"I am afraid that only one of you can stay. The two of you have to kill each other."

"W… What!? That's ridiculous!"

​​

Gil screamed as he waved his hands. His voice, however, was drowned by the cheers and jeers of the prisoners that surrounded them.

"Kill! Kill him!"

"You're done now, soldier boy! That little midget is feisty!"

"I vote on the boy! The boy will win!"

"Did you see how he massacred Toguro earlier!? He wasn't even able to fight back!"

"Kill him! Kill the guard!"

"W… w… what?" Gil gulped nervously as he listened to the people that called for his death. He knew that he wouldn't really survive long if the word got out to everyone that he was a guard, but it would seem that it did not even take a single day for everyone to find out.

"Van… what are we going to do!?" Gil slightly stepped back as he leaned in closer to Van.

"I am sorry, mister Gil. But I have friends waiting for me outside."

However, as soon as he heard Van's words, he quickly unsheathed his sword and leaped back.

"Y… you can't be serious!? Aren't I also your friend now!?" The sword on his hand quickly turned red as the space around it seemed to have distorted due to the heat.

The prisoners once again howled as Gil pointed his weapon towards Van. The things you could do in the Pit was limited… and people killing each other? That was probably their number one source of entertainment.

The prisoners could be at each other's throats, but once a fight to the death is officialized by Boss and her dog, they would immediately huddle up and watch. Sure, murder was common in the Pit, but it would usually already be over before anyone had seen what happened.

And so, whenever a fight to the death comes up, they make sure to build it up as much as possible. There were many reasons for prisoners to fight to the death.

Disputes, bad blood, but the most common reason was usually to cull their numbers.

100 Prisoners. That was the limit set by Boss. None of them knew the reason why. Maybe it was to prevent food shortages, which only comes once a week from the outside. But most of them could just hunt with the occasional monsters and stray animals that periodically appear in the forest.

But whatever the reason may be, Boss controls everything. They couldn't really disobey, the last one that questioned her authority disappeared within the hour, never to be seen again.

No one knows what System Boss' holds. And so, the only thing that they could really do was express their displeasure… unless of course they also want to disappear.

"Kill! Kill the guard already!"

"...A guard? That red-haired man is a guard?"

Boss furrowed her eyebrows as she heard the words of the prisoners. "Yes, Boss. He came together with the little boy."

"I see. So the people outside are even throwing in their own now. How expected of them to do so." Boss chuckled as she crossed her arms, her gigantic bosoms almost popping out of her thin robes. She then raised her voice as she turned her focus towards the two combatants in the middle.

"Start already, or both of you will be sent to the wall to die in the hands of the Locals!"

"Damn it!" Gil could not help but grit his teeth, "Are we really doing this!?"

Gil's voice almost cracked as he screamed at Van. Van, on the other hand, only looked at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

So that was it, Van thought. He… was once again back to surviving. This place was no different from the slums, and in some aspects, maybe it was even better. There was order here, none of that existed in the Relic Graveyard.

They caged him in the very same environment that he used to thrive in. If this is really what the world expected of him, then perhaps he should start embracing it.

And so, with that thought, Van took in a deep breath as he looked Gil straight in the eyes.

"Sorry, mister Gil. But I have to survive."

"Damn it!"

Hearing Van's words, Gil quickly raised his sword in response. Van was about to turn on his skills and rush towards Gil, but before he could do so, Gil rotated his sword and pointed it towards his own chest.

"!!!"

"Promise me… you won't waste your life, little man!" Gil forcefully closed his eyes, his face twisting as his breaths quickly became erratic. There were many things that he wished to do in life. But to kill a young boy just so he could live?

He signed up to be a guard to protect people. To abandon that oath in the face of death? That was something he could not, will not, and never do.

And so, taking in a final deep breath, his hand started to move.

"Gah!"

However, Gil's eyes quickly opened as he heard a scream coming from behind him.

"W… what's happening?" Gil could not help but stutter as he turned around. And there, he saw one of the prisoners kneeling on the ground, grasping his head like an enormous amount of blood trailed on his arms as he did so.

The prisoner continued to flail as he dropped to the ground. The other prisoners also stepped back, most of them with shocked expressions on their faces.

"Let me borrow your sword again."

"Eh?"

Gil then lightly flinched as he suddenly heard a familiar voice in front of him. It was Van, who was trying to reach his sword, but couldn't as he still had it raised in the air.

"..."

"H… here you go?" The fear of taking his own life still lingered around him, completely sedating him from everything that is happening right now. And so, without even meaning it, Gil handed his sword to Van.

"...Thanks," Van said as he casually walked towards the groveling man. And without even a slight pause in his movements, stabbed the man straight in the chest.

The sound of the man's ribs cracking whispered to the ears of those who were unfortunate enough to be near them. Van twisted the sword, completely crushing the man's heart.

And just like that, the man ceased moving.

"W… why?" Gil's legs gave out as he saw what Van did. This was the second time that the little boy in front of him took another man's life so casually with his own sword.

"Why did you do that? He had nothing to do with--"

"100."

"W… what?"

"There's only 100 of us now," Van walked back towards Gil, returning him his sword before turning his head towards Boss. "We should be alright now, right Boss?"

"Ho…" Boss let out a tiny whistle as she smirked at Van. She then slowly walked forward, approaching the Van and Gil.

"I am liking you more and more, boy." Boss licked her lips as she looked at Van from head to toe.

"T… that's illegal!" Gil, on the other hand, quickly stood in front of Van, "The law states that boys below 16 years old are not allowed to--"

"Then I guess I would have to settle on you?"

"T… that's…"

Gil quickly shut his mouth as Boss' alluring words danced in his ears. "I am kidding, I can smell the virgin covering your entire body."

Boss then let out a burst of laughter as she turned around and faced the crowd of prisoners, "I liked what I saw today, we shall have a feast later tonight!"

Hearing Boss' words, the Prisoners all looked at each other in silence, but after a few seconds, the corners of their mouths started to reach their ears as they let out a hearty cheer. They no longer even minded the man that just died, even stepping on him as they started their early celebration.

Gil, on the other hand, still felt a heavy weight in his heart. He just watched two people die here today, and the others didn't even seem to bat an eye. But that was not even the craziest part…

...They all died in the hands of the same man… the same boy.

"You will get used to it."

"...What?"

Van sighed as he noticed Gil looking at the corpse of the man he just killed.

"A lot more people will die here, mister Gil. You will get used to it."

"How… how can you just kill someone like that!?"

"...He called me a little midget."

"W… what?"

"Everyone you see here are bad people, mister Gil. He probably deserved it."

"But… you just can't kill people like that! If you continue like this, you would grow up to be the same as them!"

Hearing Gil's words, Van let out a tiny chuckle, "I lied about my age, I am already 16."

"That--"

"Survive, mister Gil. You still owe me for the sword," Van said before walking away.

"W… what? Wait… Wait for me! What do you mean you're already 16!?"

A man willing to sacrifice himself for another person did not belong in this place. Out of all the people here, Gil was the only person that deserved to survive. Van… couldn't let him die. These were his honest thoughts.

Call it sentiment, but Gil really reminded Van of the friends he left outside.

***

"...Are you sure that they have a child on the other side?"

Somewhere on the other side of the wall, a few Locals were currently in a small hut.

"Yes, chief. Without a doubt, they have a small child on the other side."

"...Fine. Gather Eugene and his group…

...rescue the child tonight."