Chapter 76: The Faust Gauntlet Begins!
Nikolai carried the exhausted Selene to the bathroom. He didn't want her to sleep while covered in blood and filth. However, he didn't have the time to clean the room and remove the sweet and delicious stench of blood, which made his body tingle.
'It seems my attraction to this woman is greater than I thought.'
He turned on the tap, filling the water with an orange-sticky liquid—it seemed to be primarily an orange and vanilla scent with some cinnamon and other light scents. The warm water soon began to bubble and became like silk.
'It feels really nice on my skin... should I also take a quick soak?'
His hands gently dipped into the warm, soapy water grabbed the soft sponge from the bath's rack and covered it in the bubbles and silky water. There wasn't much desire to take advantage of Selene, so he just removed the bra she wore before, as her nightdress was already torn to pieces during her frenzy.
'Nnn... it feels warm and comfortable... is that Wilhelmina?' Selene's mind felt soothed.
She felt a gentle sponge clean her body, and a pair of delicate hands helped clean her from shoulder to toe, like a princess. Nikolai's mind was quite peaceful. There were no disgraceful thoughts, or rather, he wanted to fight after facing Selene.
He realised that if she were serious about killing him, he would have died. Instead, he focused on cleaning her body while she slept. The silky water glided across her snow-white flesh as she lay on the bathroom massage board.
"Thank god this place is a waterproof bathroom..."
Not long after, he wrapped her in a freshly cleaned bathrobe, which seemed to have his name printed on the chest in golden letters. Then he placed her in the bed in his room so she could rest without the scent of his blood ruining her sleep.
Once he knew she was in a deep sleep, he climbed into the bath and began to wash his body, a feeling of warmth and relaxation overwhelming him. He didn't know that bathing could be so soothing and noted the brand of the room's bath oils.
After his shower, Nikolai walked through the apartment wearing a white robe, his clothes still drying after using the washing facilities, his gaze peering at the sleeping beauty in the king-sized bed before he sat on the ledge and watched some late-night arena battles.
'God forbid she goes into another frenzy while I am fighting...' He thought while watching the nocturne edition of the arena. A lot of races were nocturnal and only fought during the night time, usually more powerful or bizarre than the daytime fights.
"I would like to fight a wraith or phantom one day..."
It seemed the sharp appendages from the wraith's wrists were quite interesting for the young werewolf—he watched an elderly wraith drain the brain of a powerful young beast that shattered the ground with its powerful punches.
Nikolai looked at the clock and noticed the time was close to midnight. He would soon have to fight in the gauntlet, but the items he needed direly were on offer as rewards.
"If I had already taken them, she wouldn't have broken my bones so easily..." Nikolai grumbled while massaging his arm.
The feeling felt a little sore despite his rapid healing from both bloodlines. It seemed when a vampire of Selene's level inflicted wounds—it took a long time to recover.
Selene had no problems with causing damage, but he noticed that even with his current strength, her body was fragile or a little weaker than he expected.
'However, if she used blood arts... I don't know what would happen.'
He took one last look at the sleeping beauty, and the different feelings he held for the two women were much clearer to him as he closed his eyes and stepped onto the teleportation pad.
The next place he found himself in was the waiting area and a quick check on his watch told him that he had 5 minutes to prepare for his gauntlet match. His opponent was a strange opponent with no information to buy, which meant that it was likely a new monster, much like himself, who now had information on himself to buy!
'Hmmm... I can see my information for free. Cheap info seems to be about my werewolf heritage... then the expensive info is related to my ability to avoid almost impossible blows... Haha... They are quite perceptive.'
He was sure that the company responsible for the arena would earn a lot of money from his future fights. If he continued to survive, his profile would become the hottest ticket.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1." The nocturn announcer was a beautiful woman. However, the lower half of her body was a black widow spider; she looked beautiful; however, something about her made Nikolai's back tingle with danger.
Seductive white hair flowed down to her nape, and ruby eyes along her forehead with a set of white fangs. She was quite an attractive female, but her lower body was the most terrifying thing he had seen since being in the arena.
"Evening, my beloved pay pigs~ did you all make sure to donate to me and vote for me?" Her tone was commanding and filled with a mocking atmosphere.
Yet the crowd seemed to love her act, as they began to shine glow sticks and screamed out "My Queen!" and "Or lady of Nocturne!" The screen also showed various people shooting rewards towards the female. Her name seemed to be Queen Tsukino.
"Please welcome the star of tonight's nocturne gauntlet, our fresh meat. This is the first time a handsome male with werewolf blood has entered the arena and has gained the attention of the many fine sponsors! He has no title yet! But with his skill a title is soon to follow! It is hard not to think of the many mysterious deaths that have occurred recently when we think of his enemy, the Faust Clan!"
'I knew those fools were up to something...'
The crowd had a mixed reaction to this introduction. Some seemed to hate the Faust clan, and others seemed to enjoy their antics.
'So the people here are crazy... I have to remember this when I am more powerful.'
He knew that if his actions didn't align with the masses, he might just get cornered because of unpopularity and have to fight a tough battle. On the other hand, he also felt the words used were very helpful.
'Is this the kind of treatment people who come in through the normal methods receive?'
He couldn't help but wonder what they did to the other contestants and the like. However, there was no time because the announcer began to speak again; Queen Tsukino's voice was actually rather pleasant to the ear.
"Without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to the first Gauntlet Contestant of tonight, the son of the moon, the creature of the night, the werewolf Nikolai!"
The crowd booed at this introduction. It seemed his status was not popular.
"Fufu~ my little pigs are so naughty tonight; if you don't pay me more, I'll eat you~ Hehe." The sound of her voice became sugary sweet, yet it made Nikolai's spine tingle more. He felt the danger of death the moment she spoke about eating.
"Oh, my~ thank you, Zaffiro, for that huge gift~ this arachne is so happy. She might just fall in love, fufu." A huge donation appeared on the screen from the guy named Zaffiro, with a light flickering onto him. His skin was grey, with various strange appendages and four arms, yet his face was covered in spikes...
'God, he's ugly...' Nikolai couldn't help but judge him.
The man was obviously wealthy; however, his looks were terrible. The arachne was a little more refined, and her lower body was covered in a Silver dress, and a pair of elegant shoes were worn on each spider leg, the shoes like silver blades.
"Now then~ since my needs were sated, shall we introduce the Faust family? Their disgusting creation killed another rookie in one hit! The disfigured monstrosity! Experiment-D!"
Nikolai was not afraid, and his instincts kicked into overdrive.
'This is not going to be a simple fight... but why does that face look familiar.'
"Oh my god! It's such a disgusting freak~ your queen is going to faint, my dear pay pigs~ please catch your mistress if she falls."
Queen Tsukino's teasing did not help the atmosphere as the crowd began to cheer as she descended on her web, landing on several members of the audience who tipped the most.
Once more, the man with the money, Zaffiro, was crushed under her gigantic spider behind before she ascended back to the ceiling, once again with a satisfied face.
'This is fucked...'
"Now then, my lovelies! Shall we enjoy this match between the freak and a handsome werewolf prince? Match start in 3... 2... 1... BEGIN!"
"ROAR!!!"
The monstrous creature roared in a low pitch, causing the ground to shake. Then, it charged forward towards Nikolai at lightning speed. An unbelievable pace, brilliantly using its weight like a pendulum to sway and lunge at him with significant force.
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