The Conspiracy of the Elites

The demon subduer couldn’t endure it anymore, as he quickly started executing his ultimate. His self-created technique, “The Wild strikes of death”. Normally, he uses his self-created technique as his final finishing blow. This is because self-created techniques are very energy draining, even more so than battle arts.

Boom!! His offensive immediately rose up a level, as his opponent started struggling to keep up.

Henry included this in his plans, as this was not the first time, he saw his opponent using this self-created technique. But things don’t always go according to plan, as the increase in offensive was fiercer than he predicted. He repeatedly parried with his 2 swords, as he continued retreating from the force of the blows.

Ptui!! Ptui!! He finally slipped up, as he received 2 deep cuts across his chest. Blood flowed freely, as he gritted his teeth in pain.

His main plan now was to try stalling for as long as possible, so that his opponent could exhaust his strength. But the Demon hunter refused to comply to his arrangements, as he further increased his offensive.

His opponent was finally venting all his frustrations of the past minutes of suppression, as he unleashed his wild style to it’s fullest potential. Ptui!! Ptui!! He dodged, but was not fast enough as he received another injury in his shoulders.

He tried retreating, but his opponents already outstretched sword suddenly slashed sideways horizontally. He felt goosebumps all over, but he still reacted fast as he bent his head with speed.

Whoosh!! His head was kept intact, but in exchange he received a bloody gash on his cheek. He felt pain like never before, as the wildness inside him was unleashed. The continuous wave of injuries, already inflicted a deep trauma on his soul.

His rational mind of balance was forcibly suppressed by the pain, as he lunged forward for a frontal wild assault. Even a well-behaved dog can become a wild animal, if subjected to traumatic pain. The same just happened to him, his mental resistance to pain was still not developed enough.

Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! He completely lost all reason, as he engaged his opponent in a bloody melee. His opponent was caught off-guard at first, as they both started sustaining more injuries at a faster rate.

But unlike him, the Demon subduer was more experienced. He quickly understood what happened as he calmed down, opting to fight more cautiously.

Henry sustained more and more injuries, as his opponent started leading him by the nose. After 10 minutes of brainless fighting, his brain finally cleared up as he realized that he just lost control of himself.

He hurriedly tried to achieve a balanced state again, in the battle. Unfortunately, he could not turn the situation around as his opponent firmly held the advantage. He quickly started feeling dizzy, due to the excess blood loss and the injuries he sustained.

The Demon subduer capitalized on this advantage he obtained, as he slowly whittled his opponent to death. Lack of self-control, was all it took for Henry to leave this life for good. Human life was just too delicate, just a tip in balance and you’re dead.

This battle didn’t have too many exceptional moments, but it was still exciting to the spectators. They don’t care about the dead gladiator’s feelings nor efforts, as they cheered and applauded the hero who won.

This tournament is really the perfect embodiment of cruelty, every qualified gladiator came about from the death of 5 other gladiators.

…

Somewhere else in the ship, Clark closed his eyes, while clenching his fists, as his nails dug into his palms drawing blood.

After staying together for so long, he already developed a bond with Henry and Emily. Watching him die, felt just like pricking a needle in his heart. He felt like crying, but he didn’t allow himself to cry. This era was just this cruel.

“Should I hate the demon hunter?” He couldn’t help but question himself, in his mind. “He was just fighting for his life, the way me, and a host of others are doing”.

“Should I hate the Roman Empire Organization?” Yes, he already hated them immensely. All these people and organizations are not the real cause, the real cause is the big 5 and the cruel system that they introduced into this era.

“I will not cry, nor wallow in sorrow. Instead, I will allow this hatred to fuel my ambition to overthrow the big 5 and to restructure this cruel system”. He pledged to himself, in a determined tone.

The battle was already over, he didn’t even get to see the body of his friend, as he was quickly disposed into the sea. Instead of staying in his room, wallowing in sorrow. He went to train, as he needed to beat his opponent before even thinking of overthrowing the big 5.

Emily didn’t know about Henry’s death, as she was still in her recovery stage. He felt kind of conflicted, when he thought of the way she’ll probably be and feel, when she hears of this news.

…

Today is a Friday, Emily was scheduled to be discharged today. Clark went to receive her at the medical bay.

“Good morning Emily,” he greeted her, as she came out of the room.

“Good morning Clark,” she returned the greeting.

“Wow, you look even more muscular than before. You and this your intense training, I hope you are finding time to rest”. She said with a slight laugh, as she secretly admired her friend’s developing physique.

Clark just smiled in response, as they began walking back to their room. As they walked, she finally noticed an abnormality as she asked, “where is Henry?”

He didn’t answer her, he just tried to smile at her, but the smile was glaringly strained.

“Trying to act mysterious, the 2 of you don’t really have work”. She concluded to herself with a smile, on seeing her friend’s strained smile. They quickly reached their room.

He opened the door, as they both entered inside.

“The room looks tidy, you 2 are doing some really good work. Keep up the good work,” she said in surprise and satisfaction as she plopped down on her bed.

Due to them being friends, they demanded for a bigger room to house the 3 of them. It was approved long ago, so the 3 stay on this big room. They brought each of their beds here, as the space was enough to house them.

He went to also lie on his bed, as he didn’t know how to break the news to her. Henry’s bed was still left in the room, so she was not suspicious yet. He wanted to hide the truth from her, but he also didn’t want her to know from somewhere else, he felt deeply conflicted.

“What type of prank is Henry playing that is taking so long,” she finally asked aloud in confusion. This time he couldn’t take it again, as he stood up, went forward to seat on her bed.

“Emily there is something I want to tell you,” he said in a grave, but sad tone.

On hearing the tone, he used. And still not seeing Henry, she finally felt that something was wrong as she sat up facing him.

“The truth is…,” he told her everything that happened, not excluding any detail.

Emily just sat there on her bed, staring at him listlessly after he finished breaking the news to her.

“Clark,” she finally said with a shaky voice.

“Is this real? Tell me this is not real; please tell me you are playing a prank on me. Please…,” she completely lost it, as she huddled up in the bed crying bitterly.

He suddenly felt a sense of relief after breaking the news to her, but seeing her like this, he felt a sudden pang of bitterness and regret. He felt lost, he didn’t know what to do. Should he console her?

“But I am not good, with all these consoling and crying situations,” his subconscious could not help but protest.

He finally decided, as he just stood up and inched closer to the side of her bed where she huddled up. “Emily, I’m really sorry. I don’t really know what to say. I know what Henry meant to you, but please don’t wallow in sorrow and grief over it,” he paused for a moment after saying this.

“Instead, strive to make this world a better place, so that what happened to Henry will be less likely to happen to others”.

“Even Henry will not be happy, if he sees you from heaven being soaked in depression, see this is a source of motivation. If you continue to be like this, countless others you could have helped will suffer the same fate”.

He didn’t understand, nor did he know why he said all those things to her. But he felt it is a good thing, so he said it.

He finally left the room, as he wiped away the tears threatening to pour out of his eyes. He was off to training again, even if the world turn upside down, he would not complain of how bad the world is. Instead, he will think of ways to make it a better place to live in. That is what he believed in.

For the rest of the day, Emily cried as she vented her anger, frustration and helplessness. She felt like the world was forsaking her, like the world was not meant for her. Even her last friend was already dead, what reason could she possibly have for living again.

In the evening, Clark’s words in the morning, finally digested into her brain. “Clark is right. I will not sink into sadness because of this, but I will see this as a motivation to make this world a better place, after having the required strength”.

Unlike Clark, she still hated the Demon hunter and the Roman empire organization with passion. If they were removed from the equation, Henry will probably still be alive, she reasoned. That same evening, she changed her clothes as she went to train also.

…

Somewhere else on the ship, The Emperor was soaked in sweat as he struck repeatedly with his spear. The projections were stabbed accurately in the head, as they randomly materialized around the training arena.

He smiled as he dropped his spear, while sitting down to rest. He broke his record again for the number of projections stabbed or cut, in a certain period of time for the 5th time.

He was currently feeling very confident, for the fight on Monday. As his training yielded some good results recently, allowing him to break his record consecutively. “Clark, I hope you are training seriously,” he muttered with a grin.

“Don’t disappoint me, at least give me a good fight”. He no longer saw Clark as someone who could be his rival, but a stepping stone that will propel him to the fame and prize he wanted.

The whole fleet was getting hyped up for this battle, as they called it a clash of titans. A battle of supremacy, to know who is the strongest among all the pinnacle gladiators.

Is the Emperor going to rule and dominate? Or is the Stranded dragon going to win, displaying the majesty of a dragon? Even the 3rd rank high-grade soldiers planned on watching this battle, as it was completely worth their time.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it. We finally crossed 100k words today, I'm so excited, and grateful to you all for giving my book a chance. I want to give special thanks to ashbash988, Clowdreed, and Ibrahim aliyu, thanks for taking my top 3, top fans spot. And also to Attila no hun, Robert Biederman, woofromearth, and Lisa Udumorugbo, thanks for all your gifts. And to Readtoomuch, thanks for all your cute comments. I really appreciate you all, thanks to all readers who gave my book a chance.]