On one side of the concaved arena was standing Terra, who was panting hard. On the other side was Carmine. Her shield had shattered, and there were numerous holes in her armor. Her face was white, and it was clear she had various wounds. If it was a question on who was in a better condition, the answer was clear.
"I can't… continue on…" Carmine said bitterly.
Terra nodded as if this outcome was inevitable. "Only when you have a Master worth fighting for, can you bring out your true strength."
The scene was just about to end amicably when a sudden cynical and dark laughter broke through the silence. The one who was laughing was the Slave Master who was currently controlling Carmine's leash.
"A Master worth fighting for? Slaves are tools! You have no value! You don't fight for me! I use you like I use any weapon!"
"You…"
"Slave, I order you, defeat her!" the Slave Master hissed.
Carmine shot him a hateful look. "I c-can't… I have no… ahhhhh!"
She suddenly fell to her knees and grabbed her head. She started screaming. I had seen this happen once before when I had used the Slave Order on Celeste. I had promised myself I'd never use that order on my slaves again unless it was life and death.
"Stop it! You're hurting her!" the Princess yelled as she ran up to the stage.
"I am a Slave Master, my slave refused orders! She's only hurting herself!"
"Ahhhhh… I can't win!" she screamed.
"Stop hurting my sister!" Salicia went to grab him.
"You defy me as well? Punish Slave!"
She let out an even more horrifying scream, crashing to the ground and curling up into a ball.
"Terra!" I called out, "Knock her out of the ring so we can stop this!"
Terra nodded and stepped forward. However, a sudden smirk on the Slave Master's face suddenly unnerved me.
"Slave… Overdraft!"
A sudden power exploded out from Carmine. She suddenly raced at Terra. Her body was glowing red. She began to slice her sword at Terra, again and again. Terra hadn't been prepared for her sudden ferocity, and she immediately had to lose ground.
"Die! Die! Die!" she screamed, slamming her sword against Terra's rocky arms, causing Earth to break off with each strike.
The cost on herself was even greater, as her sword slowly broke and the pieces of her armor fell away. Terra was able to attack her, but the attacks were shallow. Blood dripped from all over Carmine's body, but she didn't slow her attacks at all. It was as if she had gone completely berserk, ignoring the damage being done to her.
"Master… I can't stop her without killing her!" Terra said, feeling afraid for the first time since she went on the stage.
That was the truth of it. Carmine was wide open for a killing blow, but Terra just couldn't deliver it. She was someone she knew… and someone who was being forced to do it. She might be willing to kill a Bandit who was trying to kill her, but this was outside of her realm.
"Divine Retribution!" Carmine screamed.
"No!" Salicia shouted.
A white light exploded out. Terra was struck and her body broke apart as she was flung from the stage. She didn't even hit the ground before I was casting spells. Create Cushion. Heal Slave. Heal Moderate. Light Repair. I tossed everything at her as I ran to grab her.
"M-master… I lost…" Terra responded weakly.
Half her body was gone, and half of her face looked like sand, rather than skin. She could barely hold herself together.
"No… it's okay…" I said, continuing to heal her, even if it cost me every last piece of mana.
"That's the power of a proper Slave Master," the man on the other side snorted.
Lying on the stage was Carmine. It was difficult to say whether she was alive or dead. Her armor and even her clothing had been destroyed. It wasn't sexy though. There wasn't a single patch of skin that wasn't covered in blood. She had innumerable cuts. Her sword had melted to the hilt.
"You… bastard…" I shot him a look.
"Next match." The Slave Master grinned.