After regaining consciousness for a few seconds, Rey was able to realize he was inside what looked like a glass coffin, bound at the arms and legs like a mummy, with a muzzle over his mouth and a bandage partially covering his eyes. Since the wrappings didn't block his sight completely, he could see he was being transported on a strange wheeled cargo vehicle alongside his brothers, as well as Román, Lía, Marín, and the pink-haired girl, all of them in the same condition.
"Román?! Don't make me laugh…" Rey thought to himself, while constantly checking his chakras and drawing conclusions in his head. "Dante doesn't smell like human blood… he didn't even get a chance to fight. Jhades, on the other hand, smells like he's been playing with his food a lot. That pink-haired girl must be the reason, if I'm not mistaken. You calculated everything perfectly; I have to give you credit. What intrigues me is that now you intend to be a prisoner. After all, is this part of your plan? Are you a double agent? It makes sense, though the outcome of this scenario hasn't been fully decided."
"Target awake!" one of the soldiers warned, shouting. "Code red! I repeat, code red!"
Startled, those present stepped back on pure reflex. The ones responsible for dealing with code red took control of the machine that administered sedative, and scanning through the options, they delivered a direct push of the set amount that was supposed to be given in a given situation.
"The mission is to capture him alive. A second dose like that could possibly kill him," another of those present added.
The sound of a gunshot flooded the place.
"I don't want anyone worrying or showing sympathy for a beast like that," the subjugator asserted through clenched teeth. "I've said it already and I'm not repeating myself. Whether you're a slave or live like Gilgamesh himself, as long as you're human, your end will be the same. You'll suffer for eternity in hell. We don't need the little life we're allowed to be another hell!"
After hearing the man's words, Rey felt he couldn't keep holding on to his mind's consciousness and fell back into what was like a dream.
Without much commotion, happy to recover the sensation he'd lost in his lower limbs, Rey opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling of an old cell. His brothers, Román, Lía, and three other individuals were around him. He sat up only to be met by the doctor's warm embrace; she looked worried and utterly distraught over how long he'd stayed asleep. Affectionately, he returned the hug to the girl he'd promised to listen to and protect no matter what.
"You have no idea how much I had to hold back from waking you up with a few kicks," Dante said, in a defiant tone—one he loved to use whenever he wanted to puff up his presence so he'd be accepted by whoever was looking at him.
With a single glance and his werewolf brother's behavior, Rey was able to infer that the black-haired girl pressed against Dante's body had managed to win him over. Jhades's case, however, wasn't so obvious: he was taking off the clothes of the girl with him to cover the floor where he sat, while she remained naked and tried to cover herself with her hands, all while pressing herself as close as she could to the vampire without touching him.
"My congratulations," Rey said ironically, looking at Román.
"What are you talking about?" Dante asked, having no idea.
"I have to admit I let my guard down and overlooked the possibility that my movements were being controlled, but him?" Jhades replied, bitterness in his words, as he understood his hybrid brother's irony toward the elderly man.
"Controlled?" Marín asked, offended that they would call her mentor into question.
"He can answer that question," Rey said, confidence in his words, focused on watching the older man.
"I wouldn't call it 'controlled.' It was more of a trap. My strategy was to make you less savage and pair you off, with the intention of constructive improvement for the individuals I'm responsible for. Us being here is something I didn't plan would happen so quickly."
"In other words, make us civilized and more vulnerable," Lía replied, offended at being used—and that Rey was in such a state because of her.
Daniela lowered her head in a sign of accepting the situation, while Marín tried to argue in Román's defense but couldn't find anything to say.
"If they'd separated us," Jhades said, looking at Dante, trying to make him understand, "this place would be coming down. However, we can't risk doing things without thinking, because the ones with us will suffer the consequences—and not us."
Jhades spoke as if he were including himself among the group of 'normal' individuals when, evidently, the expressions in his body language said he wasn't attached to the girl at his side at all. It was just that the vampire wasn't willing to do more than what was required of him.
"Exactly," Rey affirmed, agreeing with the words of his blue-eyed brother. "Now, Heliúk, could you stop hiding your face and tell us what you know."
Those present turned their eyes toward the other side of the cell—except Dante, who wondered why Rey wasn't attacking Román if he was a traitor.
From the darkness, a voice made itself heard. It was the third individual:
"We're grouped up too, because it's one of the requirements to be able to fight other groups… in the coliseum arena."
Lying on the floor was a body full of laments and anguish, though his legs were crudely stabilized with bandages and the occasional wooden splint. The ex-subjugator didn't have the courage to follow Rey's words. Limping and enduring the pain, he stopped hiding his face and even moved closer to where the dim light was so the others could see him—those who, up to that moment, had left him alone.
The brothers, the vampire woman, and the she-wolf showed a genuine expression of disgust on their faces at the man's presence, the one they remembered for having caused an uproar.
"Heliúk?!" Lía asked, unable to believe what she was seeing. "But how?"
Rey turned his gaze back to Heliúk.
"It's hard to believe a subjugator would end up rotting in these cells, alongside people he had the chance to abuse," said the man, who had been stripped of the extravagant clothes he used to wear. "It's what I deserve, and now that I have nothing—how ironic is it, right?"
Jhades and Dante exchanged looks. They felt distrust and didn't understand what purpose a human could have inside a cell crammed with those who weren't of his species.
"I don't think we should trust him," Dante said, pulling his gaze away from Román. "Have you noticed yet? He's carrying that cold, unmistakable smell of metal sharpened by humans."
Heliúk reacted to the comment. Even though the werewolf had spoken figuratively, he understood his sense of smell had picked up the weapon on him, so, out of sheer need to survive, he threw a few desperate words into the air:
"If that were the case, I could've taken advantage while you were still asleep."
"Don't be impertinent, you tiny, insignificant 'human,'" Dante growled through clenched teeth. "You're going to deny that the doubt—whether you'd wake up or die to a knife—wasn't eating you alive?"
Heliúk confirmed the werewolf's accusations. He found the necessary courage to speak, trying to keep his voice from trembling, and continued:
"Just like the uncertainty was eating at me—of not knowing whether you'd devour me alive when you woke up, like the hungry beasts you are."
Rey could smell something distinctive—panic and insecurity—from the body that was getting up on broken legs. Of course, it wouldn't hurt his two brothers to eat meat and drink human blood; it would also speed up the recovery process triggered by the poisonous gas. To prevent an unjustified bloodshed, the young hybrid decided to intervene. In a calm voice, and with those sharp, wary eyes, he announced:
"I understand that, as the 'being' you are, you can't change your nature or your past, but you can change how you act depending on the circumstances. I recognize that, in this situation, the desire not to die is forcing you to make the decision you think is right. Even so, regardless of whether Lía might forgive you someday, my trust is something you earn—and I don't think my brothers' is any different. Every time you have to make a decision, patiently I'll be stalking you from the darkness, waiting for you to slip up… and in that moment, you'll pay the price with your life, because for you there won't be a second chance."
"I'm asking for his legs, arms, and head. Like the beast I am, of course," Dante announced, baring his teeth with a wicked grin.
"I still haven't tasted a human's blood—your mistake will be welcome," Jhades added, who was clearly lying and, for some reason, needed to.
The cherub-descended girl, the hybrid, and Román could all detect the vampire's lies.
Heliúk's feet trembled so violently that, if it weren't for the stabilizing splints keeping him in place, he would've collapsed to the floor under the intimidating scenario unfolding before him. But the human wasn't the only one. Daniela, who still didn't know Rey, was also frightened by his attitude and the razor-edged tone he projected.
"I promise," Heliúk said, thinking of his most recent mistake, "not to cause trouble."
Rey lifted his right eyebrow at the remark. He snapped his fingers and used his energy to deliver a blessing meant to strengthen the human body so it could perform better.
"Only someone with the power to win doesn't need to run. You can be reckless and persistent as long as you don't mind meeting death, but my best advice…" Rey raised his index finger. "…is that you run if you think you can't win, and you fight if you have no other choice."
"Definitely," Jhades said, agreeing with Rey's words.
Heliúk was left stunned; he hadn't expected a response like that from a beast with so much power. That an uncivilized creature would choose the preservation of existence didn't make him look as fearful and deplorable as they painted him—at least not the way his father had been, Gilgamesh.
Feeling contaminated for being in the presence of a non-human, Heliúk looked down at his hands. In a way, the fact that humans feared ending up infected wasn't so bad. He felt good—like they could have more tolerance for pain, be stronger, rehabilitated.
Dante crossed his arms and nodded at his hybrid brother's words, then added:
"So when are we getting out of here? Or do we have no choice but to fight."
"Now that our group has even more members, escaping isn't an option," Rey replied. "From what I could sense as I was going under, on this moon you call sun there live two entities we need to worry about. Although one might only have a third of the power our parents and masters have, the second is as strong as they are."
Both Jhades and Dante seemed pleased with the estimate of the enemy's power.
Daniela dared to speak for the first time. "Gilgamesh?!" she added, unable to believe the others' parents were that strong.
"No," Rey replied, directing his gaze at Román. "Gilgamesh is only one third that strong. The most fearsome entity of all is him."
No one could believe it. How could they believe something they couldn't feel? Not even Dante—he rose from his seat, ready to prove his brother wrong, but the older man's look stopped him in place as if he'd been paralyzed. Trying to play it off, the werewolf added:
"If we tear apart that 'Gilgamesh,' does that make us leaders?!" he said, trying to treat that hypothetical as if it were certain.
"Not exactly," Jhades replied thoughtfully, which made his werewolf brother angry.
"Humans won't be willing to follow you just because you defeat their leader," Marín replied, intending to show she knew what she was talking about—and also to calm her beloved.
"But those who aren't human will," Román added. "That's why I'm here with you."
"You're lying," Rey said. "You're strong, but you carry the curse of a sorcerer. Your immortal life is being consumed by a chilling entity, and you definitely won't fight or lift a finger, because it would mean shortening your life drastically."
"That too…" Román replied, with a bright smile and a confident look.
Those present exchanged glances. The man had several valid points and had declared himself a non-enemy, which eased the other two 'fallen from the sky.'
Marín and Lía felt a weight lift from their shoulders when they saw that, so far, Román's actions weren't wrong—even if he worked directly for Gilgamesh. From there, they concluded that those who weren't human—the slaves, the properties, and the damares who had been saved from the temple, everyone who remained—could unite, rise up, and fight against the tyrannical regime imposed by the sovereign of humans.
On the other hand, Rey paid particular attention to the older man's remark. Thanks to him, he had found the ideal situation for love, attachment, and feelings of ownership toward the vampire woman to be born; then Román could encourage a convenient situation for him to be a leader. Rey didn't trust that he was acting on his own, but that he was being used by someone else for someone else's benefit. After all, that scenario felt very familiar to him.
Following the course that had been prepared for him was tempting, but it had consequences. They could fall prisoner to radiant, new flames, like a moth dazzled into flying toward the light of a bonfire. Of that, the small hybrid was sure. Among the many books he'd read, one stood out: the weak didn't realize that power can crush them, if they have it. But Rey wondered whether they were truly forced to succumb to the overwhelming power represented by a government's control.
"Getting a partner, getting married, having children, and making it to the end of my days—that's the ideal life I long for, and I discovered it when I connected with Lía in bed," Rey told himself. "What kind of life could I expect if, from one moment to the next, I ended up as the leader of this moon? No, that can't be the case. Conquering the ruins of a civilization is the same as ruling over the ashes of a forest. Winning a war isn't synonymous with preserving peace… in a confrontation I have little to protect compared to Gilgamesh, who has this whole moon."
Román, who had always been left behind by the magnificent empire Gilgamesh had built, could tell his comment had struck one or two sensitive chords inside the young "Rey, destined not to be." Defiantly, he lit up his face with an immense smile, because another person's ambition was not something to be underestimated.
Rey answered that smile with a deep breath and a calm gaze.
"What do you know that I don't?" Rey whispered into the air—a question Román pointedly ignored.
After all, for the person considered the enemy leader's "right hand" to feel safer surrounded by the others than by Gilgamesh himself, he had to be plotting something.
Meanwhile, Lía felt anguish clamp down on her stomach when she saw the direction the course of actions Román had set in motion was taking. The inevitable clash between Rey and Gilgamesh couldn't be avoided, even if it was really between someone sick from humanity's poison and an individual sick from the glory of having lived an eternity of undefeated battles. A human who, so as not to fear pain, suffered everything and overcame everything just to avoid being at death's mercy—versus someone who set love aside on his path and, stripped of any vulnerability, embarked on the search for wisdom. So much so that he came to be called "hero" and "antihero" at the same time. He reaped one victory after another, even against the gods themselves, which brought him even greater troubles.
"Against a man like that, nothing could possibly go well," Lía thought.
A look of concern surfaced inside the palace. Before Gilgamesh, two individuals were debating each and every prediction that might precede the event that was about to occur.
"Should we take this situation a little more seriously? There's a possibility that…" Mikk remarked, careful to avoid making his comment sound offensive to the emperor.
Gilgamesh clenched his fist and looked at the one who had spoken, finishing the sentence as if he were confirming it:
"…the situation could slip out of my hands?"
Built robustly to hide his years and appear young, the man at Gilgamesh's right wore noble garments belonging to the upper class.
After studying him closely, he knew he couldn't say yes to the question, even if he was none other than Mikk Biblio "De-Deimidio"—second in command of the royal court and direct administrator of all of Gilgamesh's money and gold. As crucial as his financial and operational role was on the moon everyone called sun—the one who kept it running, and who was also more responsible for human lives and rights than the king himself—answering a question like that in the affirmative meant being executed on the spot by decapitation.
Gilgamesh waited for the man to open his mouth, and entertained the idea of no longer restraining his impulses even if he said nothing.
"My lord," said the other individual in the hall, drawing His Majesty's attention, "broadcasting live and direct a fight against the very individual who caused the deaths of Yacer, Frederick, and Constan—the three heroes of humanity, the ones who fought in hell—would be the end of this entire empire you've created."
Gilgamesh turned his face to look at the second man who had dared to open his mouth—not to heap praise, but to be pessimistic and point out the flaws in a plan that was going so perfectly.
This man was human, but not just any human: Paul Chron "De-Neoplanet," another member of the royal court. The commander-in-chief of all the subjugators on the planet, a prodigy in the art of communication and order. A person like that had made it possible for Belldewar not to collapse—literally.
"If there were even a fly as witness in this hall, your heads would already have turned into a rain of blood," the king said arrogantly, watching the faces that had gone pale at his revelation. "The friend who revealed himself in my dream—who now is nothing more than a sickly sprout, who should even have to tie my hands behind my back to fight me on equal terms—is the one who will make my reign broader and more sovereign than ever. If this moon ends up becoming the enemy of every other human civilization that might exist in the universe, that's a small price to pay. What would happen if all of humanity declares war on this moon that shines so much—more than a sun? My soulmate and I will be able to come out victorious in battle and conquer as many worlds as we want. One moon is no longer enough for Gilgamesh; that's what I want you mortals to understand."
Both Mikk and Paul exhaled in gratitude at still being alive, and for being illuminated by the wisdom and plans Gilgamesh had devised. After all, declaring war on the rest of humanity wasn't something that could be taken lightly.
On the inner wall of the cell where the eight individuals were, a high-definition hologram appeared as a small device floated into place. Inside the holographic frames, they could see warriors killing each other or being eaten by great beasts in a massive sand-built structure.
Along with heroic music, the anthem of humanity rang out.
On the screen they saw a whole spectacle of lights, shadows, blows, blood, kisses, gunshots, tortures, farewells, humiliations, executions, recrimination, fear, executions, wars.
Disasters and ruins across different worlds. An immense palace, the walls of magnificent temples, and the emperor of all humans in his grandeur, arms crossed. Chest thrust out atop a hill of dead, like someone insulting the wind and the heavens.
"Pathetic," Dante commented, bored by watching humans slaughter one another.
When the TV program's presentation ended, the host appeared on camera. "Good evening, dear viewers! We're here to inform you that, at this very moment, a whole new roster of qualified fighters has just entered—" recorded applause and cheers sounded, as if for a magnificent spectacle—"shall we welcome them?!"
The crowd shouted euphorically at the announcement, while others burst into laughter and raised toasts into the air.
"Us," the werewolf said, recognizing among the sixteen individuals his own face and his brothers'.
"As usual, the invited team is the one that gets chosen first," the announcer continued, and then pulled the lever of a lottery machine.
On the holographic screen, the faces of those present began to appear and change until Rey's photo came up, and the host shouted loudly:
"And the star fighter of the moment is—Rey! Standing one meter fifty-three tall—can our star individual satisfy Gilgamesh's expectations, Gilgamesh who took the trouble to come all the way here? We'll find out soon enough. Meanwhile, the second group of fighters will also enter the arena—after all, 'the beast is always hungry'!"
Amid the clamor coming from the screen, the sound of the iron door that sealed the cell rang out and the bars opened. Regardless of the audio from the hologram, another voice spoke up and issued instructions specifying that only Rey could leave the place.
"Take me with you, please," Lía's anguished lips threw the words into the air. "If you die, I don't know what I'll do."
"Lía," Román said, "he's a sorcerer—he wouldn't be able to fight while worrying about you."
The vampire understood, but for a moment she'd forgotten. Of course: a sorcerer's weakest moment was when his conjurations were contaminated by feelings, because pronunciations failed or he lost focus. The reason he was there was because of her.
Dante and Jhades also stood up, intending to ignore the device's commands and march out to fight whatever they ran into, but Rey's words stopped them.
"You don't need to worry," Rey turned with one hand raised. "This is a good opportunity to see what the enemy is capable of, and we can buy a little more time to come up with a better plan."
"A better plan?" Dante asked, not understanding.
"In case our identities are revealed," Rey replied. "As brilliant as it is, this moon is nothing more than a small habitable environment created by a fraction of humanity. Even if we end Gilgamesh's life and Román comes over to our side, even if we become leaders and everything goes well—who guarantees this whole moon won't be blown to pieces with us inside it?"
"Is that even possible?" Jhades asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes," Román answered calmly, with a great deal of confidence.
The two brothers looked around and realized the three girls and Heliúk were nodding in agreement. More convinced of what could happen, it wasn't hard to imagine the time they had died as the result of an explosion caused by a single individual. Add to that the drastic laws humanity had imposed, and their hybrid brother's words made even more sense.
Rey, accepting the understanding looks, went on walking after saying goodbye to Lía, with the promise that he would return.
At the end of the corridor, two great iron doors swung open and a dazzling light burst forth, accompanied by a rain of applause and screams. Rey kept walking, head held high, until he stepped into the middle of the stadium. He looked toward the walls and then expelled a great amount of power outward from his body, which made the storm of clapping, shouting, and comments cease.
The bettors lit a flame of hope in their eyes, and the smug ones wore smiles as they signaled to triple their wagers. The crowd was made up of fragile humans and many who were ignorant of who stood before them. Even so, they weren't afraid—this wasn't the first time they'd presented a spectacle of wild animals fighting each other. And as if that weren't enough, the game of the moment had been attended by Gilgamesh himself: the most historic sovereign and god of humans. The forgotten first hero and monster-slayer, the one who set out to create a kingdom so vast, luxuriant, and advanced that none like it had ever been seen—he, who rose before his throne and prepared to speak.
Rey noticed how the silence turned sepulchral at the sight of the man on the highest balcony. He was muscular, tall, and dressed in arrogant finery.
"Rejoice in the pleasure of seeing me here today," Gilgamesh said, opening his hands as if expecting to receive a warm embrace from a longed-for friend. Gilgamesh announced, "Truly, it's a special moment—and to prove it, I will take part in today's grand finale. There will be only one winner, and as you know, before me the weak must die as an unavoidable fate, while the strong may accompany me in this life."
After closing his hands, Gilgamesh sat comfortably on the throne and watched arrogantly the one he regarded as his future best friend.
Rey held his gaze with defiant eyes, like a beast with rage burning in them. He was ready to leap, to cry out, and to go after the one who dared to corner him. With his powers he made night fall, so that no one would be safe from being swallowed by the darkness.
"I have to kill Gilgamesh. Now that I see him, no one will be safe until he's dead," Rey told himself, remembering how Román—the most dangerous man in the entire place—had sat across from him and, despite manipulating the situation, treated him as an equal, while the emperor and sovereign of that world made himself look superior.
Rey had thought he would go to the palace to seek him out and face him, make the subjugators' troops clash with the slaves, and find an opportunity to stage a coup. Since no sensible ruler was known for looking for a fight—"Unless he knew he'd gain something from it. Maybe Gilgamesh has reasons to be arrogant, and if that's true, this isn't going to end pleasantly."
"'The weak must die as an unavoidable fate,'" Rey recalled cautiously, remembering the emperor's words—words that perhaps meant he knew more about the situation than Rey had thought. "'While the strong may accompany me in this life.' That means if I'm strong, I can accompany him… an alliance? Of course. If I can prove I'm strong enough and capable of swearing loyalty, he'd have no problem accepting me. That explains why my brothers and I are still alive—because this man, with a smile on his face and a calm expression, doesn't mind meeting my eyes. He wants to make me understand I'm at his mercy and show me his power… which makes him even more irritating."
Suddenly, the young hybrid's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of another door opening on the opposite side of the arena. Unlike Rey, these people with familiar faces were forced out by what looked like bionic humans holding electrified spears in their hands.
Akai's face and those of his friends screamed that they'd lost the will to go on living. Except for the leader and the girl who accompanied him, the rest couldn't stand up straight, much less hold a sword or a shield properly.
Rey could understand what Gilgamesh had said about the weak, but he couldn't believe it. With a furious face, he directed his sharp eyes toward the man seated on his throne. The crowd kept talking; the other humans commented on the situation, and the announcer spoke the names and backgrounds of the new participants. However, after stabilizing his own energy as much as he could, Rey felt an intimidating presence from beneath the arena floor where he stood, which made him jump back to create distance.
The group of revolutionaries stopped, paying particular attention to the movements of the young man they had also recognized. At first they didn't understand why he had reacted that way, but the answer revealed itself when the surface supporting them began to shake uncontrollably. Confused and overwhelmed by doubts about what would happen, the group watched as cracks in the ground widened more and more as the tremors intensified.
The excited crowd could predict that the hungry beast mentioned at the beginning would come out from there. Their expectations were met: accompanied by ominous music coming from the coliseum, an enormous black beast emerged, red-eyed, with huge pincers and a stinger at the end of its tail.
"You already know it. With a terrible romantic story that, upon dying, left behind its memories—now turned into Gengér! The beast appears, it makes its presence known," the announcer continued. "Protect your loved ones, get to safety—this monster gifted with an exoskeleton, whose immunity, limitless growth, and strength increase as the evil inside it grows, has an immense appetite. At night it stalks through fog and darkness, wreaks havoc and destroys buildings. It sets towns on fire and sinks continents. Look at its legs, the edge of its stinger, the disgusting look it has. Run, fighters! Grip your swords, raise your shields—fight and try to defeat the coliseum's nightmare!"
The spectators' chaotic screams came crashing down.
The host, who had just finished naming all the participants, waited for the applause to die down a little before continuing with an energetic:
"Let the battle begin!"
Jhades, still inside the cell that remained open, furrowed his brow as he fixed his eyes on the screen and focused on the presence of the eight individuals who had been presented.
"How is it possible they have a restraint collar on their necks and we don't?"
"Weren't they the hope we had to free the slaves of this moon and fight against Gilgamesh?!" Lía asked desperately, making Marín and Daniela show concern.
The questions were valid, and the elderly man prepared to answer.
"If any of us here were wearing one of those collars," Román assured them in a calm voice, "except Heliúk, of course, it would activate and explode. Those artifacts are designed to detect organisms that aren't human—dangerous to humanity—and detonate instantly. To answer Lía's question, Akai probably had bad luck. What can you do."
At Román's simple answer, the vampire, anguished, felt the world closing in. There was no way to win against Gilgamesh when every plan and bit of hope that had been built little by little was already collapsing. And she remembered she had made Rey promise he wouldn't expose himself to unnecessary dangers again—and there he was, facing a group of frail, vulnerable people, with a horrendous monster in the middle.
"Do you think it'll be enough?" Gilgamesh asked his subordinate Mikk. "Enough for him to show all his power, to reveal his eyes, so the universe can witness how great, how reckless, how formidable he is?! To honor our epic battle!"
"Yes," Mikk replied, watching his superior lift his hands from the throne where he sat and look upward as if seeking revelations.
The emperor heard the timid response confirming his thoughts and widened the smile on his face even more.
Rey, intending to do something to draw the beast's attention, opened his hands and hurled a provoking ligre's roar into the air toward the monster, which was paying more attention to the ones who were exhausted and lagging behind.
"I'm your target," Rey said from the other side of the battlefield, where all the entry doors had already been shut.
The monster stared at Rey with its fire-red eyes. At first it seemed to behave like a highly intelligent, honorable creature—as if it could understand what courtesy in battle was. But the reality was different: the way such a species saw the outside world made it act by other motives and logics, ones that weren't honor or common sense.
Cautiously, the creature stopped to observe and inspect everything around it, and until its gaze had found each of its potential prey, it didn't decide to act.
The hybrid took the beast's lack of reaction as something not very good, and Gilgamesh being within a single leap's reach didn't help him if, first, there was a group of people who could die at any moment. Lía's words still rang in his head, but unfortunately it wasn't in his nature to stand by helplessly and watch the massacre of people who, one way or another, believed in him.
To Gengér's vision, red radiated from people who acted out of love and were first on the other side of the battlefield, such as Akai and Yicel. A golden red clung to those who felt some kind of desire—like the desire to survive and win—such as Elhoy. Pisínoe carried a vivid scarlet red on her, baring fangs. Crimson belonged to another individual with little courage. Amaranth was the hue of whoever felt rage. Merlot, rebel that he was, laid bare a green that represented nature. The last members of the group, for some reason, could only radiate a grim black inside their bodies, representing hatred. The young man alone on the far side of the field, hands extended, appeared gray.
As soon as it returned its gaze to the one provoking it, Gengér—giant and daring—began moving in the opposite direction.
Panic and shock made the group of eight young people retreat at the sudden turn. The last ones slammed into the coliseum doors that had just been closed, the very doors they'd been forced through, while the first ones stayed together and Yicel stood in the middle because she was one of the only ones who could properly hold the shield she had, even as she carried the weight of the sword she'd been given.
Rey realized the creature wouldn't take his bait, so he unfurled his wings and prepared to propel himself as fast as he could. Meanwhile, the first five of the eight raised their shields to defend against the imminent attack. Akai stood out as the one with superhuman strength and other combat advantages.
So time wouldn't run out on it, the beast struck with its tail, straight toward Rey, intending to keep its distance. Then it hurried to prepare its meal—and what better way to do it than to make them hate even more, giving them the chance to generate worse feelings and, with that, paint their souls in…
"True colors!" the beast screamed, incomprehensibly.
"It's here! We're done for! We're going to die!" the ones in back shouted.
"Together! With me!" Akai bellowed, trying not to let his team's morale collapse under the others' negative comments.
"Casting an aggressive spell would pierce through it and kill the ones behind," Rey thought as he hid his wings. "My job is probably to defend—that's why it keeps them alive and cornered. I need to create distance to stabilize my chakras."
As soon as the five shields made contact with the beast's pincers, three of those present reaffirmed their colors even more from the fear and desperation they felt.
"If what the beast has is hunger," said one of the people at the back, who not only shoved his weakest companion, but, to make her fall, struck her in the head with a shield to save himself. "The great beast can eat her! Let me live!"
With someone hurt and unconscious on the ground, the group split in two, because the other two individuals plunged their swords again and again into the female body—she couldn't even scream or complain when she fell unconscious. They showed themselves as guilty beings willing to buy a little more time to search for an escape route, and as fighters who wanted to fight in order to make a difference. Even so, including the "fallen from the sky," the enemy still had to remain one.
Akai, Merlot, Pisínoe, and Elhoy felt betrayed. Their hearts tore into pieces and they cried out in anguish as, instinctively, they broke their formation to go help Yicel. At this, the other individuals couldn't stop producing hatred and contempt inside themselves, which tainted their colors, all while they watched the traitors run for their lives like cowards.
Rey's hands were tied; the monster moved as if to show it still had the ability to kill everyone with the swish of its tail or the movement of its legs.
Since the other four who were capable of fighting were helping their fallen friend, Gengér decided to take the lives of the ones who were running and had stained their souls black. As if it had calculated it, the creature leapt high and landed right on top of the three individuals it had intended to devour from the start.
For some reason, the humans in the stands took great pleasure in watching the beast devour players, because this creature brought out the worst in the spectators while it ate its victims one by one, always using the same strategy.
With the blood of four individuals staining the ground, Rey positioned himself between the beast and Akai's new location, landing ten strikes against the tail shaped like a stinger, which the enormous beast whipped from side to side. Using his sharp claws, the hybrid's attack would have been enough to decapitate ferocious beasts, but it didn't even leave scratches on Gengér's armor. As soon as he could position himself properly, after delivering a powerful kick, he broke one of Gengér's eight legs—but something wasn't right.
Ignoring its missing limb, the beast finished what it had been focused on: devouring the three bodies.
Almost instantly, the audience saw what it was waiting for. The monster increased its size, as well as the hardening of its carapace and the regeneration of the limb it had just lost. It was common knowledge that a beast like that fed on negative emotions. It consumed the most "nutritious" humans to guarantee it would grow stronger.
"It got stronger," Rey thought, remembering something he'd read in the library of knowledge, only that in the other language the name was different. "If I'm right, I can't let it keep eating and evolving." Rey analyzed the situation and tried to use the most exact amounts of energy to move and fight without hastening the harmful effect of the poison he carried inside—gnawing at his guts, rotting his blood, sickening his organs—something that destabilized his chakras and made it impossible to cast safely.
The hard-shelled beast was unbreakable, and as soon as it could, it used its gigantic pincers and moved again toward the group of five trying to protect Yicel. Akai placed himself in front, holding a shield in each hand, and took the heavy blow Gengér delivered.
The other four watched as the group's leader went flying violently over their heads and slammed into the wall from the impact.
"It got even faster," Rey told himself as he watched the monster flash past him in the blink of an eye.
On the verge of losing consciousness and bleeding from almost everywhere, the charismatic leader who had been thrown against the wall lifted his gaze toward his friends. "The ones who aren't human," he thought. "They're destroyed, hunted, annihilated—just like my family and I are. People I know, people who had contact with me, will suffer the same fate if I don't get up and make a difference."
The three boys protected Yicel with everything they had, while the beast used precise movements that seemed designed to provoke panic, fear, and chaos inside those trying to face it.
"A demon gave me the chance and I lost it when I got captured. Is the fear we humans feel really so great that we've come to this? Enjoying a spectacle where the ones who aren't human pay the highest price and justice doesn't exist for the weakest. In a world where the superspecies have caused so much harm, someone like me dreams of fixing it all—of talking before using violence. How ironic."
Behind the beast, Akai noticed that "the fallen from the sky" was watching him seriously. The creature he was willing to sell his soul to had a sharp look that reminded him of his father on the day he'd shown disappointment over the failure of his other son, who had resigned himself to being a slave, to satisfying basic needs and forgetting freedom—like a dog wagging its tail while licking the boots of royalty.
Gilgamesh widened the smile on his face, because in front of him he had something he longed for, something that breathed life into old memories—all tied to the sprouting of a hero.
"What is it that you find so interesting, Your Lordship?" Paul asked, more out of obligation than curiosity, since he knew His Majesty enjoyed those questions as an excuse to say what was on his mind in that moment.
"Call it fate, the work of the gods, or whatever you like, but 'heroes' have special abilities that govern their strengths," the sovereign of all humans replied. "Whether it's vigor, intelligence, skill, strength, endurance, faith, or even luck, those attributes shine more intensely right in front of imminent death. That's where the path to keep moving forward is born, and one way or another, they will defeat their opponent. Someone like you will never understand, but you're about to witness a miracle."
Gengér had no choice but to keep consuming in order to evolve, even if the meal wasn't prepared and the five boys still held the color they'd had from the start. Right in front of the half-open eyes of the human who had been slammed into the wall, crab-like, it extended the two small pincers that covered its mouth to take its food and swallow it.
"My insides are burning—scorching, igniting," Akai said, not referring to his broken bones or any damage his internal organs might have taken, but to a blazing flame he felt rising from his heart. "I want to act, I want to save, I can, I want… He believes in me. The blessing he gave me wasn't for nothing—it was to make me aware of my powers, and even so, I ended up trapped. Failing again isn't allowed. Maybe I can't take on Gilgamesh, but this beast, compared to him, is nothing!"
Akai returned his gaze to "the fallen from the sky" and muttered through clenched teeth:
"The fact that they believed in me makes me believe in them. This power I have roars to be used. They're weak, they're scared, they need their leader. I'm strong, I'm decided—I have what they lack. Now I have the power to fight for those who can't, to forget comfort and feel pain, so I don't lose sight of happiness… Aaah!"
After screaming with all his strength, Akai managed to get to his feet and, with the one remaining hand he still had, grabbed a sword from the ground and hurled it toward the enormous beast, which already had Pisínoe captured in its right pincer.
"I hate you, beast!" the group's leader shouted, eyes turning red from the blood streaming down. "I hate you—and all these murderers who enjoy watching a slaughter like this!"
After being struck by the sword, Gengér lifted its gaze and saw the perfect color of a human who hated from the deepest part of his guts. The emotion it was watching—and the one it would benefit most from by consuming—was right in front of it, waiting to be devoured. Not knowing how much longer it had before it would lose another leg, the beast roughly flung the girl it held in its pincer aside, leapt, and moved to devour its new, best target.
Hands open, Akai stood as straight as he could and bowed as the shadow of the gigantic beast fell over him.
"'A thousand black wolves,'" Rey announced, his hand raised.
The fallen from the sky already had his opponent's movements calculated, and he had stopped attacking physically in order to organize his energy and gather the necessary conditions. In silence, through the arts of sorcery, a powerful magic materialized—one never before seen by human eyes.
With a rain of sand, whipped up by unsettling gusts driven by a wind that sought not to be caught, a sign appeared in the space before Rey's hand: the rupture of natural logic. And with that, the air in the place thinned.
Sounds ceased. The vibrations of the walls, the stands, and the roof stopped, and the sand hung suspended in the wind, unmoving. The fantastic moment seemed to draw death in as all the mentioned factors came together to weave an innumerable quantity of strong canine teeth. Long and intimidating, they belonged to a wild animal, flesh-rending, fast as lightning—strange, terrifying, and shadowy. The heads wrinkled their muzzles and pinned back their pointed ears in fury. In the blink of an eye, three meters of solid muscle wrapped in hard, thick fur, standing two meters tall, formed countless black wolves—so solid they could have been diamonds of the same color.