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Now, don’t go asking why I say the humans are obviously stronger than the Elves -some things don’t need facts to back them up.

In all seriousness however, it was a fact that the humans commanded a territory dozens of times larger than the Wood Elves. As for the Dark Elves, the ones who chased them underground were the Wood Elves. Just based on that fact, it was safe to say the humans as a race were stronger. After all, only the strong could hold such large swathes of territory.

That was why that Sword Dancer’s attitude rubbed me in all the wrong ways, especially since I was previously a human!

“Since your holiness dislikes him so much, then there’s no need for him to continue existing.” Having said that, Paliseth turned and waved in the direction of Sarkath, and nothing else. A glint of resolve flashed past her eyes and she lowered her head to whisper in my ears, “Paliseth will give your holiness a satisfactory answer.”

“Who is that Sarkath anyway?” Now that I had made my displeasure known, I became a little curious about this Sword Dancer’s background.

However, Paliseth remained silent and it was Jezsere who raised her head up from my chest and explained, “Master, that’s Jezsere’s older brother…”

“Older brother?”

I was stunned. If that Sword Dancer was Jezsere’s older brother, then didn’t that make him Paliseth’s son?

I gave it some thought for a second before deciding to rescind my order to kill him. “Since he’s your son, how about we…”

Yet, it was too late. There was no need for me to say anything further, because Sarkath’s head just slid off his neck… Just moments ago, he was on his way out of the colosseum, then he was beheaded. In fact, his body even took a few steps forward, as if it hadn’t caught up with the fact that it was dead…

How?! Why is his head gone?

I stared at Sarkath’s headless body in shock, hoping to gleam some sort of clue as to how he died.

There was nothing that stood out at all. The cut on his neck was extremely even, as if something razor thin had sliced its way across it. But there was no such object to be found in the arena at all. There weren’t even any signs of someone else having entered the arena. The only clue I had was Paliseth waving her hand before stating that she would give me a satisfactory answer… don’t tell me…

Hold on! I see it now! It’s a spider silk, lying almost invisibly across his neck. Where did that even sprout out from? And how was it so strong that it could silently slice off a person’s neck like that?!

I gasped to myself in disbelief. However, no matter how hard to believe this sight was, it was also a fact that he was now dead.

With that in mind, I turned my wide eyes towards Paliseth. She still had her head lowered as before, standing there quietly like a beautiful statue. Had it not been for Lolthe’s blessing, perhaps I might not have even seen that spider silk hanging just above the area where Sarkath’s head used to be…

Just frightening… No wonder they say that Dark Elves are some of the most terrifying assassins in the world. Just that silent kill alone spoke volumes about their capabilities. Even more chilling was the fact that the Sword Dancer was actually Paliseth’s son…

If one were to include Jezsere and Reyage, Paliseth had a total of seven children, five of whom I hadn’t seen yet. But based on what Paliseth told me before in the treasure room, it was only Jezsere and Reyage whom she truly viewed as being her children. Which wasn’t a surprise at all, seeing as they came from the seed of the one and only Solar-sama.

Even so, those five other children were her own flesh and blood as well! Yet she killed him, just like that! Even a tiger did not feed on its own spawn, let alone an intelligent race like the Dark Elves. It truly felt like I had just seen a new side to the cruelty of the Dark Elves. As long as it benefitted themselves, they were capable of anything.

Honestly speaking, I couldn’t even be sure what it was that triggered such decisive action from her. Was it when she asked me if I hated that Sword Dancer? Or perhaps it was when she said she would give me a satisfactory answer. Or perhaps she was afraid I would blame her for my foul mood?

Going back to that match I had just witnessed. It was clear now that the Sword Dancer was vastly superior to that female human, especially with his ability to transform into mist. That Sword Dancer had clearly wanted to kill that female human as well, but he chose to humiliate her instead. Because of that, he even ranted on about some nonsense for a good long while. Yet if one were to consider it from another way, he didn’t have to participate in this fight at all. In all likelihood, it was Paliseth who arranged for this match to be as such. She then commanded him to humiliate that female human in public.

Putting it another way, that female human’s unfortunate demise was caused by Paliseth as well. But Paliseth was calm enough to realise that if she killed Sarkath, she could prevent my mood from being soured further. It was her way of showing subservience to me, as if to say that even her son wasn’t exempt from punishment as long as it pleased me.

Naturally, by killing her son, she was also hinting me to not to pursue this matter any further, seeing as she had even sacrificed a son in penitence. At the end of the day, this whole fight was her bright idea, and she clearly had some responsibility to bear. That was why she decisively sliced off his head.

Either way, whatever her true motive, it was a fact that I really couldn’t pursue this matter any further seeing as she had already done so much.

In some sense, that female human died because of me. Because Paliseth wanted to entertain me, that female human was brought out to die. While that might have sounded a lot like self-aggrandizing pity, I couldn’t help but feel guilty seeing as this was the first human I had seen in a long time. Having been stuck with Devils for so long, I couldn’t help but have an attachment to the first human I had seen in a long time.

Now, if it was a male that had died… well, the colosseum is a cruel place…

Either way, the deed was done, and I had no reason to pursue this matter further. However, there was still the matter of that little drama between those two. I clearly saw a deep-seated sense of hatred in that female human’s eyes. If not for that, she wouldn’t have fought so desperately in the first place.

The colosseum had a rule that once the victor laid claim on the loser’s body, he or she was forbidden from harming the loser, else no matter who they were they would be thrown to Arachne Cavern.

It was said that Arachne Cavern had a certain species of arachnid magical beast that could lay its eggs into a living creature like a parasite. Once hatched, the spawn from these eggs would then feed themselves using the flesh of the host… That was a fate worse than death.

With such a cruel threat of punishment looming over his shoulders, the female human would have definitely survived as long as she listened to Sarkath. So why did she do it? Clearly, it wasn’t because of her treatment as a slave gladiator. If it was, she wouldn’t have tried to curse him even in death.

“Do the two of them know each other?” I asked. “There was some mention of a Lewell as well, who is that?”

“Lewell is also Jezsere’s older brother…” With two deaths happening before her very eyes in such a short span of time, Jezsere’s already pale face was even paler now. She leaned into my shoulders and timidly said, “Before Jezsere ran away from home, brother Sarkath had killed brother Lewell…”

Sarkath killed Lewell? Then what relation did Lewell have with that female human? From the looks of things, it wasn’t just a simple relationship too.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.

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“I had originally planned for an easy death for you… after all, a low-born, short-lived creature such as yourself has no right to even serve me. But now… I’ve changed my mind. Even though it still disgusts me to look at you, I feel it is my duty to proceed as such… such a fortunate creature you are… I just hope I won’t puke all of a sudden.”

Sarkath the Sword Dancer slowly walked up to the still shell-shocked female warrior. She was in a terrible condition right now and probably wouldn’t be able to get up in the short term. Because of her prone state, her body was filthy, a mix of fresh blood and dirt.

“I swear, I just can’t stand a dirty creature like you.” Sarkath arrogantly declared before swinging his sword in her direction.

A glint of steel flashed across her back, yet his sword did not hurt her as one would expect, instead, her dirtied hemp clothes were completely sliced apart.

What’s going on here? I thought you hated her, so why are you undressing her instead? At this point, the female human’s snowy white back was bare for the entire colosseum to see…

“WOOOOOOO!!!” The stands erupted in cheers once more, intoxicated by the deadly cocktail that was violence and procreation. Even under normal circumstances, such a combination always stirred the imaginations of those watching, let alone in a depraved society like the Dark Elf’s.

Are they going to have a go then? I thought to myself, still shocked by what was about to happen as I turned to face Paliseth.

In return, Paliseth flashed me a wide, long smile, as if to say that the true show was only beginning.

The colosseum was not just a place where blood was shed. Often, there would be public displays of procreation, perpetrated by the more open members of their society. In fact, it was basically a part of the daily show at this point; it wasn’t strange at all to see a few such cases in a day. Even some of the slave gladiators were a part of this live performance, choosing to have a go right after their victory instead of waiting till they were in the backrooms.

What was more shocking however, was that such acts of perversion were actually popular with the crowd… Naturally, all that was assuming such people survived the fight.

Reyage kept his cool for the most part, even when faced with a potentially exciting situation down below. He was every bit an old, wizened monk right now: expressionless and unaffected. As for his sister… her face was already buried in my chest.

Her hands were completely cupping her ears and her body was shivering just like it would when she was frightened. That was how timid of a girl she was. Even though the sword didn’t harm the human in the end, the mere thought of that grisly scene was enough to frighten her.

The human female below had already resigned herself to her fate, but apparently fate had something more cruel in store for her. The dreaded cold embrace of death never came, instead she felt a chill on her back, both figuratively and literally. The Sword Dancer chose not to kill her right away, he wanted to humiliate her in the worst possible way -that was why he sliced her shirt up under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of people.

Feeling her clothes slip off her back, the female human immediately grabbed onto whatever scraps of cloth that were left covering her chest. Then she turned around to face the Sword Dancer so as not to let him see her exposed back. This time, there was panic written all over her face. Real, visceral panic. Her body instinctively pulled itself away from Sarkath, crawling desperately away in a bid to put some distance between her and him.

Unfortunately, there was no way her crawling was ever going to save her. The perfectly unharmed Sword Dancer had on a sinister sneer as he looked at the female human, as if she was nothing more than a dirty Duergar. “Hmph, you should consider it an honor for lowly creatures like yourself to serve me. Do you honestly think I would covet that body of yours? That body which you might see as perfect but is actually no better than a filthy Duergar’s.”

His barbed words cut into her like a sword, but she never responded to him in the slightest. She merely continued crawling away, all the while clutching on that dangling piece of hemp on her chest.

Sarkath maintained a calm pace as he walked up to her. His face held none of the lust you would expect, instead it held that paradoxical look of disgust you would see on a person who was about to swallow something he knew was revolting but chose to do it anyway.

It was as if the unspeakable acts he was about to inflict on her were actually an insult to his noble self… like how one wouldn’t cavort in bed with a dog.

That self-aggrandising attitude of his only made me want to ask him this: so why are you doing this then… Suddenly, I remembered Paliseth’s mysterious smile. Nothing needed to be explained from that point onwards.

Before his dastardly deed was about to be perpetrated, I finally spoke up.

“Stop.” I said with furrowed brows, voice amplified significantly by my own magic.

Had this been a willing transaction, I would have never interfered like this -just like how I never said a word after that previous match with the Dwarf and the Dark Elf. In fact, I was even a little excited back then by how the Dwarf would react to the Dark Elf’s solicitation… aren’t all men like that? At least, I am.

This time was clearly different. The female human was clearly forced into such an act by the male Dark Elf. And the male Dark Elf didn’t even seem willing to go through with it in the first place. It was clear that he must have had a reason for doing this, and this reason most likely had nothing to do with his will, and all to do with a certain Matriarch who was still excitedly watching the scene unfold.

Unfortunately, my objection was easily drowned out by the frantic cheering from the audience. No one had heard what I said, and even if they did, it was a question whether or not they would even care.

While all that was happening, Sarkath continued approaching the female human with the expression of someone who was about to swallow a cockroach. Yet even if the audience did not hear my objection, there was someone who certainly did.

Paliseth, upon noticing my obvious disapproval of what the Dark Elf below was about to do, tried to intervene right away. Unfortunately, her attempts were a little too late…

Upon hitting the walls of the ring with her back, the female human knew that she was doomed. Her thirst for vengeance might have clouded her mind, but even she could see what was about to happen to her. Sarkath might have looked unwilling, but the fact that he hadn’t tried to kill her yet meant that something unspeakable was about to happen to her…

Without waiting for the Dark Elf to come any closer, her right hand darted to her back, coming out a second later to toss a dagger at Sarkath. However, if she wasn’t even able to hurt him under normal circumstances, she certainly wasn’t going to be able to do so in this state. Sarkath did not even bother dodging this attack. He instead swatted it away with his engraved longswords like a fly.

But seeing her still try to struggle even at the eleventh hour, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger rising in his chest that swiftly reached his head. An instant later, he dove forward with swords aimed right at her throat!

This sudden change in heart was naturally just an attempt to frighten her into submission. He had never intended to kill her, and was planning to stop a hair’s breadth away from her throat. Unfortunately, he had miscalculated. She wasn’t cowed by the impending threat of death at all -she welcomed it! A gush of blood later… the female human had her throat pierced by the Sword Dancer’s engraved swords.

She didn’t die immediately however. Her throat continued to move, as if she was trying to say something to the Dark Elf. I couldn’t hear what she was saying from where I was, but I could clearly feel her words in my soul.

“I curse you.”

Just like that, she died with her eyes wide open.

Yet Sarkath clearly wasn’t one to care for whatever she had to say. He impatiently pulled out his stained swords, and even kicked her on the face to dislodge them even faster. The blood splatters on his otherwise beautiful swords displeased him greatly. He gave them a quick flick to clean them, then turned around to leave, not even bothering to spare the woman he had just slain a second more of his time.

While I could not know what he was thinking right now, my guess would have been something like this…

‘Wretched thing… even in death, you have to inconvenience me.’

This guy… even if you look down upon her, there has to be limits, right? You just killed her and you’re already humiliating her right away… isn’t that just going overboard?

“Who is that?”

I did not specify who I was referring to, but Paliseth implicitly knew who I was asking about. Seeing that I was even more displeased now, she immediately wiped that smile off her face and answered me in earnest.

“Does your holiness dislike that Sword Dancer?”

“I do. I hate him so much that I would wish him dead.”

Honestly speaking, the Elves did possess a more noble bloodline than the humans, what with their immensely long lifespans. But humans had their strengths as well. They were able to learn quickly and had the potential to reach the same heights as Elves. While the Elves had the right to look down on others because of their long lives, it was also a fact that they developed at a much slower right than humans, not to mention the obvious superiority the humans had in numbers. In fact, if we were just talking about high level warriors and mages, the humans had more.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.