Chp.34: The revolt of the gladiators

Since the arena wasn't just a place for popular entertainment but also a prison, the guards had a very fast communication system. The news that Haku had broken free and was wreaking havoc quickly reached everyone's ears and the guards rushed at him completely armed. As a result, there were only a few of them left in the rest of the arena.

In front of the gladiators' dormitory there were, as usual, six guards guarding the entrance; even though the whole arena was now in a state of emergency, their job was still to make sure that no one left without permission. Normally they wouldn't have cared about what was happening inside the dormitory, but it seemed strange to him that despite the roars caused by the battle between Haku and the guards, no noise came from inside.

"Don't you find that unusual?" one of them asked. "I mean, they haven't even asked us what's going on..."

"What do we care? They're probably too scared and will have run and hid in their beds" another one said.

"Sssh! Didn't you hear?" another one suddenly exclaimed, who was very close to the door.

The others looked at him somewhat confused. "Heard what?"

"This noise! ​​Can't you hear it?" the guard said, who walked over to the door and leant his ear. There were rhythmic thuds from inside the dormitory, as if someone was playing a drum. "They almost sound like... hooves?"

The door exploded with a clang; the six guards were hit by the two doors that flew in their direction at almost supersonic speed. They didn't have time to use any mana protection: the second they realized what had happened, their bodies were already reduced to a splattered mass of blood, flesh and skin. At the entrance to the dormitory, now completely open, a red lizardman and a minotaur had appeared.

"Nice hit" Brenno said, snorting like a bull. "You're good at shouldering"

"Even you're not bad with your headboards" Darbi replied with a smile, and then he turned towards the inside of the dormitory. Behind him all the gladiators were in position with makeshift weapons in hand, and Zamor was ahead of them. "The way is clear"

"Good" Zamor said with determination, and then he looked at the gladiators behind him and raise his weapon, a long stick (made from the leg of a table) with the sharp horn of some beast stuck on it. "The time has come, guys! Come on, let's go get our freedom back!"

"YES!" the gladiators roared in triumph. Like a river, they poured out of the dormitory and followed Zamor towards the armory.

Darbi followed the charge with a smile on his face. So far, everything seems to have gone according to plan. He was sure that Haku would do his part well, so he had done his. Using the nullification rune (powered by the blood that Haku had kindly given them) he had deactivated all the submission collars, and then he had also used it to deactivate the magic present on the door. At that point a good amount of brute force had been enough to break it through. He and Brenno, since they were the most muscular and hardest in the arena, had taken it down simply using a good run.

The army of gladiators hurried through the corridors. Zamor, being the leader, led the charge, while Darbi and Brenno, due to their strength, were close behind him. Whenever they encountered a guard, he and the minotaur attacked first using their brute strength. Since the most powerful guards were all busy fighting Haku, they only encountered the remnants, and thus the easily defeated ones. They didn't find anyone who could cause them problems: most were easily killed by Brenno and Darbi, or directly by Zamor; the only time the other gladiators had to do anything was when they encountered a larger group of guards, and then they eliminated them with the makeshift weapons they had built using the objects at their disposal and Haku's numerous trophies.

Reaching the armory was quick and easy; the traps that were there were eliminated by Darbi with the use of the nullification rune, and with so few guards nothing could stop them. Once there, the gladiators were finally able to arm themselves with real weapons. Axes, bows, arrows, swords, maces, spears; they were all at their disposal. "Choose the most convenient weapon for you!" Zamor ordered them. "Don't take too many! You'll have to be quick and agile! If you can find some chain mail wear it, but don't take the armor, it's too heavy!"

Darbi took the spear he had used in the fights up to that moment. He was comfortable with it. Of course, he preferred to fight tooth and claw, but since with his avatar he had no such weapons at his disposal, he had to be content with fighting as the newcomers fought: with artificial weapons created to compensate for their physical weaknesses.

"A spear, huh? I thought you were more of the sword type" Brenno commented when he saw him; he instead was holding a gigantic hammer.

Darbi shook his head. "The sword isn't a weapon suitable for me. It takes too many movements and techniques to use properly. A spear, on the other hand... its power is directed to one point and one time, as if it were an extension of the my body. And I like to fight using my body"

Brenno snorted. "Doesn't the spear also have weaknesses in a fight against multiple opponents? You have to extract it from your opponent's body to use it again. This steals your precious time"

"Come on, Brenno! Do you expect that with his biceps, Darbi would have to worry about extracting the spear from the corpse of his enemy? He could easily lift that too and use it to strike other opponents" Gord laughed, who had instead taken a short sword and a shield. "Trust me, I've seen how Darbi handles that spear. He knows how to use it well"

Brenno smirked and looked at Darbi with a superior look. "As you wish. But know that when you will be surrounded and I will be forced to intervene to save your ass, I won't stop making fun of you even for an instant"

Darbi smiled back and was about to retort, but Zamor's voice interrupted him: "Listen to me, everyone! Now we're going to head to the main gate and attack the guards! As soon as we enter the fighting area, the spearmen will attack first and they will charge against the guards! Behind them will follow all those armed with swords, maces, hammers, axes or other weapons, while the archers instead will run to the battlements and after finding cover they will offer us support from the rear! At this moment, almost certainly the dragon he will have already exterminated a good part of the guards and the rest will be scattered throughout the arena. Our objective is to prevent them from regrouping! Therefore, charge frontally and then divide into various groups, and cut the arena in every direction, so that the guards are forced to remain divided and cannot unite in one compact army! Kill everyone you can kill, and if the dragon charges a group of guards, then let him and move on to the next one! All clear?"

The gladiators nodded and yelled his name in response. Darbi had to admit that Haku had made the right choice: Zamor was a really good leader. Even though he didn't have much military experience, he still managed to prepare a pretty good strategy. "Follow me, then! And remember, wait for my signal!" Zamor yelled raising the weapon of his choice, which was a spear like Darbi's one, albeit slightly shorter.

The army of gladiators rushed towards the main gate, and they reached it within minutes. The gate was obviously still open, since Haku had never returned and no one had bothered to close it. Through it, they could see what was happening: the arena was littered with countless corpses of beasts and guards, and now the only survivors were a few dozen soldiers and Haku, who was defending himself as best he could from their attacks but it was clear that in the long run he would be overwhelmed.

"Shit... that dragon must have killed at least half of the guards... no, maybe even two thirds!" Gord exclaimed upon seeing this. "Good thing he's on our side"

"Yeah, for now" Brenno huffed as he gripped his hammer.

Darbi ignored their comments and looked at Zamor, who was giving orders to the gladiators to line up properly. As soon as it seemed he was finished, he waited for the order to attack, but it didn't come. He waited, but Zamor didn't say a word. "What are we waiting for?" Darbi finally asked.

Zamor frowned. That was his chance. The dragon was there, among the guards, clearly losing. If he waited a little longer, his greatest concern would have vanished. With more than two-thirds of the guards already eliminated, the gladiators would have fought an even fight. But if Zamor waited until Haku died, then the number of surviving guards would dwindle further, and those remaining would be too tired to put up any resistance. They would have swept them away easily… and he wouldn't have to worry about the dragon anymore. Letting him die was the best choice.

But even if he wanted to, he couldn't do it. If he let Haku die, Darbi would surely kill him. And even if he succeeded in killing Darbi, he still needed outside help to escape. If Haku and Darbi's companions had arrived and hadn't found their friends, they certainly would have abandoned the gladiators to their fate. And without their help they would never have escaped the capital. They would all have been killed. Therefore, even though he felt that he would be doing the whole world a favor by letting Haku die, he still needed him alive. "I was waiting for the guards to position themselves in the right spot. The dragon is taking them exactly where I want them" he replied using the first credible excuse that came to mind. "Get ready! On my signal!"

Darbi looked a little suspicious, but he said nothing. Zamor got into position and the gladiators drew up their weapons. "LOAD!"

The gladiators rushed out of the gate; just as Zamor had ordered them, the spearmen went in front, the warriors armed with other weapons behind, while the archers and crossbowmen came out last and ran to find a good hiding place in the battlements, from which they began to shoot so many arrows that they they seemed to rain against the guards. The soldiers didn't expect that sudden attack and got distracted, allowing Haku to attack and kill a couple more of them. Darbi charged like an elephant and with his spear killed at least a dozen guards before reaching his brother. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"Finally! Did you stop for a snack!?" Haku snapped in an irritated voice.

Darbi shrugged. "Did you guess it? You know, you seemed to be doing so well, and they were making wild boar pie in the kitchens, so we thought we'd..."

"Oh, fuck off!" Haku growled as he swept away two more guards with his tail.

"Come on, brother, it seems to me that you did well" Darbi said spearing a soldier with his spear. "Oh, by the way, I brought you this"

He threw something at Haku and he caught it with his paw, and saw that it was his dimensional bag. Seeing his confused expression, Darbi explained: "I put all your stuff in it, I know you don't want to throw anything away. Besides, you still need all the supplies inside it"

Haku gave a small smile. "Thanks. I would have been sad to lose it, actually" he said.

"Forget it! But now enough talking, let's have some fun!" Darbi exclaimed as he lunged at another group of guards. Haku followed with his jaws wide open, ready to bite and tear.