Previously on Watcher of the Infinite...
"My name is Banji. I descended into the world of mortals to find the Scepter, but instead, I was ensnared by a woman's trickery. Sarah bound my spirit to hers, forcing me to become her shield against a sea of enemies. Along the way, I saved an ancient spirit in the form of a pregnant antelope, only to receive a chilling prophecy: betrayal was coming from the person closest to me.
I should have listened. I woke up not in a forest, but in a cage. Sarah sold me out, but not just for gold—she sold me to become a gladiator in the blood-soaked arenas of the Mongolian Kingdom. As the sunlight pierced through the iron bars of my moving prison, I saw the truth. We weren't just travelers; we were a caravan of flesh headed for the slaughter. Sarah isn't a common thief running from the law—she is a Princess of the very Kingdom she claimed to hate. She played the ultimate 'pata-potea' with my soul, even severing the bond that made us one. I am no longer her protector. I am her entertainment. I must play by their rules for now, but I have a new mission: vengeance. Princess or not, I will have her head."
Chapter 59: The Destroyer's Debut
The sun over the Mongolian Arena didn't feel like the warm, life-giving sun of the Savannah. It was a harsh, unforgiving glare that bounced off the blood-stained sands and the polished armor of the guards. I sat in the corner of my iron cage, the metal burning against my skin, listening to the rhythmic chanting of thousands of voices. They weren't cheering for heroes; they were hungry for the sight of broken bones and spilled mana.
The caravan came to a jarring halt in the center of the pit. The dust kicked up by the heavy wheels tasted of copper, salt, and the lingering sweat of those who had died here yesterday. Around me, in other cages, were men and creatures who had lost their spark—broken warriors from the borderlands and hollowed-out beasts who had been forced to fight until their very names were forgotten. The air was thick, smelling of coal smoke and roasted meat from the vendors in the stands, a sickening contrast to the death that awaited us on the sand.
[ADVANCED RAW SYSTEM: ENVIRONMENT SCAN]
LOCATION:The Great Mongolian Pit (Tier 1 Arena).
ATMOSPHERE:High Hostility / 95% Bloodlust Saturation.
THREAT LEVEL:Extreme (Output restricted by Soul-Cuffs).
SYSTEM NOTE:Buda, wake up! This isn't a dream and there's no 'Plains-Fire' to blame this time. We are deep in the 'kichinjio' (slaughterhouse). They've stripped the blood-bond, maze! You're officially single and very, very vulnerable. But wait—check the royal box. Look at that lady in the silk robes. Is that... Sarah? No, that's Princess Sarai of the Mongolian House. She didn't just sell you, she 'recycled' you! You're the main event, and the commentator is calling you 'The Best Destroyer.' It's like being the star attraction at a 'sherehe' you weren't invited to. Kaza roho, Banji. If you don't fight like a demon today, you're going to end up as a floor mat!
VIBE CHECK:The 254 spirit is screaming for payback. Use that anger, but keep it 'chini ya maji' (underwater) for now. Don't show your full hand!
"Ladies and gentlemen! Seekers of the Red Sand!" the commentator's voice boomed, amplified by mana-stones that echoed through the stadium like a thunderclap. "Today, we bring you a gift from the deep plains! A man who has slain knights and monsters alike! A man who carries the fire of the ancients in his blood! Bow your heads for the one the scouts have named... THE BEST DESTROYER!"
The crowd erupted. The sound was like a physical wave, pushing against my chest, a roar that drowned out even the rattling of the chains. I stood up slowly, my joints popping after the long, cramped journey in the cage. I was used to the heavy labor of the mjengo site, used to the weight of stones and the grind of the sun, but this was a different kind of burden.
My eyes sought the royal box, cutting through the glare of the high sun until I found her.
She sat on a throne of carved ivory, draped in royal robes of deep crimson and gold that shimmered like a fresh wound. Her hair, once messy and smelling of woodsmoke from our campfires, was now intricately braided with jewels and gold thread. She looked down at the pit with a cold, detached gaze—the gaze of a ruler looking at a useful, but disposable, tool. There was no trace of the woman who had shared her secrets by the fire, no trace of the 'thief' who claimed to hate the King.
She had even removed the spirit-link, the very spell that had kept me bound to her life. I felt a strange, hollow lightness in my chest where her heartbeat used to echo in sync with mine. She hadn't just betrayed me; she had erased me from her existence. Everything she had told me—the family she lost, the vengeance she sought—it was all a lie, a carefully crafted script designed to lead the 'Scepter' right into her father's hands.
"Foolish," I whispered to myself, the word lost in the roar of the fans. "I was a fool to trust the word of a mortal who knew how to cry."
The Genesis Core pulsed deep in my gut, a low, thrumming vibration of pure, blue fury that the Soul-Cuffs struggled to contain. My blood was boiling, but my mind was becoming as cold as the dungeon I had just left. I didn't need a bond to keep me upright. I had a debt to collect, and in this kingdom, debts were paid in blood.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE: MISSION UPDATE]
NEW STATUS:Gladiator (Rank: Meat).
CURRENT OBJECTIVE:Survive the first wave without exposing the Core.
INTERNAL LOGIC:If you win, you climb the ranks. If you climb, you reach the Royal Box. If you reach the Box... you take what is yours. Simple hustle, Banji. Just like moving bags of cement—one after the other until the job is done.
SENG NOTE:Aki, this girl is cold-blooded! She's sitting up there drinking expensive wine while you're down here breathing in the dust. But listen, Banji, don't show them the blue cosmic light yet. If the King sees the Genesis Core, he'll turn you into a permanent battery. Use your 'hustle'—the raw, physical strength you built at the construction site. Fight like a laborer who hasn't been paid for months and just found the foreman! Use their own weapons against them. We need to reach her, but we do it one 'spoon' at a time. Tunasonga mbele!
The gate of my cage hissed open, the rusted iron scraping against the stone. Two guards with electrified pikes prodded me forward, the sparks dancing near my skin. I stepped onto the sand, the heat of it seeping through the soles of my feet, a familiar sensation that reminded me of the long days back in the city. Across the arena, a massive iron door began to grind upward, revealing a darkness that smelled of rot and old iron.
"The Destroyer faces his first test!" the commentator yelled, leaning over the stone railing. "To celebrate the return of our Princess, we release the Iron-Clad Knights of the Mongolian Guard! No mercy! No survivors!"
Six men emerged from the shadows, encased in heavy plate armor that made them look like walking tanks. They carried shields that could stop a charging rhino and flails that whistled through the air with a deadly intent. They moved in perfect synchronization, a wall of steel designed to crush anything in its path. I looked up at Sarah—Princess Sarai—one last time. She didn't flinch. She didn't even blink. She just raised her glass as if toasted to my death.
"I will abide by your laws for now," I muttered, my fingers curling into fists until the knuckles turned white. The violet embers in my eyes began to swirl with a dangerous, cosmic blue, but I forced it down, burying the power under layers of raw, physical muscle. "I will be your Destroyer. I will win your games. And then, I will burn your kingdom to the ground just to reach your neck."
The knights charged, their heavy boots thumping against the sand like a heartbeat. The crowd was screaming, a wall of sound that would have broken a lesser man. I didn't wait for them to reach me. I moved.
To the crowd, I was a streak of dust and shadow. To the knights, I was the end of their lives. I didn't use mana. I used leverage. I used the weight of their own armor against them. The first shield shattered like cheap glass under my fist, the shockwave vibrating through the knight's arm until I heard the bone snap. The arena went silent for a single, stunned heartbeat before the screams began again—this time, they were screaming for me.
[ADVANCED RAW SYSTEM: COMBAT LOG]
TARGET 1:Neutralized (Shattered Radius/Ulna).
ENERGY EXPENDED:0.5% (Physical Only).
SYSTEM NOTE:Eish! That was a 'heavy' hit, Buda! You handled him like a 'boriti' (timber pole). Five more to go. Remember—minimum magic, maximum 'mjengo' strength. Let them see the man, not the God. Princess Sarai is leaning forward now. You've got her attention. Now, keep it!
I spun, catching the chain of a flail with my bare hand, the cold iron stinging my palm. I yanked the knight forward, his own momentum sending him sprawling into the sand. I didn't stop. I was the Destroyer, and the hustle had just begun.