"That's correct, Ares. Welcome to Thello's Colosseum."
Thello: the archdemon of Polsius. Jaz must have captured us then sold us off.
Dammit. Why did I choose to place my trust in a smuggler?
The guard unlocked my cell and gestured for me to walk out. If I disobeyed or hurt her, she said Marigold and Sakimi would be put in danger. I had no choice but to follow.
"Fear not," the guard said as she led me down the torch-lit corridor. "All your questions will be answered when you enter the arena."
The two of us traversed a winding path, passing by other prisoners. Eventually, I lost track of the turns that we took, but after some time, we made it to another long passageway with light at the end of the tunnel.
I didn't remember any of this happening in the original Serial Slain. There wasn't even such a thing as Thello's Colosseum.
Virgil mentioned that only the first continent—Rivenvalius—would follow the main story, which could be why this was happening. Maybe Polsius had just been drastically changed.
On the other hand, somebody might have orchestrated this whole event. Could Thello be a player character too? Or maybe Jaz was the player character? If that were the case, it would explain why they could diverge from the main story and kidnap me.
Before heading out, the guard released my enchanted handcuffs.
"You may go on ahead," she said.
I walked into the light, emerging in a humongous underground arena with spectators on all sides, fulling up the entirety of the stands. They all cheered upon my arrival, throwing flowers and confetti.
"Allow me to introduce Ares, the Hierophant!" a man said. The voice boomed from magical speakers, but I soon deduced its origin.
A demon with spiral horns stood on a special balcony seat with flowing golden designs. For some reason, he looked fairly familiar. It took my eyes a while to focus at this distance, but I soon realized who it was: Iago.
No—it was Thello.
He wore a long black robe over maroon garments, his hair was slicked back, and he wore a pair of circular-rimmed glasses.
Despite the change in appearance, this demon looked just like Iago.
This means that Iago...
...was an archdemon all along.
Thello, the archdemon of Polsius.
Unlike Enzo in Rivenvalius, who spent most of his time in his palace, letting his minions do the work, Thello played a significant role in governing and controlling Polsius. In the original Serial Slain, he would actively chase down the player without giving them much chance to grind for levels.
In Rivenvalius, he was hiding his horns, and he was wearing a disguise, using the alias Iago. How could I not have noticed it sooner? It's been so long since I played the main quest that I already forgot Thello's face.
Just when I thought I trusted Iago enough to be in the same party, he turned out to be a traitor all along.
Fucking hell.
Other than a couple of armored guards, two other people sat beside Thello: Marigold and Sakimi.
Like me, enchanted cuffs restrained them, but they both looked stunning for this occasion. Someone must have done their hair and makeup, and they both wore beautiful red dresses. Even still, worry and anxiety were etched on their faces.
"Iago!" I screamed.
I shook my head and reiterated, "No—Thello! What's going on here!"
"You're today's fighter, of course. I hope you're all warmed up. Keep in mind that if you do anything to defy me, you can say goodbye to two girlfriends here!"
"You bastard," I muttered.
Thello clapped his hands twice and said, "Bring out the challenger!"
An iron gate opened up on the opposite end of the colosseum, and a gargantuan roar reverberated throughout the entire cavern like a trumpet signaling the apocalypse.
The ground shook, silencing the crowd. Finally, a monstrous therapod emerged from the opening, letting loose another thunderous cry.
The beast looked like a tyrannosaurus rex, but its snout had an axe blade sticking out from either side. Menacing blue spines lined its pale cerulean back, with two extra-large ones extending upward from its hip. After the hip, the spikes descended in size, eventually ending in a mace-like tail tip.
"Allow me to introduce the bergbeil!" Thello announced.
Bergbeils were a rare but ferocious beast that roamed the Polsius Alps. Legends say that these creatures could cleave a mountain in half, but that was just an exaggeration. Still, bergbeils were A-rank monsters that were highly territorial. If one were to see a bergbeil out in the wild, it might already be too late to run, especially since the monster had a frightening determination to catch prey, bulldozing anything in its path until it killed its target.
"Fight!" Thello yelled.
The crowd went wild, thirsting for blood.
I checked my inventory to see that I still had all my items and gear except for my teleportation runes, which were gone.
It looked like people in this world could somehow access my inventory.
Still, my level should be high enough that I could handle a bergbeil. In case things got dicey, I still had two Large Healing Potions.
While I was distracted, the bergbeil already charged forward. It expelled steam from its nose as its axe head pummeled the ground, leaving several craters in its wake.
I ran to the left, but the bergbeil followed. Despite its size, it was much more agile than other charging animals, such as rhinos or bulls. Bergbeils could change their direction in an instant and accelerate like a rocket. They were able to do this because their spines contained magical fluids from the alpine rivers that eroded parts of enchanted mountain rocks. While most creatures would die from a mana overdose, bergbeils became stronger.
Having been pushed up against the colosseum walls, I prepared to intercept the incoming hurricane.
Right as the bergbeil slammed its head to the ground, I performed a perfect dodge and ran up its body. Upon reaching its back, I used Angelic Blaze to take out one of the two large spikes near its hip.
Once I landed on the ground, the bergbeil immediately retaliated with a tail bash. It missed, but the impact on the ground send me into the air. While I was falling, the bergbeil slammed its head into me, sending me flying halfway across the arena, tumbling on the dirt. The massive attack had brought my HP down to seventy-one percent from one-hundred.
This might be harder than expected.
Luckily, I've fought some of these monsters before. If you destroyed the spikes on their back, it would lower their speed and strength. Destroying the two largest ones on its hip would deal the most debilitating blow, but it would only make the bergbeil more aggressive, increasing the frequency of its attacks.
A ranged spell such as Chromius would be useless against the bergbeil's thick hide, which had high magic resistance. Because of that, I quickly took out my grimoire and tapped on the Holy Shield spell, equipping it in place of Chromius. I still wasn't comfortable performing perfect dodges, so it would be helpful to have a holy spell that provided a barrier, especially since I didn't have a physical shield.
Just as the bergbeil crossed the distance and performed a head bash, I activated Holy Shield, absorbing the attack.
Then, I used Cleansing Inferno, obliterating all the spines around the monster's head and cracking the axe blades. While the bergbeil reeled from the burning pain, I ran up to its left side, activated Lightbringer, and slashed the remaining large spike until it broke.
By now, I was at forty-six percent HP because of Cleansing Inferno's self-damage, but the enemy was at thirty-eight percent HP.
I used a Large Healing Potion and ran forward to engage the monster again.
Now that the bergbeil was angry, it unleashed a relentless wave of head strikes, forcing me to cast Holy Shield. Even though I had boosts in holy magic proficiency, I didn't have enough mana to defend myself against such powerful blows.
After the bergbeil's sixth attack, my shield broke, and the ax head slammed straight into my face, flattening me and taking down my health to sixty-eight percent.
Fortunately, the bergbeil had tired itself out. It had stopped its furious assault and was standing still, trying to catch its breath. On top of that, my special attack was fully charged, so this was a free kill.
I activated Silent Sting, and after the one-second delay, I landed the decisive blow on its head. As the bergbeil toppled, it shook the ground, leaving the spectators in awe despite the anticlimactic ending.
After a few moments, the entire audience erupted into applause. All the while, I glared at Thello as he gazed at me with eyes that twinkled in amusement.
The guard from earlier put cuffs on my wrists and escorted me back to my cell. Then, she locked the bars and headed off, leaving me in the room by myself.
About ten minutes later, somebody knocked on the bars.
It was Thello, wearing a huge mischievous grin.
"That was quite the entertaining fight, Ares!"
"Shut up, asshole! You better not have done anything to Marigold or Sakimi!"
"Relax. As long as you obey, they'll be just fine. Though, I'm quite astonished that you would care so much about a couple of NPCs."
I gritted my teeth.
Then, I said, "You're an archdemon, but you still killed Enzo. After that, you kidnapped me without even killing me. What the hell are you plotting?"
"It's a simple answer. We archdemons were given the task to kill the Hierophant, and whoever could accomplish that goal gets a cash bonus. Virgil hired me to be a tester, and the pay is great, but I still need that extra money. Enzo didn't seem like he was going after you, so we had a duel. You already know that I killed him, and then I joined your party to capture you all.
"Unfortunately, Virgil said I couldn't kill you in Rivenvalius because it wasn't my designated territory or something. She's such a stickler for rules. And so, I brought you here, in Polsius. Of course, it would be boring to kill you in your sleep, so I'm giving you the chance to go out with a bang!"
In real life, Thello must be the lowliest of the low lives. He was cunning, selfish, greedy, and perilously playful. He already had me in the palm of death, so it was only natural that he would want to see me suffer.
"You killed Enzo so that you could get the money for yourself. And now, you're toying with me. How deplorable."
"Enzo's fine in real life. As for you, it's not like you'll actually die either. You'll be reborn."
"Enzo could have needed that money more than you!" I said.
"I doubt it. He didn't look like he even wanted to fight anybody. Besides, I'm sure I have a better reason for the money than him."
"What is that reason?"
Thello grinned and placed a finger on his lips, saying, "Shh. It isn't good for your health to pry into my personal life."
"Shut up."
"In the meantime, please put on a good show for us," Thello said with a wink as he left.