack on Eric, while Eric took a completely defensive posture.
The daggers were still embedded in his waist, but he didn't seem like he had any intention to pull them out as right now he wanted a pure clash of fists and brute strength.
'Baannnggg…, baaannggg…'
Even though Eric didn't have any metallic protectors on himself or his hands he was still able to completely block the enemy's attacks.
Not only that, but he also found the opportunity to send back a few tight slaps towards the opponent to enrage him even more.
Since he wanted a good gauge of his physical strength, Eric wanted to add more and more pressure upon himself so he could properly evaluate himself.
Of course, no matter how angry, enraged, and wishful the gloves guy became, his punches were still unable to surpass his rank in strength, so Eric wasn't in danger of his life.
"You fu*cking brat, just die already!"
Seeing that even though Eric had received a lot of his punches, and kicks, and still stand on his two feet enraged the opponent.
It looked like he was fighting some sort of monster that wouldn't fall down no matter what he tried, it was truly vexing as a situation.
'Bannnggg…, Baannnggg…'
In but a mere few minutes they had already exchanged more than one hundred moves and it was still difficult to determine the winner.
At that point in time though, Eric was just about to block the punch going for his ribcage, and counterattack with a slap on the opponent's right cheek, when he seemed to freeze for a second.
'Cough…, cough…'
Not only that, but he even started coughing and vomiting a bit of blood, looking extremely close to fainting.
It looked like the position and the tiredness he was experiencing at that moment had finally erupted and soon he would be nothing but a nameless corpse.
Unfortunately for those expecting that, Eric managed to dodge the gloves guy's attack, and crept on his side, with a dagger on his right hand, that was stuck on the opponent's arm.
Even though shorter than normal, the knife had pierced through the guy's arm at the elbow, destroying the connecting bone, and all the veins around it.
Of course, that was only what the people in the crowd could see, as the truth was much bigger and deeper than this.
Eric had two knives, and while one of them was blocked with that attack of his, the second one had already pierced the opponent's kidney.
Eric had no intention of letting this violent murderer run free, not to mention that the death of this guy meant more coins for himself.
In a world where he needed tons of money, he could never allow even the slightest opportunity to escape.
The opponent seemed to understand his fate before he died, as he immediately started to plead,
"Do-don't kill me, you can't afford the consequences! I am the son of … Legionnaire Commander!
"Whoa~! You seem like a bigshot, but I don't really care who you are, or what do you want! You are going to die by my hands tonight, and not even heaven can change that."
With that said, Eric didn't waste any more precious time, and immediately pulled back the knife on the opponent's kidney and used it to pierce his heart.
Unwilling and unhappy as he was, there was no way for that guy besides dying, as his soul left his body.
The crowd was stupefied by the situation, they had never expected that Eric would be able to stand until the last moment and fall down only after he had dealt with the opponent.
He seemed clearly worn out and on the verge of losing conscience, but nobody cared about it. All they cared about were their stupid bets and their stupid cheering.
There were two people from the staff that came and pulled Eric away to recover as much as he could and prepare for the next fight.
…
Once again matchups appeared on the big screen, and Eric's time had come once again. Once again the opponent shocked the crowd, as while it was stronger than the previous one, there wasn't much difference between the two of them either.
It felt weird for some time, as it looked like someone was trying its best to simplify Eric's journey to the top, and he had no idea who it was.
This intervention would certainly make a lot of people unhappy, but whoever was intervening for his benefit wasn't someone simple figure either.
Once again Eric started comparing brute strength with his opponent, as the opponent seemed to be looking for an opportunity while tiring him out.
This time in order to better play his role and give more satisfaction to the people watching, he pretended to get worn out and poisoned faster.
Upon watching this opportunity the opponent immediately jumped into attack more ferociously, with the intention of directly killing Eric.
Unfortunately, before he could reach his goal and purpose for entering the cage with Eric, he could feel a cold steely blood smell from below his chest.
It was only the next second when he actually found one of Eric's knives stabbed right through his belly that he understood his time had come.
"Care to tell me now who send you!? You owe me that much, right!?"
"It was… It was… Arrrraaggghhhhhhh~!"
In the last minutes of death, he seemed like he wanted to abide by their prior promise, but the moment he wanted to reveal the guy's name, he suddenly had a terrifying headache and then passed out.
It would be more accurate to say that he had fully left this world, at least his soul had. It was clear that this guy was but a mere puppet getting controlled.
Seeing that happen, Eric became even more assured of the fact that his bad-wisher was in this place observing him. His enemies had just been increased by 1 more.
It didn't matter to him though, as 1 more enemy didn't make a difference, just like eating one more scoop of ice cream after finishing 10.
Once again he had to be accompanied by the staff outside of the cage, as he was once again trying to recover from his ailment.
It didn't take long for the third and last Master that would try to put a dent in Eric's aspirations to appear on the matchup monitor.
Just like the other two, even he was one of the bottom fighters participating in this competition. Someone seemed to truly love Eric, and his arrival at the top 10, as after this his place would be secured.
Even though it took a bit of time, Eric still managed to kill the opponent and gain the right to fight on a bigger stage, in the fight for the top 10.
It would certainly be extremely special, he couldn't wait for it…
Check out my newest book! Return of Lust!
Check out my Patreon page, Motivate me!!! https://www.patreon.com/crazyimmortal
Updat𝒆d fr𝑜m fr𝒆ewebnove(l).com