Seven kills in five seconds flat—the remaining two fallen warriors were scared out of their minds, dropping to their knees and kowtowing frantically.
"Please spare our lives! We'll give you our most precious treasures!"
"We'd pledge eternal loyalty to you without a single complaint! Please, just spare us!"
Even though they'd lost this match, and even if this newcomer didn't accept them and they'd have to go to the dangerous outer districts, as long as they could pay two cups of Bloody Mary, they wouldn't be in any mortal danger.
Usually, people who had just arrived at Slaughter City still had some compassion left in their hearts, making losers like them the most likely to survive battles like this.
But Ignaz couldn't care less about their begging. Just as they were about to lift their heads, a spear pierced straight through one Spirit Douluo's skull.
The other spirit master beside him tried to swing his blade in retaliation, but Ignaz swept horizontally, the sharp point at the end of his spear shaft driving forward, and both fallen spirit masters collapsed one after another.
The scene left all the spectators stunned speechless, and the air fell into a deathly silence.
"Let me... let us congratulate contestant 16528 on his first victory in Hell's Slaughter Arena!"
As the host announced the results, the fallen spirit masters in attendance erupted into a frenzy.
"Is this guy 16528 even human? Nine kills in under ten seconds!"
"That performance just smashed every record in Hell's Slaughter Arena!"
"16528 for the win! For the win!"
......
But it wasn't over yet. Ignaz watched as the nine corpses began transforming into white energy that Hell's Slaughter Arena was absorbing, then immediately cut his finger. As the blood sacrifice technique activated, his war spear became like a massive beast devouring the heavens, absorbing the blood essence from the nine corpses at lightning speed.
Massive amounts of blood essence filled the entire Hell's Slaughter Arena, and all the fallen spirit masters present were getting fired up at the sight.
"This guy's ruthless enough, evil enough—I like him!"
"He's actually competing with Hell's Slaughter Arena for spirit power! This guy's got a death wish!"
......
Ignaz was thoroughly enjoying this moment in the arena. Countless streams of spirit master blood essence flowed into his martial spirit, causing his own spirit power to fluctuate.
Though he couldn't rapidly advance a full spirit power level, his spirit power was increasing at a rate two to three times faster than usual.
As Ignaz left Hell's Slaughter Arena, the many fallen spirit masters inside remained in a frenzy, still chanting his contestant number.
The Hell Messenger following beside Ignaz couldn't help but feel afraid when she remembered how he'd looked earlier in the arena.
"Is Slaughter City really completely lawless? In this killing arena, can people just slaughter at will, not just those below but those above, too?"
Hearing this, the Hell Messenger looked at Ignaz's sharp gaze and quickly explained to him:
"Besides what I mentioned before about not being allowed to kill the knight order personally appointed by the Slaughter King, there's also the rule that you can't just massacre people in the slaughter arena—you can only kill through official matches. Those are the only two unwritten rules in all of Slaughter City."
"I've completely adapted to Slaughter City now. You can leave."
The Hell Messenger felt rage surge through her at these words. Just thinking about all her years as a Hell Messenger—she'd guided at least fifty, if not a hundred, outsider spirit masters who weren't fallen ones!
Never before had anyone dismissed her right after just one trip to Hell's Slaughter Arena. At the very least, they'd usually want her protection for six hours.
"Ha! Talk about being full of yourself. Don't think winning your first match easily gives you the right to be so arrogant. The real danger isn't inside the arena—it's outside."
After the Hell Messenger finished speaking, her form dissolved and scattered into many bats that flew away.
......
Inside Slaughter City's palace, the Hell Messenger knelt on one knee before the Slaughter King, who was lounging casually above, sipping Bloody Mary, and said with concern:
"Slaughter King, this person doesn't seem to be a fallen one, but he acts just like those fallen ones. Every time outsiders appear in Slaughter City, they end up costing us dearly. I suggest we eliminate him completely."
"No rush—let's keep watching!"
Right after the Slaughter King said this, he suddenly sat up straight, as if he'd become a completely different person, then added:
"Go secretly organize some people to eliminate contestant 16528 completely. He'll be my greatest obstacle."
"No, he cannot be killed."
"He must be eliminated."
The Hell Messenger below watched the Slaughter King's dramatic mood swings and didn't know what to do next, feeling completely at a loss.
"My King, are you alright?"
......
At this moment, in the Divine Realm Committee, a purple-red god with a fierce, menacing face was aggressively questioning the dark-type woman holding a death god's scythe in front of him.
"Rakshasa, you already have an inheritor, and now you want to interfere with my divine trial—what's the meaning of this?"
"I haven't even settled accounts with you for previously obstructing my inheritor! Are you trying to get me to strip away your divine position?"
The Rakshasa God nearby didn't dare make the slightest rebuttal, because she was already in the wrong for previously affecting Tang Chen's inheritance of the Asura God position. Now that Tang Chen was suddenly acting this way, she couldn't explain it well either.
"Maybe it's influenced by the evil thoughts of the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King parasitizing your inheritor. You can't blame me for that—if anyone's to blame, it's your inheritor for having weak willpower."
The Rakshasa God wore a sinister expression while speaking very earnestly to the Asura King.
Seeing the Rakshasa God's appearance, the Asura King directly raised his Asura Sword and slashed toward the Rakshasa woman, but was stopped by Destruction and Kindness speaking up from the side:
"Asura, you're a fair enforcer of justice. Do you want to take the law into your own hands?"
"Asura, Destruction's right. You and Rakshasa share the same origin—you govern killing while she governs evil. Her previous influence on your divine inheritance wasn't really her fault. Why make things unpleasant over this?"
Kindness was quite concerned about the Rakshasa woman, since she was Evil's subordinate after all. Although Evil was no longer in the Divine Realm and had entered reincarnation, she was still an old friend from when she first met Evil, and their bond remained.
Seeing this situation, the Asura God also lowered his Asura Sword. He didn't want to break the peace with the Rakshasa woman again either, because when Evil returned, there would be another war with him, and at that point, the already small Divine Realm would face the risk of collapse once more.
"This person is most suitable for inheriting the Asura God position. If anyone else dares to interfere with my next inheritance trial, I definitely won't go easy on them."
After they finally finished discussing this matter and both sides had temporarily eased relations, urgent footsteps could be heard outside the committee doors.
Upon hearing such familiar footsteps, the Asura God quickly made himself scarce:
"This Poseidon—doesn't he ever give it a rest? When that kid first entered Slaughter City, didn't I already talk to him about it? Living for 20,000 years and still doesn't understand 'first come, first served.'"
*Author's Note: I think the relationship between Rakshasa and the Evil God King is that of superior and subordinate—one being a first-level god, the other a God King. As for whether the Evil God has entered reincarnation, I'm not entirely sure, but my idea is that Evil has entered reincarnation, and the Rakshasa God is now the leader of the evil faction. If readers think this is incorrect, please let me know and I'll make revisions.*