Julian stood in plain sight, wearing worn-out clothes and a cape. However, there was no mistaking the strength he exuded, enabling Thrax to sense his presence.
The two approached each other and stood several meters away from each other. A moment of silence passed between them.
Perhaps, the Roman standing in front of him was the only Roman he had fond feelings for, but meeting him at the moment, while surrounded by the corpses of Roman women and children was far from ideal.
As much as the Roman tried to hide it, Thrax could easily smell his anger. He stood still, waiting to see how his Roman friend would react.
But they were not exactly alone and the rebels all saw what was going on. After all, even hidden beneath the worn-out clothes, the aura of Roman arrogance was unmistakable.
One of the gladiators, a huge man with a mop of short dark hair, raised his massive sword towards Julian.
"Now, what do we have here?!" The gladiator used the tip of his bloodied blade to remove the cape covering Julian's face. "A fucking Roman!"
That loud voice alerted all the slaves. They all turned to look at Julian in pure contempt.
Without giving them the time of day, Julian looked at Thrax and raised both hands, showing he held no weapon. But his uncaring silence only stoked the anger of the gladiator, and he quickly tried to hit Julian with the back of his sword.
To everyone's surprise, it was the gladiator who got staggered and forced to drop his sword.
The other gladiators were shocked, aside from Thrax. He could tell Julian secretly used his [Stone Skin] spell. Hence, none of these people could hurt him.
"Stay your hand, Crixus!" Thrax yelled and gestured for his men to stop. "The Roman and I have things to talk about!"
"Why do you even bother talking with this Roman pig, huh!" the gladiator named Crixus spit to the ground and said, "You're lucky our leader is here to save you!"
Thrax shook his head, this Crixus is one of the strongest gladiators, but he won't be able to stand 5 seconds again Julian.
Afterward, Thrax took Julian into one of the empty villas and picked a still-intact table to sit together on.
As the new owner of the city, Thrax was acting as the host.
"I wanted to offer you wine, but unfortunately we slaves have nothing to give."
Julian let out a long, tired sigh and glanced at the carnage outside. The place was mostly destroyed too, thanks to the slaves' indiscriminate rampage.
"Thrax, I can understand your cause, but this has gone too far! Can't you see the streets are filled with corpses of women and children?!"
Hearing how serious the conversation will be, thrax answered.
"I would need some wine for this, after all," Thrax looked up through the cupboard and found an unbroken jar of wine hidden way up.
"Thrax, you have to listen to me," Julian continues to persuade. "Please, You must listen to reason. If this goes on, you will only lead these people to their doom."
Thrax returned back to his seat and drank a sip of wine. Afterwards, he casually said.
"These people, they are the same as me, the creation of Roman greed, the demons of your own making. This is your punishment."
Julian took a deep breath and said.
"Thrax… I am sorry I wasn't able to save your wife." Julian started and looked at his friend in earnest. "But, Thrax, you have killed the man who wronged you and there is no reason to continue the path of revenge. Everything is over now…"
Thrax clenched his fist, breaking the jar and sent out its remaining wine to the already dirty floor.
"It's only over when I said it's over!" Thrax snarled in rage, the memory of his wife, who was taken from him replaying in his mind again.
"Besides, this rebellion is no longer just about me… I would stand and see the mighty Roman republic crumble beneath my sword!"
Julian sighed, closed his eyes and said.
"My friend, you cannot hope to win… The republic has formed six legions to see that you all are eradicated. That is around 30.000 men and it would be a difficult feat to defeat that."
"Your republic would be disappointed then," Thrax stepped on the broken jar beneath his feet. "Send as many as you want. I will be ready!"
"Thrax! I will not stand by knowing a combat acolyte like you seek to tear down Rome, it will be an unfair fight! If you wish to continue involved in this I will have to stop you!"
"Hahaha! That's great then, Julian, it will be just like old days!"
It was clear, there was no convincing Thrax to stand down at this point. Julian then decided to continue with his second reason for coming here.
"Thrax, taking this city was a good plan, but you will soon be besieged as you run out of food. Release the captured Romans, then, as they will only take away from your supplies. The roman will be forever grateful… I will be grateful… Do this and I promise to send you more food for your cause"
Thrax fell into silence and hesitated. As much as his enraged heart wished to keep the citizens inside, they would only lead to more trouble, something he couldn't afford when his men had to focus on fighting.
He agreed with Julian and announced his decision.
It was an unpopular decision and angered many of the rebels, but in the end, Thrax managed to convince them.
That day, Julian returned to the Roman camp, showered with praises as the hero who was single-handedly able to release thousands of Roman citizens from the jaws of the savages.
However, when Julian was busy preparing the food wagon to send towards the city as promised, The six Roman legions arrived, led by the famous Marcus Crassus. He walked in front with bulky armor that attracted the attention of everyone there.
The Magister realized what Julian was doing and quickly forced him not to send the food wagon.
Unfortunately, there was nothing that Julian could say that would change the magister's will.
"We shall send them nothing!!!" The commandant screamed on top of his lungs. "Go! Let those lowlifes suffer!"
The siege had finally begun, 30.000 strong Roman legionnaires coming to slaughter 80.000 people made mostly of hungry escaped slaves.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by NovelFull,