Chương 4: Dreadful Colosseum
The gloomy darkness of the night deepens as the brilliant pale moon plastered upon the heavens illuminated the world with its moonlight. Along the pale moon was the starry night sky, enveloped by thousands of blinking stars. As it was a shadowy night, its winds were cold and calm. Such winds carried the fluffy clouds through the heavens as they rustled the slick leaves on the earth. It was quite a peaceful and silent night.
On an ancient amphitheater found in the middle of nowhere, a young girl stood on the dirt ground while looking around with a curious expression plastered on her face. She found herself shrouded by dim darkness once again. Fortunately, there were bright lights emitted by nature and the arena.
The bright stars and the pale moon, along with the wooden torches with their hazy flames, were enough to light up the entire arena despite it being deep at night. She was alone in the ancient theater with no one other than herself. No audience was found in the seats beyond the walls, which was expected yet disappointing.
Her name was Alastair Hecate. She wasn't a young girl though she appeared to be one which was strange but not too abnormal compared to the things she had seen before being in the stadium. She was in a test for a chance to have a second chance. It was something she wanted and needed.
She had to do everything to get it, no matter the cost.
Alastair started looking around and inspecting everything like always. The theater was not that big, and it wasn't made of some magical materials. It was simply an ordinary and not-so-special stadium. With this in mind, Alastair knew that she could do anything without limits.
But there was a problem, what was she about to fight against in this arena?
At that very moment, a clanging and clattering sound echoed. Upon hearing it, Alastair quickly looked around in every direction with cautiousness plastered on her face. She understood what it was, and she knew what would happen sooner or later. After all, her opponent has finally revealed itself.
It was the sound of metal hitting against one another. Specifically, it was the sound usually found in chains. Within this arena, there were many possibilities for chains. But with this kind of sound... It would only be found in one thing. The thing that produced such sounds was the opening of the iron gate.
Iron gates within the stadium were usually found in the four cardinal directions. Alastair quickly inspected each of the iron gates and saw a gate pointing at either northern or southern slowly opening. Alastair looked at it seriously as she prepared herself.
The gate's opening was relatively slow, but it was still dreadful.
As she knew that something was about to emerge from that gate, she knew it would be something big and dangerous. With such thoughts escaping from her head, Alastair started looking for a possible weapon. But, unfortunately, she couldn't find anything as the arena was relatively deserted.
She sighed and readied herself. She didn't have any weapon other than her old clothes, which somehow followed through with her execution. Alastair inspected the arena once again, and no matter what, the sign of disappointment would follow. She then shook her head and uttered.
"This is utterly disappointing."
"I'm about to fight against a possibly monstrous opponent without any weapons other than my bare hand and feet. Was this the test they were talking about? Fighting against a monster using my own body without the tools of war? That sounds cold though acceptable for a second chance."
Alastair said as she prepared her military fighting stance. She was pretty good at it, but she didn't know if such a human v human fighting style would work against a monster. Well, it was not like she had a choice, to begin with. Everything was helpful until it told otherwise.
She then slowly backed away from the gate where the monster would emerge. It would give her time to prepare for her inevitable death and react accordingly to the problem.
As the metal clattering continued for a short while, it stopped as the iron gate had finally concluded its opening. Alastair looked at it from afar and focused everything she had on it. Being this defenseless wasn't her style. But unfortunately, this was the only way for a second chance.
Alastair couldn't see anything other than darkness from the other side of the iron gate. Silence enveloped the gateway until a giant beastly foot that resembled a bull's hoove emerged from the darkness. At that moment, chills screamed throughout her body as if warning Alastair to run away.
Alastair's instincts were never wrong, and she would always trust them. But unfortunately, she must stand her ground at this very moment.
"Tsk... A monster."
Alastair clicked her tongue in annoyance. Despite the warning of her instincts to run away or she would die, this test was her second chance. Alastair wouldn't want to waste this chance by being a coward. She either dies in this place or wins the test given to her. This was the mentality that currently confined itself within Alastair's mind.
Besides, do spirits even die?
That was the question that passed through Alastair's mind and instantly disappeared as if it didn't exist.
The monster beyond the gateway fully emerged itself from the darkness. Alastair could finally see it in its complete and true form. Unfortunately, it was monstrous and dangerous as she had expected. She would consider it an abomination if not for the judges she met before the test.
The monster had the appearance of a giant bulky minotaur though it had more horns than usual. It also had eight tentacles behind its back and looked like the devil's incarnate. Not only that, it was carrying a two-handed sword. One hit from that thing would be fatal.
For a short explanation, if Alastair gets hit by that sword. She would become a mush of flesh, combined with bones and her organs. She wouldn't want to get hit by it if she planned to win.
"Now, this is simply unexpected and unfair. I am weaker than this guy, and I don't even have a single weapon. It appears that those giant eyeballs didn't plan for any of this to be easy. How do I even defeat this bastard?"
Alastair's annoyance overtook her fear. She was a bit angry at this situation of hers as everything was against her. It was like the universe itself didn't want her to win. But, if that was true, that would be too petty. Plans then emerged within Alastair's mind after the emergence of the demonic minotaur.
She could use the great sword under the monster's bulky hand, but could she even lift it properly? She would probably die under the monster's fist. The first thing that appeared in her mind was not feasible, so she continued with the idea spree.
Alastair could attack its weak spots, but where would the monster's weak spots be, to begin with? She would have to fight that bastard head-on to inspect it clearly. But she was sure that she wouldn't last a second against a whole confrontation with the demonic minotaur.
The demonic minotaur didn't waste more time for the two of them and roared toward Alastair. *WWWRRRAAAAHHH!!!* Its roar echoed everywhere and somehow shook the ground. How it managed to do that was something she would like to use, but unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to be it was preparing to charge towards her.
It then pointed its head full of horns to Alastair and charged with all its might like a bull. Alastair glanced at the bastard, hopped away from her position, and rolled onto the ground. The demonic minotaur passed through her last location and used its strength to stop itself.
Alastair stood up and turned her gaze towards the demonic minotaur. The two of them looked at each other as Alastair ran away from it. Distance would be a great thing for her, giving her more time. That was what she had realized during the first confrontation.
"Like a bull, It's like I'm fighting against an intelligent and humanoid bull. Of course, it would be complicated to defeat, but a bull is still a bull."
She silently uttered as an idea had finally emerged within her mind. She would take her time and look for a weakness. To do this, she needed to be observant and clear of distractions. Unfortunately, the demonic minotaur itself was the distraction.
The demonic minotaur then huffed as it prepared itself for the second charge. Upon seeing that charging action from the minotaur, Alastair prepared herself for round two. The monster then started its assault, which was faster than before. Fortunately, Alastair had enough time and rolled once again.
"Damn, my clothes are becoming dirty."
Alastair said with a calm voice as she started dusting off her uniform. The dust was enveloping every part of her uniform, which was annoying. She then turned her gaze back at the minotaur as the second dodge was a success. On the other hand, the demonic minotaur seemed to be more piss off.
Well, it didn't manage to hit its target the second time. Probably, just like Alastair, it was perhaps annoyed.
'He's becoming more piss off. I should get serious and be careful. After all, he still has that sword right beside him.' Alastair thought to herself as she was sure that the minotaur would use that great sword against her. She wouldn't want to be hit by it and get chopped or disintegrated in half.
The demonic minotaur then started its third charge to Alastair. Without any hesitation, Alastair dodged with the same roll technique, but unfortunately, it appears that the minotaur had learned. While charging right beside Alastair, it swung its greatsword towards her sideways.
Alastair noticing the sword, felt her entire body screaming for her to dodge. She immediately dropped as low as possible as she would rather do this than get hit by that great sword.
The greatsword passed right above her as massive turbulence of winds was felt on her body and face. Getting hit by that sword would be the worse fate that was probably comparable to getting hit by a small truck. Her bones would break upon impact, and she would die a second later.
She would rather not die that way.
After the great sword passed above her, Alastair quickly stood back up and planned to back away from the minotaur. After all, She needed time to assess the situation at hand.
It was clear from the recent confrontation that she wouldn't be able to win against the demonic minotaur no matter what she had done, but Alastair wasn't planning on giving up. With this in mind, she ran away at full speed as she managed to create a distance between herself and the minotaur once again.
Alastair gazed upon the demonic minotaur as it looked at her from afar with bloodlust. It was a familiar feeling as she had always felt such a thing during the great war of the empire and the federation of nations. It was nothing new.
The minotaur then began a new action. It was planning to throw the greatsword towards Alastair. As it threw its sword to her, the blade propelled through the air at a fast speed as Alastair simply laid herself flatly on the ground. It passed above her like before as it hit the wall with a thunderous sound.
*Boom!!!*
As the sound echoed, Alastair was about to stand back up, but unfortunately, the minotaur was already before her.
At that very moment, the demonic minotaur kicked her with its buff leg, resulting in her body flying throughout the arena. She landed on the wall with a destructive impact, creating a deafening sound resembling that of the explosion caused by the greatsword.
*Boom!!!*
Dust slowly enveloped the arena with the two explosions. Alastair fell to the ground as her body was severely damaged due to the impact. She felt that her internal organs were bleeding, and her bones got pulverized.
Alastair couldn't move a muscle as pain shrouded her body. It was the only thing she felt as everything else seemed to be numb. The demonic minotaur then walked towards her. As it arrived before the injured Alastair, it looked at her with an expression of pride.
Seeing the bastard who pulverized her bones with a prideful face made Alastair clench her teeth. "You dam-" Before she could continue her words, the minotaur had stomped its hooves onto her head, squashing it like a watermelon exploding.
Brain matter got scattered everywhere on the ground, along with parts left by her skull. Blood got splattered everywhere and created a puddle around Alastair's corpse. Then, after she had died, the demonic minotaur crouched and did the unthinkable.
It slowly picked up Alastair's corpse and pulled the corpse apart. Blood splashed everywhere as a result, and her internal organs fell from her body. After splitting the body apart, the minotaur ate the two halves of her corpse one by one. It lacked any mercy as it ravenously ate her body barbarically.
The result was...
Alastair died and lost the fight.
She also got eaten disgustingly.
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