My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 98

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 98. The Underground Arena
Those imprisoned in the Underground Prison were quickly subdued, stripped of all movement, and transported by carriage to an unknown destination.
How much time had passed?
“Ugh!”
The mask covering their faces was torn away roughly by someone, and what came into view was a considerably vast Underground Arena.
‘A place like this existed?’
At the unexpected sight of the arena, Jong Pal, Do Il, and Myeong Hyeon wore expressions of bewilderment.
They did not know.
That Hwan Hui Palace had quietly constructed dozens of underground arenas throughout the Central Lands.
Nor did they know that the arena rotated its openings.
But when and where it opened, only those invited to that arena knew.
Of course, those who received such invitations were not many.
Perhaps around twenty people?
Their ages, occupations, and genders varied, but they shared one common trait.
They were fabulously wealthy.
Indeed.
The deadly arena held here was nothing but entertainment for this tiny fraction of the rich.
They laughed at the sight of ordinary people facing beasts and trembling in fear until death claimed them.
They savored the horrific, ghastly moment when warriors drove blades into each other’s throats to survive.
The screams of humanity and madness unfolding before their eyes were entertainment to them.
Such spectacles could not be found anywhere else.
Only in the Underground Arena opened by Hwan Hui Palace could such things be witnessed.
Because of this, those who came here paid exorbitant sums just to receive an invitation to such an affair.
This was precisely why Hwan Hui Palace abducted ordinary people.
They needed expendable lives—flies to die in the Underground Arena.
“Follow.”
The arrivals were immediately dragged elsewhere.
After walking through a narrow, winding corridor, they arrived at a prison—small and cramped, with a single window barely the width of the space between nose and eyes, through which they could see directly into the Underground Arena below.
And through that window, one could witness everything occurring in the Underground Arena.
‘These insane bastards.’
Jong Pal, surveying the interior of the cell, cursed silently to himself.
At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary prison, nothing particularly special.
But upon closer examination, it was a prison of diabolical design.
Now that they had come this far, Jong Pal began to understand why they had been abducted and brought here.
It was clear they hadn’t been brought to merely watch the arena—they themselves would be forced into that pit.
Then what purpose did that window, which opened a clear view of the arena, serve?
Those confined here would witness through that window the terrible fate that awaited those dragged into the arena before them.
And knowing that their own end would soon follow, they would wail and gradually lose their minds.
Their cries would become sweet music to these madmen who sought out the Underground Arena.
Crunch.
Having reached this conclusion, Jong Pal ground his teeth hard.
Turning his head, he saw that Myeong Hyeon had reached the same conclusion—his eyes were bloodshot, and Do Il was trembling with clenched fists.
Whoever had conceived this madness was clearly beyond reason.
From the moment they were captured by Hwan Hui Palace and locked in the Underground Prison until now.
They felt as though they were viewing the most horrible things the world had to offer all at once.
Their insides churned; they wanted to retch.
If those who had trained in Martial Arts their entire lives, refining body and mind, felt this way, what must the ordinary people dragged here in ignorance be enduring?
Sounds of trembling echoed from various corners of the prison, soft sobs breaking the silence.
The expressions of Jong Pal, Myeong Hyeon, and Do Il darkened.
“Damn… this is enough to drive a person mad. Truly.”
Jong Pal scratched his head roughly and let out a heavy sigh.
The infamy of Hwan Hui Palace had spread far throughout the Martial World; he had heard of it often.
But nothing like this.
An Underground Arena built by kidnapping people who had not trained in Martial Arts!
How could such a thing even be possible?
How could one justify such horrors without viewing humans as livestock?
In any case, it was a truly vexing situation.
From the moment of capture, he had desperately tried to escape and expose what was happening, yet instead they had been dragged all the way here.
It was infuriating.
Then it happened.
Snarl!
The roar of wild beasts suddenly filled the air.
Through the small window, it appeared that a pack of wolves had just been released into the Underground Arena.
The wolves, starved for days, dripped saliva from their maws and bared their fangs with savage hunger.
Before anyone could even process the wolves’ sudden appearance, a metallic clang rang out and another iron gate swung open.
At the sight of what emerged from that gate, the faces of the onlookers drained of all color.
“That… that thing!”
It was a bear.
A bear so grotesquely enormous it seemed almost unnatural.
Roaaaaarrr!
The bear’s cry resonated through the Underground Arena with deafening force.
Snarl! Yelp!
The pack of wolves wasted no time, circling the bear before rushing forward with coordinated speed.
They moved against the bear with remarkable organization.
As though this hunt had been performed many times before.
And yet, from the start, it seemed the wolves stood little chance.
Before long, the wolves began falling to the bear one by one.
Until only a single wolf remained.
The alpha, by the look of it.
Snarl! Roar!
Though the situation was plainly hopeless, the wolf bared its teeth and charged the bear with undiminished ferocity.
And the bear, with those massive claws, tore the wolf in half.
Roaaaaarrr!
The bear’s cry—less a roar of victory than the howl of slaughter and annihilation—echoed through the Underground Arena.
Without pause, another figure stepped into the arena.
This time not a beast, but swordsmen whose faces had gone deathly pale, weapons trembling in their hands.
“U-ugh… ah…”
Their entire bodies shook like aspen leaves in the wind.
“Curse this! Have we come to this? How could this happen to us?”
Yes. They were palace disciples of Hwan Hui Palace.
So then—why were they suffering such a fate?
It was because they had failed to meet the recruitment quota they had promised.
A mistake forgiven once, but not twice.
And so they had been driven into this death match.
For those who knew better than anyone what it meant to set foot in this Underground Arena, there was nothing but thoughts of death in this horrifying situation.
They had at least been permitted weapons, though whether such a thing could truly be called mercy remained to be seen.
One of them soon spotted someone watching from above and cried out.
“Palace Master! How could you do this to us!”
“It’s true! We were loyal to you like dogs, and yet you abandon us like this?”
The target of their anguished rage was a corpulent, middle-aged man with skin pale as paper and eyes sharp as blades.
This was Yu Ryeong Shin Gun, Palace Master of Hwan Hui Palace and one of the Ten Great Masters.
But unlike the disciples pouring out their bitterness, he merely gazed down at them with an expression of utter indifference.
“I have no memory of accepting incompetent wretches like you into my palace’s ranks. So spare me your whining and scurry about like the vermin you are, struggling to survive.”
“What? You son of a—”
Splat!
The head of the man who had lost his reason and begun to curse burst open like a watermelon at Yu Ryeong Shin Gun’s words.
“I will permit no further words directed at me.”
As Yu Ryeong Shin Gun’s eyes flickered with irritation, those who had been raging in fury suddenly shrank back.
“U… ugh…”
Rage had made them forget.
Forget who stood before them.
That he was something far more terrifying and dreadful than that enormous bear.
Thump. Boom. Thump.
The great bear, having caught the scent of blood, was already advancing toward them.
And the moment one of them met its gaze,
Roaaaaarrr!
The massive bear charged toward them.
“Aaaahhhhhhh!”
Unfortunately, the outcome was already a foregone conclusion.
***
“Hah-hah-hah. You show your subordinates no mercy whatsoever, do you?”
A man chuckled warmly as he turned to Yu Ryeong Shin Gun.
“Hmm. As I mentioned earlier, those incompetent fools are not truly my subordinates. Rather, I find far greater meaning in all of you who share my refined tastes.”
“Tsk-tsk. How delightful to hear you say so.”
“Indeed. I cannot express how pleased I am to enjoy such entertainment with kindred spirits.”
Around Yu Ryeong Shin Gun, roughly twenty people had gathered.
Every last one of them wore clothing of extraordinary luxury.
That was right—they were the distinguished guests who had been invited to this Underground Arena.
“The spectacles you prepare for us each time are truly exquisite.”
“Indeed. I find myself wondering what delights you might have arranged for us this evening.”
“I am gratified by your enthusiasm. Allow me to add that today we have prepared something extraordinarily special.”
“Something… special?”
Yu Ryeong Shin Gun grinned widely, his confidence unmistakable.
“You may look forward to it. I assure you, you will not be disappointed.”
At his words, anticipation rippled through the assembled guests.
Their eyes gleamed with the thirst for blood and slaughter as they gazed down upon the arena floor.
The next batch of livestock was being prepared to ascend.
***
Meanwhile.
Among those imprisoned, those destined to be thrust onto the arena floor next had been decided.
Do Il, Myeong Hyeon, and Jong Pal were the ones chosen.
Inexplicably, the man who had been captured last was also among them.
Before the iron gate that opened onto the arena floor, one of the Hwan Hui Palace members snickered as he spoke.
“I do hope you distinguished gentlemen of those celebrated orthodox sects will refrain from being devoured too quickly, and grant His Majesty and our honored guests some entertainment.”
Snicker-snicker.
‘Madmen.’
Their teeth ground together in rage, but that was not the priority now.
The iron gate was already creeping open toward the arena.
Jong Pal spoke urgently.
“Enough talk—hand us weapons!”
He harbored no illusions about having his Inner Martial Power restored.
These bastards would never trust him that far.
That was precisely why they had forced that deadly poison into him.
Of course, if his Inner Martial Power did return, he harbored not the slightest intention of obediently fighting a bear.
Bear or no bear—first, he would run.
But the reply that came was utterly unexpected.
“Why?”
The Hwan Hui Palace member responded to Jong Pal’s request for weapons as though the question made no sense.
What? What is this?
Jong Pal wanted to ask that very question.
“Why? Because we need weapons to kill that monstrously oversized bear!”
“Ah, ah. I think you’ve misunderstood my meaning?”
“Misunderstood? What do you mean?”
“We don’t hope for you to kill that bear and walk out alive.”
The Hwan Hui Palace member grinned at Jong Pal’s continued confusion.
“We merely hope you’ll thrash about as entertainingly as possible before you die.”
For a moment, words simply froze in his throat.
As the others stood gaping, it was Myeong Hyeon who finally forced out a voice.
“What manner of cruelty is this! The ones sent out before were given weapons!”
“Ah-hah. That was a gesture of mercy from His Majesty toward those who were once palace guards. But you lot? You are nothing of the sort, are you? Distinguished gentlemen of the orthodox sects?”
Clang.
The gate swung fully open.
“If you wish, pick up a blade from the blood-soaked ground down there and fight if you can.”
“You damned monsters!”
“Tsk-tsk. Do your best, won’t you. Not that it matters—you’ll be dead soon enough.”
As the laughter of the Hwan Hui Palace members echoed around them, the four were shoved forward onto the arena floor.
The gate sealed shut behind them with no possibility of escape,
and there, drenched in blood, a massive beast awaited them.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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