Chapter 64 – Angels

“Death!”

“Sprinkle blood!”

“Kill the loser!”

It was madness.

Lee Lee Se-min never killed anyone. So even when he won, the crowd knew he wouldn’t kill his opponent, so they only booed him, but you couldn’t see him getting really excited and getting his blood pumping.

But it’s different now.

“Galdini is a gladiator without mercy.”

“Shut up.”

Lee Lee Se-min saw the madness of the crowd, who were sincerely anticipating blood.

These were not the friendly faces of Sargasonia citizens that I usually saw while passing through the streets.

Everyone had distorted expressions like evil spirits and chanted blood and death.

“Kill!”

“Cut off his head!”

Lee Lee Se-min clenched his fist.

Kutinos was in no condition to resist. Galdini stepped on Kutinos’ body and looked back at the audience with his sword raised.

The entire crowd that filled the gladiatorial arena was shouting at him to plunge his sword down.

It was a trend that could not be resisted.

“Lee Lee Se-min.”

As Gorgola kept calling, Lee Lee Se-min glared at him. The eyes were lifeless. If he could, Lee Lee Se-min wanted to rip off the necklace and break into the gladiatorial arena.

“Are you trying to annoy me?”

“Calm down.”

Gorgola waved his hand.

“I told you before that Killa is not the type of person to throw people into Sargasonia without a second thought.”

“Why does it come out here?”

“I’m trying to change people’s minds through song.”

Gorgola pointed to the gladiatorial arena.

Galdini’s sword pierced the sky and did not move. It was just shining white in the sunlight.

As he continued to pause, boos started to come out.

“And I said there might be a reason why Angel Lee Lee Se-min came here.”

Galdini put down his sword.

The crowd started screaming like crazy. It was anger on a grand scale that Lee Lee Se-min had never felt before. People spewed out curses and suffocating murderous words.

In that chaos.

Lee Lee Se-min and Galdini’s eyes met.

He was looking at Lee Lee Se-min.

Gorgola’s clear voice passed by my ears.

“Angel Lee Lee Se-min. You are already changing Sargasonia.”

Galdini stepped away from Kutinos and walked toward the center of the gladiatorial arena. He looked back at the crowd who were yelling at him and looked at their angry faces one by one.

There was no hesitation or regret visible on his face. Galdini waited until the boos died down.

The voices of the angry crowd began to weaken.

As the booing subsided, Galdini spoke up.

“I will not kill a loser.”

People got up again. They poured out indescribable, terrible insults at Galdini.

Galdini burst into laughter.

“I am──────!”

Due to his momentum, the gladiatorial arena suddenly became quiet.

Galdini continued.

“I said no killing. Gladiators are not your toys, and there is no reason why someone should die just because they lost a match.”

People’s anger heated up even more.

The crowd started throwing objects at him. Although it hit the barrier and did not fly all the way to the gladiatorial arena, the audience seats were stained with dirt here and there.

An audience member sitting in the front row shouted.

“Galdini! You said you were a ‘butcher expert who returned from hell’! Have you become a coward now? You son of a bitch who can’t even kill a loser!”

Galdini, a butchery expert who returned from hell.

That was his ring name.

When Galdini looked at the audience, the audience flinched for a moment and then gained momentum again.

“Your ring name is a waste! Just die! You coward!”

Galdini nodded.

“That is correct.”

“What?”

“I’m changing my ring name starting today.”

The host was running to the center of the gladiatorial arena to calm the commotion. Galdini took the microphone from him.

[There is no longer ‘Galdini, the butcher expert who returned from hell.’]

Rather than being discouraged by the boos pouring in on him, he confidently squared his shoulders and declared.

[I am now ‘Angel Galdini.’]

Everyone was in shock.

It was the appearance of a new angel.

Galdini threw the microphone over his head and exited, as if there was nothing worth saying.

The crowd was on the verge of riot.

Just as I was sick of Lee Lee Se-min alone, another angel gladiator appeared.

“Excellent.”

And Lee Lee Se-min was nodding his head happily as he watched the scene.

The game ended with Kutinos surviving and gaining his own followers. It was an unexpected happy ending.

“Gorgola, did you know it would turn out like this?”

“I know Galdini personally. You said it was all business, but gladiators are changing thanks to your business.”

“Actually, that’s true. I always consider social values when doing business. Ethical management is my motto.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it’s great. Killa’s eyes aren’t wrong.”

Unlike them, who were friendly, the crowd was pouring out their lost anger towards Kutinos.

“If you are a loser, kill yourself!”

“Kill yourself!”

“I commit seppuku and die!”

“It’s a gladiator’s shame!”

The host tried to calm the commotion.

They seemed to had sensed nothing from Galdini’s words.

Gorgola tapped Lee Lee Se-min’s shoulder. Lee Lee Se-min learned that Gorgola had a habit of speaking like a singer when she was in a good mood.

“Let’s keep changing this crazy city, Angel Lee Lee Se-min.”

***

Lee Lee Se-min supported Kutinos and returned to the Vatikaros gladiator group.

A doctor came and tended to his wounds.

Kutinos limped around with bandages covering his body. The cut on my thigh was so big that I felt like I would need some medical care for a while.

“Thanks to my brother, I survived, but I have to refrain from going out for a while.”

“Yeah. I might get stabbed in the back.”

When the fight was over, Lee Lee Se-min helped Kutinos and left the gladiatorial arena, and the crowd glared at him as if he were going to kill him.

Angel Galdini.

Originally ‘Galdini, the butcher expert who returned from hell’, he saved the life of the loser under a new ring name that was clearly influenced by Lee Lee Se-min.

Maybe this isn’t the end.

Citizens were very angry due to concerns that the number of gladiators who sympathized with this might increase.

They began demanding that Lee Lee Se-min and Galdini be punished by the nobles hosting the tournament.

The reason was that he abandoned his duty as a gladiator.

Kutinos said not to worry.

“Nobles won’t be so childish. Let’s have a beer.”

“The patient drinks alcohol?”

“Don’t you know that alcohol disinfects wounds?”

Kutinos grinned and limped away, fetching beer from somewhere. Lee Lee Se-min, who was thirsty, immediately drank beer. Kutinos was also about to take a big sip.

The visiting doctor who was coming out with his luggage was shocked and stopped him.

“The patient is drinking alcohol. Are you out of your mind?”

“Just one drink….”

“Look at the size. It’s just one cup! It’s a whole bucket! I’m thinking of treating it!”

“Okay, so don’t be angry.”

“Gladiators who don’t know how precious their bodies are!”

He clicked his tongue and went on a tirade about body care.

Lee Lee Se-min, who was standing nearby, listened to what he said, and there was nothing wrong with the knowledge of an alien world where science had not developed.

“Germs can enter the wound and spread, so always clean the wound and apply disinfectant.”

“I understand.”

“If you drink alcohol, it is poisonous to wound healing, so do not drink alcohol at all!”

“Okay.”

“Nutrition is needed to recover from wounds, so eat a lot of fruit. Take good care of yourself when you are young, don’t worry about it when you’re old!”

He prayed and left.

When the doctor disappeared, Kutinos spoke to Lee Lee Se-min again.

“Thank you.”

“You have nothing to thank me for.”

“If it weren’t for my brother, I wouldn’t have been able to receive treatment from a doctor from a noble family.”

The doctor belonged to the Gloria family. Knowing that Kutinos was a member of the Vaticaros gladiator group like Lee Lee Se-min, Yuria Gloria sent a doctor.

The doctor treated Kutinos and told Lee Lee Se-min what Yuria had said.

The plan was to come to Gloria’s house if you win the next game.

During a previous meeting, she strangely said that she would tell Lee Lee Se-min what wish he should ask for.

Lee Lee Se-min could not ignore her words.

He was still a stranger who didn’t know much about Sargasonia, and she was a member of the six noble families that ruled the city.

There had to be something that Lee Lee Se-min didn’t know.

“What kind of guy is Puskas, my opponent in the round of 16?”

“He’s quite a strong guy. He’s one of the strong candidates for the finals.”

“Am I a candidate for the finals too?”

“That’s right.”

“I really don’t like that old man.”

***

Citizens’ concerns were turning out to be true.

After Galdini’s shocking ring name change, another gladiator spared the loser’s life instead of killing him.

He declared that he was no longer ‘Shumer, the reaper of darkness who thirsts for blood,’ but that he had become ‘Angel Sumer.’

Gladiator Sumer even left a comment about his respect for Angel Lee Lee Se-min.

Now the people’s hostility was focused on the source of all these problems, the immortal gladiator and first Angel, Lee Lee Se-min.

“Nice atmosphere.”

Lee Lee Se-min muttered, enjoying the sinister atmosphere of the crowd surrounding him.

They weren’t as welcoming as before, but now they looked like they wanted to stab them with a knife.

Citizens of Sargasonia, who originally did not support groups, hung up large placards and prayed for his death. There was even a cursed doll with his image hung on a stick and daggers stuck here and there.

“Hey, kid.”

Lee Lee Se-min looked ahead.

Puskas, his opponent in the round of 16, was not the type of gladiator who agreed with Angel Lee Lee Se-min’s philosophy.

“The audience is angry because of your strange behavior. How are you going to take responsibility? Huh?”

“Should I be responsible for that?”

“That’s right. What on earth do you think of the audience!”

he shouted.

“Without these people, we would be nothing. But thanks to the spectators who watch the fight, we are called gladiators, an undeserved title. What an honor!”

The crowd cheered for Puskas.

His ring name was ‘Puskas, a cold-blooded killer without blood or tears’ and Lee Lee Se-min’s ring name was ‘Angel Lee Lee Se-min’, but the current structure was as if he was the good guy and Lee Lee Se-min was the villain.

Puskas took advantage of the audience’s response and scolded Lee Lee Se-min.

“You are disqualified from being a gladiator!”

Lee Lee Se-min was dumbfounded and asked him.

“Then, if you lose, are you willing to give up your life for those grateful spectators?”

“That’s right! Everyone dies! What a great honor it would be to be born as a gladiator and go to the dew on the sand! I will gladly offer up my neck with a smile!”

Puskas even turned his back on Lee Lee Se-min and bowed to the audience.

“I love the cheering audience! I respect you!”

If he had not been talented at cutting a knife, he would had been a sycophant, a swindler, or a treacherous traitor.

Puskas, who once responded to the audience, glared at Lee Lee Se-min again and said.

“But! That won’t happen! Because! Who will win today?”

He shouted, and the crowd responded with his name.

“Puskas!”

“That’s right! The one who will cut off your head today is you, Angel Lee Lee Se-min! And who will cut off Angel Lee Lee Se-min’s head?”

“Puskas!”

“A true gladiator who loves the audience! Who is that?”

“Puskas!”

“Scream!”

“Wow!”

He spread his arms and grinned.

It was as if they had already won.

Lee Lee Se-min was also dumbfounded and ended up laughing.

And so the gladiator match began.

Ten minutes had passed.

“Save me… please save me…”

“This bastard?”

Lee Lee Se-min kicked Puskas, who was holding him by the leg of his pants.

Puskas did not let go of Lee Lee Se-min’s pants even as he fell down on the sand. Lee Lee Se-min shook off his feet, but he clung to him even stronger.

“Save me!”

“I don’t like it.”

As Puskas continued to tangle, Lee Lee Se-min left him alone and listened to Rufus. The long sword body glowed pale.

“Die.”

Lee Lee Se-min slammed Rufus.

Puskas let go of Lee Lee Se-min’s pants and rolled back. Sand dust rose.

“Didn’t you say you don’t kill gladiators?”

“Isn’t it? The words are short?”

“Ha, you didn’t!”

“You said it earlier. You should be willing to kill a loser for the sake of the audience. I think you’re right. I’m going to do the same now.”

“Well, don’t do that!”

Lee Lee Se-min continued to chase after him, swinging his sword. Puskas tried to save his life by rolling on the floor, jumping back up, and even taking steps backwards.

Slowly, the audience’s mood began to boil again.

Although the conversation could not be heard properly, it was possible to infer what was going on through Puskas’ actions and servile expression.

In the first place, he was unable to properly resist Lee Lee Se-min and was defeated unilaterally.

Now Puskas was no longer a model gladiator representing their will, but merely a loser.

“Die!”

“Keep your word!”

“Be the dew on the sand!”

Puskas’s expression became tearful.

Lee Lee Se-min shrugged and spun Rufus around.

“Can you hear what the audience is saying?”

“Eh, angels don’t kill people, right?”

“If you’re curious, don’t run away and just stay still.”

Lee Lee Se-min swung his sword at him.

Puskas jumped on the floor like a frog. It dodged the attack, but rolled around on the sand looking ugly. He brushed the sand off his face.

“What on earth can I do to save me?”

“There is nothing like that. I will kill you.”

“I will do anything. Just my life!”

Lee Lee Se-min was dumbfounded when the guy who said it was natural for a loser to die begged for his life so fiercely.

The sound of booing began to fill the gladiatorial arena.

Lee Lee Se-min raised his eyebrows. I don’t like the Puskas kid, but I also don’t like the crowd booing behind him.

“Are you really going to do anything?”

“Yes!”

“Then…”

Lee Lee Se-min grinned and stated his requirements.

“Yes?”

“If you don’t like it, don’t.”

“Well, that’s not it.”

As Lee Lee Se-min raised his sword and walked away, Puskas nodded in surprise.

“I understand.”

“That’s right.”

“Ugh….”

Puskas lowered his head and sighed.

At Lee Lee Se-min’s urging, he stood in the center of the stage again.

Puskas looked around at the countless eyes surrounding him and bit his nails. Conflict built up inside me. But there was no time to think further as the blade loomed next to me.

“I’d like to inform everyone who watches my game!”

he shouted.

“As of today…”

Lee Lee Se-min was whispering behind him what he had to say.

Puskas closed his eyes tightly. I felt the chill of lupus on my back. It was inevitable in order to survive. Consoling himself like that, Puskas continued.

“In obedience to the wishes of respected Angel Lee Lee Se-min, I will not kill defeated gladiators from now on!”

Everyone opened their mouths.

The audience was dumbfounded that he, who had acted as if he was standing on the other side of Angel Lee Lee Se-min, changed his attitude so easily.

But that wasn’t the end of Puskas’ words.

“I am no longer ‘Blood-crazy Vampire Puskas’! Now I am ‘Angel Puskas’!”

He declared that he had become an angel.

The atmosphere of the crowd, which had been boisterous, quickly became tense, and they began to pour out swears and curses as if they were addressing the people.

The backlash was even stronger because Puskas had been talking about the duties of a gladiator until ten minutes ago.

“What did you say just a moment ago!”

“You piece of trash! You’re not even a man!”

“You said you were going to die laughing?”

“Put yourself in the stomach and throw yourself out!”

“You bastard who wastes the air!”

But Puskas was unfazed by that.

In the first place, he was the type of person who changed his attitude here and there for his own benefit. He was accustomed to betrayal and changes in attitude, and did not care about criticism from others.

Puskas raised his arms and raised his voice.

“I am Angel Puskas! Hahahahaha!”

As he shamelessly shouted, the crowd’s boos boiled up like an active volcano.

When things happened like this, Puskas seemed to like the name and burst out laughing, shouting the title Angel Puskas several times.

Now he seemed to rather enjoy the audience’s criticism.

“This is also interesting. From now on, I will only follow Brother Lee Lee Se-min.”

“Why am I your older brother?”

“You are my brother because you took me in. I will become an angel of Sargasonia like you.”

“I can’t believe how easily you change your words.”

“It’s for real this time.”

Lee Lee Se-min was not trustworthy about Puskas’s changed attitude, so he gave one last instruction.

Puskas was horrified.

“Oh, no, that’s….”

“Do you want to die?”

“They say they will forgive me when I become an angel…”

“It’s still not enough.”

“Well, that’s… Ugh…!”

When Lee Lee Se-min pointed the knife at him, Puskas swallowed his saliva.

Lee Lee Se-min’s body, which had reached such a state, freely flowed with a lethal energy that seemed to stab a person to death and a warm, nurturing energy. Lee Lee Se-min’s aura, which had been gentle just a moment ago, changed again to a life that felt as if his whole body was going to explode.

It was the feeling that made Puskas grab his pants.

He eventually followed Lee Lee Se-min’s wishes and shouted to the audience.

“Angel Lee Lee Se-min is the best gladiator, and Germanos is just an old man waiting to die! Those who disagree with me, attack me, Angel Puskas! I mean attack!”

The audience became more angry at his words.

Germanos was the greatest gladiator representing Sargasonia.

After losing the gladiatorial contest, he immediately sided with Lee Lee Se-min and insulted Germanos, which heightened the audience’s ill will towards Puskas.

Lee Lee Se-min threatened Puskas again.

Having already gone as far as he could, he closed his eyes tightly and shouted again.

“If I tease you! You can have a game with me!”

It was the worst provocation. Dirt flew in from all over and hit the barrier. There were also people who beat the barriers to break into the gladiatorial arena.

“Puskas.”

“Yes…”

“Welcome to becoming an angel.”

Lee Lee Se-min’s voice became softer.

Puskas saw tens of thousands of spectators with their faces contorted in his direction.

Curses were pouring out that were several times more curses than I had ever heard in my entire life.

I was resigned.

“Thank you….”

This time, Lee Lee Se-min came forward to calm the excited crowd.

Lee Lee Se-min shouted.

“Citizens of Sargasonia! Accept reality! Puskas has been enlightened by the teachings of I, Angel Lee Lee Se-min!”

There were boos.

No, it wasn’t at the level of booing anymore. There was a flood of abusive language. Lee Lee Se-min closed his eyes and continued speaking, savoring all the malice.

“God’s apostle who will save Sargasonia! Who is his name?”

No one responded.

Lee Lee Se-min turned his head back and glared at Puskas. Only then did Puskas realize his role and use his Aura to shout his name so that the gladiatorial arena rang loudly.

“Angel semiiiiin!”

“Who is the true man who will cleanse the fallen Sargasonia?”

“Angel semiiiiin!”

“There are three things people need to live. Light, salt, and what is the last one?”

“Angel semiiiiin!”

Lee Lee Se-min even absorbed the showmanship that Puskas showed.

“Okay, remember everything clearly! What is my name?”

“Angel semiiiiin!”

The crowd’s anger did not subside until they exited side by side. A gladiator who was thought to be just a weirdo started to build followers.

Now, Angel Lee Lee Se-min had gone beyond being a rogue gladiator and had become a public enemy threatening Sargasonia.

***

There were gladiators who did not kill their defeated opponents, so their ring name was ‘Angel’, and people started calling them ‘Angels’.

The appearance of the Angels was a great shock to the fellow gladiators.

Gladiators had taken for granted the brutal gladiatorial culture of Sargasonia.

Kill the losers and sprinkle their blood on the sand. That was the rule. But the Angels rebelled against this.

The gladiators realized.

If you don’t kill, you won’t die.

If they didn’t kill the losers, they could avoid being killed even if they themselves were defeated, despite the crowd’s criticism.

Most of the gladiators were slaves, and they came here just to live in peace in Sargasonia. They never became gladiators because they enjoyed fighting or seeing blood.

Some people expected that many gladiators would join the Angels after the tournament, although they were not being noticed because of the tournament.

And the person who created that trend, Lee Lee Se-min, really didn’t think much of it.

“This victory was also very cool. As expected, my eyes were not wrong. It’s the Angels… Did you expect it to turn out like this from the beginning?”

As Yuria said with a smile, Lee Lee Se-min, who was eating fruit, cleared his throat.

He was sitting across from Yuria in Gloria’s garden, drinking wine.

“Yes, that’s right. Sargasonia’s gladiator culture is wrong. I was expecting that as long as I ignite a spark, the oppressed gladiators will blaze with light on their own. The number of angel gladiators will continue to increase in the future.”

“This is the business you were talking about.”

“Yes. The best business is humanism.”

“I feel respected.”

Yuria must had misunderstood something about Lee Lee Se-min, and began to interpret everything in a positive light. Lee Lee Se-min, who did not know humility, immediately admitted it, and Yuria’s misunderstanding grew bigger and bigger.

“I guess you probably knew everything.”

“Yes?”

“When you first came as a slave from Sargasonia, there was something you shouted at me. At first I thought you were just a strange person, but now looking back, it’s scary. You must have been planning everything from the beginning.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Scary person.”

Yuria took a drink. My face was red. Lee Lee Se-min was confused as to whether she was just talking nonsense because she was drunk or if she really misunderstood something.

When Lee Lee Se-min was silent, she asked with a strange expression.

“Are you really going to kill Badurbarok?”

Lee Lee Se-min’s eyes widened.

Whether it was gladiatorial games, tournaments, or angels, all these things were secondary. This happened while I was trying to take off the necklace. There’s only one thing he’s really trying to do.

And the topic was coming up again.

It was a little sudden.

Unable to understand the context, Lee Lee Se-min took a sip of his drink with a meaningful smile as if everything she said was correct.

It was to make Yuria interpret and add things as she pleased.

“As expected. Then you already knew the truth about Sargasonia.”

Lee Lee Se-min smiled bitterly and shrugged his shoulders.

“Yes. It was an attempt to resist Badurbarok, but that may be why we have become demons like him.”

Lee Lee Se-min tilted his eyebrows and nodded.

“If you win, are you going to demand that right?”

Lee Lee Se-min raised his glass with a sad expression, as if he had no choice.

“Really. You knew everything. Freeing the gladiator brothers was a trick. You are a scary and reckless man.”

At this point, it became difficult for Lee Lee Se-min to keep up.

So I took a quick look.

“Lady Yuria. What I am about to do is truly reckless.”

“I understand.”

“I told myself for a long time that I could do it. It was a secret I kept to myself, so it was only my own voice that spoke about it. It was lonely, and sometimes I hoped that someone would know.”

Pity filled Yuria’s eyes.

Lee Lee Se-min spoke again with a lonely expression.

“You are the only person who understands me as I am now. I want to hear that in your voice, Lady Yuria. Won’t you tell me that I can do it?”

“You can do it.”

“What?”

“You…”

“Tell me, can I do that?”

“Yes, I can.”

Lady Yuria stretched out her hand and held Lee Lee Se-min’s hand.

And said.

“Angel Lee Lee Se-min, you will retrieve the throne buried in the gladiatorial arena.”

Lee Lee Se-min spits out his drink.