Stepping into the colosseum, I took in the view of the tens of thousands of roman citizens, each from various tribes and families- enemy or allies gathered together to watch in dark vigor, and shower upon the gladiators, praises and curses alike.
Right about then, one of the Roman soldiers stepped forward and wrapped loose the cold chains that binded my wrist. The Roman soldier with hazy eyes, a fierce facial features and a trimmed mustache to further accentuate his Gaulish' traits stepped back, moving towards the entrance of the aberrant pits. I shifted my gaze away from the soldier, and glanced at the podium - members of various noble families seated atop - their condescending gazes bearing down on me.
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 its dark-crimson shade. In that moment, I heard the sound of gates being creaked open, and from beyond its depth, a tall muscular figure stepped into the sunlight, escorted by two Roman soldiers who slowly moved to unbind him.
The young man flexed his hands, taking in a deep exhalation, mist, dense mist curling outward. In his eyes was a strange 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 and exhaled sharply, the maddening chants of thousands urging for life and death thundering across the colosseum.
"Damien Von Aestar! Damien Von Aestar!" They echoed his name, along with mine: "Kyle Von Gracia!"
Kyle of House Gracia.
My hands tightened at the side. 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.
It was in that moment that a member of the seated noble families rose to his feet. With blonde hair, and cold dark eyes, Racpurnia Ziro, the sponsor of the Racpurnia's city gladiatorial games rose to his feet. Ushering the crowd - the tens of thousands to silence - with but a wave of his hands, he smiled and said:
"It's with noble blood and civic pride that we grace this Arena where valor and combat entwine." He added after a short, measured pause. "In honor of our divine emperor: The Lord Ruler, and the glory of our eternal city, let the games commence."
Raising his hand into the air, Racpurnia chanted with vigor: "Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant!"
The crowd responded, their voices booming throughout the colloseum: "Hail Caesar, those who are about to die salute you!"
I spat on the ground beneath me, and gritted my teeth at the sight of the trumpet. In the twinkle of an eye, its loud horn disoriented my ears. And then-
"...."
Chaos ensued. Damien dashed towards me, his feet leaving deep marks on the ground beneath him.
'Rushing this early into battle without gauging his enemies prowess or ability, he must either be a fool or...' My expression darkened. 'the one that I hoped wasn't the case. He was extremely powerful, and so was he confident in his abilities.'
Before I could do so much as to blink, he was already before me, slashing downwards with his sword. I raised one of the two swords I wielded 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 gash, giving me the opportunity to press on. However, my eyes widened in surprise for a second there, 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 backward. Damien surged forward in an instant, 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, just fast enough to roll to the side, instantly distancing myself from the gaul. 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.
'And moreso...' A subtle smile curled up my lips. 'The foolish gaul had already shown his hand.' If I was correct, his ability was kind-of-similar to Bartholin's, save for the fact that his redirected attacks with the same intensity at 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 extremely fast, extremely powerful, or vastly superior in combat to be able to defeat him.
'Unfortunately for him,' I dashed forward, a dark plan creeping into my mind. 'he just had to meet me.'
Damien surged towards me, slashing forward, the force of his strike jerking my hands backward. However, I gritted my teeth and held my ground. Swiftly deflecting the numerous strikes that sought to claim my life. However, some managed to bypass my defense, leaving deep gashes on my body, red liquid rolling down my body, dripping onto the blood-soaked ground.
I ducked to the left, enduring the barrage of strikes. And my reasoning behind such a defensive tactics was quite simple:
If I didn't attack, there was no way for him to use his ability on me. And moreso, he couldn't keep on attacking forever, no matter how high his endurance might be, he would eventually reach a point where his body would begin to fail him. And...
The dark smile on my face widened. 'That moment was exactly what I was waiting for.'
Side-stepping to the left, a clear opportunity presented itself, however, instead of attacking, I retreated. The gaul gritted his teeth as I retreated, enforcing the idea that it was a bait left by him.
"Hmph," I snorted as he surged towards me, his speed slowing down by the passing second.
However, I waited... and held on, for as long as I could. My muscles were on the verge of exploding from the intense strain, along with the numerous gashes that covered my body. Moreso, I was only able to hold on this long not because I was in any way better than the gaul, but simply because I was smarter, more cunning, and more importantly: due to the 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 in that moment, when I realized I was also nearing my end's wit, that I surged forward. In an instant, darkness surged forward, absorbing all light in a five-feet radius.
The sudden surge of darkness blinded the gaul, leaving him vulnerable. Though I knew his long exposure to the deep darkness in the Aberrant pits should've increased his ability to cope in deep darkness.
However, I wasn't going to give him that much time to adapt.
In the split of a second, I sidestepped, easily dodging the flailing strike of the gaul. Stepping forward, I slashed downward with the two swords in my hand. Damien attempted to block the incoming swords with his shield, however, his shadow's movements had long been seen by me. Right about then, a flash of crimson erupted in the darkness. Blood spurted out of the gaul's neck, his eyes widening in disbelief as he stared at me.
"..."
My chest tightened at the sight. The sight of the tears that welled in the young man's eyes. The pain that clouded his eyes.
"I'm sorry," I whispered softly. "But I've to survive. I've to end this. I've to."
Gritting my teeth, I drew loose my swords from his neck, blood spluttering onto my face as he fell onto the ground. I immediately deactivated the photon absorption ability, and staggered slightly, my vision blurring.
Raising my head up amidst the deafening cheers of the crowd, I gazed at the podium, staring at the nobles, young and old alike. It was in that moment that Racpurnia Ziro rose to his feet, his eyes beaming with surprise.
"What a battle that was!" he said with claps, his amused voice resounding through the colosseum.
I could understand. Anyone would've thought me dead in the battle. After all, even if it was obvious that I was delaying the battle, to what end? However, similar to how certain materials absorb shock or deflect them via angular tension and strength, turning physical attacks back on the opponent, I was sure that the gaul's ability did something similar. If only differently.
And that was one of the reasons why the battle had taken much longer than I wanted it to. I'd to be a hundred percent certain that he needed sight to orient his kinetic lattice. After confirming 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 Racpurnia'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, trembling hands tightly clenched together.
Right about then, as soon as Racpurnia ended his speech, 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 turning into one of darkness once again.