He was called forward, and Voldrak didn't hesitate, picking up one of the stone swords lying at the edge of the pavilion, mostly to be picked before striding forward with utmost confidence.
He stood in the center of the platform and simply waited, tempted to lean on the sword he had picked up only to decide not to at the very last second lest it break.
His current mortal body was tall, with enough weight to show that he had only been recently labeled a slave, and the words of the man he had spoken to had confirmed it.
"I guess even this mortal body was betrayed!" he thought, confident that his brother had killed him to tie up loose ends, which Voldrak had untied by waking up.
Surprisingly, unlike other fights, the crowd around him quieted almost as if they were waiting for something—something important—with bated breath.
An announcement rang out, and Voldrak's attention was turned towards an opening on his left, which looked like a huge gate, one that appeared menacing with numerous locks and chains.
"This Slave without a name has today chosen to fight for his freedom!" The booming voice, which he could not see, announced to the crowd. Instead of trying to look for the person who had just spoken, Voldrak's gaze zoned into the darkness beyond the gate as he watched a skinny man gingerly step forward to unlock it.
His hands shook even as he did so.
"I'm not fighting a human, am I?" he understood without being told as he watched the man struggle, his spirit already far away even as he forced his body to stand there and do as he had been told.
Voldrak didn't have to wait long; the final lock was opened, and the man dashed off to the right towards a small gate he had walked through when something tore out.
He had barely taken a couple of steps before he was gobbled up! Half his body swallowed before he could utter a scream, as the other half splattered on the ground, intestines, blood, and all, just before the beast bent its slender head and gobbled up the rest of his meal.
A slow smile spread across Voldrak's face as he stared at the beast, taking in its fullness even as he watched it slowly turn to look in his direction, a sound like the creaking of bones surging out of its throat as it fixed yellow beady eyes on Voldrak.
"This is an execution, isn't it?" he wondered aloud, mostly to himself, as he gripped the sword even tighter than before, even as he deeply understood that the weapon was useless.
The thing before him was enormous, easily three times his size, with muscles rippling under its thick, leathery skin. On its head and through its neck were large dark scales that showed how almost impossible it would be to pierce through.
"I should have expected as much!" he mused to himself even as he watched the beast dash forward with incredible speed that would have been nothing but dust to his immortal body but one he barely struggled to see.
The beast appeared right in front of him in seconds and lashed out its head, aiming to pick him up and chew him up just as it had done to the man whose blood still coated its long rows of teeth as it growled.
Voldrak did the only thing he knew—side-stepping just fast enough as his body could, raising the sword to block. His eyes widened and darkened all at the same time as the sword instantly broke into two.
A part of him knew that it wasn't that the sword wasn't strong enough, but the beast was simply stronger. The last thing they would want is for the fight to not last even a couple of seconds as the crowd continued to scream around him.
Voldrak picked up the broken pieces even before the other fell to the ground, tossing them into the mouth of the beast before turning around and dashing off, not waiting to check if he had successfully tossed them into the beast's mouth.
But the loud growls that echoed behind him whispered death if he failed to turn around in time.
A human—any human—and he would have swept their feet off the ground with his sword skills, maneuvered around them like they were a child and he was their father. But a beast... his body lacked the strength for it.
"GRRRugggh!" It howled, his footsteps much quieter than he wanted, swerving just in time for the beast to dash past him, too fast to stop itself in time until it had gone a couple of steps beyond.
Thoughts whirled in his mind until he realized that the only way he was going to live was if he brought out his cards—all of them.
He tightened his grip over the broken and jagged sword in his hand as he watched the beast turn around, a hidden fury in its blazing yellow eyes as it prepared to dash towards him again, with a subtle determination in its four legs that made him realize that it would be bloody, at least for one of them, if not both.
Voldrak didn't hesitate any longer as he generated every last speck of his previous power, which only amounted to a handful he couldn't even materialize into the real world.
Still, he dug deeper, even as pain began to thrum through his skull. He dug even deeper for every thread of it, every hint of it that remained in his soul before it had been severed from his body, spreading it to the mortal body he now inhabited.
Feeling his muscles grow ripped and taut, his vision widen, and his senses heighten until he saw the beast's movement to be similar to that of an ant.
Too impatient to wait, he bolted from where he stood with the sword in hand, dashing forward and digging his fingers into the hilt as he leaped right into the mouth of the beast as it delightedly opened up for him.
"Idiot!" Voldrak barked with a sly look on his face as he dug the sword in, faster than the beast could think to move its jaws, aiming for whatever speck of brain was in its skull.
The sword found its mark, and a shiver went through the beast as it froze, going completely still before he tumbled to the ground. Voldrak leaped down from it before it could take him down with it, with the broken sword still embedded in its mouth.
Pain coursed through his head even as he revealed a nasty smile to anyone and everyone who looked at him, raising his voice as he spoke, knowing it would echo like every sound and announcement seemed to do.
"THAT is how it's done!" he declared with a smug look on his face as he stood proud, while consciously aware that he only had at most some time left before his body hit the ground, powerless and unable to move a finger.