Lars and Sextus were standing on the fighting ground's center with a few meters distance between them. The nobles could feel the hot air radiating from the sand in the fighting ground. Coupled with their excitement, they began to sweat more than the gladiators themselves.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Finally, the three bell sounds reverberated the arena. The moment the bell sound appeared, the nobles screamed as loud as they could.
Crack!
Lars immediately whipped his whip at Sextus before leaping back. The whip was effective in long-ranged combat, hence Lars leaped back to create a distance between them. Sextus barely dodged the barbed whip, it scraped the skin off of his shoulder. Getting his skin peeled off was extremely painful yet Sextus didn't let the pain slow down his movements.
The blood splattered on the hot sand, producing a faint 'shhh' sound. Lars kept whipping the barbed whip at Sextus trying to stop Sextus from getting close. Just like his nickname, Lars's whip was lightning speed.
"Arghhh" Sextus screamed, not in agony but in anger. The agility of Lars and his quickness of attacking him made Sextus madder and madder. From the battle started, Lars had the upper hand. He was agile, quick, and kept attacking Sextus with deadly accuracy. The nobles were on the edge of their seats.
"Whoa Lars is really good"
"No shit, look at Sextus. All messed up"
"Why is it that brute not getting close?"
"He's trying but that scrawny one is not letting him"
"I never thought a whip could be this effective and dangerous"
The onlookers had different opinions about the fight. Most of them however favored Lars. They were right as even Gaya whose hovering in the sky favored Lars to win the fight if the two gladiators continued to fight. Every one of them could see Sextus slowing down due to the wounds he suffered.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
A group of noble youngsters began to chant. One could see the blood lust on their faces. Their chant riled up Lars as he began to attack Sextus more violently and frantically.
The cracking sound of the whip became louder and louder. Sextus's body was painted with his own blood. His flesh and blood splattered across the hot sand. Since he blocked the whip with his hands, they suffered the most. One could even see the vague outline of the bloodied bone in his hand as the barbed whip peeled off the skin from his hands.
"ARGHH!" Sextus screamed once again but instead of dodging or blocking the whip, he let the barbed whip wrap around his rib cage.
Lars was stunned to see Sextus from his guard. Soon he realized why he did that as Sextus grabbed the barbed whip tightly. The barbs on the whip penetrated Sextus's palm as blood oozed out of his hand. Nonetheless, Sextus didn't let go of the whip. He held on to it as tight as he could.
"Shit" Lars tried to pull the whip away from Sextus yet he simply couldn't. Everyone misjudged Sextus's ability to endure pain. Just when they thought Sextus couldn't win against Lars, he used his wit to overcome Lars's agility.
Inch by inch, Sextus moved towards Lars while holding onto the whip. He gritted his teeth in pain as his eyes turned bloodshot. Even his brown skin became paler due to the blood loss.
"How is he doing that?"
"This is awesome"
"Look at all that blood"
"Lars is doomed"
The nobles loved the blood and gore, unlike Gaya or Maxine. Gaya had no love for the human race yet she hated seeing two humans fight to the death for the sake of the nobles' entertainment. In the other continents, cultivators often held competitions like this. However, those cultivators didn't fight for others' entertainment, rather they fought for rare resources, treasures, and gold coins. Plus, almost all those competitions had the option of surrendering. If one decided to surrender, there were no consequences except they would not get the said prize.
"Human, are you sure we can't blow these assholes to hell?" Gaya creased her brows in disgust looking at the nobles.
"Enough playing around, I'm out and Maxine is ready. Blow them up" She heard Michael's voice in her head.
Meanwhile, Sextus had successfully come closer to Lars. He was just a meter away from Lars who began to slightly shiver in fear.
"Pretty pretty eyes" Despite the pain, Sextus licked his lips with an evil grin on his face. His blood-covered teeth made his grin even eviler.
"Fuck-" Lars cursed realizing he would die a horrible death if he kept holding onto the whip. Therefore, he tried to let go.
"Where are you going?"
Sextus quickly grabbed Lars by his neck before Lars could step away from him.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
Yet again nobles began to shout. This time it was Sextus who riled up because of the shout. Sextus let go of the whip before grabbing Lars by his neck using both of his bloodied hands.
"Let...go" Lars wiggled frantically to escape Sextus's hold. Soon, Lars felt his feet getting higher and higher from the ground. Lifting Lars by his neck, Sextus quickly moved forward to lick Lars's cheek. He took his time licking Lars's face. Many noblewomen frowned as it was pretty disgusting to see Sextus licking Lars's face. Nonetheless, many nobles enjoyed this kind of freaky stuff.
"Who wants to see some EYES!?" Sextus shouted loudly. His voice reverberated the arena.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
This time, almost all the nobles except the senators stood up from their seats in excitement. They threw their hands up, screaming at Sextus.
Boom!
Just when Sextus was about to gouge Lars's eyes out, the elevated stage where the senators were enjoying the fight exploded, producing an ear-piercing loud booming sound. A small mushroom cloud of fire appeared above the stage where they were sitting. The blast wave was so powerful that it even knocked down Lars and Sextus. The arena shook as pieces of marble stones crumbled down from the arena's walls. To the sound of the explosion came the terrible echo as if it were the anguished cry of God.
"AH!"
"Oh my god!"
Few nobles were quick to react as they began to scream.
Whee!
Whee!
Whee!
Immediately someone activated the fire alarm that produced loud crying noises. Gladiators, Spartans as well as legionary soldiers came rushing through the gates and doorways to save the senators. In addition to fire that burned with red hot flames, the dust cloud enveloped the nearby area of the stage. It prevented the nobles from seeing what's happening inside the flames.
**********************************
Inside the bomb site, Caius was lying on the ground sideways. His vision blurred while he could not hear anything but a high pitch whistling sound. He could vaguely see a few figures lying in front of him. He couldn't make out the identities. In addition to the smoke and flame, he could see pieces of flesh and bones. Feeling the dizziness overcoming his senses, he tried not to close his eyes.
"Ah"
Caius felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He let out a sharp cry. In a few seconds, his brain realized the sensation of a hand on his shoulder. He tried to turn his head yet the injuries prevented him from doing so.
"Take him to the doorway and make sure they find him first" Caius could barely hear the words.
"Swallow this" the next second, Caius felt a figure pushing a pill into his mouth. Although his vision was blurred, he could see the face of Maxine.
The moment the pill touched his tongue, he felt a cool sensation all over his body. The pain started to become less while his vision slowly cleared up.
Gaya stood among the wreckage searching for any survivors except Caius. After she had given the healing pill, Maxine dragged Caius towards the doorway. The two of them made sure the doorway was clear so the spartans could find Caius quickly.
Although the smoke hindered her eyesight, she could see no bodies moving. The explosion was more powerful than she initially expected. There were no intact dead bodies as she saw several limbs and body chunks lying around. At first, she thought she would feel pity for these people but after seeing how they enjoyed the gladiator fight, she felt nothing.
"Save the senators!"
"Move move move!"
While she was looking around for survivors although it was highly unlikely someone would have survived the blast, she heard people rushing towards the wreckage.
"Dark Queen, it's done" Maxine came to her side. Despite the bruises and cuts made by the wooden splinters on her face, Maxine grinned. Her face was bright like she had completed something important.
"Is there any chance of Viridius to survive the explosion?" Gaya heard Michael's voice sound in her head. She looked around before locking her gaze on a charcoaled body that had no legs attached.
"Nope"
"Shame. Now get out of there before anyone sees you two. Wait for me in the Reaper"
With a final look around the wreckage, Gaya put her hand on Maxine's shoulder.. Using the smoke as a cover, she took off from the ground in lightning-fast before disappearing into the clouds.