"Your time is running out, my shadow. What are you waiting for? Show them our chaos. At last, understand the final truth of this world. If you continue like this you will only end up with despair in your core. But have no fear, I will free you again as I once did."
"I will do it my way, watch carefully, there are other ways to change this world. As long as I am not devoured I will not give up."
"Kuhaha, just like I know you, but this time you will lose. Through the truth I will get my revenge, it has been too quiet the last millennia. Finally the world is getting excitement again."
Leo woke up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding out of his chest and he had trouble breathing. The runes on his body had spread even more.
"Fuck! Maybe he is right...no I'll do it my way!"
Aiden had been awake for some time, watching Leo and how he was acting. In the morning, the two left the inn very early to analyze the first fights. Any of the fighters could be Auri's next opponent. Leo knew the gladiator arena from books and movies but in this world everything was far more brutal, the fight was not over with the death of one fighter. Only when they had let out their rage on the corpse or had presented it to all once the victory was announced. They literally bragged about their strength and vigor. An eagle warrior began to cheat and used his wind attacks. After not even a few seconds, the elite soldiers of the Lion People decapitated him without hesitation. The audience saw with their own eyes how a violation of the rules was punished. Auris fought the last quarterfinal, to Aiden's amazement she looked top fit and fully focused despite collapsing yesterday.
"Do you have an explanation for this?"
"As I said, there was a reason why I, or rather my friend, had chosen her. I don't know more details myself."
"Oh, you have friends? With your attitude, I would have thought you'd eventually die alone."
"Your tongue is pretty loose today. It's not the kind of friend you know. When you see him you'll realize what kind of allies I have."
"I can hardly wait."
To the three's displeasure, the chosen weapon was a bow. The two men became nervous, wondering how exactly they could help their ally. But Auris, full of confidence, took the bow and moved to her position. Her opponent was, of all things, a skilled ranged fighter. Leo knew that this was not bad luck but an advanced test of the king. Yesterday it was clear that he found her fighting spirit amazing and that she was an opponent to be taken seriously. Leo had finally figured out what exactly was the motive behind the king's decisions. He had been sitting on the throne for 10 years, all contenders for the throne had always been defeated. He never fought against one of his people, although these fighters were far better than their opponents none of them could compete against him. Just like other tribes, the participant in the tournament was decided by a small tournament within the lion tribe. None of the participants from his race had pleased him enough to deem him worthy to rule over the beastmen. Either they were too wild, too boastful or too narrow-minded. That is why he never let them fight against him in the finals but eliminated them beforehand by other means. Leo believed that the throne would change this year. Gladius fought fairly and his attitude was worthy of a king. Before their fight, in the best case, he would first have to defeat Auris, who was by no means an easy opponent as everyone had seen yesterday. He was sure that the king would manipulate this fight and then lose to Gladius. The young man fully trusted his theory and created a suitable idea. But it required a lot of luck, which Leo was very reluctant to rely on. First Auris must win all her fights without Leo intervening, he wanted to use his powers elsewhere.
The wolf woman had problems hitting her opponent. She tried to dodge to get closer to him. Her reflexes were just enough for the arrows to graze her skin. He didn't let her get close to him, his ammo was endless and his bow was far more sturdy. Everyone saw that the fight was unfair to Auris but their expectations of Auris were more important to them. When she saw her blood her eyes glowed blood red again but after a few seconds she became dizzy and her eyes returned to normal.
"Just as I thought, she can't use it again. She's at a complete disadvantage, she has to think of something fast."
"There is one chance: she has to break the bow in half somehow and use the two pieces as a weapon. I saw a weapon like that in Monulis, you have to swing it and hit the opponent with the wooden piece."
"I doubt she has the talent for that weapon but it's worth a try."
Aiden began to whistle loudly so Auris would briefly look in his direction. After she narrowly dodged an arrow the saw Aiden signaling her to break the wooden bow in half. Of course she thought this idea was crazy, but Aiden was her trainer, so she trusted his idea. With all her strength she managed to break the bow in the middle. The two wooden ends had sharp edges and were well suited as a weapon. But the rope of the bow was not long enough to hit her opponent. Auris saw that she had no other choice and sprinted towards her opponent again, one arrow hitting her in the shoulder. She howled in pain, but now she was finally able to attack. Her lightning fast strike hit her opponent in the stomach, he could hardly breathe and staggered back. She ran behind him as fast as a flash and threw the rope around his neck. With all her strength she pulled on both ends. Her hands became bloody and also her wound in the shoulder started to bleed even more. Full of determination and pain, she screamed out and pulled even harder. Her opponent pulled at the rope but his lack of breath had finally defeated him. He began to gasp and fell over, Auris had successfully strangled him. Everyone saw that he was dead, but the audience wanted more blood and urged Auris to slash her dead opponent with the wooden ends. But Auris threw away her weapon and signaled to the commentator that her fight was over. She wanted to do the fights differently. Although she had won, the audience booed loudly as she left the arena. The doctors pulled the arrow out of her shoulder and treated her wounds. One of the doctors was very surprised when he saw green color on the arrowhead and ordered his assistants to get an antidote.
"You were lucky, young lady, one more hour and the poison would have set in and killed you. Must have been a cruel fight out there."
Auris realized the fight was even more rigged than she thought. The doctors ordered her to stay in the room to rest so her wounds would heal faster.
" Fuck that was close, Aiden really saved me. Ow, that damn wound. Two more fights and then I'm going up against the king. Cmon Auris, you have to survive!"
Not even two minutes passed when suddenly the king and a few of his servants entered the room. Auris was afraid that they would harm her and kill her. Now she was helpless at the mercy of the king and his orders.
"You know, I still don't quite believe that you are a yokariu. Your fighting style has a different nature. In the stories you people are always described as sovereign and unbeatable, but today your life came close to being ended. Nevertheless, I see you as a strong fighter who should not be underestimated. That's why I made a small exception for the next round. One of the winners today was as good as dead, I hardly think he is suitable for a fight. That's why I found another opponent for you in the next round.
He spoke in a calm tone and looked closely at Auris.
"Actually, only beastmen are allowed to participate but I owe an old friend a favor. She is part of the reason I became king in the first place. Now I can repay her favor, so an opponent of my own choosing will fight you. This will not please the audience but I will prove to them that they can count on far more pleasure. But you may of course use the weapon of your choice, let's see if it helps you. You may think that I am cruel and have given you a complete disadvantage. But I am a righteous king so I have implemented an additional rule that my old friend thought was better even back then. If you are lucky you will get away with your life. In this fight you are free to show mercy, only when one of the fighters is unable to fight he loses. One of you will fight Gladius in the final.
His look became colder and his voice more serious
"But let me warn you: Gladius has NEVER lost a fight and he won't lose this time either. For him the victory is when his opponent is lying dead on the ground. So think carefully whether you fight tomorrow at full strength or admit defeat while you can still walk. Good luck, Yasaris, "descendant" of the Yokariu."
He then left the room and went back to his palace. From a distance, orange eyes shone on the room
"What the hell is he up to? Why is he making an exception and letting someone else fight? Fuck, not another change of plans please!"
The shadow then disappeared into the distance again.
Auris was confused and nervous at the same time. He made it clear to her that she was not supposed to get any further. Her death would be certain in the finale, she knew that with complete certainty. Auris could only hope that Leo and Aiden had a backup plan for her. That night she slept badly again, her wounds were stinging and she was having a difficult time breathing. But then a shine of hope returned to her.
("Do not despair young wolf, your death is still far off.")
When she woke up she jumped back. All the doctors for the tournament were standing around her, looking at her with wide eyes.
"What the hell are you all doing here?"
"Looking at the miracle that is you. Look for yourself, do you feel anything at all?"
She looked at her wounds but they were completely gone. Not even scars remained, her whole body was completely healed. She couldn't explain it, perhaps it was the voice that helped her.
Anyway, she got ready for the fight and headed towards the arena. There the fight of Gladius was going on, who completely dominated his opponent. While watching him she lost all her hopes, it looked like he was unbeatable. In his face she saw that he was not even trying hard and was not serious about the fight at all. His opponent was not easy at all, a big snake warrior fighting him with several weapons had absolutely no chance against him. Instead of punishing him for breaking the rules, he was simply taken as a display of Gladius' strength. After stalling the crowd, he attacked his opponent with full force, slicing his weapons and severing his arms. Before his opponent could begin to cry out in pain, he severed his head. Blood splattered all over the arena. Before presenting the corpse, he paid respect to his dead enemy, as a true king would have done.
"Leo I hate to say it but this is unbelievable. I don't see any gap, any weakness, any chance to hurt him. He's on a completely different level than any elite soldier I've seen. Even Zaris wouldn't stand a chance against him. I would destroyed aswell. Auris doesn't stand a chance against him, it's straight up suicide. You have to do something, use your powers or bring your strong friend as soon as possible."
Leo blanked out Aiden's words and concentrated on watching the fight. He made an annoyed impression while exhaling deeply. Aiden was right, Gladius was as good as invincible, Leo felt forced to use the king's methods. Only through unfair methods and means could he at least weaken Gladius.
"Enough despair, now we'll prepare for Auri's fight. She wont fight her actual opponent, the king wont give her a free victory. I have no idea who it is but it is not a beastman. Depending on which weapon he takes, she has to adapt. I did everything I could for now, now it's her turn. She's in better shape than you think, so have faith in her.
" Heck, you're right. Still, I already have Gladius in the back of my mind, it's going to take more than confidence to beat him."
Auris was presented with all the weapons, at the very end she felt a slight growl in her head. It looked like a normal sword but Auris knew exactly who this sword must belong to.
"So he succeeded, let's see what you've got."
The growl from the sword grew louder as she entered the arena. Suddenly, instead of commentary, the king himself spoke to the audience.
"The opponent of the brave Yasaris has succumbed to the wounds of his victory yesterday yet I have prepared a very exciting battle."
("Succumbing to the wounds my ass. Just like his style.")
"Your opponent is not one of us."
The crowd was enraged and booed the king.
"Your booing will soon disappear when you see a very exciting fight with your own eyes.
Aiden and Leo were becoming more and more excited to see who her opponent was. The audience was equally curious and eagerly looked at the entrance.
"An old friend of mine used to say, "Respect your own people and they will follow you. Respect other nations and they will respect your people. To honor this wisdom, I have given her and you a gift. See what unity among races really means."
The audience remained silent as her opponent came through the gate. Aiden's breathing stopped for a moment and his eyes were wide open. Wearing a gray-black cloak and spiked shoes, her opponent moved into position.
" Listen up, she is undefeated among her people and is largely responsible for the uprise of her people. She was recommended to me by her leader herself."
"How can this be? This is a bad joke, right?"
She then reached back and took her weapon in hand. She then took arrows from her quiver.
"What should we do now Leo?"
As Aiden tried to look Leo in the eye, his began to burn and he averted his gaze. Through his anger, Leo gave off an aura that made not only Aiden but also the nearby spectators have a hard time to breathe. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists until blood dripped from them.
("Why the HELL are you here? What else are you trying to screw up for me? Fuck, I should have killed you myself back then...)
"There hasn't been a fight like this since time began. Now we'll see how strong the Yokariu really are! Witness the battle between beastman and dark elf. Between Yasaris and the archeress Lynia!"
(LYNIA!")