'Have I found my family yet?' Kodesh felt his heart pounding within him, almost leaping out his chest as a terrible rush of fever washed over. All the while, he was trying to convince himself that he didn't hear the girl right.
But before he could respond to the girl, the whole temple fell silent as a grave. In the next moment, powerful and uncanny auras enveloped the whole temple and beyond.
Immediately Kodesh's eyes darted towards the entrance and the three kings made their way inside the wide mouth of the temple.
Ahead of them were a dozen men of the king's guard all wearing black and silver armor. Behind them were a dozen more men of the king's guard, they too wearing the black and silver armor. However, they were all wearing different types of helmets of birds of prey.
Kodesh casted a gaze on the three kings and it rested on a figure of an old man wearing a golden mask of fiery Barbary lion. He could see beyond the mask thanks to his unblind aspect. As he was peeping at the old man, he was met by milky eyes that seemingly looked like they were blind.
He was convinced they were blind but the old man was glancing at him through those blind eyes, sending shivers down his spine. It was almost like those blind eyes bored into his souls. The dead stare of the old man was very unnerving as it was unsettling.
He remembered the old man very well. He knocked on the fortified gate of Olive that stood the test of time and it immediately crumbled to dust, leading his divisions to war with Olive just to kill one person, Kodesh. And here they were, staring at each other to death. It was almost like the old man could sense Kodesh. Or maybe he was staring at him because he couldn't sense him. Maybe he thought of Kodesh as peculiar to not possess any kind of mystical powers.
Immediately, the milky eyes shifted and Kodesh finally caught a breath. Glancing at the other two kings, he saw a figure of a spotted leopard, its fangs menacingly bared out. The man behind the mask was middle aged and he too emanated power that almost rivaled the old man.
Besides him was a young man in his mid twenties, his youthful face concealed behind a mask of cheetah. And despite his young age, he too possessed great power that overwhelmed Kodesh's senses.
He had seen monuments around the wall commemorating this three kings. There was one of a cheetah and a leopard, made entirely of silver and there was one of a golden Barbary lion at the gate. But what he didn't know was who the statue of the laughing hyena and the mean faced black panther were in commemoration of. Maybe it was their ancestors or maybe there were among them somewhere.
Kodesh took just three seconds to scan the three kings, and as his eyes lingered towards the alluring girl, his face grimaced. The girl had vanished into thin air and everything about her seemed to have vanished together with her. Her scent of fragrant flowers dissipated instantly and it was almost like Kodesh had imagined the whole scenario.
If it wasn't for his helmet of salvation, protecting him from soul attacks, he could have forgotten that he even had the conversation in the first place.
Immensely engrossed in his thoughts about the alluring girl, Kodesh pondered about a lot of things. Everything about this place reminded him of Samson and his sad demise. The temple too was eerily similar to the one that Samson had caved in on Oaklanders. And the drop-dead gorgeous girl reminded him of Delilah too.
'What else does the girl know?'
'Who is she?'
He had more questions than answers and each question branched into a thousand more questions.
As those questions churned in his head, one thing he knew was he had to act… fast.
He had to rescue his mother and sister when he still had the chance. His secret mission was now public knowledge so he had to do something before everything falls apart.
Delilah knew Samson's secret and that was his undoing and now the girl knew an awful lot about Kodesh and he feared he might suffer the same fate as the lengendary warrior.
With that he stood on his feet, but as he was about to leave, dozens of captives were led to the stage. The battles were about to begin. His father and brother were not among the captives, he had long learnt that but he decided to stay a few more moments to watch the first few battles.
The horde of captives were unbound and made to choose their melee weapons. Their systems were suppressed by spells so they could only fight with mundane weapons.
The terrified men had nothing against their fellow countrymen but they were backed against the wall and they had to fight each other for each man's survival.
A moment later the battles began. Three men were led to the center of the stage, all wielding different kinds of weapons.
Among the other men, a brawny man with long chestnut hair and light brown stubbles stood out the most from among the captives. His scarred face was testament enough that he was an experienced fighter. In his hand was a long spear with a rough shaft and a circular Viking shield. He was topless, exposing his well developed muscles and overly toned physique, each muscle robust, powerful and perfectly defined. Immediately as they saw him, the Oaklanders all placed placing their bets on him.
In the next moment, the three men clashed as sparks were sent flying, clinging sounds resonating the hall. He wasn't brains but all brawn so he didn't try to attack in the most smartest way possible like maybe striking the opponents who were preoccupied with either defending or attacking one another.
He just went berserk in the most savage way, rampaging through them with a shield and a long spear as blood sprayed the stale air in the aftermath. And just like that he advanced to the next round.
The next fight was not that interesting and so was the fight after it. The fourth fight however was something from a 'weak to strong' novel.
A young man in his late teens walked the stage, a dark gray claymore clasped tightly in his small arms. He was tall and lean, his baby face betraying a hint of uncertainty and apprehension. He had short golden hair, almost like a crown of burnished gold was resting on his head.
Kodesh felt a sense of horror wash over him as he watched the poor boy, he just couldn't help but feel sorry for the young man. He was about his age so it was a hard and bitter pill to swallow. Immediately all the bets were placed against him, everyone writing him off from the get go.
But they were in for a shocker. As soon as the official signaled for the battle to begin, the tall and handsome boy with rustling hair of liquid gold explosively lunged towards the two men at terrifying speed, with a cunning slashing feint, he redirected his sword to slash diagonally and connected with the man's shoulder joints, sending blood flying into the air.
In the next moment, the claymore was already in motion towards the other men as the boy was rotating 180 degrees and struck him with deadly precision, slashing a shallow wound open right at his knee.
The boy's battle style was both predictable and unpredictable at the same time. That's what made it deadly. It was predictable because it was a well known and studied pattern of a deadly dance. But with his ingenious modifications, it was as unpredictable as life itself.
This battle style was birthed by his fear for taking a human life. So he positioned the sword slightly different from how it is originally supposed to be positioned, opting to deliver crippling blows to his opponent's joints, restricting their movements, instead of delivering killing blows. That, coupled with his swiftness, made it brutal and efficient in the most efficacious way possible.
Just the positioning of his sword was what made a well studied battle style formidable against any opponent. It was so formidable that the two men decided to team against him but even then, the boy was still controlling the pace, the direction and the flow of the battle. His simple battle style allowing him to transition smoothly and effectually from relentless and aggressive slashing attacks to formidable and impressive defense, easily deflecting each blow even with his small stature.
'Wow what a battle style.' Kodesh thought to himself, awestruck and bewildered by the slender boy with a golden crown of hair. And so did the crowd. Despite the fact that they lost their bets, they were still cheering for the unlikely victor, who was by far the underdog in the battle. He was the real definition to never judge a book by its cover.
As the fights raged on, Constantine and the golden haired boy emerged victorious and became the last two men standing. And they were led to the grand temple to serve their higher purpose. They were not going to be freed, they were going to be sacrificed first as an appetizer to their gods. That was their higher purpose.
With that, Kodesh left the smaller temple and followed them as they were taken to the grand temple.