POV of a viewer at the coliseum

I sat there watching the slave get thrown around by the Manticore like a puppet, it hit the wall and looked like it had already died. I sigh (“If you’re going to be so loud mouthed at least show us you’re worth our time…”) I began to stand to leave early as it seemed like today’s events were going to be a bore, then I felt it as every other noble in the coliseum “I WON’T DIE SO DAMN EASILY!”. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted to fall over and ball up…the shiver that crept up my spine spread and chilled my whole body stopping me from doing any of those. I froze in place while staring down at the body inside the dented wall, a thick purple mist grew out of its now rune etched skin as its eyes opened and it pushed itself out of the wall. “Do you feel it Emperor?...” It glared up at the balcony “My spirits hunger for your death…you defiled their contractor…You defiled my companions…You have hunted these beasts and enslaved them…I will teach you what it feels like to be the prey…I will be your hunter...You will learn to fear just how your slaves have” The Manticore charged it as objects appeared in its hands, in a flurry of attacks and swift movements I could not believe were possible the fight tilted completely. The slave was now dominating the beast and threw it up into the barrier’s ceiling, it…shot itself off the ground and towards the Manticore’s body still embedded in the barrier’s deflection magic…It used the beast as a platform and leaped towards the ceiling. The slave changed its weapons so many times I couldn’t keep track of what it was using but one thing was for sure, when the first crack appeared panic spread upon everyone and the guards were too astonished to act. I was pushed back in my seat as someone rushed in front of me to run…It snapped me out of my daze and I also turned tail, I arrived at the closed gates where everyone was crowding in on the guards trying to pull the gate open. “No cage…Never again…” When the sound of something shattering filled the coliseum everyone went silent and many turned to look, the barrier…It was falling apart as a figure practically flew out of it and onto the Royal Balcony…

“Now tell me…Why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand?” our pride be damned, me and the other nobles were pushing and tumbling over each other to get the hell away from this being. It stepped down onto the balcony and approached the Emperor, “G…Guards!” He called for the guards as multiple of them entered cloak and began to approach the slave but it did not seem to understand our language, “You spoke my tongue before, do it now then as well. I do not speak yours” multiple tranquilizing bolts flew towards it as many of the guards charged to shield the Emperor from it. Purple mist engulfed its whole body as the bolts practically flew through it and onto the throne or walls, some hit the Royals and all the cloaked guards uncloaked and charged with swords at the slave. The Royals were instantly effected by the magic inside the bolts and lost consciousness “Great…Now who will answer my questions…” it was surrounded from all sides as the guards formed a wall of blades, I could not see its expression as the back was towards me and the guards covered most of it from view (“What’s taking so long!? Open the damn gate!”) I briefly turned to see why the gate wasn’t opening, the crowd was so dense that the guards at the gate had nowhere to move and were unable to pull the gate open. Clashing blades and minor explosions sounded off from the balcony as I turned to watch the new disturbance, my heart sank at the sight of every single guard on the balcony laying on the ground while the slave stood over them with only a couple new cuts. He had two weapons in his hands that looked like crossbows without strings or limbs, one gave off a demonic glow with a thick purple mist while the other was engulfed in a fiery blaze. It turned and for a moment I thought it was going to head towards all of us at the exit, every other noble and guard thought the same and began pushing harder onto the gate. It kept turning and faced the coliseum master, he was squirming by the edge of the balcony glancing between the slave and the Manticore who was currently attempting to climb up the walls opposite of us and the balcony.

“You…you also speak my language…Come here!” It quickly stepped forwards and towards the coliseum master “N..No! Stay away you monster!” he moved back and fell backwards, he plummeted down to the arena and hit the ground legs first. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH” he screamed in pain as he held his legs, the Manticore noticed this and turned away from the wall. “Shit..wait…” the slave was about to jump back down into the arena but the Manticore leaped at the coliseum master and tore him apart within seconds “YOU!! ZHEK JKOU!!”. “Tsch” the slave spat down at the Manticore which hissed back, it then turned towards us and spoke “You all, do any of you speak my language?” it began stepping towards us as everyone clustered closer to each other. I was on the edge of the crowd and one of the closest to it, I would have been one of the first to fall if it attacked. “I…I spea…I speak…” I raised my arms and stepped forward, hoping it needed my knowledge more than my death.

End of POV

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Everything was going to shit, the guards hit the Emperor and his bitches putting them into what looked like a deep sleep and the announcer got himself killed by the Manticore. I was running out of options to gain information, the others were safe as long as that barrier on their gate stood and the Manticore was still chained up but I had to make sure things were safe on my side. I turned towards the crowd that formed by what looked like the only exit, I wondered why the gates hadn’t been opened yet then I noticed the guards trying to pull on them (“Seriously? An exit that opens inwards?...How stupid can you be…”) “You all, do any of you speak my language?”. I needed someone who spoke English to understand our current situation, the whole lot of them looked terrified but I continued to approach them. “I…I spe…I speak...” one of them with short black hair and grey eyes stepped forward and raised her arms, I looked her up with my aura for any weapons out of habit and then attacked her with it “I have questions that you WILL answer, I will make myself clear only this once. You cannot lie to me, when you do I will not hesitate to behead you. You will tell me what this place is, NOW.” I grabbed her by her neck as she wore scanty clothing with nowhere else for me to hold her from, “Kha…This...is the monster coliseum…slaves and…monsters captured fight to the death…” her whole expression paled and her eyes darted all over the place to not look into mine. I decided to lower my killing intent a bit to allow her to breath and speak more clearly “I know that already, I meant the whole underground we’re in. Is this a city? Who are you and your people? Why did you capture us for your games?” her gaze landed on the Emperor’s unconscious body “We…we’re all nobles here…you know…important members of our empire…all this is…Kjuri city, the Dherki Empire’s citadel…” she stopped to breath and I let go of her neck, she took a couple steps back and hit the wall of people behind her only to be pushed back and made to fall on her knees.

She looked up at me and her expression froze “You…your people…were found at the edge of the earth eater’s domain…they were weak and starved…the eaters chased them off their lands…the guards captured them and locked them up…we… one of their minds to learn about them…we didn’t get a lot…we know what your kind is…that it went through a near extinction…because of that…your numbers are small…we saw little use in…you…you used no magic…only metallic machinery…we saw you as inferior and…potentially worth enslaving…that was…weeks go!...then your group came…we saw different machines and weapons…we sensed magic…when we captured you some of us nobles wanted to study many of you but…the Royals wanted none of that and wanted you in the arena with the rest…” she lay there half terrified. “I see…” my killing intent returned in full as my emotions went in disarray “Enslave?...Arena?...Study?...You treated my people as animals…sent them to slaughter…They were a peace convoy…” I grinded my teeth as a foul smell pierced my nostrils, a small puddle of liquid built up underneath her. “What has been done cannot be ignored or forgiven, my race has seen enough death. Your crimes towards my kind are unforgivable, each one of you…” I looked up at the whole crowd and every guard being squished within it “Repeat my exact words in your language for everyone here to understand” I glanced down and she nodded so I began speaking while she interpreted ”Let this be heard before I send you all to the afterlife. Us? Inferior? I will show you…what the madness and fear of my kind created…monster? I will show you what a true monster…looks like…I will be your judge…I will be your jury…and I will then be…your executioner.”

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Author: Gore warning, the next paragraphs will have gore and some very unpleasant scenes for the stomach.

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She stopped speaking as the last word left her mouth and tears began to fall down her face, she covered her mouth with her right palm and stared up at me with a pale expression. Screams of fear and those of guards trying to gain order came from the crowd but the gate remained closed, I raised both aethers “Merge” they changed and formed a cannon as multiple strange barriers appeared in front of the crowd from some of them. “Pointless resistance” static formed around the barrel as the temperature quickly rose and then dropped as the air and static were sucked into it, a beam of black and white energy shot above the woman interpreter’s head as she ducked down and through the crowd instantly disintegrating many while others remained partially there with their insides falling into the beam as they screamed in pain, passed out or simply died on the spot. I moved my arm to the right and the beam passed into those that stood by the edge of the second floor, many fell down into the arena but were devoured by the Manticore. I heard screams of what sounded like pleas of mercy and shouts of pain but most simply stood there too shocked to react, piles of flesh and organs stood in the place of the people they belonged to as the crowd tried to move away from the gore after the beam ended. I turned the cannon towards the rest and they snapped out of their daze, some remained pushing on the gate but many began to run back into the seating areas or around the edge of the second floor by the fence. “Wh…why…why are you…doing this…” the woman beside me was still alive as she ducked under my arm, she was balled up and trembling in her own puddle “Because eliminating threats to his people is what a soldier does, this race’s rulers and nobility are too warped to be saved and pose a threat to future negotiations. As such I will eliminate the threat.” With a blank expression and an unmoving gaze I looked on at the ones still by the gate trying to push it open, the cannon was charged up as static energy formed at the end of the barrel and launched forth towards the remaining crowd.

The blast shot from the cannon shredded any living being it hit until it reached the gate and exploded outwards engulfing everything in a flaming blast as flesh and sometimes limbs flew outwards from the point of impact, scorched and still burning corpses now littered the exit along with coal black mounds. The Manticore hissed in pleasure at the sight of flesh and blood pouring onto it “THIS IS WHAT THEY DESERVED! ALL ALONG! ” with renewed vigour it leaped up the wall and bit the edge to hold on and pulled itself up, it gave chase to those that ran and one by one began to kill them. “Un-merge” both aethers returned to pistol form as the mist around my body increased its flow and size, I rushed backwards and systematically shot down every noble that entered my range while I made sure to stay out of one of the gate’s sight. I felt a mana flow behind me as I spun around and shot a single blast shot towards the three balls of flame that were heading towards me, the purple mass of chaos devoured the flames and the seats behind the two casters that shot them. They paled as their surprise attack had failed to do anything more than grab my attention, they were two of the only six remaining alive but were standing in a part of the coliseum that could be seen from the barrier everyone was kept in. I turned around and began walking back to the balcony as their expression went from confusion to terror, the Manticore had massacred every noble on its side and came down on them next. It held one down as it made his staff touch the ring around its neck, the ring turned to dust and the Manticore roared before devouring the both of them. I arrived in front of the three royals who lay soaked in their guard’s blood while unconscious on the ground, “I will need survivors for this to work after all…she must be their daughter…” I raised one aether towards the Emperor and one aether towards the woman who wore the same crown. Two shots exited their barrels and pierced both of their heads, they died not even knowing they would.

I heaved the girl onto my shoulder and walked up to the other survivor, she just laid there on her side while looking up at me “Will you kill me now?...”. “You have witnessed everything that happened here, you have seen today’s slaughter. You are witness to your people’s future if you continue to persecute us, get up and free my people. ” I put down the girl next to her as she stared up at me in disbelief, I walked away and towards the Manticore. It was currently climbing up the outer walls to leave the coliseum, I was down to around fifty percent of my mana and could kill it. (“What comes next is a necessity. Chaos can also be used, not just fear.”) I waited for the Manticore to climb the wall, I raised Wayne and shot a single blast shot towards the top of the wall it was climbing to give it a lower wall to climb. As the rubble fell down on its head it turned to look at me “Thank you two legged one…For today…We both shall have our vengeance…” it leaped one last time and grabbed onto the destroyed wall with both front legs and claws, it heaved itself up and over the wall (“You will have your vengeance…monster…but only to further my plans”). I leaped onto one of the many barred windows of the wall and entered mist form, I passed through the bars and shifted out of mist form to hold onto them as a cold breeze hit my bare chest. I looked down at the dark grey buildings making up the city, a crowd had built up outside the coliseum and spread away when the Manticore landed on top of many of them. The city guard had yet to arrive if there were any that is, the Manticore was ripping through buildings and civilians alike leaving nothing more than rubble and corpses in its wake. “Merge, rifle.” As I held my arm around one bar the aethers in my hands lost their form and reformed in the other, a weapon longer than the cannon but with a thinner barrel formed in my right hand. The weapon was long with an even longer barrel and a scope on the top, this is my aether’s sniper form which holds the most penetrative power but…it takes too long to charge up to use while in combat.

I glanced down momentarily to see multiple civilians pointing up at me, I ignored them and focused on the Manticore as it ravaged the city. “DIE! FALL! COWER AND RUN!” the beast was closing in on what looked like a market district, suddenly shadows began leaping from all over the city towards it and multiple cloaked figures surrounded it. (“Slow…Their response is too slow…”) I watched as they tried to subdue the creature, they shot their crossbows till the beasts back looked like a porcupine and its eyes were filled with rage. It refused to fall for their narcotic magic and continued to rage on in a flurry of claws and blood, many of the guards fell to the ground in pieces with guts and limbs scattered everywhere while others it simply ate up and swallowed. (“That will be enough…if they held anymore back then this whole city is weaker than I presumed it would be…”) I felt a strong mana signature approaching as a group of hooded figures landed on a roof close to the massacre, I aimed my scope onto the figures one by one just as the one on the front removed their hood. The figure spoke and caught the Manticore’s attention although I did not understand a word he said he was obviously someone important as all the shadows backed off from the beast and went to his side, he unsheathed a pitch black sword with a green aura and leaped at the Manticore while the other’s stood there clenching their fists and watched. (“There he is then…the city’s strongest…Ember… Wayne…Shoot to kill”) I poured mana into the weapon as I took aim, angle and timing while the figure slashed at the Manticore’s limbs to slow it down. I waited for the right shot, the Manticore had fallen on its face as it lost the use of its legs and the warrior was closing in on its head. I narrowed my eyes and glanced around the buildings, finding the right spot I pushed off the window and grabbed onto the roof of the closest building and heaved myself up with one arm. I leaped over multiple roofs to reach the right spot with the perfect angle, I didn’t use mist form and I tried my best to hide my aura so that I went unnoticed.

I crouched down on a roof’s corner as I lined up my shot, my heart practically stopped as my breathing literally stopped. I stared into the scope as I found my target, the warrior stood between my reticule and the Manticore. The second the shot left the barrel it pierced through the warrior’s head and the Manticore’s heart, the warrior fell forward as a pool of his own blood began to build up around him and the beast’s body just fell limp as it took its final breaths. I unsummoned my aethers and turned back towards the coliseum, using the roofs I reached back to where I started and jumped down next to the crowd that formed outside as hooded figures began to push them all away from me as I moved towards the gate. I stood facing the gate as they surrounded me with weapons in hand, I pushed open the gate slightly with my right arm and the pungent smell of death fell upon them all “Follow me if you dare, death doesn’t wait” without glancing back I pushed open the gate wider revealing some of the carnage that laid inside and then walked in while closing the door behind me. “Boss!..Wha…What happened here?! What’s going on!?” Kesh spoke out as I entered the coliseum and caught my attention “Nothing you need to worry about, is everyone here and safe?” I turned towards the whole group of people, I recognized my whole platoon including the other three platoon leaders but that didn’t even make up half of them. “Yeah…we’re all here, what do we do about these two?” Glent was holding onto the noble and the royal from the ropes that tied their arms, the royal was also now awake and was looking around with wide eyes. “They are our keys to get out, the ones outside will show little resistance. They both speak our language, although the black haired one is preferable for interpreting the red haired one is royal blood here and is of higher priority for them.” I walk over to Glent and look down at both of them, I end my glare at the red haired woman “What is your name and status” she looked up at me and her expression instantly paled “R…Ris…Risa…my father…the emp…” she turned to look at the thrones only to turn back and puke all over the floor “Blimey! Hold it in there damnit!...ughh…” Glent let go of her arms and she began to fall forward.

I grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to my eye level “I will be clear, you try anything and I will not hesitate .If your people try anything I will never stop, understand?” she hesitantly nodded and I pushed her back onto Glent, he grabbed the rope again and pushed them both to the gate. “Matt…” I turned to see Saya resting on Ell’s shoulder, Ell was staring wide eyed at the carnage and gore littering the entrance “What is…Oh!” Leya covered her eyes with her left hand and pulled Ell’s head to her shoulder “Don’t look if you cannot stomach it child.” She glared daggers at me as I passed by her “What is it?” I directed the question at her but she didn’t meet my eyes “Nothing…Sir” I ignored her condescending tone and move towards the other three platoon leaders. “Status report Anderson?” Skel was sitting on the fence with Jrel to his left and Kayleigh to his right, they all turned to me as I approached “Potentially dangerous combatants outside, their commander is dead and their rulers lay dead over there” I gestured at the thrones “They witnessed a potential A rank monster die in a single hit that also killed their commander, their morale is low. We have under custody the princess and one of the last nobles, it is unknown if other nobles are alive within the city.” I turned to look at the ragged group behind me that stood weapon less “I suggest we scout for our gear and then immediately leave, or bargain for it back with the princess’s life.” I turned back to the three platoon leaders who from the start of me arriving had been glaring daggers at me, “What did you do?...we heard the screams…your shouting…the…deaths.” Kayleigh looked at the gore by the gates and shivered. I felt eyes on my back as everyone turned to listen in, I turned around and began moving towards the gate and raised my voice for everyone to hear “I did what was necessary, what none of you have the stomach to do. Negotiations are now on our side, they are weakened and in disarray while we also hold their only royal captive and another important noble. We have all the cards on our side, the next ten or more moves are for us to make and there is nothing they can do about it” I rested both hands on the door handles “Now follow me out or stay here rotting with the dead, the choice is all yours.” I began to open the gate.

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Author; Remember to rate and maybe comment! :D

Edited by; Birse