A moment of silence filled the whole arena. You could hear the sound of a pin drop in the pits as well. I bet the first one to break the silence would be assaulted. No one did it though. Everyone wanted to see and hear everything in the match from start to finish. They gauged each other's true strength as they slowly approached the dead center of the arena. They had not fought before. When they locked blades, everyone gasped in unison. Then the roar of the crowd was thunderous. Even the slave pits rumbled as dust shook down at the corners. It was finally happening. 2 competitors with 9 wins each went in. Only 1 could leave as the undisputed champion. Only 1 of them could claim the right to be freed. Obviously, I was rooting for Clover. He was there to protect us when we were starting out. He also led us to victory when we were on the same team as him. Above that were 2 undisputable facts of the matter. The first was that Clover was a demi-human like us. I still feared a riot breaking out if Alvin won. Speaking of him, the second fact was I hated him. He had been totally against us.
Being that he had conspired against us before, I wanted him to lose. In my mind, he had no right to win. That did not mean anything though. It only meant that I would be angry if he did win. The best fighter was going to win. As they fought, I could tell that something was going on. Trading blows between them was to be expected. They were both great. However, it seemed that as time went on, Clover got more and more sluggish. He missed some strikes that should have been no-brainers. Clover shook his head as if he was clearing the cobwebs. That did not mean that he was not getting some good hits on against Alvin. That slash at Alvin's thigh was gruesome. There was no doubt that this was going to be a close contest. Clover then began to cough and clutch at his throat with his off-hand. Alvin tried to move in to attack, but was just parried. The force knocked back Alvin and he yelped in pain from the injury on his thigh. I thought it would be over there. However, because Clover missed another swing at Alvin's neck, the human fighter was able to execute a last-ditch diving roll to safety.
Clover tried to slice Alvin in half with a one-handed downward slash. He only nicked Alvin's foot. Missing him was the fatal mistake. With his position on the ground, Alvin clutched onto his sword. We did not have any surprise with what happened next. That blade was stabbed deep into Clover's gray undercarriage. Time seemed to stand still in that moment. Clover coughed up frothy blood and then fell onto his side. Alvin tried to get to his feet, but he could not. He collapsed on the first try. When he finally got up, Clover was still alive. Alvin took the centaur's second sword and ended the match. That was the end of that. That was just a shame. Alvin stood victorious and there was no question that he was a true gladiator champion. The lava was once again cleaned up and the master of ceremony joined him on the field. He congratulated him and asked what he was going to do now that he had his 10 wins. "The first thing I'm going to do is get cleaned up. The second is return a favor I owe in the pits and celebrate. I always repay it." he said. "Everyone, your Golden Boy." the MC responded.
It was sad when the staff came to lift Clover and carry him off the field. They were going to bury him. All of the demi-humans wanted to attend the burial. However, there was only so much space that they would allow us to take up. We all were slaves, at the end of the day. It was determined that the Cat Pack, Szicut and Clover's brother. I never knew that he had siblings. His name was Pine. We got to go too because we actually fought with him and still survived. Being a gladiator slave was a lonely road to travel. We watched as he was placed in the ground. They took more care of him that they did with Anda. Clover was a much better fighter than Anda, so it was actually really understandable on their part. Pine said some words in their native language, and he prayed for his brother. It took a bit of time, and I was surprised. I did not think that I would care so much for the death of an NPC. When the game started, I did not really think the AI was going to be so complex. Wiping some tears from my eyes, we made our way back to the slave pits. The others were all tired and went to their cells.
