I’m a Rebel in Another World

Chapter 53: The Opponent's Counterattack

After Henwil smoothly executed a fierce combo to eliminate his opponent, he leaned on his spear once more, waiting for his teammates to finish their battles.

The audience members from the five major gladiatorial arenas who had been mocking and ridiculing Henwil earlier now fell completely silent.

Meanwhile, those spectators who already favored Henwil cheered for him loudly, howling, shouting, and clapping with wild enthusiasm.

They went absolutely crazy with excitement over Henwil's yet another clean and efficient victory over his opponent.

A few minutes later, the other members of Team Insect had all defeated their respective opponents.

The entire gladiatorial match had been thrilling but ultimately safe, just as Bloodhorn had anticipated. He now looked triumphantly at the managers from the other five arenas.

Afterward, each member of Team Insect received four thousand gold coins.

This wasn't because Bloodhorn was particularly generous - it was simply the arena's standard rule.

When visiting gladiators initiated bloody combat through challenge matches,

the victorious participating gladiators would receive twenty percent of the total wager amount.Henwil once again used all his money to purchase Knight's Body Tempering Potions. It wasn't that he didn't want to save some, but mainly because he sensed dangerous undercurrents approaching.

Though this counterattack organized by the five arenas was quite targeted,

Henwil realized it was actually too weak.

Those young gladiators from the opposing side, while quite skilled, were clearly no match for Team Insect.

Henwil refused to believe that the other side couldn't see this obvious fact.

As top professionals in their field, they naturally understood that these fighters couldn't defeat Team Insect even without any intelligence leaks.

Spending huge sums to initiate bloody challenge matches now, essentially boosting Bloodhorn's reputation, clearly defied normal logic.

Whatever schemes the opposition might be plotting, Henwil decided to prepare for the worst scenario in advance.

For the next two months, everything proceeded normally. Team Insect fought twice more, maintaining their overwhelming dominance.

But then, on this particular day, something unexpected occurred.

During sparring sessions between Bloodhorn's adult gladiators and the youths, several adults suddenly launched vicious attacks without warning.

By the time the guards reacted and protected the young gladiators, several youths had already fallen victim to the assault.

When Bloodhorn saw the seven young corpses, he appeared remarkably calm.

But the senior gladiators present had their muscles tensed, some with sweat beading on their foreheads, others trembling slightly.

These elite gladiators stood just one step away from becoming true professional classes.

Their sharp senses could clearly perceive the violent aura radiating from Bloodhorn, creating immense pressure on everyone.

At that moment, nobody noticed Henwil standing in the crowd, frowning with his fists tightly clenched.

He appeared furious about his companions' deaths.

In reality, Henwil also sensed Bloodhorn's tremendous power.

Bloodhorn didn't say anything, simply ordering all gladiators to return to rest.

For the following half month, Bloodhorn Arena remained closed for gladiatorial performances.

Bloodhorn himself wasn't present at the arena, leaving only his assistant named Jafari to manage various affairs.

When Bloodhorn finally returned, he brought several severed heads and announced these were the masterminds behind the young gladiators' deaths.

Henwil thought he was full of shit!

Clearly this matter ran much deeper than it appeared - it couldn't possibly be that simple.

Whoever could bribe or threaten adult gladiators within Bloodhorn's organization to carry out suicidal attacks definitely wasn't some minor player.

But since this wasn't his own operation, Henwil had no intention of digging too deep.

Now the remaining members of Team Insect carried heavy hearts. During the adult gladiators' sudden attack, the youth codenamed Tarantula had suffered fatal injuries.

Scorpion Tail and Flying Ant also sustained wounds and were still recovering.

Henwil had also been one of the targets during that attack, but he had sensed something wrong from the beginning.

The adult gladiator sparring with him kept aiming for his vital points without any restraint.

From this man, Henwil detected clear malice - killing intent, actually.

So Henwil maintained extra vigilance, carefully guarding against his opponent.

He deliberately maneuvered their sparring to the area closest to the guard patrol.

This positioning allowed Henwil to react quickly when the attack came, without revealing his true capabilities.

He adopted offensive defense tactics, disrupting his opponent's rhythm and holding out until the guards intervened.

This assassination attempt cost Bloodhorn several young gladiators, all with significant potential.

Counting combat losses from over a year of gladiatorial matches,

the number of young gladiators had now dwindled from the original fifty-three to just twenty-seven.

With Team Insect losing one member, they needed restructuring again.

Bloodhorn selected the most outstanding candidate from the remaining young gladiators to join Team Insect.

This new member donned the Tarantula mask, replacing the deceased youth to become the new Tarantula.

The remaining twenty-two youths were divided by Bloodhorn into four five-member teams, with two extras serving as substitute rotations.

It wasn't that Bloodhorn didn't want to request more youths from the organization - he had been repeatedly refused.

No matter how extravagantly he praised their potential, no matter how much wealth he promised these youths could generate,

the organization's higher-ups consistently denied his requests to draw new recruits from the training base.

Throughout the year, Bloodhorn had attempted to purchase slave children and train them himself.

But the results proved disappointing, whether in terms of demeanor or combat capability.

They fell far short of the youths produced by the Forging Furnace base.

Thus, these young gladiators had become unique treasures to Bloodhorn - each loss meant one less irreplaceable asset.

Consequently, Bloodhorn changed his arena strategy, minimizing these youths' appearances whenever possible.

As for Team Insect, while they still fought once monthly, the wager amounts were set considerably higher.

Shortly before Henwil's twelfth birthday, they were scheduled to participate in a grand gladiatorial tournament during the Summer Festival.

Thanks to his young gladiators' growing fame, Bloodhorn successfully secured hosting rights for this tournament.

For one entire month, seven consecutive gladiatorial performances would be held at Bloodhorn Arena.

Team Insect, with Henwil among them, would take the stage during the opening ceremony's first match.

They would also deliver the grand finale performance during the closing ceremony's final event.

During the tournament's opening ceremony, each Team Insect member performed individually.

Important dignitaries would draw lots to determine Henwil and his teammates' combat challenges.

Henwil himself drew the challenge of fighting several wild wolves unarmed.

Facing these cunning, hungry beasts, Henwil appeared to be in constant peril and even suffered minor superficial wounds, but this was largely theatrical performance.

His unarmed combat skills were actually quite formidable, and he felt little genuine pressure against the wolves.

After twisting the final wolf's neck, Henwil lifted the carcass high, accepting the audience's roaring cheers.