51. Berserk

"Rooooaaarrrr..."

With a heart-wrenching roar that echoed throughout the arena, a figure emerged from within the flames of the fireball. The black-haired girl was mostly unharmed, with just traces of damage on her skin and clothes.

The sudden emergence got the already wild crowd roaring enthusiastically along with her.

"Damn! She's still alive after all that?"

"So cool! I can't believe it. She survived that fireball! She's definitely a monster in human skin, hahahaha..."

"Finally, something hella interesting after so many days. It's such a sight for sore eyes..."

"F*ck! How was a monster like her an unknown until today? Has anyone seen her fight before this?"

"Don't know! Never seen her fight before though!"

[As I said, she still emerged mostly unharmed. Hmph... Never underestimate this awesome system's judgment.]

Sid could clearly hear every bit of mockery squeezed into the system's comment. In the end, he could only sigh at all this. But the figure below soon attracted his attention.

It wasn't just Sid. As the figure fully emerged, the changes instantly grabbed everyone's attention.

The girl stood on the spot, traces of thick dark aura flowing around her. The aura covered her like armor, with many cracks due to the huge explosion.

What was even more astounding was the emergence of features that didn't resemble those of humans from the girl's body. This included some oddly shaped, sharp ears that elongated and enlarged quite a bit. Then there was that thick muscular tail that swayed behind her, though it seemed a bit difficult for her to move.

Her elongated fingers and toes had turned into claws, as well as the mysterious fog-like aura that filled her eyes. At last, there were also the broken traces of flesh and blood wings that hung slightly above her waist. Combining all these inhuman features, her form looked rather grotesque.

"Ewww, what's that? So disgusting!" such sounds echoed throughout the arena crowd, especially from a few pretty kids from the rich families of the main city who seemed rather grossed out.

'System, what's wrong with her? Why does it look like she's trying to imitate me?' Sid felt rather indignant at the sight of someone adopting an appearance close to his.

[-_-!!! Well, consider it like a fashion statement!]

'Ohh! So awesome!!!'

"Rooaaarrrr!!!"

Just as they conversed, another change occurred in the arena. The black-haired girl roared again, this time erupting with an extremely powerful aura. Though there were slight improvements in flexiblity, her body still moved with those broken robotic movements.

Her knees bent slightly as her calf and thigh muscles tightened to support her body weight. Then, like some four legged wild beast, she leaned forward, her front limbs slightly touching the ground. She pounced forward toward her prey, her figure blurring in the dazzling afterimages that were left behind.

"F*ck! It's so fast! My eyes can't keep up at all!"

"I can't follow either! What kind of monster is this?"

"Gehehehe, just look at that speed, guehehehe..."

"Hey old man, what's wrong with you? You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, fine!"

"Go get him! Kill! Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

The changes on the battlefield received enthusiastic cheers from the audience, as the arena erupted in another frenzy of bloodthirst.

Even if most people couldn't follow her movements, everyone's eyes still focused on her, including Sid's. 'Damn! Look at that movement speed, it's almost comparable to mine! I didn't expect that, considering her stiff movements previously.'

[Her body seems to be enhanced. Comparing its functions to normal body functions is a fool's errand.]

'Ughk!'

Amidst everyone's gazes, the girl's figure arrived in front of the mage in the blink of an eye. She lifted her hand stiffly in midair, swinging it down with ferocious force.

With a swing of her hand, the air rumbled, compressing to the extreme. *Boom* With a loud explosion, the compressed air collapsed.

The sudden shockwave directly sent the poor mage flying. Even the heartless audience felt a bit of pity for his miserable soul.

The entire arena was silent before erupting in wild cheers. Although everyone knew that the mage, after using all those barrages of fireballs and that huge combination skill, was already at the end of his rope, otherwise it wouldn't have been so easy to eliminate him, it was still heart-pounding to see a one-hit KO in the arena. After all, Sid, too, earned his bit of reputation this way.

Sid rubbed his nose, still seriously observing the arena. Others might not know, but experiencing something similar himself, he knew the consequences of using such power. He wanted to see the final result to the end.

And as expected, the girl stood on the spot after defeating the mage. Her figure swayed slightly in the wind, then she fell to the ground, completely limp.

The judge then announced the competition to be the black-haired girl's victory. Everyone understood the victory came only by a hair's breadth. Even though nothing stopped their wild enthusiasm.

Soon, under the judge's command, the medical staff rushed over to the arena battlefield, as they placed the bodies on stretchers to take them away one after another.

With that, another round of the chaotic colosseum duel ended today.

Sid still stood in the arena observatory, from where he could get an overall view of the place. His mind wandered somewhere unknown, as his eyes stared at the void ahead. "System, something's wrong!" he muttered to himself.

[Yeah, definitely!]

"What do you think then?"

[Look! I doubt that wretched old man in the arena audience is behind the scenes.]

Sid: (; ￣Д￣)? Huh? What do you mean?

[Huh???]

[Weren't you talking about how the transformation of that black-haired girl just now doesn't seem natural and feels more like some experimental result?]

[I suspect there's an entire organization behind it, and that old man seems the most suspicious one here. Just look at his actions.]

The system's explanation made Sid look over involuntarily at the old man sitting in the audience seat. His eyes stared intently at the arena, and his hands jotted down a few notes from time to time. Soon, as the black-haired girl was taken out of the arena, the old man stood up, muttering to himself, "Useless, really useless!"

"Hmm, that does indeed look somewhat suspicious," Sid mused to himself. "Could it be that your theory is really true..."

But soon, as if recalling something important, Sid straightened his back, and his gaze became sharp. He muttered, "But System, what I meant wasn't this at all. I was wondering why someone like that girl is so strong yet unknown. It's strange no matter how I look at it."

[•_•'!!!]

[Unlike you, she's not a prisoner, and she's also not present in the database. From the looks of it, she's a volunteer who fights on her own.]

[Such people don't have the restrictions of participating in just one match each day. Not to mention, you saw how unremarkable the match was until she went berserk.]

[It's quite possible she just doesn't come to the arena as often, and most of the time she does, the judge decides the match before she can go berserk. Besides, I highly suspect there's a research organization behind her. So, I think it's not unreasonable for her to be unknown in this small arena. It's not so strange.]

"Ughk... Whatever, fine. You win! I'm just stupid! Are you happy now?..."

"Hmmm... Wait, I've decided."

[What?]

"Bwahahaha... Yes! System, I've finally decided."

[What? What?]

"Gyahahahahaha, it's finally hit me. Yes, I said it would be best to just leave it to fate, and look where fate brought us. It's finally been decided, gyahahahaha..."

[Just say it if you want to, or shut up! Hmph...]

"Ugh, well it's nothing that significant. It's just that I've decided who's going to be my first parasite target."

[Who? That black-haired girl?]

"Huh? How'd you know?"

[-_-||| Hmph....]

"In any case, she's the perfect target. Not to mention her abilities are somewhat similar to mine, too." Sid muttered to himself, as his gaze swept over the old man leaving the arena. "So, System... Can you follow that guy for me and confirm if your theory about that girl is true or false?"

"Hmm? Sure, why not?"

.....

Meanwhile, in the complicated alleyways just outside the colosseum:

The old man cautiously stepped out of an inconspicuous shadow, observing his surroundings. After confirming that no one was following him, he heaved a sigh of relief as his steps picked up the pace.

"Dammit! That useless test subject! It's been, what, about 10 failures so far? The higher-ups are gonna skin me alive if this goes on any longer! Sigh..."

Soon the old man's steps came to a halt as he looked behind his back. His expression became one of confusion as a deep frown appeared on his face. He looked around repeatedly to confirm before turning back.

"F*ck, why do I feel like I'm being followed for some reason? Whatever, let's return to the lab first."