Every person was silent after witnessing the fight. Most people couldn't see it well because it was so fast. In a few seconds, the human killed Uru the Troll. The only thing they were sure of was that Uru was hit in the heart because he had a wound in the chest and the human fist was covered in blood.
"T-The winner is Dead Meat 44!" The announcer broke the silence, and a mixture of cheers and boos flooded the coliseum.
It was a wave of awe, fear, respect, and hate. The people inside the coliseum witnessed history. For the first time, a human made it into the top 100 warriors. From this point on, Dead Meat 44 was a legend. Guards arrived and dragged him back to the halls. They weren't sure what to do with him.
In the balcony, Rashaka and his subordinates were left speechless. Against all predictions, the human killed Uru. Rashaka turned to his bodyguard and told him everything with a single look.
"I-I didn't see well, but I think he blocked Uru's attacks with his hands. It looked like he had grown nails or claws for a second." Alumi was trying to understand the last moments of the fight, but he couldn't explain. "I don't know if it was a special ability, but he outclassed Uru. No, he always had the advantage; he was holding back the entire time!"
Rashaka turned to look at Beru Beru.
"Are the magic detectors working?"
"Yes, my lord. There wasn't any magic cast inside the arena."
"Boss, what are you going to do?"
"A human that strong fell on our hands. Alumi, can you kill him?"
"Of course. I can go with my men and kill him right now that he's wounded!"
"Are you saying that you can't defeat him alone if he was at full strength?" Rashaka said, with worry.
"I-I mean..." he couldn't say with certainty.
The hesitation in his voice made it clear. That human was powerful enough to instill fear in his bodyguard. Alumi was probably the second strongest person here. That meant the human was around his level.
A dark omen crept inside Rashaka's heart. This was possibly the biggest crisis he had faced right now. The safest thing to do was to kill the human, but he couldn't act rashly. What if the human still had an ace up his sleeve? He couldn't risk it. Trying to chain or imprison him would only raise his suspicions.
The human being was like a bomb. If he wasn't careful, it could explode, and he didn't know how much damage it was going to cause.
"We can't let him know we are going to kill him. Trying to restrain him would be too dangerous. We'll treat him as another warrior. He's ranked 97. How much access does he have now to Beru Beru?"
"He could move freely on the first three floors. He can also contact others of his rank or inferior."
"It is too dangerous. Tell him we are reevaluating his rank and looking for another fight in the future. Make sure he knows you are letting him rest. Put him on the fourth floor."
Rashaka didn't entertain the idea of asking for the army's help. The Council could see it as a sign of weakness and force him to retire and sell the coliseum. He needed to deal with this problem on his own.
"Gave him food or weapons. Make sure guards are always present. Study every move he makes, the way he speaks, the food he eats, everything that can give us an advantage. We need to kill him, every day he stays alive is a risk!"
***
Things went according to Thanatos' expectations. He was moved to a better hall with other warriors. It was the fourth floor where the slaves ranked between 150 and 100 were placed. Instead of sleeping in a big room with a lot of people, he could stay in a small room with only three or four more people.
These were the real warriors of the coliseum. He looked around the room and quickly bounced from person to person. They were much stronger than before. If he had to compare them to the army, everyone was at least as strong as a sergeant and a few captains too.
Good I can still fight without using magic. I should try to not make too many enemies. In the worst case, I can turn them into zombies to help me escape.
He noticed the eyes judging him in silence. Only a couple of hours had passed, but the slaves already knew about his victory against Uru. They were cautious and kept their distance. He was also being followed everywhere by a guard. It wasn't subtle at all.
The boss told them to keep an eye on me. He's probably going to try to kill me in my sleep or after he makes sure I don't have a secret power. He wants to learn more about me to increase his chances.
Time to sleep came, and everyone entered a specific room. He looked around, trying to decide on a room to enter, when someone approached him.
"Hello. Are you looking for a place to stay? You can come with us." It was a human with blue eyes; his body was covered in scars.
"A human here? You must be pretty strong."
"Haha, thanks for the flattery, but you are the one who is strong here. I heard about your battle. You're ranked 97 and it was your second fight. Come on, we can talk more with my companions." The man walked to a room in the corner. Thanatos didn't have another place to stay, so he took the offer.
There were three people in the room; two humans and a demi human whose skin was some type of rock.
The guard waited outside, but he was close enough to hear the conversation.
"Let's introduce ourselves. I'm Robert. I was a mercenary before getting captured. This is Gro. He's from a race of people whose skin is like rocks. He's also a magic caster."
"Hello."
"Lastly, this is Hilrun. He's a plant mage."
"So, you're the one who killed that old troll. Nice to meet you."
Thanatos looked at them. They were pretty strong. He was curious about their abilities.
"Nice to meet you. I can't tell you my name since we have a spy on the other side of the door."
"Yeah, I noticed. It is normal for the boss to keep an eye on you after the battle. You must be full of surprises hehe."
"I want to ask you guys some things, but it would be rude to not do the same thing." Thanatos raised his hand and looked outside the room. He cast [Hypnosis] on the guard.
He focused the mana, but it didn't do anything. As he suspected, the collar was able to suppress spells. He moved fast and knocked the guard down with a chop in the back of the head. Without making a noise, he brought the guard inside to make sure no one saw it on the ground.
Thanatos looked back and introduced himself. "I can't tell you guys my real name, so call me 44. We can talk freely, but we can't waste too much time."
"Did you try to use magic?"
"I thought you were a warrior?"
"Why did you go through all that trouble?"
They were trying to figure out his motives. Without wasting time, Thanatos sat and explained his intentions.
"I have an offer for you. Would you like to join forces and escape from this coliseum?"
"Escape!" Robert was shocked. But his companions made him calm down; they didn't want more guards here.
"S-Sorry that came out of nowhere. You want to escape, not only that. You want our help. Why?
"I'm planning to escape. Like you guys saw, I'm a magic caster too. I can't break this collar if I use all my strength, but I don't know the layout of the arena. I need allies so I can increase my chances of escaping."
"Wait a moment! You can break the collar. That's impossible. It's reinforced with magic. You'll need an enormous amount of strength to break it!"
Thanatos wasn't lying, but he wasn't telling the truth either. He only gave an estimate based on experience. It was probably going to take his full power, but he was confident.
"Can I ask what type of plan you have in mind?" Hilrun interrupted.
"I want to release all the slaves in the coliseum and use the chaos as a distraction. To do that, I need to destroy the device that controls the wands and the collars. Do any of you know about it?"
"I heard it is on the first floor, but only guards are allowed near it. In case of an emergency, they always have guards on duty. If you really can take off the collar, you could fight and pass the magical barriers." Gro responded.
"Then it is possible to deactivate the collar. I can do that. I don't know how strong the guards are, but after hearing about my victory against the troll, you know I'm not mere talk."
"True, you defeated him. In fact, you're a legend now. The first human to break into the top 100. Mmm, but it is still too sudden why you want our help, too suspicious. There are a dozen warriors here. What makes us special?"
"Nothing, you wanted to use me for something right? Isn't that the reason you invited me? Everyone else gave me the cold shoulder, but you walked up to me and invited me because you were planning to ask me something, didn't you?"
Thanatos wasn't gullible. The only reason someone would offer a helping hand in a place like this was because they were planning something.
The three men looked at each other. Robert sighed and explained.
"We were going to ask you to be part of our group. Since you're also a human."
"Wait, is that it?"
"Yeah... you are new, but you already had to have noticed that humans here don't have any future."
"They use us as cannon fodder and don't care about anything we do. The higher we climbed, the harder they tried to crush us."
"Even the demi humans like me that help the humans are punished. They sentenced me to the same torture and constant battles with the odds trying to kill me."
"Stick together and live or die alone. Those are the only chances here."
Thanatos finally noticed the shame and anger inside the men. They had been played with and tossed around like toys. It's all for the entertainment of the masses. He experienced the same thing. When he got the crowd's attention, the boss tried to punish him, first by sending fifty people, then by using his troll thug, Uru.
It was perfect; they didn't hold any attachment to the coliseum and they were only a small push away from joining the plan.
"Did you three meet here?"
"Yes."
"Robert, you said you were a mercenary before getting captured. What about you, Hilrun and Grol?"
"I was a medic in a small town in the dessert. The Council came and destroyed it."
"My people are nomads. I wanted to explore more and then came here. They arrested me because I saved a human that was being beaten by his master."
"Then you all want to get out of here and be free again. In other words, if you stay here, you'll die. Join me and let's escape together. They think they can do whatever they want with us. Let's make history in this coliseum not by following their rules but by breaking them. The first prisoners that escaped from the Demi Human Council."
They looked around, and their eyes stopped at the unconscious guard. He was really planning to escape.
"Okay, count us in."
Thanatos saw the determination in their eyes. It was time to plan the escape.