Bab 115: Chapter 115: The Uninvited Gladiator
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"Of what worth is a king who fails to protect the powerless?"
-Saber, (Fate/Zero)
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<(Bruce Wayne POV)>
"At long last, I am finally free from my prison. Oh, I have missed this sense of freedom. All that time locked inside that tiny little cell. I thought my entire life was ruined." I hugged the ground while flicking away mock tears of joy.
"You were in there for only one night," Diana commented with a straight face.
"Really? To speak the truth, it felt more like an eternity." I joked while stretching my body. "Anyway, has the Queen already found a way to ensure I keep my mouth shut about this place? Or perhaps have you figured out a way to erase my memory?" I questioned.
"I only came because I thought that you could use some exercise and fresh air outside your cell. Normally, it wouldn't be so easy to get you out of your prison but today the entire Themyscira will be celebrating the Festival of Hera where the best of our warriors will fight against each other in front of the entire country in honor of the Goddess Hera. The contest winner will then be crowned as the Shield of Themyscira before finally ending the night with a grand feast and a ritual dance. Using the excuse of the festival to free you from your prison for the day would have been the most believable excuse for everyone... Now, let's go. We need to get there before the festival starts." Diana explained before gesturing me to follow after her, not even bothering to tie me up with the lasso again.
'Thousands of beautiful Amazons dancing together without a care in the world while I have a feast and watch them...' I thought to myself as I pictured the scene in my mind. "Sounds interesting, I am in." I nodded with a stoic poker face.
'I probably have a thing for women with fit and athletic bodies.' I mused to myself as I followed after her towards the Colosseum where the battles were supposed to be held.
***
We reached the Colosseum in a few minutes since it was not too far away from the royal palace, Surprisingly, the giant structure looked more Roman than Greek for some reason.
The place was almost entirely filled up with Amazons as women of various shapes, colors, and ethnicities cheered for two Amazons battling each other out in a sword fight in the arena.
"It seems that it has already started," Diana muttered while she continued to lead me towards the "Imperial Box" of the Colosseum where her mother was sitting along with her royal guards.
"Are you sure it won't cause any problems with the Amazons if I sit in the same place as you and your mother during a holy festival like this? I mean, I don't think a virgin goddess like Hera will appreciate a man sitting during one of her sacred traditions." I asked as I looked around at the questioning and annoyed glances the Amazon warriors were giving me.
"Lady Hera is a goddess, not a mortal. She probably knows that you are not guilty of anything and that your being here is simply an accident. She is not going to punish you for that. As for the other Amazons, they are loyal to their Queen. Even if they don't like you being here, they will never say anything because of how much they respect my mother."
"You are very proud of your mother, aren't you?" I asked with an amused smile.
"Of course, she is the greatest warrior and Queen this world has ever known. And she has been the best mother as well. I am incredibly lucky to have an amazing mother like her." she confessed just before we reached the "VIP" viewing section.
"You are late Diana. As the champion of the Amazons, you should have been present here from the beginning." Hippolyta chastised her the moment she noticed us approaching. "Anyway, now that you are finally here, take your place on the throne beside me... And you, you can sit over there in that chair." She ordered after giving me a quick once over.
Her casual commanding tone didn't really bother me too much. Any other normal person in my place might have taken her words and attitude as an insult but I knew that the woman didn't really mean it. She was not opposed to me because of her arrogance or because she was sexist like most other Amazons. No, my brief knowledge of psychology told me that Queen Hippolyta was simply... afraid of men, afraid of being hurt by a man once again. She had suffered in the past because of men, and she didn't want that to happen again to her, her daughter, or any other Amazon out there. That's why she didn't trust men and even pretended to hate them like most other Amazons.
"Wait, isn't the woman fighting right now Clymene from yesterday, the same woman who wanted the death penalty for me?" I confusedly asked, pointing at the Amazon who was almost dominating the current battle one-sidedly.
"Yes, she is. Despite her... misgivings, she is an excellent warrior. She has won the festival and became the Shield for Themyscira multiple times in the last few decades alone. I think she has a good chance to win this time as well since Artemis and Donna won't be taking part this year." Diana answered in a whisper.
"What about you and your mother? Don't you two take part in it?"
"I am the present champion of Themyscira and the Amazons while my mother is the Queen. We cannot fight for the title of the Shield while we possess these titles. Most of our royal guards and generals also do not take part in it to give others an equal chance to win the title and the honor that comes with it. However, the victor of each battle still gets to challenge any other warrior present in the Colosseum for their next battle. Anyone who doesn't accept is deemed a coward and the refusal of the challenge is even taken as an insult to the goddess herself. But my mother and I are the only ones who can never be challenged in this festival, no matter how many battles have been won by someone." She patiently explained.
"Oh, I see..." I responded, not at all liking the direction this was going for some reason.
I don't know why but from the very start of today, I have been experiencing a rather strange feeling in my heart like something bad is going to happen, something very very bad that might change a lot of things around here...
WOOOOAHHHHH Cheers suddenly began to erupt from the crowd as the Amazon named Clymene finally ended the battle by landing one last strike on her opponent using the butt of her sword. After her opponent fell down, she raised her sword in victory before directly looking at me with a challenging glare.
Sigh This obsessive hatred of hers was getting really annoying.
"It seems that she is quite determined to win this time as well," Hippolyta mumbled stoically before taking a thoughtful look at me. "I probably shouldn't have given Diana permission to bring you here." She stated, her voice laced with frustration for what was to come.
Wait, is she perhaps indicating that the crazy sexist Amazon woman might...
"As the victor of this fight, I wish to use my right of contest to challenge someone next. In honor of the goddess Hera..., I want to challenge THE MAN to a battle to the DEATH." She yelled with righteous anger as she pointed her sword in my direction.
"..." Truthfully, that sounded incredibly sexist.
"Wait, that cannot be allowed. He is a guest, not a warrior or resident of Themyscira. You cannot challenge him. He is not even an Amazon." Diana immediately tried to deny her request, her eyes digging daggers at Clymene.
"I am sorry Princess Diana, but the rules clearly state that the challenger can challenge anyone inside the Colosseum except the Queen and the Champion. One doesn't have to be an Amazon or even a woman to accept the challenge. As for being a guest, the Queen herself declared the man a prisoner, not a guest. So, he can't use any of the privileges that a guest can." Clymene countered with a sly smile.
It seems the woman despite being almost half crazy with her hatred for men, had actually thought this through.
Diana couldn't find any fault in Clymene's explanation, so she immediately looked to her mother for help. "... I am sorry Diana, but she is right. She can challenge the man... However, he can always just deny the challenge since there is no actual punishment for it. Even if he loses his honor by doing so, it still won't matter since he is neither an Amazon nor a resident of Themyscira. I am sure even Lady Atena will understand and forgive him if he doesn't participate in the challenge." Hippolyta advised after thinking for a while, showing that she too could use loopholes to her benefit, something that angered Clymene to no end as was evident from her clenching teeth.
"Then, just deny the challenge, Bruce. A death match means that one of you WILL die. And, despite you having powers, there is a chance that it will be you." Diana grimly said, trying her best to discourage me from fighting. "I cannot let an innocent friend of mine die like this."
She was right. I did not need to fight. I obviously didn't like Clymene but that doesn't mean that I wanted to kill her. Also, I did not need to "protect my honor" since I would be leaving this island very soon but what I did want was to slam my fist against the annoying face of that Amazon, to teach her why underestimating someone is considered harmful to oneself.
Moreover, for some reason, I felt like I was responsible for defending the honor and respect of all the males in the world in front of these female warriors.
"I accept your challenge. I probably won't be killing you if I win since I don't have any true enmity with you yet, but I will be making you look more like your age by breaking a few of your bones and teeth if I become the victor," I declared in front of everyone as I got up from my chair and began to walk towards the arena floor. "I'll be back soon," I told her.
"This won't take much time at all," I mumbled as I felt the nanobots inside me resonate with my mental command to some extent which further bolstered my courage.
[Nanobots have autonomously repaired to 81% functionality]
[Nanobots are at 75% power efficiency]
An AI voice that was somewhat similar to Cortana's informed me from within my ears.
"Good, they have almost completed repairing themselves. Hopefully, in a few more minutes, I will even be able to start using them to some extent as well as access Cortana." I thought to myself as I wondered if I should just fly away from this island after beating the annoying Amazon warrior woman within an inch of her life.
But whatever I did, it was still going to be a piece of cake. My physical powers alone were enough to take care of her in a direct battle. I wouldn't even need to use Chi, much less my nanobots.
As soon as that thought had crossed through my head, a huge earthquake suddenly rattled the entire island as the sky darkened and a violent storm began to rage.
A huge mystical portal suddenly appeared at the center of the island as dozens of hulk-sized humanoid monsters made up of rocks suddenly began to appear from them like some monster army.
"At long last, I am finally back to the mortal plane. Surrender to your new God, Amazons and you will have my mercy. Resist and you will face my wrath." A booming voice echoed to everyone across the island as a huge, armored figure emerged from the gaping portal.
"I am the unluckiest person in the world, aren't I?" I pondered to myself in all seriousness as I stared at the God of War floating above the arena in all his glory.
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(A/N: Btw, if this seems too rushed, there is a reason for it.)
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