Chapter 33: Heracles
The Grand Arena of Constantinople.
“First up is the blue team! Led by the Skolabor ‘Polar Bear’! He once ripped off an opponent’s head from their neck in last month’s battle, using only his bare hands!” The announcer exclaimed through the loudspeaker, skillfully stirring up the atmosphere.
“Any opponent weighing less than 140 pounds who encounters the Polar Bear should carefully consider whether their neck is made of iron!”
The crowd in the stands roared wildly.
The Eastern Solomon Empire, since being culturally assimilated by the Siris, had seen its upper-class nobles turn completely to art, literature, and film, turning their noses up at such bloody and barbaric sports.
The citizenry, however, still had a soft spot for classical gladiatorial culture. And the lower the class of the commoners, the more they liked to watch people fight, bleed, and die in the arena.
Of course, the gambling industry, which was closely linked to gladiatorial combat, was also an important reason why gladiatorial culture could flourish among the lower classes.
“And then, the red team! Led by the Thracian ‘Brown Bear’!” The announcer continued to shout, and you could even hear him jumping excitedly through the loudspeaker. “The Brown Bear’s muscles may not be as developed as the Polar Bear’s, but he’s agile and cunning enough!”
“This is a duel of strength and skill, two bears fighting, only one can survive in the end, our arena does not recognize draws! Whoever can stand to the end will be able to hold up their weight in gold on the corpses of their enemies!”
Asker entered the arena with his greatsword, followed by the red team members. Then, the two teams in red and blue cloaks shook hands and saluted each other. Theotis looked at the opposing leader, made a throat-cutting gesture with his hand, and quickly glanced at Asker on the far right.
This throat-cutting gesture was for him. Asker naturally knew what he meant, but the other side didn’t seem to understand, only grinning fiercely.
The starting pistol fired, and the gladiatorial fight began instantly. The crowd in the stands almost immediately stood up, waving their fists at the gladiators below, shouting encouragement for their supported team to fight bravely, or cursing the tragic death of the opposing team.
The red team’s formation on the field instantly contracted, everyone squeezed to the left wing (leaving only Asker alone on the far right), and fought with the right wing of the blue team.
This was obviously unexpected for the blue team, but of course they wouldn’t miss this opportunity. First, their team’s strength correspondingly contracted to the right wing, and then they sent two people to rush towards Asker on the left wing, naturally with the aim of reducing the opponent’s numbers first.
“Oh my God! Theotis, what have you done? You abandoned a poor teammate on the far right wing!” The announcer tried to put on an exaggerated crying tone, and then turned into a righteous analysis. “Could this be a bait?”
“Sure enough! The blue team chose to send two people to take the bait, so the original main battle line instantly became eight against seven! Abandoning local strength in exchange for a numerical advantage on the front, is this your purpose? Cunning Brown Bear?”
“That damn clown announcer! I’ll rip out his guts and strangle him!” Theotis, who was fighting, was so annoyed that he even lost his focus for a moment and was slashed on the helmet by someone from the other side, making his ears buzz.
He took two steps back, entering the covering distance of his teammates, and glanced at Asker on the far right wing again. Seeing the two blue gladiators skillfully starting to attack him, a vicious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
The two veteran gladiators of the blue team approached Asker with lightning speed.
One raised his two-handed sword high and slashed down heavily, the other moved diagonally to the right, his broadsword thrusting like a viper to the left, aiming straight at Asker’s left rib.
Then, their hearts sank at the same time. Because Asker, facing their joint attack, just lightly jumped back and dodged both of their attacks.
At the same time, his greatsword left his shoulder, and he swung it horizontally with both hands.
Cleanly cutting the throat of the man on the left.
“Holy shit! Tiger Cut!” In the topmost box of the arena’s audience stands, someone trembled upon seeing the scene below, oblivious to the wine spilling from their glass.
“Tiger Cut? What Tiger Cut?” The people next to him burst into laughter. “Michael, are you obsessed with martial arts?”
The Emperor’s Kingsguard was directly under the Emperor of the Solomon Empire, composed of young officers proficient in combat, an elite guard force. During Emperor Constantine’s expedition, he took about two-thirds of the Kingsguard with him, leaving the remaining one-third to stay in the imperial capital to protect the two Purple Princesses.
After learning of the defeat at Manzikert, these young officers were both worried about the unpredictable fate of their supreme Emperor and afraid of receiving the news of the sacrifice of their comrades-in-arms. After waiting for a long time without receiving any specific news from afar, they could only go to the box of the Grand Arena to watch the gladiatorial fight, using this to calm their anxious mood.
Of course, for these veteran officers who were already transcendental beings and skilled in martial arts, the gladiatorial fights of ordinary humans were actually nothing to see, they were just more stuffy staying in the barracks.
Michael, the captain of the guard, originally thought so, but he didn’t expect to see such exquisite swordsmanship in the Grand Arena.
“Shut up!” He raised his hand, immediately silencing his laughing teammates. “Let me see if it’s a coincidence.”
His teammates looked at each other and could only follow his gaze, looking at the arena below seriously.
The neck of the blue gladiator on the left was cut by the greatsword, the flesh and skin around the wound were all rolled up, he fell to the ground convulsing and silent. The man on the right shuddered, realizing that the other party’s choice of greatsword was not just relying on brute force.
Before he could react, Asker had already jumped up, his two-handed greatsword slashing down quickly. It was too late to dodge, the man could only barely block upwards with his sword horizontally.
There was a clean “clang,” the greatsword directly cut off his sword, and then, with unstoppable momentum, cut open his helmet, leaving a fatal crack in his skull.
“Splitting Slash, Cracking the Crown!” This time, several guards saw it clearly and jumped up from their seats in horror. “How is this possible! Who is this guy? A court swordmaster? Why haven’t we seen him before?”
“It’s Lion’s Fang.” Michael said with a serious expression, slowly rotating the wine glass in his hand. “Remember the Eight Tactical Forms?”
“Tactics” was a military manual written by Emperor Leo VI more than a hundred years ago, which recorded how transcendental warriors should use their powerful physical strength and transform it into efficient killing skills on the battlefield. It was also an advanced military martial arts manual that the Emperor’s Kingsguard had to study, so everyone almost knew it by heart.
With Michael’s reminder, his teammates almost immediately reacted, and someone quickly recited:
“…His Majesty once said, there are four fatal vital points on the human body: the temples, the throat, the chest, and the lower abdomen. Focusing on attacking vital points, killing and disabling, there are eight tactical forms: Lion’s Fang, Left Lion’s Fang, Right Lion’s Fang, Eagle Cut, Tiger Cut, Dragon Cut, Wing Beat, and Rapid Thrust.”
“Lion’s Fang. A straight slash to the head, splitting and cracking the crown.”
“Left and Right Lion’s Fang. Slash the left and right shoulders, disabling both arms.”
“Eagle Cut. A horizontal slash to the eyes, intimidating the mind.”
“Tiger Cut. A horizontal slash to the neck, severing the throat.”
“Dragon Cut. A horizontal slash to the waist, damaging the internal organs.”
“Wing Beat. A sneak attack upward slash, cutting the perineum.”
“Rapid Thrust. A straight thrust to the abdomen, draining the vital energy.”
“Pfft.” Someone next to him laughed. “Why are you taking it so seriously? It’s just a straight slash to the head, it may not be the advanced technique Lion’s Fang recorded in ‘Tactics.’ Maybe it’s just a random attack?”
“Can a random attack break through a block and crack the crown with one blow?” Michael sneered. “When he slashed down, he must have hit the center of gravity of the sword, otherwise it would be impossible to cut off the weapon and crack the helmet so cleanly. This person is not only skilled in martial arts, but he must also be a transcendental being, just wait and see.”
Two blue gladiators were killed, instantly overturning the stalemate on the field. There were no casualties on the main battle line yet. Theotis and the red gladiators were biting the opponent very tightly, skillfully using the advantage of having one more person.
“Eight against seven! The red Brown Bear still has the advantage! No, it’s nine against seven!” The announcer exclaimed, seeing Asker carrying his greatsword and bravely breaking into the blue team from behind, his greatsword swinging like a whirlwind, Moon Slash!
“Frankish war technique.” Michael commented in the box. “Violent, but clumsy, not difficult to dodge.”
Sure enough, the surrounding blue gladiators were all startled and dodged to the sides. Asker’s Moon Slash missed, but it successfully disrupted the blue team’s formation, so much so that the red gladiators immediately seized this opportunity and isolated and divided the scattered blue gladiators.
This guy! Theotis was both angry and surprised. He didn’t expect this new recruit to be able to counterattack two opponents unscathed, and even flank and disrupt the blue team’s formation, which was equivalent to stealing the limelight of the entire team.
Just as he was feeling angry and surprised, he saw the blue team leader, “Polar Bear,” suddenly sidestep and intercept Asker, who was trying to continue disrupting the formation.
This guy was using a two-handed warhammer, a blunt weapon even more ferocious than a two-handed greatsword. With one swing, he smashed it down.
Asker sidestepped to avoid it, holding his sword horizontally and thrusting. “Polar Bear” blocked with the handle of his warhammer horizontally. With a “ding,” the greatsword slid off his handle and stabbed straight at his eyes.
“Polar Bear” hurriedly retreated. Asker had already retracted his sword and raised it high, a small jump forward followed by a downward slash with both hands holding the sword.
“Lion’s Fang Jump Slash?” Michael looked solemn. “No, it’s Mountain Splitter! Holy Roman swordsmanship, Mountain Splitter!”
The greatsword slashed down on the handle of the warhammer. ‘Polar Bear’ only felt an overwhelming force on it, almost crushing his spine.
He struggled to support and block upwards with both arms. The force on the hammer handle suddenly sank again, almost tearing his tiger’s mouth.
It sank again, and the entire warhammer handle snapped in two with a “rip.” The greatsword had already cut through his right clavicle, disabling his entire right arm.
The next second, a cold feeling slid across his neck, his vision flipped upside down, and his consciousness quickly fell into darkness.
Beheaded.
“This…” The Kingsguard officers in the box were speechless. After a long time, someone finally spoke:
“It’s the Triple Mountain Splitter… This guy, is he good at our Solomon swordsmanship, or Frankish swordsmanship?”
“For a two-handed greatsword, Frankish swordsmanship is indeed more suitable.” Michael said lightly, standing up. “No need to watch anymore, this gladiatorial fight is over.”
“Polar Bear’s” head rolled on the ground a few times. On his face, covered in blood and dust, there was still a painful expression of disbelief.
The beheading of the blue team leader instantly ignited the passion in the stands. For a while, even the citizens who had bet on the blue team’s victory stood up enthusiastically, clapping their hands on the chairs in front of them like crazy, hoarsely shouting for Asker, the gladiatorial hero.
Taking advantage of the blue team being divided and at a disadvantage, the red gladiators cooperated and killed two more people. The remaining four blue gladiators could only quickly drop their weapons and kneel on the ground, expressing their surrender.
“The winner of this gladiatorial fight is!” The announcer shouted with all his might. “The red team! Victory belongs to this newly joined red gladiator! Our new God of War, Heracles! Well, I think he’ll soon have a more resounding nickname. Cheer for this wonderful victory, citizens of Constantinople!”
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