Chapter 77 The Final Round

After having his leg cut off, Lucas lay on his back in the middle of the auditorium, bleeding profusely from his two amputated limbs. All he could do was stare blankly at the ceiling as he felt no pain, his entire body in shock. He couldn't move, but even if he could, he knew it was over. The battle was over, but he never expected to be on the losing side.

His blank stare was obstructed by Kendrick's body towering over him, holding his blade at the ready. Lucas couldn't help but snap to attention and focus on the blonde-haired young man as he prepared to swing his massive blade down.

"He'll split me in two," Lucas thought as he watched Kendrick starting to swing his blade for the final time. Lucas smiled as he watched the massive sword barrel towards him. "I was right," he thought. "You would have made a good addition."

After that, Lucas closed his eyes, accepting his fate. He waited a moment, but it didn't come. He waited another, and still, he didn't feel it. He didn't feel his life slip away. When Lucas reopened his eyes, he saw a figure standing over him, using a sword to block Kendrick's incoming strike. Seeing this unexpected intruder surprised Lucas. "Who was this?" he questioned to no one in particular.

But his question was answered as he focused more on the person. He could only see their back, but he could tell they were an assistant by the clothes they wore. Then, after looking at the suit, Lucas's eyes zeroed in on the assistant's head. What drew him to it was the lack of hair. The assistant was bald. This was the referee. This was T.K., who had jumped in to protect Lucas.

"How is that possible?" Kendrick thought, clashing swords with T.K. He shot a glance over his shoulder to where T.K. had been standing the entire time during the match. "How did he get from there to right in front of me without me even realizing?"

Kendrick was puzzled as he turned his head to look at the intruding referee. He saw T.K. looking back. The two locked eyes for a moment. The first to speak was the bald assistant. "That's it. The fifth round is over," he said in a soft voice. "Applicant 8809, you win."

Kendrick was stunned. It took him a while to process what had been said, and it took him some additional time to relax his body and pull back his blade. Once Kendrick broke the clash, T.K. sheathed his blade. He gave the blonde-haired young man a soft nod, silently thanking him for not causing a ruckus after being interrupted. After he acknowledged Kendrick, he turned, facing those in attendance who were watching the fight.

As he loudly announced, "this marks the end of round five. The winner is Applicant 8809, Kendrick."

After calling the match, T.K. kneeled down to Lucas, who was still lying on his back, bleeding from two egregious wounds. The announcing of the fifth match's winner petrified Jake as he sat on the ground outside the ring, hunched over. Streams of sweat fell down his face as his body shuddered hearing T.K. speak, "it's… it's over already", Jake thought as he started to tremble a little. His mind filled with images of Heracles and Nebula. "It can't be over, not yet. I'm not ready. I need more time."

Sitting there shivering as if he was butt-naked in an icy tundra, Jake could feel them, even though he couldn't see him. He refused to look at him. He could feel the eyes of Heracles staring at him. It was almost time for the moment of truth, the decisive match between Jake and Heracles.

As Jake was falling into despair, the referee, T.K., assisted the situation with Lucas. He turned to an assistant, telling them to quickly call the infirmary at once.

After hearing T.K. say he had won the fight two times now, Kendrick only shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed his massive blade and walked out of the ring. As he did, his former opponent, Lucas, stared up at him as he left, but Kendrick paid him no mind.

Lucas was mystified as he watched him exit the ring. He wasn't showing any signs of poison, and the wounds he received didn't seem to bother him. Now it was as if he was walking around with mere scratches.

"What… are… you?" Lucas weakly asked Kendrick as he walked away. But he didn't stop to answer; he just kept going. So, Lucas did his best to sit up as he asked even louder, "Hey, I'm asking you a question! What the hell are you?" But yet again, Kendrick never answered.

Lucas was about to push himself even more, but he felt a jolt of pain hit as he winced. When this happened, he was held by the referee, T.K.

"Do not strain even more," the man spoke. "Just sit as still as possible till the nurses arrive."

Even though it isn't what he wanted to do, Lucas relaxed his body within T.K.'s arms. Now that the battle between him and Kendrick was over. The adrenaline that had been pumping through Lucas's veins was gone. He felt every ounce of pain, and it was pure torture as he lay in T.K's arms.

Lucas looked at the man as he asked another weak question. "Why… did you… interfere?"

"What's that?" T.K responded.

"You… heard me… why… did… you…. Interfere…."

"You said it before…. Killing was allowed… so why get in the way of our fight?" T.K looked down at the young man he held in his arms, almost as if he was a newborn babe. He closed his eyes and exhaled as he thought about why he did what he did. T.K pondered his own actions, and he came up with nothing. All he knew was he just acted without thinking.

"I…I," he said, trying to find the answer as he spoke. "I knew you were unable to continue. You were unable to stand and fight, meaning you couldn't proceed. So, I felt no qualm with stepping in."

T.K finally found and gave his answer, but he wasn't so sure about it himself. The handicapped Lucas thought about calling him out on it, but he never got the chance to because the nurses had arrived.

The infirmary nurses were moving double time as they entered the auditorium. There were five of them in total. Four of the nurses entered the ring as they headed for Lucas, while the fifth one made their way to Kendrick.

"My god," one of the nurses said, looking at Lucas. They all hesitated until what must have been the senior nurse snapped out of it and took charge. She was a very short and petite older woman. She shook her head then clapped her hands loudly, getting everyone's attention.

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! WE MUST GET THIS BOY TO THE INFIRMARY STAT!" the older nurse yelled, springing the others into action.

Lucas was placed onto a gurney as a nurse retrieved his chopped-off limbs, and in a flash, they took him out of the auditorium. As he left, Lucas could only think of one thing, and it wasn't the pain or how he was slowly losing consciousness due to blood loss. All he thought about was how he needed to call the boss. He kept thinking about it over and over. His hands reached out as if he was trying to grab something, but his hands didn't grasp a thing as they went limp, and Lucas passed out.

As Lucas was being carted away, Kendrick was being approached by the fifth nurse. "Um, excuse me," they said.

Kendrick turned and looked at them with a look of annoyance on his face. "If you would please follow me, we can treat your wounds at the infirmary."

Kendrick responded with a straightforward "no." Hearing these words unsettled the nurse because he looked so badly injured.

"But sir… you are injured, and you need medical attention. At the very least, let us fix your nose."

Kendrick's ears perked up. He hadn't focused on it at all. When he did, he realized it was broken. Realizing this, he only shrugged again like he did before. Then he reached up and reset his broken nose. This surprised the nurse that watched him do it. When he was finished, Kendrick glared at the nurse as he spoke.

"You see, it's fixed now. So, leave me alone." With that, Kendrick turned his back and walked away, joining the other applicants.

Now that the ring was empty and the match was over, T.K stood from his once-kneeling position as he loudly announced, "Alright, we will now begin the sixth and final round."

Those words he so effortlessly spoke were like ice pikes in Jake's heart. The female assistant that had been reading off the names and numbers of each applicant was about to say the final two, but before she even got the chance, the massive man Heracles was already stepping into the ring, his eyes focused, his hands on his sheathed rental blade. He walked with firmness yet with grace. The man eventually stood proudly in the ring, just waiting for his opponent to enter as well.

After Heracles stood in the ring, all eyes shifted from him to the only other applicant that hadn't participated in a match, that person being Jake. All eyes were on him now, just waiting for him to make his next move. And Jake could feel those eyes on him along with Heracles's, but he still didn't move. He sat hunched over on the ground with his eyes wide open, staring blankly at nothing as he said quietly to himself, "I'm not ready, I'm not ready."