Hugo walks towards the pink-haired Monk who's still playing dead on the ground. He looks at me with a sadistic smile and says:
"You told me you'd spare them, so I guess I'll have to be the one to finish them off."
"Wait, no! What are you...?"
I don't have time to finish. He lifts his foot and tries to stomp her head, so I extend a hand forwards and try to grab his leg with my magic. I can only slow him down, but it gives my first opponent enough time to roll out of the way and get back up.
The audience gasps in surprise as they realize I didn't kill my adversaries. They start booing me and cheering on Hugo to kill us all. However, he's level 100. While I might be able to manage for a bit against him, the others are too weak, and I can't go all-out against him if I have to keep an eye on them.
Normally, my plan would be to remove the brand from Hugo's body and end the fight that way. However, I can tell that the energy is flowing perfectly normally through his body. He's not branded. Is it possible that he was a willing ally of the Architect all this time? Was the brand only there as a trap?
I should have guessed. Some adventurers are willing to go to any lengths to gain more strength, they don't need their mind to be controlled to commit atrocities.
As my anger grows stronger, the pain extends to the entire right half of my face, forcing me to close my eye. I don't know what's going on, but now's not the time to get a migraine. I need to find a way to get the others out of here before dealing with Hugo. There's also a good chance that Marian and Jeremy are in danger if he told the Architect about our plan.
Interrupting my thoughts, Hugo speaks again:
"This is truly a waste, you know? I can't level up anymore, so having me kill them has no benefits. You should have taken their magic for yourself, maybe you'd stand a chance against me then."
"My goal was to save them from the start. Sacrificing them to allow me to defeat you would simply mean I've failed."
The Mage and the mature Sword Fighter also got back up, and are now facing Hugo. They don't seem willing to go down without resisting, but they wouldn't last long if I let them fight. I would like to send them out of here, but all the exits are guarded. I guess my only option is to put them in my pockets.
I start walking forward to position myself between Hugo and the other three adventurers. I move slowly as I attach invisible magic threads to the space around them.
Hugo tries to mock me:
"So now you're going to die with them while trying to protect them. Ah! That's really too bad. Someone strong enough to resist the Architect's brand has to be truly special. But orders are orders, and he needs you all dead now."
The crowd cheers as he dashes towards the other Monk. He's incredibly fast, but I immediately start pulling on the threads I created. His fist only hits air as three small spatial beads land in my hand.
"I'll be your opponent for this battle."
"So that's the spell you were going to use on us? I've never seen anything like this before. But this hardly matters, I don't mind killing you first."
His smile grows as he closes the distance between us. My right eye being closed is too big of an handicap for this fight, so I force it open again as I block his punch with my sword. As expected of a level 100 Monk, there's enough magic flowing through his fist for my blade to be unable to cut into his skin. I can tell that there isn't nearly as much in the rest of his body, however, so I just need to land a good hit anywhere else to put an end to this battle.
Hugo sees my now open right eye and seems surprised by something, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he follows up with more attacks, which I find myself having to dodge or block. He's too fast, I can't find any opening to strike back. Despite the levels I gained over the last two weeks, I'm still simply no match for a max-level adventurer. And yet, I must prevail.
I eventually manage to jump away from him, using this opportunity to launch a crystalline projectile towards him. He manages to catch in mid-flight and crush it as he closes the distance again. He's fast enough to catch my crystals, and I can tell he's not even at his limit yet. He's just playing with me.
I alter the flow of magic in my body to increase my own speed further. If I can take him by surprise, I might still have a chance.
I dash forward, aiming for a clean hit to his head. Thanks to my increased speed, he seems to move a bit slower. He's going to try to block, but he's not fast enough. My blade closes in on his head...
And then stops. Within a split second, he boosted his own speed and grabbed my arm. I'm completely at his mercy!
Without hesitating, he crushes my forearm and throws me on one of the cage walls surrounding the arena. I can feel multiple more of my bones breaking in that collision, and I fall on the sand covering the floor of the arena. My left arm is still fine, so I try to prop myself up on it, but I feel a sharp pain in my chest and cough some blood. There's too much internal damage, it'll take at least a few seconds to heal even with a spell, and at his speed...
I don't have time to finish that thought. He's already towering above me, his sadistic smile made even more terrifying by the shade cast by his body as he looks down on me.
"I would have liked to fight you at a higher level. Your powers look fun. Too bad you picked the wrong side."
He raises his foot and brings it down on my head.
As I see it approach, I feel the world slow down. The crowd is cheering all around us for my death. Jeremy and Marian are in danger. If I'm defeated here, the Architect will have free reign to keep torturing people. My rage and the power flowing through my body start burning as a thought surfaces in my mind:
Kill.
The magic flows to my head much faster than if I had willingly commanded it to. His foot slams down on it and causes it to sink into the sand, but my skull takes no damage. As he prepares for another strike, I launch my right arm forwards, despite the uncomfortable sounds the broken bones within it make, and catch his ankle. I instinctively try to crush it, and am surprised when I feel his flesh and bone surrender to the strength of my grip. He screams in surprise before jumping back, successfully breaking free.
I slowly get back up. The pain inside of my chest is unbearable, but my magic is flowing aggressively, forcing me to act. Blood flows from my mouth as I smile and look Hugo in the eyes, making it clear I don't consider this fight to be over.
As I see his disgusted face and hear the crowd cheer the loudest they've cheered so far, that thought takes over my mind again:
Kill. I must kill him. I must kill them all.
I extend my broken right arm towards my sword and call it back to my hand. Blood starts flowing from the holes my bones poked through my flesh, but I pay it no mind. I send power into the sword, causing it to ignite in red flames. It doesn't matter that my body is broken, I must kill him.
Hugo has his damaged feet raised up from the ground, but he seems ready to keep fighting.
As I take a first step forward, the pain within my leg reverberates through my whole body. But I cannot allow myself to stop here.
I take another step, causing a new wave of pain. I ignore it. The magic flowing more and more violently through my body allows me to move, no matter how broken I am.
On my third step, Hugo lunges towards me, going for a punch to my chest. With a speed that surprises even myself, I launch a sword attack against him. His fist connects with my chest and causes the few unbroken bones in it to shatter and my spine to split, but he finds himself with a sword going through his rib cage from one side to the other. If I'm not mistaken, his heart and both of his lungs are pierced.
A final wave of pain goes through my body and seemingly starts concentrating in my right eye. I feel a burning sensation around it followed by an extremely sharp pain on my forehead and cheek, followed by... nothing. The pain vanishes. I don't feel anything anymore, aside from a burning desire to kill my opponent.
Despite the sword solidly lodged into his chest, Hugo jumps back. For the first time since the battle started, he looks scared. I can hear the announcer and the crowd screaming, but I cannot understand what they're saying. My thoughts are entirely focused on this battle.
My sword is still stuck in his chest, so I jump forwards, ready to finish this fight with my fists. Hugo manages to block my first punch, but a volley of red crystals immediately appears next to my shoulder and flies into his chest, further wounding him. My second punch connects with his face, and I feel his skull cave in.
He falls on the ground, and I let myself fall on top of him. I keep hitting his head, throwing volleys of crystals at his arms whenever he tries anything to stop me. I punch, and punch, and punch, my body moving faster than it has ever moved before as blood from both of our bodies flows abundantly onto the sand under us. The entire time, a single thought keeps repeating in my mind:
Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Hugo eventually stops moving. I can tell the crowd is panicking. Some of them are even trying to get away.
I get back up and head towards the cage surrounding the arena. I punch it as hard as I can, piercing a hole through it. I then send an invisible wave of magic which marks everyone present with a sign only I will be able to see.
None of you are going to go unpunished.
As the audience gets evacuated. I stumble back to the center of the arena. The magic within me is slowing down. It's harder and harder to move my battered body.
As my thought process slowly returns to normal, I realize that staying like this is going to kill me. I collapse on the floor and use what remains of my power to cast a powerful healing spell on myself before losing consciousness.
