Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz) - Part 1 (Chapters 1 to 200)

Chapter 86 - The bloody dogfighting ring

The six of them had a few mugs of beer in the private room, but since EeDechi hated the dim lighting there, the Last Defender of the Way team waved goodbye to Yaso and Deus, then left the tavern.

It was already dusk, with the setting sun half-hidden behind the low, rundown buildings, and the thin clouds in the sky edged with a faint red glow. At the mouth of a small alley, EeDechi suddenly stopped in her tracks, puzzled. "I hear dogs barking."

After a brief pause, she added, "A lot of dogs barking."

This orichalcum-level adventurer's senses were sharper than the others', and Barrett was used to it by now. He glanced at the surrounding streets, recalling from memory, "Yeah, we're not far from the arena. I remember there's a dog-fighting pit nearby."

"Dog-fighting pit? Let's check it out." EeDechi didn't wait for her three teammates to agree—she just followed the sound straight into the alley, leaving the others no choice but to follow with a sigh.

After turning a few corners, they came to a spacious shed where Barrett and the others could now hear the vicious dog barks coming from inside. A skinny guy lounging in front with an iron rod in hand glanced at their adventurer gear, collected sixteen copper coins for entry, and let them in.

The shed was a chaotic racket—sharp dog barks and curses blending into one big noise, the lively buzz mixed with the stench of blood, not unlike the atmosphere at the arena they'd visited that afternoon.

Like the arena, the middle of the shed was fenced off with iron bars to create an open space, but dueling inside weren't humans—they were two vicious dogs, their bodies drenched in blood.

The crowd pressed up against the bars outside, watching the dogs tear into each other. Many were in ragged clothes, covered in grime—mostly laborers hauling heavy loads all day, rushing over straight after work without even changing. Dog-fighting was one of their few ways to unwind.

Inside the bars, the two similarly sized dogs were fully driven by raw animal instinct, locked in a desperate fight, blood and fur whipping up clouds of dust. The scene was bloody and brutal, but it fired up the spectators' frayed nerves. People clapped and cheered, rooting hard for the dog they'd backed with their spirits—and their bets.

Sean pointed at one of the dogs with mottled white fur, surprised. "That dog's got winter wolf blood mixed in." He'd once had his leg bitten off by a winter wolf from the wastes, so he remembered the features of those vicious beasts all too clearly.

The fighting dog with winter wolf blood wasn't gaining the upper hand, because its opponent was a pit bull with iron jaws and copper teeth. This pit bull was the real deal when it came to "iron teeth and copper fangs."

Its head was covered with a thin sheet of iron armor, and its teeth were fitted with long, sharp copper spikes by its owner. Every time it snapped its jaws, those teeth sank deep into its opponent's flesh and bone, ripping away chunks of meat along with the fur.

Barrett pointed at a pile of mangled meat mush on the ground. "Both dogs were fed cheap alchemical energy potions mixed with cow blood."

EeDechi asked him, "Like doping them with stimulants?"

"Stimulants?" Barrett nodded. "It stirs up the beast's killer instincts inside them."

The two vicious dogs lunged, clawed, and thrashed until the gear advantage beat out the bloodline edge. The pit bull's sharp copper teeth clamped down on the other dog's head and wouldn't let go. A few seconds later, its opponent went limp and stopped moving for good.

The winning dog wasn't much better off—one eye bitten to a bloody pulp, fur matted and filthy, body covered in bloody gashes where the armor didn't protect.