n

n

n

nThe ringing in my ears eventually exploded until my whole body vibrated with the sound of the ground shaking. Was this an earthquake? The nausea and lightheadedness became so much worse that for a moment, I could not see.

n“Did you see him? Did you that b*stard just now? F*ck, did he fly all the way there or what?”

n“Because his wife is sitting there! He sure wants to look good, that crazy b*stard, hahaha!”

nThe unbothered chatter of the spectators had me shaking my head in confusion. Was that not an earthquake? Did none of them feel that? Was I going crazy?

n

n

nMy head was spinning and I was seeing black spots. The churning in my stomach was unbearable and blinking my eyes didn’t help at all, so I closed them instead, hoping the pain would lessen.

nThe physical pain eased up, but the unpleasant feeling in my chest did not. I didn’t want to open my eyes again. I wanted to keep them closed for a long time, but I was not sure as to why.

nI did not want to see what was happening on the battlefield.

n“Ruby, are you all right?” Cesare asked, worry laced in his voice. “You must be shocked, do you want to take a break?”

nHe probably thought the ghoul had scared me, but I felt too nauseous from all of the candy and rum I had taken in to correct him. My throat had grown dry with all of the crap I’d stuffed into it.

n“Yes, you’re right. I’m going to the washroom.”

nWithout giving him the chance to say anything else, I got up and walked away. I didn’t want to know if he was still following me with his eyes, or if someone else in the vicinity was keeping me under surveillance. The feeling of being watched made my skin crawl and I hurried to enter the empty hall.

nBut why was it that I did not want to look back, not even once?

n***

nWhen I stopped by the bathroom, rinsed my mouth, sat on the steps leading to the players’ dressing rooms for a minute or two, went outside to breathe in some cold air, and went back to my seat, there were only two players left on the battlefield.

nThis time, a draugr had appeared, dressed like a knight akin to the Dullahans I had met. Its skin looked even worse than a ghoul’s, with bones sticking out of its flesh, so grotesque and decayed that it looked like both a revenant and a mummy at the same time.

nThe last two players on the platform were standing side by side, one knight with silver-white hair and sword drawn, and another wearing armor bearing the rose crest that symbolized Rembrandt’s Vishelier family. He tapped the silver-haired knight on the shoulder and ran ahead.

nThe crowd seemed to enjoy the initiative taken, considering how loud it became again.

n“Are you feeling better?” Cesare’s voice filled my ears.

n“Yes, of course.” I felt miserable, for some reason. “I wonder what will come out next. It’s a lot more boring than I expected.”

n“That’s unexpected. Everyone is on the edge of their seats, betting on who will win and who will die.”

n“Unexpected, you say? Nobody here cares who will die. So do I.”

nIt’s the same for me if I died, right? No one would care.

nThe match was boring to me, however, because I already knew how it would end.

nCesare eyed me suspiciously. “You’re not being serious, are you?”

nA polite question. Wondering if his sister was not anxious for her husband to win. I hoped that the cardinals sitting a few ways down had heard him, for his sake.

nThe match was still boring and it was annoying to hear him talk, so I thought it would be better to just lay back and shut it all out at this point.

n“Oh, well, I’m sleepy, so I’ll close my eyes for a bit. Even though it’s so noisy.”

n“… You’re sleepy?”

nShould I laugh in his stupid face? “Because I couldn’t sleep last night. You might know why.”

nI wondered if I replied too harshly—he’d probably punish me after the game—but I didn’t care and folded my arms, leaned back, and closed my eyes.

nI thought I heard him mumble something, but the shouts of the audience drowned his voice out.

nOf course, it was practically impossible to fall asleep here. Sleeping while a battle was raging down below? How absurd. I was just trying to protect my poor eyes from the constant torture of flashing lights. And also to block Cesare from talking to me. I wish he’d stop trying to hold a conversation.

nAt least, that’s what I thought.

nI had actually managed to fall asleep despite the noisy crowd and ongoing battle. For the first time in a long time, I dreamed of nothing.

nA loud, very loud cry woke me up.

nA piercing scream echoed across the stadium. I was dazed and I couldn’t recognize where I was or what I was doing as my eyes sprung open. I raised my head, trying to look for the source. Blinking rapidly, the sense of time that I had lost, slowly flowed back.

nSomething in me made me turn and look to the side.

nCesare was fixed on the battlefield, looking hard at something, his lips curled into a faint smirk.

nSeeing the other cardinals past him do the same, I naturally followed their eyes downwards, towards the ground.

nAt first, I thought a cardinal had somehow fallen off the stands and into the arena. I realized soon, however, that that was not the case.

nThe ground was split in half as if an earthquake had ripped open the earth, and pieces of rubble were rising into the sky. Giant piles of bones were coming up from the dirt, twisting and coiling and beginning to take shape.

nA man was standing in the midst of it all. The wide grin he wore on his demonic face stretched from ear to ear and looked more like a laceration wound than a mouth. He was clad in rags, robes rotten and torn, and was emitting an unnatural green light from his body.

nThat was not just any cardinal. That was Cardinal Richie.

nI couldn’t believe my eyes. All the color drained from my face as I tried to grasp the situation. How was this possible?

nRichie came out? Dead Cardinal Richie came out in this match? Did I miss the memo?

nCardinal Richie had been one of the men closest to Father, but after finding out that he had been conspiring with the Most Serene Republic of Venice against the Pope, he had been imprisoned and set to be executed for high treason. But Cardinal Richie had decided to not sit through Cesare’s interrogation and torture. He had done what no man of the cloth dared to do. He had committed the unforgivable sin of taking his own life.

nAnd so, Cardinal Richie had become a wandering soul, doomed for eternity. He had become a ghoul.

nHowever, in order to get him here, there had to be special approval from the Vatican. In other words, the Pope had approved of sending his once closest subordinate, now cursed and demonic entity, to fight to the death here in Britannia for entertainment. It also meant that not only all the cardinals, including Cesare, but also everyone else involved in the Gladiatorial Match knew.

nOh my God, they approved of this? Really?

nColossal black wings flashed in front of my wide eyes.

nIt took a while for me to realize that it was a wyvern. Had they always been this big? The beasts were circling in the air, and piles upon piles of bones were swaying in front of Cardinal Richie. They were twisting into a skeleton of humongous size, taking the shape of what looked to be a dragon. Richie’s unholy divinity allowed for its bare bones to grow flesh and come together, but strangely enough, in the place of where its eyes should have been, green jewels glowing between purple scales stood out.

nAnd then, the newly-formed dragon slammed its foot down on something on the ground.

nNo… Not something, but someone.

nEven from all the way up here, I could see that silver-white hair shining vividly.

nHow strange. What are you doing down there? Where is your sword? You’re not that overwhelmed, are you? Can’t you escape from under it? Did you get hurt? Did that zombie cardinal get you? No way, you’re the main character. Or are you scheming something?

nEar-splitting and terrible screams erupted once again as the dragon opened its massive jaws wide and let out a deafening roar, the noise settling in my bones. It looked like it was preparing for the final strike.

nIzek’s eyes found mine.

nWhile he was getting crushed underneath the dragon’s foot, he shifted a little and turned this way.

nI didn’t know what kind of expression I was making.

nI was numb and dumbstruck and paralyzed.

nThe moment our eyes interlocked, a thousand questions ran through my head.

nWhy… Why are you looking this way?

nWhy are you looking at me with such a sad face?

nYou’re the only one who’s getting hurt.

nOur dreams will be shattered in less than an hour.

nSometimes… Sometimes, I thought that it wouldn’t be the worst death if I were to die by your hands. Because you…

n“No!”

nWhat did I care about Richie or the dragon? It was none of my business whether the monsters set to fight had been changed from what I knew or not.

nAnd yet, I still jumped up and yelled out loud. The robe covering my knees sank to the stone floor of the balcony. All the screaming and screeching stopped and silence fell over the entire coliseum.

nThe dragon, with its terrifying jaws gaping open, raised its purple snout towards me.

n“Izek!”

nI felt someone grabbing my shoulder, trying to hold me back.

nThe sound of wyverns hovering in the air and shrieking nastily came rushing to my ears.

nI don’t know what I did. Maybe I screamed.

nIf it weren’t for the hands that held me and shook me, I probably would have jumped over the balustrade and onto the battlefield.

n“Ruby, wake up!”

n“Lady Rudbeckia, everything is fine! It’s really okay! Look!”

nWhat? Is he okay? Is everything fine? Did everyone play a prank on me?

nThe cardinals sitting all around me had jumped up the moment I did and were anxiously trying to mollify me, this shaken countenance of mine something they had never witnessed before.

nMy racing heart calmed down as I tried to regain my composure. My weak legs gave in and I fell back into my seat, swallowing the lump in my throat all the while. The cardinals let out relieved sighs and went back to doing whatever it was that they were doing.

nThis can’t be right. Why was I the only one that looked crazy? Didn’t they just see that? Why were they not bewildered? They were the weird ones, not me.

nAnd why was there laughter echoing through the air in this type of situation?

n“Ha-ha! What is that fool doing?”

n

n“Why is good old Richie acting so strange? Hey, can’t you move around properly?”

n

n“What’s this? You’re no fun!”

nThe taunts of the cardinals, who went back to being insufferable once seated a distance away, left me puzzled, so I turned my trembling eyes towards the arena.

nFor some reason, Cardinal Richie was swinging his arms around, looking ridiculous and flustered, completely different from when he was cackling diabolically earlier. Not to mention the dragon and wyverns tangled together on the ground, flailing around and snapping their jaws at each other.

nI couldn’t find Izek anywhere.

n“Stop acting so weak! It doesn’t look good on you! Finish it quickly!”

n

n“Don’t tarnish the name of the Knights of Longinus, you damn fool!”

n

n“The commander is watching you! Get your sh*t together!”

nIzek’s fellow knights joined in on mocking their colleague, like the cardinals had been doing. I felt unwell between all the sarcasm and scorn, but I just clenched my hands and bit my tongue.

nI held my breath, trying to push down on the queasy feeling in my stomach, and watched as the zombie cardinal, still swinging his arms around like a lunatic, annihilated all the other Undead monsters still left in the arena and began to hit the ground.

nThe cracked soil and rubble from the earlier attack soared into the air and purple smoke rose through the gaps. Then, just as quickly as it had made its way up, the debris came pouring down again.

nRichie must have intended to bury Izek alive. I gasped in shock and almost got up again, but a bright blue light flashed just before the rocks hit the ground.

nFragmented golden particles flickered and glowed visibly through the sacred shield wall right in front of me.

nWas this what happens when holy and unholy divinity clash? The whole stadium shook at the violent collision and the dazzling illumination blinded me to the point of nausea.

n

n

nI was so dizzy, so lightheaded, I wondered what would happen to ordinary people like me if they were to actually get caught up in it.

nFinally, when all the light that had blinded me faded away and I managed to barely raise my heavy eyelids, the dirt floor of the stadium was as perfectly fine and smooth as it was before, and no trace of the dragon or wyverns could be found anywhere.

nThe same was true for poor Cardinal Richie.

n“I guess he could indeed use purification in this situation. As expected of Young Lord Omerta,” one of the cardinals said to Cesare.

nAnd then, the whole coliseum burst out into cheers.

n