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«Oh, old man, shut up! These are ruthless Demons, but he is a thousand times stronger than them! They killed my family, I must win this challenge! Please, you who defeated the Rakshasa, save us!» an Egyptian said.
They both held his arm and Damian saw a red symbol engraved on their skin.
«Who are you? Who marked you with this symbol?» Damian asked.
«We are Ninith and Nunath, we come from Egypt. What you see is the Symbol of Naav. We were marked by the demons that work for the Pharaoh. We are all victims of his power! He is a necromancer who speaks with the hell, his creatures have exterminated our people. Allow me to fight this challenge with you, so one day I will take my revenge!» Ninith, the slimmer one, said.
«The Egypt is under the rule of Pharaoh, we escaped but the Romans captured us. There are pacts between the Emperor and the Pharaoh, which is why we first became slaves and then gladiators» the lowest of the two Nunaths said while that red symbol lit up and gave off energy.
It was formed by a curved line that goes up and down, with a concavity first down and then to the up. In the first concavity there was an Ankh, while in the second an Eye of Horus.
«As long as Pharaoh Naav is alive, the symbol will beat and sooner or later he will find us! He will always know where to look for us, we cannot escape him. His mark will disappear only when he will be dead!» Ninith explained.
«Stop talking! I, the invincible pirate Zhen, will win my fiftieth naval battle! Now go to work! You Blonde, who are at the stern, move those arms! You Scarred, use the spears in the bow and you two whiners, use the bows! Be men! You win and you don’t die!» the Old man silenced them.
«Diosmed pandered to this old fool! We will win for our own good and if we win, we will come with you in Egypt!» Damian said full of energy, he was ready to fight against the demonic beasts.
«What do you say Damian! We must defeat the Emperor!» Diosmed replied to Damian, then he spoke to the pirate: «Old Zhen we can win only if we find the blue sphere!»
Diosmed was about to lose his temper, only those who would have recovered the blue sphere from the bottom would have won and ended the second challenge of the Hundred Men Tournament.
Meanwhile the waters trembled, the demons were about to reach their boat. They were two red-colored sharks, three meters long, which with their fins cut through the water.
«Diosmed they are arriving! What do we do?» Damian asked.
«Sharks in these waters? What sorcery did the Emperor use? They live in the sea, but this water comes from the Tiberis river! Whiners shoot the darts! Scarred, the two of us will hit them with spears! Blonde uses the sword!» Zhen gave the orders and the young men obeyed.
The first demonic shark jumped out of the water, was ready to lash out at Diosmed. The two Egyptians launched darts which unfortunately were destroyed upon contact with him. The shark opened its mouth and its three rows of black teeth were ready to bite Diosmed. His three red demonic eyes shone brightly. The shark was large in size and also had a great strength compared to its similar animals. Zhen took a spear and hit the shark in one eye just when he was slinging himself onto the boat and onto Diosmed. The shark jumped over the boat and fell back into the water. He died in agony and the other demons perceived his suffering, then quickly disappeared in the form of a black smoke.
«Did you like it? A real seaman doesn’t get scared for so little!» Zhen exulted, then laughed.
«Zhen, whoever you are, thank you! Help us to win!» Damian said amazed.
The old man nodded and continued to laugh, while the other shark went out.
On another boat, a man covered by a black cloak, which made impossible to see his face, was in the center of the boat, right next to the mast. The other four men on board were in their oarsman’s position. Suddenly the two sea serpents came out of the water again. The men froze, then threw darts and spears against them without success, the weapons were destroyed by their hard skin. The snakes attacked together, one bit a man, the other swallowed a whole. Two men tried to save their friends, but the Demon Snakes killed them easily. Remain alive only the mysterious man, impassive and immobile. The reptiles rushed at him, one attacked from the right and the other from the left. The man had his arms folded and his fists crossed on his chest, he released a huge yellow energy that enveloped his whole body. He hit the two snakes with his powerful fists to the head, simply opening his arms. Those beings fell lifeless and full of bleeding wounds in the water, generating waves in the arena, after which they both disappeared into nothingness in the form of black smoke. It was an unexpected event for both the public and both Damian, who was deeply impressed by that mystery man and his incredible strength.
«Who is that man, Diosmed?» asked to his friend.
«An immensely powerful man, he has been here for long time. He does not often participate in events in the arena and has a great power. The Emperor does not allow him to leave this place. Like me, anyway» Diosmed replied.
The water of the arena was connected to the roman aqueduct that withdrew the water from the Tiber. The river flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea and thanks to this connection, many strange sea creatures came from the sea.
«Ladies and gentlemen, it is a breathtaking sight! In a short time the number of participants has been reduced to fourteen and four ships. The show is still going on, something of spectacular will happen for sure!» the presenter urged.
Diosmed gave orders to move the boat towards the west of the arena, so as to avoid contact with Igor and his henchmen. With their dirty wits, Igor’s men had succeeded in making their arrows on fire, using strange seals inscribed on the darts. It was a black fire this time, very dark, born from a demonic power. They threw arrows at an enemy boat and it only took one to ignite it completely. Prisoners of the black flames, the men on board tried to escape by jumping into the water and this marked their end. Many gladiators were unable to swim, they were used to fighting in the arena with its own weapons and staying on dry land. In the water they became prey of demonic creatures like when a gnat succumbs to a frog’s tongue. Those boats were not even resistant, they were designed precisely to destroy themselves at the slightest damage. So, another boat with its men sank.
Damian tried to figure out how the Emperor had led those demons into the arena. He turned his eyes to Constantine, who was pleased with his work. The evil and wicked demon enclosed in the human shell had devised something evil.
«Nine men left! No one who has the courage to dive!» Gravis, that strange presenter who flaunted and rejoiced in the bad luck of others, said as if he had made something out of the death of the gladiators. He was a fat man, with a silver helmet and a golden breastplate on. He screamed at the top of his lungs as he was surrounded by women who served him exotic fruits during his short breaks.
For a moment everybody were still, even that chubby man subsided.
«Stay calm, boys. Don’t move, stand still!» Diosmed admonished his companions.
The arena began to tremble and even the sea demons were afraid. They immersed themselves in the waters to escape the imminent danger.
«It’s like that time, we’ll all die!» Nunath said, crying.
Those tears were emphasized on his dark complexion. Both were very thin, it was immediately clear that they had been hungry for a long time.
«Do not Cry. Whatever happens, we’ll be here to protect you!» Damian said.
The water trembled, some spherical waves propagated on the surface. It began to tremble even harder and suddenly appeared a vortex that rotated counterclockwise, right in the center of the arena. The sky became dark, with thunders and lightning. A gloomy storm was coming, but the real culprit was a creature from the depth of water. That huge beast came out of the water, taking everyone by surprise. It was a monster with legs similar to those of a crocodile, but longer. He had a body similar to a sea serpent, a long tail with a pointed end and enormous wings similar to those of a bat. He was all black, with demonic yellow
eyes and two red horns on his head shaped like a dragon and a snake. He had ears and sharp teeth like those of a dragon. Instead the nose, the eyes, the scales and the forked tongue were similar to those of a snake. The whole body was covered with awfully hard rhombus-shaped scales. He had a yellow mane that ran all over his back. With his large body, he could have filled the whole arena. The part of the beast that frightened everyone most was his wicked-eyed face.
«He has the head of a Dragon!» Damian said, shocked by the sight of that creature.
The crowd remained impassive for the effect of the emperor’s servants. Thanks to a strange spell, the audience remained still and silent. They were hypnotized, almost lifeless. The same fate fell to Gravis.
The beast raged on crocodiles and sharks, with its claws it chopped them one by one.
«Who is this monster? Who invoked him?» Diosmed asked.
The Emperor grinned, looked at them and spoke to them: «Now show me your power, none of you will be able to defeat him!» and sat on his throne, hoping to enjoy the show.
«That’s not a simple beast. It’s a real demon! He is the “Leviathan”» the old Zhen said.
The Leviathan, with its yellow eyes stopped the flow of the water of the arena. The boats were stationary and the competitors were forced to descend. The water was still, almost as if it were frozen and for this they could walk on it. It did not sink into the abyss, but rather it was like being on dry land that this time had the light blue color.
«Stay behind me!», Diosmed said to his companions, «Damian, only you can stop him! Only you have the power for win! I’m a demon slayer, but all this is beyond my limits!»
The two Egyptians fired arrows at the Leviathan. They had no effect and the monster focused on them. So, Damian and Diosmed quickly decided to devise a strategy. The Egyptians should have positioned themselves on either side of the beast to distract him. The other participants watched, the man in the black cloak remained in the boat. It seemed that the beast had no effect on him. He wasn’t afraid, he was sitting there waiting. Igor and his fellows, on the other hand, did not have the courage to act.
The Leviathan began firing bursts of water from the mouth. Damian and the others avoided them, while some of them reached the public and killed dozens of people. Everyone was still hypnotized, except the old plebeian who, when she returned to her place and saw that monster, with a cough lost her last teeth and so a third cough would no longer bother her. She fainted shortly thereafter for the enormous fright.
The Colosseum suffered from those attacks, an area of the upper part shattered into a thousand pieces. The man with mantle was northwest of the monster. When the jet of water came against him, he diverted his path with his right hand. Igor and his companions ran away to the south-west, running away as if they had seen death in their own eyes.
The Leviathan, with his yellow eyes, stared at Damian and his friends who were south of the center of the arena. The two Egyptians began to run quickly and positioned themselves one in the north and one in the east respect to the Demon Snake that was in the middle. From the water the head, part of the body, the front legs and the tail came out. In the area where the monstrous being was, the water had not changed, it flowed normally.
«Let this old man accomplish the task! I’ll dive in that water opening and find the blue sphere» Zhen said bravely, taking duty of the arduous mission.
«Old man, what are you saying? The Leviathan is right there! It is madness! You would die for sure!»
Damian worried about that old man, he never wanted anyone to go to certain death.
«Boy, I’m old now. Entertain that beast and I will do mine. I will throw myself into that still immaculate pool of water. As my only favor, I ask you to keep my treasure until I return» the old pirate said.
He looked Damian in the face, laughed and then removed the first upper left molar. There was a small cavity between the three roots of the tooth. From inside he took something very small and handed it to Damian.
«This is my treasure, it opens a secret door. Perhaps you will find it one day!» Zhen said.
He had given him a green diamond with a diameter of three millimeters.
«Even if it’s such a small object, it’s really beautiful! Why do you say this? I’ll give it back to you after defeating the Leviathan! Old Zhen, we’ll cover you! Come on Diosmed, Egyptians to the attack!» Damian shouted vigorously and then put the treasure back in his black bag.
Diosmed and Damian launched themselves against the Leviathan, the Egyptians launched the darts and so, taking advantage of the situation, the old pirate threw himself into that pool of water where the Black Snake was. The aquatic demon suffered no damage from the arrows and with one paw swept the two young heroes into the air. Diosmed fell to his feet and ran again against the demon. He looked into his eyes and threw his Dragalòs, wrapped in a green energy, against the enemy and the sword cut off his right horn. The beast went on a rampage, uttered strange sounds, left the pool, where it had been until then, and crawled on that water platform. It was an unusual behavior for a sea creature. He was huge, ten meters high and thirty meters long. He was a sea dragon snake with incredible strength. He used his front and back legs and wings to move on that artificial blue earth.
«We need to get as far away from that pool as possible. It is his source of life and if we deprive him of this the victory will be ours!» Diosmed suggested.
«Let’s hope the old man succeeds, I see it hard» Damian replied.
Diosmed began to run towards the northeast, compared to the pool of water. The beast released the demonic black energy and other legs came out of its body, thus having a total of two front legs, two rear legs and eight in the central part. He stopped flapping his wings and started to move quickly using his long limbs. With his size he filled most of the arena. Shaking his tail, shaped like an arrowhead, he created a jet of water wrapped in a whirlwind of air that hurled the man with the mantle and Igor along with his cronies, so high that they reached the stands. The mysterious man fell to his feet, while the others nearly avoided making a bad end on those marble steps, where hypnotized people were not aware of the show.
That great demon ran in the direction of Diosmed and Damian, who had just risen from the ground, understood his intentions and decided to run after him and so with a jump he came to the monster’s tail. The Leviathan waved his tail and hurled him against the walls of the arena, north of the pool of water. The impact caused a chasm in the structure and Damian, due to the strong impact, fainted at the moment.
«Damian nooo!» Diosmed shouted at the sight of his friend defeated by the beast.
The two Egyptians still continued to throw their darts at the enemy. The Leviathan with the claws attacked Diosmed who defended himself with the Dragalòs. Despite this, the Leviathan because he had other legs was able to hurt him in the back. The young man screamed so loudly that awoke Damian from fainting. The young blond boy slowly got to his feet, then took the Dragon’s Claw from the bag and started running towards the beast. When he was near a leg of the demon, with all his strength, using his left hand this time, he cut off a limb of the enemy. Black blood came out of the wound, then the stump disappeared and a scar appeared on the Dragon-Snake’s body. The Leviathan felt a terrible pain and this increased his anger even more.
«Shraooou!» the wounded beast cried. He threw himself against Diosmed, opened his jaws and swallowed the young man in one piece.
«Diosmed! Nooo! Beast you will die by my hand! You’ll be crawling back into the Hell!»
Damian took the broken horn from the ground with his right hand, while with his left he held the black dagger. A faint dark energy enveloped his whole left arm and when he was face to face with the creature he flung himself against him and with both his arms speared the neck of the Leviathan. Black blood descended from the wound like a waterfall. Damian’s great dark power mortally wounded the Dragon-Snake demon. First he staggered, then with a desperate gesture
tried to attack Damian, but he fell to the ground and damaged part of the arena.
«Diosmed! Reply! Please!» Damian shouted desperately.
«I’m here! Cut the abdomen of the beast, soon!» Diosmed replied.
Damian, using the knife, slit the belly of the demon horizontally, right where the Diosmed’s voice came from. The black blood gushed from the body and Diosmed, wrapped in a green slime, get out of Leviathan’s stomach. Both shook their hands.
«Thanks Damian!» the friend said.
«Now you must cleanse yourself of this rot!» Damian recommended him and then they laughed together.
«Wrhaaa!» the demonic beast said.
The Leviathan tried to get back on his feet, his verse was so strong that the arena shook. Damian looked at the Emperor and to his amazement noticed that he was panting and that his eyes had become completely yellow as the beast.
«Diosmed, the Emperor is connected to the Leviathan. He must have summoned it!» Damian said.
«Well, it means that we will also indirectly hit the Emperor. We have to give him the final blow! Come together! To the attack!» Diosmed shouted. L
Diosmed with the Dragalòs cut the right front leg to the Leviathan, who tried in vain to wound him with his claws. Damian with the Dragon’s Claw struck him this time right in the middle of the head, shaped like a sea snake mixed with that of a dragon. The demon’s lifeless body fell on the arena like a falling dead body. The Leviathan had finally been defeated and his yellow eyes were extinguished forever. The black of his features no longer frightened anyone, but his Demonic Blood intrigued Damian and the mysteries about the Demons and his dagger grew thicker.
«Where did the Emperor go?» Diosmed asked.
Damian turned his eyes right to the stone bench and he too noticed that the Emperor was no longer in his place but was even closer to the arena.