Menchi announces the result of her first draw: “Examinee No. 777, Alex Kerber, versus Examinee No. 16, Tonpa.”

    Tonpa stares at Alex with an unhappy expression as he approaches the cage and immediately begins to plead, “I’ll give up as soon as the fight starts… don’t attack me, please!”

    Alex returns his look with pure disgust. “Your tricks don’t work on me, you scumbag. You’d better pray I don’t lose control and cripple you.”

    The threat strips away Tonpa’s mask of weakness for a moment, revealing a sneer. “Well, let’s see if you can actually do that without your pistol, sword, and shield!”

    Both Alex and Tonpa hand their equipment to one of the exam helpers stationed outside the cage.

    Though confident, Alex feels a slight edge of nervousness.

    As Alex steps into the cage, he feels a faint, compelling voice in his head accompanied by a burning sensation on the tattoo on his left wrist. “Human. You know how to fight with clawssss. Your fingerssss are your clawssss. The ssssame way you ussse me when you conjure me, you can ussse your own handsss! You know the sssstances, you know the form—all that’ssss left issss to claw! CLAW UNTIL YOU KILL.”

    Alex looks down at his fingers, still encased in the [Gauntlets of Pluto] and thinks, A small grin forms.

    Loosening his fingers, he mentally prepares, treating his hands as if he were wielding Mustrano himself. He takes a low combat stance, clawed fingers poised in front of him, angled aggressively like a pair of deadly weapons.

    The referee’s voice cuts through the air, “Take your positions at opposite sides of the cage. Prepare to fight for one minute! On my command… 3… 2… 1… FIGHT!”

    Alex doesn’t charge recklessly but approaches Tonpa with swift, measured steps, maintaining control.

    Tonpa, true to form, immediately drops to his knees, throwing himself on the ground. “I’M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!”

    Alex, having glimpsed Tonpa’s cruelty just moments before, doesn’t buy his act for a second. He notices Tonpa subtly grabbing a handful of dirt from the floor, and in a flash, Tonpa hurls it at him. Anticipating the move, Alex raises his left arm to shield his face, blocking the dirt just in time. He jumps back, watching as a surprised Tonpa punches the air, not expecting Alex to dodge so quickly.

    Seizing the opportunity, Alex springs forward, forming his right hand into a claw and driving it straight into Tonpa’s stomach.

    Despite feeling a slight sting in his hand, Alex can sense Tonpa’s agony as his hand sinks into Tonpa’s abdomen. Grinning, he thinks, With his left hand, he claws at Tonpa’s face, ripping into his skin. Though his knuckles are blunt, the impact still leaves deep, bleeding cuts across Tonpa’s face. Alex feels an almost supernatural power coursing through his left hand, as if he’s channeling Mustrano’s Malice Mauler lvl 3.

    Relentless, Alex strikes Tonpa’s face again with his right hand, savoring the sight of his pain.

    “FUCKING TAKE THISSS, YOU SSSSCUM!” Alex roars, lost in the thrill of the fight. He forms a vicious claw with his left hand, ready to stab directly at Tonpa’s eyes.

    “CANDIDATE NO. 777, STOP! THE BATTLE IS OVER!” someone shouts just as Alex’s clawed hand hovers inches from Tonpa’s barely conscious face. He manages to halt his strike just a hair’s breadth from Tonpa’s eyes.

    Without further hesitation, Alex leaves the cage, receiving a card for his victory.

    Menchi, who’s been watching the fight, approaches Alex with a look of intrigue. “Impressive claw techniques! I thought you relied on a sword and shield… and your gun? Looks like you’ve got a few aces up your sleeve. Not bad!”

    “NEXT FIGHT! I’ll read out the next five fights so we can speed this up a little! If your name is called, head to one of the numbered cages! Since we have 132 candidates and everyone needs to fight three times, there will be 198 fights in total! If you don’t show up within a few seconds after I call your name, you automatically lose!”

    Menchi continues to draw lots, calling out, “Candidate No. 265 versus Candidate No. 274, and Candidate No…”

    At the back, Alex stands next to Shalnark, who, unlike many others, seems perfectly at ease despite the tension in the room. Other candidates are instinctively keeping their distance from Alex after his fierce performance. Shalnark, however, simply grins, saying, “Nice technique! Looks like you’ve got some interesting martial arts skills. A claw style, huh? Pretty unique! Although, if you’re aiming for true mastery, there’s a bit of room for improvement.”

    “I guess so,” Alex replies, thinking,  Then, directing his thoughts to Mustrano, he adds,

    Mustrano’s voice echoes in his mind, “Human rulessss… ssssso complicated. Killing isss much sssimpler.”

    Alex responds mentally,

    Alex watches as the next fights unfold, his attention drawn to Eirini entering a cage to face off against a tall, imposing man. Standing at roughly two meters (over 6.5 feet), her opponent makes Eirini, barely 1.60 meters (5.2 feet), look even smaller.

    It’s quickly apparent that Eirini is a ranged fighter at heart. She has decent footwork, darting around her opponent and landing a few quick strikes while skillfully avoiding his attacks. But her punches seem to have little effect, and Alex realizes why:

    The tall man laughs off her strikes, his confidence growing as he sees how ineffective her attacks are. Then, in a sudden move, he manages to land a single punch, which sends Eirini reeling. She doubles over, nearly vomiting as she rolls away, screaming in pain.

    Watching the uneven matchup, Alex mutters to Shalnark, “How unfair is that?”

    Shalnark gives him a knowing look. “She just needs to avoid him for half a minute more, and she’ll win. Remember the rules? It’s not about who does the most damage; it’s about who lands the most hits. That rule’s in place to give fighters like her a fair chance.”

    With sheer determination, Eirini manages to stay on her feet and keep dodging, evading her opponent’s attacks for the rest of the fight. She even lands two more quick strikes before the referee overseeing the fight shouts, “STOP! Examinee No. 862, Eirini Ariti, wins!”

    Her opponent, stunned by the referee''s decision, screams in rage, “HOW THE HELL IS SHE THE WINNER? She was barely holding it together, and all she did was run away! This isn’t fair!”

    The referee remains calm, reminding him, “Those are the rules. Leave the cage now, or I’ll disqualify you.”

    Instead of backing down, the enraged man charges at the referee. In a flash, the referee smiles, seeming to vanish into thin air, only to reappear behind the examinee. With a swift chop to the back of the neck, the man collapses, unconscious.

    Alex is impressed.

    Eirini exits the cage, collecting her card as a reward for the win.

    But just as she leaves, Menchi calls her number again, “Examinee No. 862 versus Examinee No. 863! Move to the second cage! Oh, just finished, did you? Tough luck, but try your best anyway!”

    Eirini glances at her new opponent—Patricia. Alex isn’t close enough to hear their conversation, but Eirini surrenders immediately, handing the victory to Patricia.

    “Examinee No. 862 surrenders. Examinee No. 863, Patricia Nichols, wins!” declares the referee.

    “Smart choice,” Alex mutters to himself. “They’ve both won at least once, so they move on. Eirini’s taken damage and isn’t likely to win another fight, but she doesn’t need to. That first win was enough to pass this round.” Alex is impressed by their luck and quick thinking.  S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Alex continues watching the fights. He sees Tonpa step into the cage for another round, only to be utterly defeated. His attempts at his usual tricks fail spectacularly. Already battered from his duel with Alex, with his face bruised and ribs aching, Tonpa is bested to the obvious delight of his opponent—the same man who led the vendetta against him during the previous task. For him, the victory is even sweeter.

    In another cage, Palm faces off against a formidable-looking man, towering over her by at least two heads. Yet the man’s expression shows pure horror, as if he’s seen a ghost. Alex muses.

    Within seconds, Palm dismantles her opponent, leaving him in a bruised heap. Despite her seemingly normal build, she thrashes him mercilessly.

    Meanwhile, Melody secures an easy win against a nimble opponent, employing an unusual fighting style. Alex notices her lips moving in strange patterns, likely using sound to disrupt and disorient her adversary. Landing hit after hit, Melody is declared the winner as the one-minute mark passes.

    Shalnark, despite his relatively unassuming appearance, wins his first match effortlessly. He simply punches his opponent in the stomach, showing no specific technique beyond raw power. Alex notes.

    Just as Alex is reflecting on the fights, his thoughts are interrupted by the next announcement: “Examinee No. 777 versus Examinee No…”