<h4>Chapter 3 – The Emperor of Two Silver Pieces (2)</h4>


    Today was the third day since Juan first arrived at the colosseum. The boy wasying still in the corner of the cave. He was surrounded by the noise of pickaxes and harsh breathing. There were ongoing construction projects to expand the colosseum’s underground dungeons. However, there was not enough light on the construction site, let alone equipment.


    There were only broken or chipped pickaxes striking against the wall under the light of a torch. The colosseum was built on a strong stone structure, but this underground cave was dug into ayer of soil and rocks and had no venttion or drainage systems in ce.


    Space in the dungeons was limited, as they were being used to amodate the demonic and ordinary beasts that participated in the colosseum. Thus, they were making space to amodate the ves who were usually treated with contempt. Nobody was overseeing the actual constructions and arranging theyout. There were only guards that were stationed to make sure the ves weren’t messing around.


    Juan came to the underground cave to work like the other ves. Although he was in no condition to be working, he was forced toe to the construction site because they could not let him wander around alone. Juan didn''t do anything and just slowly awaited his death. The supervisor initially ordered the soldiers to throw Juan into the cave of demonic beasts, but the crazy woman stopped them. She screamed and hugged him tightly every time the soldiers approached Juan. The supervisor was not reckless enough to throw a woman into the cave of demonic beasts as well and waste his goods. Instead, he forbade Juan to eat.


    <i>‘Three days...’</i>


    Due to ack of sunlight, Juan kept track of the days by counting the number of times he was dragged from the prison to the cave and vice-versa. For three days, Juan ate some of the woman''s meals. Juan didn’t want to eat the food, but the woman forced it into his mouth. Juan''s body was made of mana, but mana would constantly be consumed if he didn''t eat any food. The woman''s meal was just enough to keep him alive, but that was all. Juan was all skin and bones—he was malnourished to the extent that he was slowly but surely dying. Who would believe it if they were told that the revived emperor had died of starvation?


    The hunger didn''t bother him, but what really bothered him was his son''s face that came to his mind every time he opened his eyes. Instead of the imposing and elegant look that Juan’s son had shown him all his life, it was an image of Gerard shaking in fear, with bloodied hands.


    <i>‘Gerard, if you are alive, are you also suffering?’</i>


    Juan refused to listen to what had happened after his death. Fortunately, the colosseum wasn’t a ce where people spoke about such historical events. The words used here were simple and vulgar. Juan didn''t have to care about them.


    ***


    <i>‘How much time has passed?’</i> Juan wondered. While the ves were grumbling about when the meals would be served, amotion came from outside. The nking of chains, shouting, as well as the low, bone-chilling growls of a beast. The ves that were digging stuck themselves to the walls out of fright.


    "Hold it tight!"


    A ck wolf the size of an adult man walked into the cave. Its eyes were shining fiercely as if it had already been starved for several days.


    <i>‘A demonic beast.’</i>


    Unlike ordinary beasts, they were animals that had been transformed because of a god''s curse or whim. Demons existed even among humans. Even now, when most of the gods had died, there were many demonic beasts that survived by reproducing.


    "What? The cave is still under construction?"


    The men who came into the cave together secured the beast''s neck with an iron chain. Not only that, but there were two more men holding chains on both sides. The men looked around and talked. "Well, I think there’s enough space now, why don’t we just release it here?"


    There were outpours of screams and pleas from all over the ce. The men burst into cruelughter. They didn''t really mean to release it in the first ce. These men weren''t guards; they were ves like the ones that were digging in the cave. However, they were diators who had been inside the arena several times. diators who survived more than three battles were treated differently than ordinary ves. Their status was just below that of the soldiers, and most of their duties were simply management tasks, physical training or armed training.


    Among them, the “Champion," the highest-ranking diator, was treated like he had the same position as the manager of the colosseum. Therefore,moners who found it difficult to live a normal life sometimes purposefully became colosseum ves. One of them was a bald man who had just be a diator. Although he had arrived as a ve on the same day as Juan, he had been taken to be a diator before the other ves because of the violent and wild impression he gave. The bald man was acting more violently than the others, as if he wanted to be recognized by the other diators. The diators, who saw the frightened reaction of the ves, pulled the ck wolf back with satisfaction. Because the demonic beast was pulled roughly, it twisted and growled. The starved wolf reacted sensitively to the fear in the air.


    "Looks like ‘Butterfly’ is hungry," one of the diators muttered while looking around. Who would have expected a demonic beast to have such a name?


    The ves desperately looked away.


    "Is there anyone who’d like to volunteer to help feed Butterfly?"


    Of course, no one wanted to get involved with that demonic beast. However, the diator wasn’t going to just wait for a volunteer. The bald man pointed to some ves.


    "You, you. Come with me."


    "<i>Gasp</i>, I-I have to work here! Over there! There''s a guy who''s not doing anything!" One of the ves suddenly shouted as if he had been waiting for this opportunity before the bald man could even finish calling him out.


    The ve pointed at Juan who was lying down on one side of the cave. Only then did the diators spot Juan for the first time.


    "What the—? I thought that was a corpse."


    "He... He’s alive! I-I saw someone feeding him this morning!"


    "Wait, it’s not like I’m making you do anything dangerous, don’t be so scared... But why is this guy lying down like this? Is he sick?"


    One of the diators approached Juan and kicked him on the leg. Juan''s skinny legs shook helplessly in response.


    "I feel like he’ll break if I kick him too hard. He’s all bones."


    "Th-That’s not true! He may seem skinny, but he actually has some fat on his belly...”


    "Shut that thing up."


    The bald man quickly approached the ve, who kept shouting, and punched him in the face. The ve sped his mashed nose and screamed.


    "When did we ever say we''re feeding humans to the demonic beast? What if it gets an upset stomach?"


    Though it was the diators who had deliberately misled them, none of the ves pointed it out. The ck wolf approached Juan, who was on the ground, sniffing curiously. Then a woman''s sharp scream rang out in the cave. "Ahhhh! My child! My child!"


    It was the scream of the crazy woman. The pot she was carrying fell on the floor and soup poured out. The crazy woman came running and hit the wolf in the face. The demonic beast barked loudly at the sudden hit. The diators panicked and pulled the chain to stop the beast''s rampage. They would be held responsible for the losses if the wolf went on a rampage and killed the ves.


    However, the woman constantly whispered, hugging Juan tightly without caring. "My child, I''ll protect you. I''ll protect you.”


    Her hands sped together like a hard lock, embracing Juan. The diators barely managed to calm the beast down after a while. It was natural for them to get furious.


    "You crazy bitch...”


    The bald man pulled at the crazy woman''s hair. The crazy woman screamed and refused to let go of Juan and so Juan was dragged along with the woman.


    "This bitch is really crazy."


    The diators clicked their tongues at her reaction. She had crazy eyes, scattered hair and was constantly muttering words. She didn''t look like a normal person at all.


    "Is she crazy? It seems like the supervisor is just buying ves thoughtlessly.”


    "There''s not much time left for the event, so these guys will be useful. They look good together, a corpse and a crazy bitch."


    The diators giggled as they looked down at Juan and the crazy woman. Then one snuck a look at the crazy woman''s body. The bald man quickly noticed his senior''s gaze, and he grabbed the crazy woman''s face and turned it side to side, showing her off.


    "She looks alright even if she’s a little crazy, right? I think she''ll look fine after washing up."


    "As if we have the time for that.”


    A cruelugh spread among the diators. The bald man quickly forced Juan away from the crazy woman. As the crazy woman started screaming again, one of the diators hit her in the stomach. Only then did the woman be quiet.


    "I’ll look after this guy," the bald man dered.


    The senior diators exchanged nces. They chained the demonic beast tightly to a stone pir.


    The crazy woman was then led by the diators to a secluded area inside the cave. The bald man gazed at their backs while smacking his lips. He nced at Juan in his arms—hanging like a corpse—and then dropped him onto the floor. The bald man murmured as if to gloss over his guilt.


    "Since you aren''t working, your mother should work for your share, don''t you think?"


    Juan did not answer. The bald man headed for the crazy woman, not expecting an answer from Juan. The diators were about to begin their advances on the crazy woman in their secluded corner when the bald man asked, "Hehe, seniors. It''s okay for me to look, right?”


    "You punk. A newbie ought to just patiently wait for his turn... Wait, what''s up with him?" one of the diators asked. The group turned their heads back slightly and their eyes fell on the bald man. The bald man was flustered at the sudden attention, but soon realized that the diators were looking past him. Following their gaze, the man turned around to find Juan standing behind.


    He was just a skinny boy that was standing there. The bald man—who had only ever seen him lying on the floor like a corpse since their first meeting—was a bit more taken aback than the other diators, but that was the extent of his surprise. However, the sight of Juan standing still felt somewhat foreign. An unpleasant silence spread among the diators. Someone whispered, "He''s... alive, right? He’s not an undead or anything, right...?”


    Juan didn''t say anything; he didn''t even look at them. He was just standing there. However, the diators stared at him while being very still, unable to even swallow their own saliva. It was as if someone was tightly gripping their necks. The ves werepletely still as well. The only sounds heard in the cave were the sound of low breathing and ttering of chains.


    <i>‘Chains?’</i>


    The same word shed through the diators'' minds as their eyes turned to the pir where the wolf was tied. The beast trembled as it crouched. Then, it turned and started to shake violently. Each shake caused the clumsily-tied chains to rattle. Simultaneously, Juan raised his head toward the diators. Immediately, the beast broke the chains and ran free. The diators and the ves scattered around while screaming.


    But the wolf wasn’t running towards the diators or ves—it was running toward the exit.


    1. At this point in time, we’re unsure if there are specifically demonic beasts or just demons in general existing amongst humans, since the author used the term ?? (tranted as demonic beasts) here. This will be updated as we find out in the story along the way.