Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

Zaroth's brain went blank.

He had just made the decision to kill his mother.

He had gone against everything he believed in.

And yet, at the last moment, the attack was stopped by the observer, as it was obvious he was going to win.

As such, the woman who had taken his mother's appearance wouldn't die by his blade.

A healer appeared and began to heal her injuries.

The emperor stood up and announced Zaroth as the winner.

The audience began to cheer.

Sure, from their perspective, the fight wasn't all that impressive, but a win was a win, so it was supposed to be celebrated.

Zaroth glanced at the people, then at the emperor.

Then his gaze shifted to the woman lying on the ground, her face twisted in pain as the healer tended to her wounds.

Zaroth didn't know how to feel.

In the previous round, he had to kill his opponent.

He didn't do it because he wanted to, but he didn't have a choice back then.

The fight had been too close, and if it had been stopped, there would have been arguments over who the winner was. Skepticism would follow, no matter the outcome.

And skepticism was not allowed in the emperor's grand tournament.

As such, Zaroth had to kill his opponent.

What about the woman lying on the ground?

She had degraded the image of Zaroth's mother.

Then, she tried to deceive him by using her appearance.

And when her plan had failed, she had forced him to make the decision to kill his own mother.

Yet the woman was lying on the ground with a pained expression.

She was hurting, that was for sure, but she was alive.

The blue-eyed woman took ragged breaths, looking down at the ground, waiting for the healer to finish the healing.

Not long after, the healer was done, the wound on her body was gone, and her arm was back.

She was about to get up until she noticed a shadow cast over her.

The healer had already left, so who could it be?

She lifted her gaze upwards.

Standing before her was a white-haired man with green, cat-like eyes.

His name was Zaroth, and he was famous in the tournament for his brutality. It was also commonly known that his eyes shone from time to time.

But now, his eyes weren't shining.

They looked hollow, empty, and they were fixed solely on her.

The man's expression was impossible to read. Just like his eyes, his face showed no emotion.

The woman felt her heart beat faster as sweat formed on her forehead.

It was as if she was trapped, unable to move under Zaroth's gaze.

Drip

That was until something caught her attention and broke her out of her trance.

She shifted her gaze down to where the noise was coming from.

Zaroth's odachi was resting in his right hand, and there was blood dripping from the blade.

This was her blood.

A lingering feeling of fear found its way into the woman's heart.

Not wanting to remain any longer, she stood up.

Once she did, she realized that she was taller than the man.

He was on the shorter side, while she was taller than average, so she was about ten centimeters taller than him.

That meant if she wanted to look him in the eyes, she had to move her gaze down. So she did, as Zaroth's gaze was still fixed on her.

She was taller than him...

She was looking down on him...

Yet, she felt the opposite. She felt insignificant before the man.

Was he angry about the illusions she had shown him? She asked herself.

She didn't want to find out, so she turned her back on him and began to walk away in hurried steps.

Zaroth watched her silently without moving.

He wanted to kill her, but this wasn't the place.

As such, he also turned back and began to head out.

Several audience members, seated near the entrance where the fighters would come in and out of the arena, shifted their gazes to Zaroth, eager to see his expression.

But what they saw left them puzzled.

Usually, once a person wins a fight, they would be happy.

Not to mention that they had won in an arena as grand as this one! If one counted the orbs, they would have won in front of millions of people!

And yet, Zaroth didn't have any expression of happiness, relief, or anything similar.

In fact, he didn't have much emotion on his face at all.

It looked empty.

But the matter was different when it came to his eyes.

They were narrowed a lot, almost like a hunter going for a hunt.

The audience didn't stay puzzled for long, however, as there was still one more fight, so they focused their attention on it.

Zaroth made his way to the room that had been assigned to him in the arena.

It was supposed to be used only before the fight, but he didn't care.

Opening the door, he sat on the bed and furrowed his eyebrows.

Then he closed his eyes and began to think.

The woman was strong, and there was a very real possibility that she came from a strong family.

...

Zaroth spent a few minutes enjoying the silence. It seemed that the room was soundproof, so he wasn't hearing the commotion in the arena.

Eventually, he parted his lips.

"Thank you."

The words were directed to Luna.

If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have been able to move, and he would have lost the round as well as the tournament.

'Don't mention it.'

As Luna's words echoed in his mind, his heart began to ache more and more.

While his mother had been the person he valued most, Luna was the living person he cherished above all,

...Well, she wasn't technically a person, as she was a dragon.

And technically, she wasn't alive but undead.

Zaroth shook off his head.

His mind was made, so he used the bracelet to send Elysia a message.

*****

Elysia had spent most of the time watching the fight with furrowed brows.

But seeing as Zaroth eventually managed to move, she breathed out a sigh of relief.

While Elysia hadn't considered Zaroth losing before, in the 14th round, the thought briefly crossed her mind.

But it seemed that her worries were unnecessary, as Zaroth won.

He managed to prove himself.

...

To have the mental capacity to attack the person closest to you...

Elysia's perception of Zaroth began to change.

He wasn't a clueless person that she could control easily.

He was a man who seemed to have an insanely strong will.

In such a short time, he had matured into a full-fledged man.

But Elysia didn't bother to think much of it for now as she stood up with a sigh.

The match she wanted to see had ended, and as such, she had to leave.

That was until she received a message.

Noticing that it was from Zaroth, she raised an eyebrow as she opened it and began to read.

Then her eyebrows furrowed.

-----

Zaroth: I need help with killing a student.

-----

It seemed that Zaroth wanted the woman to pay for her actions.