Holy Gladiator

Epilogue

The battle is over.

I gaze out my window, the back of my hand resting against the clear pane. Footsteps echo beyond my door as my gaze traverses the room.

The room is lavishly decorated, mainly consisting of purple colours, the bed matching. A nightstand resides adjacent to it with a doll head.

The Duke seems to treat his right hands well. I'll do anything to protect them.

The echoing of footsteps stops at my door. I roll the pommel of Ferbrand in my palm, my eyes on the door.

"Already..." I let out a small sigh as I stand up, the door creaks open, "I'll be out in a moment, it feels like I just got back..."

The door is empty as it slowly opens wide. A sense of caution fills me. Something pokes my nose. As an instant reaction, my blade swings up which is met by air. Something solid collides with my cheek, sending me stumbling to the side. I hastily go to turn as a blade sinks into my sword arm. The feline beast-kin is revealed beside me, wearing a familiar purple robe with cat ears. The blade stuck in my arm is a heartseeker.

"Sheesh, overreacting much?" The cat-folk smirks as he backs up. "Sorry for that, but the last thing I want to do is die after finally getting to talk to you."

My headaches as I straighten up. "Who..."

"Don't remember me? Not very surprising, I never stood out much." He bends over, his every movement being cartoonish. "You look different from when you fought yesterday, more... controlled."

".. What..?"

"Well, guess that's what happens. Should hear the guards talking about you! They just can't shut their traps! How does it feel to be a puppet?" He inquires with playful seriousness, his eyes directly on me as my gaze locks with his.

"A... Puppet?"

"Yeah! Let's see... I was with you when you rallied a group of the slaves and had them raid the whole place! I felt like it was going to go to shit so snuck off. I'm not the only one! Some tried to escape entirely!"

"Raid..?" My head stings more. I squeeze my scalp.

"Yup! And good thing I bailed I guess, everyone died. All your friends, the only two left alive? You and the Duke himself! I've been living off the storage for a long time and harmlessly swiped up these knives and this cloak! I recognize the cloak though! Belonged to this Matilda gal, one of the elites. Makes me wish I could've been there to see them all fall, to be able to tell the story better! But I'd have found my end as well. And no guards who witnessed it are alive. You killed them as well! Good job!"

"Ma... Til.." My feet fall out from under me as I bite my lip to muffle a scream, my vision shakes.

"Hm... so that's what happens when I bring up the past..." He straightens up, strolling over to my bed and sitting down, "Francis, a guy who killed the lion tamer during the first fight. Wasn't for him and I'd have been one of the dead. Rose, some kid you and everyone else wanted. I have never seen her around so I'm assuming she's dead too. This Rhine fellow was a doctor, helped you out after you fought this big guy, then again, he wasn't among the bodies. And some guy we met up with that was gonna help us all."

I let out a faint cry, a plea for the pain to stop as dim yet vague memories enter my head. Everything enters my head all at once, each gruesome death, each painful scream, each trace of blood that dried on my skin.

"You helped all those people, even if they died. They all felt hope. You gave them that and this is what happened, you also allowed me to live another day. But for what you did, even if this is how it came about, you don't deserve to be a puppet to a man who seeks to hurt many and tear them limb from emotional limb. You'll be saved--"

I let out a screech of pain. Everything stops.

I glance up and see that bastard noble. The pain in my arm is gone as I retrieve my blade. My thoughts are empty as a sense of survival fills me. "... Lord above grant me strength to return this sinner to you, as to judge him in your place, let me wield..."

He bolts, fleeing from the room. "Remember! Never forget! You will be freed from this curse! I promise you that!" He exclaims as he flees, two people in his path. A blade enters the throat of one, the other getting their neck sliced open, both fall to the ground instantly, the blades being retrieved suddenly. The one in my arm flying out and returning to the noble. "Whoa these are cooler then I thought!" He jokes continuing his escape.

I stop in my tracks, looking around. I walk calmly to the bodies, seeing one as Ronaldo and the other as Simon. My gaze travels down the hall where the noble made his escape.

I stab the two corpses, turning back as the faded beige colours drain from the hall, the cracks turning into pristine walls.

"That bastard..." I let out a sigh, the brief anger lifting from me, "I won't forget. And one day you will join your nephew in hell. For I will be God's gavel and pass judgement. One day."

You will perish

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A robed man sits outside a tavern, his shaggy hair swishing in the wind, surrounded by friends, his gaze on a colosseum as he plays with a stiletto.

"How do 10000 coins sound?" He asks aloud.

"Good, now we just need to find the right people, ar you willing to up the price at some point?" A friend asks.

"Mhm."

"Then one day... we'll have his head."