The chill that came with the early morning was driven away, bringing the heat of the battle that seemed to reenact the glory era of entertainment, the fight in the coliseum.
"How do you manage to do all this? That's not even the power of an Arachne. This just makes this fight even more exciting. I think it's time for me to test this new body of mine!" The giant regenerated from the blow, his reaction as quick as his healing.
"It's none of your business! Since you can regenerate to this degree, I can use all my strength!" His skin turned into scales, and his eyes, in contrast, returned to their normal form.
Mamoru became ferocious; the snake that once enshrined him became a statue, making him one of the most agile warriors. The giant was not far behind; the dark energy he expelled took on greater form, reacting to the environment. The ground shook, and a tree seemed to move. A root shot toward Mamoru. With the instinct of a viper, he gripped it tightly, using his claws like a mole's, and cut the root, turning it into a whip. The giant then advanced on the young man, and the tree responded again with a small snort, its crown throwing leaves forward. The giant wisely used this curtain to quickly immobilize the whip.
"I'd tell you not to touch it, but if you're brave enough, you can face the consequences." Tiresias took control of the body, while Mamoru watched.
"How can an Arachne be the weaver of her own ego, of her own shadow? Would she be like actors who soil themselves with their characters and become hypocrites? I don't care; you make me happier every day."
— Don't demean me like that, I am Tiresias, one of the strongest Aix that exist! — The whip began to take on a more vibrant color, just like the fire, extremely destructive.
Tiresias took Mamoru's body, as he had with his sister, but he didn't care. He was curious what other mysteries would emerge from the serpent's slender tongue. The giant's body was engulfed in flames, causing his skin to peel, and gradually his vocal cords to snap, forcing him to shut up. This made the fight ahead of him better and more objective. Even with his body ablaze, the giant continued to strike Tiresias, his blood spilling onto the ground, mixing with the earth, forming fragments of something similar to stone, with the same texture, but easily controlled by the giant. As he bled, he created more fragments. He gathered them in his hand until he had enough to become ammunition. Then the tree moved again, and its roots joined together, forming a weapon capable of shooting the seeds nourished by its blood.
— We need to get away from him, hey Mamoru, when I try to find a chance for us to win, you take care of him, okay!
— Damn giant, how did you regenerate so quickly?
—a contract from my mother, her love. —Her body was whole again, without any bruises, just like a baby entering the world, naked.
Mamoru remained calm as the bullets came toward him. They couldn't penetrate his scales. The giant changed tactics, now retreating further and further, hiding among the treetops he had taken control of throughout the battle. His presence vanished as before. The bullets continued, and the trees murmured and leaves fell, stunning the young man, leaving an opening for attacks from the roots. Meanwhile, Tiresias tried to find a way to defeat the giant, thinking over and over, until he remembered something.
Mamoru's eyes turned golden, while his body lost its scales, leaving him vulnerable to bullets. His roots then turned into thorns, his only means of protection against them being his long claws. But while his body lost to the giant, his mind grew closer to victory...
— I think it's time to stop acting like a coward! — The giant appeared amidst the leaves, with his weapon transformed into a sword made from the bullets shot around the battlefield.
— I didn't know giants were so good at killing.
— Young man, we are the gladiators dancing in the hand of Apollo. If we are at least someone's slaves, we need to have fun.
— What do you mean, Gladiators? Slaves?
— I will tell you if you win against me, but I will win and take your thread and sewing, to make wings to escape from Apollo and bring revenge on the Giants!
The blade, dripping hot liquid with each swing, approached with powerful blows that could only be dodged, while the tree roots served as a coliseum, both its punch and its spectators. The body, slowly becoming raw, regenerated a little, while Tiresias already formulated victory. "I found a way to win, it's dangerous, but trust me, Mamoru," the sound came from the young man's mind. He quickly grasped the information given to him and reacted. He met the giant's sword, which penetrated his body. His eyes became even more snake-like.
— I won my young man, now I will be more complete! — while still holding the young man, he opened his mouth, in an abnormal way to start chewing him.
— I don't think so!— The eyes changed color, his scales strangely didn't cover the sword's encounter with him.
The young man's body began to burn, using his scales as fuel, which took the form of a fiery serpent, which quickly pierced the giant's body. Its fangs aimed for the giant's heart, where an egg surrounded by my serpent lay, which was quickly burned by the jet of fire from the serpent, causing the giant to fall to the ground.
"It was a great fight. You can take my heart, feed on it, and become stronger. Such a powerful gladiator deserves honor. It was fun; it reminded me of the era of battles against the gods."
— Hey! Don't act like an honorable villain, you're not going to die, I need to take you to Shizuko, but wait until I buy some bread, okay?
So the young man, after a battle that resembled a gladiatorial spectacle, went to buy bread and chips from his mentor. While the giant remained motionless on the ground, due to the fangs of the serpent Tiresias, Aix was the hottest of them all.