The two warriors assumed an aggressive boxing-style stance with their arms up as they began to move in a circular pattern maintaining a safe distance from one another. Both men stood over 6 feet tall, both men commanded the pinnacle of strength, both men possessed lightning-fast speed, and both men had reached the height of their respective positions within their empires.
Xenia stood silent at the front of the perimeter with a smirk on her face and her arms crossed under her chest while the thousands of Heraklinos soldiers roared, cheered, and howled for their general.
Nero was the first to stop cautiously circling. He moved forward directly towards Secutor with heavy steps and threw the first punch of the fight. His fist was powered up with an immense layer of ki which carried the strength to crumble mountains; however, Secutor met Nero’s punch with his forearms in a defensive position.
At this point in the battle, both men focused the majority of their ki over their bodies in-full for defense while only temporarily focusing heavy amounts of ki on their fist or feet for kicks and punches. The balance and concentration of where and when to focus ki was of utmost strategical importance in a battle such as this one.
Nero threw several punches which Secutor either absorbed or parried with relative ease. General Secutor remained on the defensive taking punches from Nero as they came biding his time for an opening. Secutor was content to take Nero’s punches which were attenuated due to Nero keeping his defensive ki up as well splitting his power between offense and defense.
After several moments of studying Nero’s cadence and rhythm, Secutor unleashed a single punch which drew on a portion of his defensive ki layer making it the most powerful punch of the fight thus far. He made solid contact with Nero’s lower lateral rib cage on his left side. Nero winced as he took the hit, and in that ever so slight moment of hesitation, Secutor followed up with another powerful punch right across Nero’s chin.
The punch sent Nero stumbling towards Xenia at the perimeter of the fighting arena, and he continued to stumble to catch his feet, determined not to fall to the ground in front of his empress. As he came to a stop, Xenia smiled at him and swiped her finger across his lower lip collecting the blood from his busted lip.
She then sucked the blood off her finger, “Mmmm.” She then raised her eyebrows at him, “He’s a good fighter, isn’t he?”
Nero grunted and quickly turned around stomping back towards the center of the ring where Secutor stood triumphantly having drawn first blood.
“Is the pep talk from your empress over?” Secutor couldn’t help but smile as he raised his hands once again and began to hop in place ready to continue his bout with Nero.
Nero grunted and yelled, “Savor my first blood! And I will savor your last!”
Nero continued to throw punches at a defensive Secutor who skillfully absorbed or dodged every single attack that Nero threw at him.
Secutor once again played defensively while studying Nero’s current rhythm and cadence waiting for an opportune time to strike. The dance of give and take persisted for several minutes without either warrior gaining much of an advantage until, at last, Secutor saw his opening once again.
He had been absorbing punches; however, as he noted Nero’s punch approaching, he spun to the side dodging Nero’s next attack entirely. He then followed up with a roundhouse kick powered up with at least a third of the ki he had been using for defense. The roundhouse kick made solid contact on Nero’s cheek, and the force sent his body twirling as he flew through the air.
Nero’s body collapsed with a thud at Xenia’s feet, and Secutor yelled out in a mocking tone, “Come back for more after another pep talk!”
The Heraklinos soldiers reached their rowdiest yet as soldiers kneeled down to Nero’s level on the ground howling at him like dogs and making jeering faces at him.
Xenia kneeled down slowly in front of Nero at her feet, and she raised his chin to face her. She then kissed the scrape of blood across his cheek from the impact of Secutor’s kick.
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“You’ve put on an enjoyable show for me, Nero. However…” Xenia shot her eyes right and then left at the soldiers making a ruckus around her, “I’m quite tired of hearing these dogs howl. Shut them up for me. Play time is over.”
Nero presented her with a rare smirk as he stood with her, “Yes, empress.”
He then turned around and gathered every ounce of his ki into his fists leaving his entire body exposed to attack without reinforcement of ki for defense.
Xenia stood with a slight smirk on her face as she stared down Secutor who caught her gaze and returned her smirk. She knew that Nero only grew more fierce as a battle raged on. She knew Nero wouldn’t take a fight seriously unless his opponent proved themselves to him first. Secutor, reveling in his success thus far, knew nothing of Nero’s appetizers to destruction.
Secutor faced Nero and said, “Full offense? I need but one hit to finish you now, Nero. Surely you aren’t so desperate? You’re like a rampaging bull. And the matador always wins.”
Nero raised his fists, “Not always, Secutor. And when the matador loses, it’s never pretty and its always painful.”
Secutor steeled himself. Despite his trash talk, he had a great deal of respect for Nero, and he saw Nero as a standard with which to test his strength against. To prove himself against. He assumed a fighting stance and prepared for more powerful attacks from Nero knowing that all he needed now was one window of opportunity to finish this fight.
Nero marched forth with heavy, booming steps with the slow yet unstoppable force of an engine of destruction.
Secutor raised his forearms in defense; however, Nero’s first punch met Secutor’s left forearm and completely snapped it upon impact.
Secutor didn’t panic, however. Instead, he used the pervasive shock of such an injury to counter. This was his one window of opportunity that he needed.
With his right arm, he cocked back his fist and let it fly. Halfway to his target, however, Nero took note and met Secutor’s fist with a punch of his own.
The power of Nero’s punch overwhelmed Secutor’s by at least ten-fold, and the force of Nero’s punch sent Secutor’s radius and ulna bursting through the posterior aspect of his elbow in a compound fracture. Jagged broken bone was exposed to the air on one arm, and the other arm was smashed and inoperable.
The crowd had, in an instant, gone from a thunderous roar to a deafening silence. Nero advanced towards Secutor giving him no time to recuperate or prepare.
Secutor had been previously studying Nero’s movements; however, the warrior before him now was a completely unpredictable storm of rage and brute force.
Nonetheless, Secutor launched a kick at Nero; however, Nero caught his leg with his massive hand. Nero then grabbed the leg with both hands and swung Secutor over his head and into the ground.
As Nero approached a downed Secutor, the only sound heard was the footsteps of Nero as he approached his opponent.
He bent down grabbing Secutor with both hands and raised him over his head facing Xenia. He then dropped Secutor and took a kneeling position allowing Secutor’s back to fall unabated onto Nero’s knee. A loud ‘crack’ was heard before Secutor fell to the ground, paralyzed from the neck down.
As this was a battle styled after the ancient Gladiator matches, Nero looked to Xenia for direction.
Secutor coughed up blood and looked up at Nero muttering, “So this is the power of a BloodStar Immortal. I never stood a chance, did I? Old rival.”
Nero intently looked at Xenia without allowing Sector’s musings to distract him. Xenia held out her fist, and the thousands of shocked Heraklinos soldiers waited with anticipation, bracing for the worst.
Thumbs down, he dies. Thumbs up, he lives. Yet every soldier knew the way of the BloodStar Empire.
Xenia slowly began to tilt her fist. And to the surprise of thousands, including Nero, she issued a thumbs-up.
“I promised your general I would spare the lives of all of you soldiers, and I will spare his life as well.” Xenia began to walk towards the center of the ring with her arms outstretched looking around, “I don’t see Jarek Heraklinos. So, you may all help me spend my time waiting for him.”
She walked right up to Nero and put her arm across his muscular chest smiling up at him, “Well fought, love. I never tire of seeing you fight in my name.”
She then looked down at Secutor, “And you. I told you I’d be fucking the winner. And I told you, your men could watch. And didn’t I also tell you your men would be much much more comfortable if you won. But you didn’t.”
She kneeled down beside his paralyzed body and smiled sinisterly at him, “Don’t worry. You can watch too.”
Xenia then stood and raised her arm in the air as she began to bloodbend every single soldier of the ten thousand present.
She began raising some of them into the air and laying them down on the ground side-by-side forming a square. She then continued layering bodies upwards forming a massive pyramid constructed entirely of living bodies with cries and shrieks of pain emanating from the center of the pyramid where many were undoubtedly being crushed to death from the weight of their comrades above.
Xenia laughed as she looked on at her pyramid of ten thousand soldiers, “I am not directly killing them anyways. Yes, some may suffocate, or some may be crushed to death… but that can’t be helped, can it? I need an altar to have sex upon, to be worshipped upon. Your men serve me well for this purpose, Secutor.”
Xenia then snapped her fingers and pointed to Secutor, “Take him to the top of the pyramid. I will meet you there.