Chapter 38: The State of Siege

I've had enough of Thello's games. With Typhon's help, I'm breaking out of this hell.

For the second time today, I emerged into the colosseum arena.

"This man needs no introduction!" Thello said. "Please welcome the Hierophant once again!"

Applause.

Empty applause.

When the audience quieted down, Thello continued, "The challenger for today is a young demon girl who proclaims herself to be the greatest ice mage in the world. Her name is Beatrice!"

I did a double-take.

A young girl walked into the arena from the opposite side. She spread her arms wide and basked under the crowd's praise.

Beatrice—no, Sakimi—then pointed her staff at me and said, "This is our rematch, Hierophant! Prepare to face my wrath!"

I turned toward Thello, but he wore the same sly smile as always.

The fucking bastard.

Now, he's making me fight Sakimi in a duel to the death.

Still, Typhon the Swift planned the breakout to happen during this fight. As long as I could stall for long enough, I should be able to escape. It hurt to place my entire trust on Typhon, but it was my only option.

I drew Laevateinn and prepared myself.

"Fight!" Thello said.

Sakimi cast Frozen Beam, and I blocked it by using Holy Shield. She then cast Rain of Comets, but I simply dashed to the left to avoid the falling chunks of ice. From this range, I could easily block or dodge any of Sakimi's spells.

"Get over here and fight me!" Sakimi screamed, sending forth twenty arcane missiles.

Once again, I simply stood my ground and used Holy Shield.

"Boo!" the crowd yelled.

I ignored them. They were all idiots.

Sakimi cast telekinesis, using my heavier weight as an anchor to pull herself forward. It was just like when she fought the Rychaff.

While flying through the air, Sakimi cast Supernova, becoming a ballistic flaming ball of death. Right before she could release all her mana into an explosion, I landed a slash, interrupting the spell.

My Holy Shield wouldn't have been able to block Supernova, and getting hit by the spell would deal a tremendous amount of damage.

It was a genius attack, turning herself into a homing nuclear missile.

As Sakimi got up, I watched her health bar. She still had ninety-one percent health.

"Glaciate!" she said.

Ice engulfed the entire arena, even encasing my whole body. If it wasn't for the magical walls protecting the audience, they would have also been frozen. While I tried to break free, everything outside looked distorted and blurry because of the light refraction.

Sakimi lunged at me with an Arcane Blade, slicing me out of my icy cage.

The two spells brought my health down to eighty percent.

I couldn't underestimate Sakimi. Since her patron archdemon—Enzo—died, she should have less power, but she was just as strong as before. The girl must have formed a contract with Thello so that she could borrow his power.

Sakimi launched a fireball, forcing me to dodge to the side. Then, she cast Wind of Snow, creating a cloud above my head. Before the debuff could kick in, I jumped backward. Sakimi capitalized on my retreat to give a speed buff to herself.

Using Arcane Blade, Sakimi dashed forward with frightening velocity.

The two of us clashed weapons, with me on the defensive. Even though I had ample opportunity to counterattack, I only parried.

Once her speed buff ran out, Sakimi cast Mist, creating a thick fog that concealed my surroundings.

Just as I predicted, Sakimi lunged at me from behind, and I easily blocked the approach. Everybody who used concealment tactics always attacked the same place.

Soon enough, the fog dissipated, and Sakimi used Frozen Beam, which I blocked with Holy Shield.

As the fight wore on, Sakimi's frustration grew. She couldn't land a single hit because I easily dodged or blocked anything that she threw my way. While Sakimi became more reckless, that only made her attacks more predictable. It shouldn't take long for her to exhaust herself.

Just then, a gigantic hourglass materialized on one of the arena's walls. This distracted me from Sakimi, letting her land a hit that brought my health down to seventy-five percent.

"You have two minutes," Thello said. "If one of you doesn't win, then I'm afraid my dear Marigold will have to perish."

Shit.

Sakimi attacked me with a dozen slashes using Arcane Blade, but she was a mage, not a warrior. Even still, as I blocked every single strike with ease, the timer gnawed on the back of my mind.

When was Typhon going to initiate the break-out?

If push comes to shove, would I have to...

I shook my head.

No. There was no way I could choose between Sakimi and Marigold.

I needed to have faith in Typhon.

In the meantime, I had to make it look like I was actually fighting.

I parried one of Sakimi's slashes and kicked her backward. With this short window, I activated Silent Sting.

Once the speed buff activated, I blasted forward and plunged my weapon into Sakimi's body. The attack brought down her health to forty percent, and she collapsed from the sheer damage. The Armor Melt debuff should also make it easier to incapacitate her.

As Sakimi got up, I swapped my normal helmet with the Skyfire helmet, but before I could activate the skill, Sakimi used Glaciate again.

While I was frozen, the girl cast Supernova. The radiating heat melted me out of the ice, but by that time, it was too late to interrupt the spell.

As a last-ditch attempt to protect myself, I used Holy Shield.

Sakimi exploded, unleashing a gigantic explosion that was hotter than the surface of the sun.

The attack dropped my HP to eleven percent, and I used my last remaining Large Heal Potion to bring myself back up to eighty-six percent.

If I fought with Latent Power, I could accidentally kill Sakimi.

"Why won't you die!" the girl screamed.

Sakimi used Arcane Missile, but the projectiles weren't as large as before. A simple Holy Shield would more than suffice.

At this point, Sakimi was panting, nearly out of breath. On top of the constant fighting, she had just used her two strongest spells back-to-back. Sakimi launched more Arcane Missiles, but now there were only three, instead of the normal four. Once again, I blocked them.

With Sakimi exhausted, I activated Skyfire, bringing down a bolt of exploding lightning.

The attack left Sakimi stunned, and I followed up with a slash, finally taking her health down to five percent and leaving her incapacitated. Just like in real life, if one were to sustain enough injuries in Serial Slain, they could be rendered unconscious.

I looked back at the hourglass to see that there was barely any sand left at the top.

From his balcony seat, Thello said, "Hurry, Hierophant. You have less than ten seconds left!"

Where the hell was Typhon?

Do I have to kill Sakimi?

Dammit!

The clock was running dry.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the entire arena, coming from a woman in the audience. She ran down the stairs and made a break for the exit. A swarm of people followed suit, each one wailing in fear.

"Zombies!" someone shrieked.

Undead humans chased down the crowd, biting them and creating even more monsters. While that occurred, Thello was in combat against a caped swordsman.

The entire situation was horrifying, but there was no time to stand idly by.

This must be it. This was Typhon's break-out plan.

I slung Sakimi over my shoulder, grabbed her staff, and ran back into the corridor that led to the prison cells.

With all the winding paths, the guard had made an effort to pass by a certain doorway every time she escorted me. That said doorway was labeled as an exit.

I didn't pay it much mind to it at first since I didn't have the option to escape, but now, this was my chance. I hope that Typhon could keep Marigold safe.

After speeding through the dungeon, I made it to the exit and ran up the set of stairs, finally bursting forth into the fresh air. It was currently the evening, and golden lights illuminated the panicking crowd that was running away from the zombies.

While I followed the mob, Sakimi squirmed on my shoulder. I didn't have anything to gag her, so she would still be able to cast spells. Luckily, she hadn't woken up yet, so I still had time to make it to the rendezvous point.

Typhon's note had told me to head to the Pink Pleasure Inn. When I played the original Serial Slain, that place was Typhon's main residence, so I knew exactly where it was located. Additionally, this knowledge allowed me to deduce that I was currently in Zweizen, the capital city of Polsius.

I cut down a horde of zombies and raced through the city streets until I arrived in front of an unsuspecting building with a sign that read "Pink Pleasure Inn."

When I entered, a set of bells jingled, and the innkeeper turned in my direction from the receptionist desk.

"How may I help you?" the man asked. He wore a tuxedo, and his greying hair was slicked back.

"The devil is not as black as he is painted," I answered.