"Spartacus! Spartacus!"
Cheers accompanied Thrax's feat of winning the duel; the night was filled with happiness from the thousands of rebels. To celebrate, Thrax raised his fist up high and let out a magnificent scream.
Klea approached the beat-up, half unconscious Roman, her hands brimming with white-greenish energy from her [Soothing Mist] spell.
"I am… Not… giving up… yet"
"Duh, shut up already!" Klea said dismissively and let her hands hover along his wounds. "You were clearly beaten,-"
Julian started to struggle, trying to stand despite his broken body.
"Don't you dare! If you mess up my bet, I will make sure you suffer even more!"
Not far from them, Thrax was writhing in pain, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to bear it. The strength of his heart forced his own body to go past the threshold it needed for a breakthrough and now he felt as if his muscles were about to explode.
He even needed to forcibly calm himself just to stop the energy from the battle art from leaking out.
Seeing Thrax act weirdly, Emery quickly grabbed his arm and helped him stand by holding onto his shoulders.
After a few minutes of healing, finally Julian admitted his loss.
Julian approached the limping Thrax, took a deep sigh, and said. "You have won, Thrax and I will not stop you."
He offered his hand and the Thracian accepted it. Fortunately the duel ended without any grudges between them.
But, a moment after, Thrax spat out blood and he felt his knees wobble. Klea reacted quickly and casted her healing spell on him.
Julian let out a dry laugh at the sight. "Ha! Should this be considered as my win? After all, I'm the last one standing."
"Heh, you wish!" Thrax wiped out the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Late at night, when everything else had quieted down, the game came to a close and the whole rebel army had witnessed the best duel for centuries to come. Most didn't know what happened exactly, but the gladiators knew about the gap of strength between them and they slept with burning resolution.
However, thanks to Klea's enchantment, the next morning everyone woke up with slightly different memories of what happened. When they tried to picture the battle again, it was a little blurry. Everyone had different stories.
But, what united them all was the sight of their leader beating a Roman official in such a glorious fight. It was definitely worthy of being a story to be passed down to the next generations.
Inside the rebel camp, in a tent that looked no different from the others, Thrax woke the others from their rest with bad news. Although all his wounds had been healed, he found himself unable to cast any skill, let alone spells.
Klea quickly tried to use her enhanced water element healing spell but give no result.
"What do you think of this, Emery?"
Emery had had the worst experiences involving his spirit core, but he couldn't say what was actually going on either. He would rather not make any conclusion without all necessary information at hand.
"Don't worry about it then, guys." Thrax dismissed it. "I'm sure it will be back soon enough."
The sun finally rose and the rebels packed up, ready to continue their march.
40.000 men, united in the spirit to see their oppressor destroyed, marched to Rome, one of the most advanced cities in the world.
"Are you sure about this, Thrax?!" Emery asked in concern. "You are not completely healed!"
"Don't worry, even without any skills or spells, I am sure I can bring down that city. Besides, time isn't on our side. We need to get there as soon as possible."
Figuring they were stuck for the long haul, both Emery and Klea decided to see everything through and came along with the rebels while staying as hidden as possible, careful to be close enough to Thrax, yet beneath the notice of the marching rebels.
Another day passed and they kept walking, even as the scorching sun beat down on them. No one was willing to give up, now that Thrax's duel showed how it was possible to defeat the Romans.
When they finally were just on the outskirt from the city of Rome, they saw crowds upon crowds of armed men were waiting around the city. At least four legions' worth of soldiers oversaw the city from all directions. The view once again confused them, as the city wasn't supposed to have these many roman soldiers.
Thrax and the rebels talked to discuss what they could do, when they heard the sound of horses from afar. They looked in that direction, only to see more Roman cohorts advancing towards them. The rebels quickly took their weapons ready to fight, but a group of riders separated to from the formation, while the others waited.
When the group were close enough, they saw it was Julian again who came.
Thrax stared at his friend in annoyance. He was defeated already, why was he still with the Roman legion.
Julian approached and whispered to Thrax, requesting to speak in private.
Inside the camp, the three others stared at Julian with barely restrained anger.
"What is this now, Julian?" Klean narrowed her eyes and asked first. "I believe that we have made an agreement."
"Whoa, wait, wait, don't be so quick to judge." Julian shook his head and explained. "You have made a mistake, I didn't come here to attack you, I came to help."
"What do you mean?" Klea raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"I am coming to deliver bad news and to warn you."
Julian explained that, ever since Marcus Crassus suffered the humiliating defeat, he had already drafted 4 more legions to be prepared for the invasion. That was the legion they currently see gathering outside the city of Rome and unfortunately it was not even the worst news.
"Thrax, six Roman legions have returned from the Pontus war and they are marching from the North, under the leadership of Pompeius Magnus."
The information made the three look at each other in shock. From the west there were 20.000 legionnaires who had been chasing them since Sinuessa. From the south, 20.000 more stood between them and Rome and from the north, 30.000 more just returned from war.
It meant, the rebels were surrounded from all sides and the hope for victory became even slimmer with each passing moment.
"So, what're you going to do now, Thrax?"
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,