Stepping into the colosseum, I took in the sight of the tens of thousands of Roman citizens, each from various tribes or families — enemies and allies, gathered together to watch with morbid excitement, and shower upon the gladiators, praises and curses alike. The enthusiasm and feverish excitement the Romans had when it came to gladiatorial warfare was probably something I would never understand.
One of the soldiers stepped forward and unfastened the cold chains binding my wrist. The Roman soldier with dark eyes, fierce facial features, and a trimmed mustache accentuating his Gaulish traits stepped backward, before heading back to the entrance of the aberrant pits. I teared my gaze away from him, and glanced at the podium — members of great noble families seated atop — their condescending gazes bearing down on me.
A few days earlier, I would have been irritated and infuriated by such a gaze, however, I was long used to it by now. The hazy dust blew about, its harsh nature intensifying the sting hurting my eyes.
Sunlight gleamed across my bloodied steel, the blood-soaked ground beneath me mirroring the crimson shade running along its edges. At that moment, I heard the sound of heavy gates being pushed open, and from the darkness, a tall muscular figure stepped into the sunlight, escorted by two Roman soldiers who slowly moved to unbind him.
The young man flexed his fingers and exhaled deeply — mist — dense mist curling outward from his lips. In the young man’s eyes was a feverish vigor and excitement as he faced the thousands of Roman citizens, his sword and snake-tattooed shield raised into the air, while he chanted the glorious name of the Lord Ruler himself. I gritted my teeth at the sickening sight, the maddening chants of thousands urging for life and death thundering across the colosseum.
"Damien Von Aestar! Damien Von Aestar!" The crowd echoed his name. And then they echoed mine: "Kyle Von Gracia!"
Kyle of House Gracia.
My fists tightened at my sides.
With House Gracia and its entire bloodline erased from existence, the chants reminded me that I was the sole survivor of the once-glorious House. I... I was the only one left.
My vision blurred as I fought to keep the tears from falling. Above, a member of one of the seated noble families rose to his feet. The crowd fell silent at the sight of Lucius Von Racpurnia, the sponsor of the city’s gladiatorial games. His blonde hair was framed by a face dominated by a pair of cold, dark eyes. He smiled and said:
"It’s with noble blood and civic pride that we grace this arena where valor and combat meet." After a brief pause, he continued. "For the glory of our eternal city, and in honor of the Lord Ruler, let the games commence!"
Raising his hand into the air, Lucius chanted with fervor. "Ave Caesar, moroturi te salutant!"
The crowd responded, its voice booming throughout the colosseum:
"Hail Caesar! Those who are about to die salute you!"
I spat on the ground beneath me, clenching my teeth at the sight of the trumpet. The next moment, its loud horn disoriented my ears. And then—
Chaos ensued.
***
Damien surged towards me, his feet leaving deep marks on the ground beneath him.
The fact that he rushed into the battle without gauging his enemy’s abilities made my expression turn grim. He was either a fool, or an extremely powerful Awakened, who was equally as confident in his abilities.
My face paled.
Before I could do so much as to blink, he was already upon me, cleaving downward with his sword. I raised one of the two swords I wielder into the air, swiftly deflecting the strike that sought to shear my head off my body. Gritting my teeth, I took in the moment of deflection and stepped forward, slashing horizontally with the other sword. The sword went for his arm, and I expected it to leave a deep wound, giving me the opportunity to press on.
However, in the next moment, my eyes widened as a subtle layer covered Damien’s arm, rebounding my strike with the same obliterating force. The sudden change took me by surprise, flinging me backwards. Damien surged forward, ducking below a wild swing of my sword. He slashed forward with his shield, jerking my head backward as blood flew out of my mouth.
For a second there, I felt my head spinning. However, I was quick to regain control, and fast enough to roll to the side, instantly distancing myself from the Ghaul. I glanced at him, eyes full of dark apprehension as my chest heaved up and down.
My head and body was still in pain. However, this much pain I could handle. Moreover, the Ghaul had already shown his hand. If I was right, his ability should be similar to Bartholin’s — save for the fact that his redirected attacks with the same intensity with which he’d been attacked. No wonder he was so confident.
Few would be able to defeat him with such an ability. After all, one either had to be significantly faster than he was, overwhelmingly powerful, or vastly superior in combat to be able to defeat him. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have any of those things. But that didn’t mean I was entirely helpless. I might just have a way to deal with him.
...I just had to survive long enough to make it happen.
Damien lunged at me and slashed forward, the force of his strike jerking my hands backward and leaving me in agony. However, I fought through the pain and held my ground, swiftly deflecting the numerous strikes that sought to claim my life. Some managed to bypass my defense, leaving deep gashes on my body. Red liquid rolled down my body and dripped onto the blood-soaked ground.
I ducked to the left, enduring the barrage of attacks. And my reasoning behind such a defensive tactic was quite simple. If I didn’t attack, there was no way he could use his ability on me. Besides, he couldn’t keep on attacking forever. No matter how high his endurance was, he would eventually reach a point where his body would begin to fail him. And...
The dark mirth of my face widened.
That moment was exactly what I was waiting for. Sidestepping to the left, a clear opportunity presented itself, however, instead of attacking, I hastily retreated. The Ghaul gritted his teeth as I retreated, enforcing the idea that it was a bait left behind by him.
"Hmph!" I snorted as he surged towards me, his speed slowing down with every passing second. Yet, I waited... and held on, for as long as I could.
My muscles were on the verge of tearingfrom the intense strain, while the numerous gashes covering my body only made matters worse. Besides, I was only able to hold on this long, not because I was in any way better than the Ghaul, but simply because I was smarter, more cunning, and more importantly — due to Blindspot Exploitation.
The ability to see his shadow’s movements gave me every little split second of advantage. It wasn’t much, but it ensured that I could at least keep my life. It was at that moment, when I realized I was also nearing my ends wit, that I lunged forward. The next moment, darkness engulfed the surroundings, absorbing all light in a five-foot radius.
The sudden surge of darkness blinded the Ghaul, leaving him vulnerable. Though I knew his long exposure to the deep darkness in the Aberrant pits must have increased his ability to cope in darkness. However, I wasn’t going to give him that much time to adapt.
In a split second, I sidestepped, easily dodging the flailing strike of the Ghaul. Stepping forward, I slashed downward with the two swords in my hands. Damien attempted to block the incoming sword with his shield, however, his shadow’s movement had long been seen by me. The next moment, a flash of crimson erupted in the darkness. Blood spurted from the Ghaul’s neck, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at me.
"..."
The sight of the tears welling in the young man’s eyes, the pain clouding his expression, and the faint sense of relief hidden beneath it all made my chest tighten.
"I’m sorry," I whispered softly. "But I have to survive. I have to end this. I’ve to."
Suddenly overwhelmed by a profound sense of weakness, I drew loose my swords from his neck, blood spluttering onto my face as he slumped onto the ground. I immediately deactivated the photon absorption field and staggered slightly, my vision blurring.
With smoldering hatred burning in my heart, I raised my head. Amidst the deafening cheers of the crowd, I fiercely gazed at the podium.
Lucius Von Racpurnia rose to his feet, his eyes filled with surprise. For a while, he said nothing, simply staring at me in amusement.
"What a battle that was!" he eventually exclaimed, his applause echoing throughout the colosseum.
I could understand his amusement. Anyone would’ve thought me dead. After all, even if it was obvious that I was deliberately delaying the fight, to what end? I still most likely wouldn’t have been able to defeat Damien in his weakened state.
However, similar to how certain materials could absorb force and redirect attacks through angular tension, turning an incoming attack back on its source, I suspected the Ghaul’s ability worked on a similar principle. Only... differently. And that was one of the reasons the battle had taken much longer than I wanted it to.
I had to be a hundred percent certain that he needed sight to orient his kinetic lattice. After confirming that he did, the rest was pretty much simple.
If only my body didn’t say otherwise.
Groaning from the pain, I refused to listen to the barbaric nonsense that came out of Lucius’s mouth. And luckily for me, I didn’t have to do that for so long. Damien was soon dragged away raggedly, his corpse leaving a trail of blood behind.
The sight sent a wave of unease through me. The thought of that being me... it scared and terrified me.
"Hah..." I exhaled, my trembling hands clenched tightly together.
Just then, Racpurnia ended his speech, and the two Roman soldiers stepped into the colosseum, binding me once again. Amidst the cheers and chants of the crowd, I was escorted back into the pits.
The bright world turned into one of darkness once again.