Zen’s head went flying as the swords cut his neck. The winner of the brawl was Thanatos. He looked around at the room that was still burning. He had no idea how much time it took him to deal with all these warriors, but he could relax for a moment.

"AH… Uf… finally… I need to go down and escape with the others." He had so many wounds he couldn’t begin to count them. The most urgent were the crushed stomach and the burns on his face and body.

He was also out of mana, so he couldn’t even heal himself. He knew that Hilrun could use healing plants, but he wasn’t sure he could heal all this damage. That’s when he thought about his other secret ability.

"Might as well try." His mouth changed size and the souls of the two dead warriors came to his mouth.

He took the souls and turned them into mana.

[Level obtained: Devour of souls 2]

He felt the souls giving him power and the mana growing inside. He wasn’t back to full, but around half. He cast [Heal] and cured his burns along with his ribs and stomach. He was still a bit hurt and his nose was broken, but he couldn’t waste more mana.

The fight was not over until he escaped and regrouped with Neo and Kit.

"That should do it for now." He forcibly put his nose in the correct position and went to the exit.

As soon as he turned the corner, he encountered a group of guards.

"You! What are you doing here?"

He didn’t waste time and killed them all.

***

"It is almost there." Robert said to his companions as he moved the dirt and gravel from the hole. They had been digging for a while, but the sewers were farther than they thought.

They heard the sounds of battle above and screams from guards and slaves. 44 did it. He broke the device and started a revolt.

"That guy is amazing!"

"You don’t have to tell us!"

"If you want to repay him, then focus on the task!"

It felt like a dream. After all the pain of suffering, they were about to escape, and it was all thanks to a hero that came out of nowhere. Robert remembered the tales and stories about heroes that wielded powerful magic and fought dragons alone. These were only rumors or lies. Now he saw a true hero, someone who could defy the rules of others and live by his own code. A part of him felt jealous.

THUMP... The wall collapsed, and the path to the main sewer was open. They only needed to wait for 44 to arrive.

It only took about two minutes. Their savior arrived.

"Sorry for the wait. Did you guys finish with the tunnel?"

"Yes, it is ready."

"Then let’s go. I killed some guards to help in the revolt, but I’m not sure how long we have." He urged them to enter the tunnel and leave. "Ups, I almost forgot, Robert, you asked me for a weapon. I found these. I hope you can use them."

"T-T-These are!" He recognized them in a second. The green sword of Ereba Zos and the thin rapier of Cerbares They were ranked five and two in the coliseum.

"How did you get these things? We need to leave them here or they are going to chase us!"

"Don’t worry, I’ll explain while we run. Come on!" They had many questions, but Thanatos began to run. They looked at each other, and after shrugging, they followed him.

As they ran among trash and in the dark, Thanatos told them the short version of what happened.

"Long story short, the owner hired the top slaves of the coliseum to defend the artifact controlling the collars."

"Did he discover our plant then?" Hilrun asked.

"No, I think he was just taking safety measures. He’s a merchant, right? Those guys tend to have good intuition." He said, with a sad expression, Castess was the one who told him that, but his friend was no longer in this world.

"Then did you fight and defeat them? That’s beyond amazing or incredible! With a feat like that, you’re the strongest warrior in the coliseum!" Gro said with awe.

"Is no that impressive. If they all attacked me together, I probably would have lost."

"Seriously, who are you? Are you from the Hand or a half-dragon? How are you so strong?" Robert asked. This was beyond the point of curiosity; it felt surreal, but he didn’t want to pry too much.

"Sorry, I can say, just forget about it after we escape."

It only took them half an hour to reach the exit. The sun was setting, but there was still some light. They were on the outskirts of the city, where the dirty water joined a small river.

Thanatos looked around. It took him a moment to recognize the surroundings, but he noticed the forest in the south. Neo and Kit were in there, hiding and waiting for his return. It took only five days, but he was about to escape.

"Come on, we can lose them if we go inside the forest!" There was a chance there were traps here, but that was unlikely. Freedom was only a bit further...

CRASH……… Something crashed down in front of them. The earth shook and a curtain of dust rose in all directions.

A single figure stood in the dust, standing like a king watching over some peasants. They didn’t know who he was, but they could feel it. This man was stronger than all of them combined.

"Four rats in total, using the sewers was a good idea. I see three humans and one of those rock people. Tell me, which one of you is the human that has the honor of making me kill Rashaka." One of the members of the council of demi humans. A thousand kicks, Sertus.

He had come here after the revolt was put down. The guards and Rashaka tried to keep it a secret, but the fact was that the human was nowhere to be seen, immediately raising Sertus’s suspicions.

He still had Rashaka's blood in his boot. He tried to plead and beg for his life, but after discovering the hole in the sewer, he shattered his skull with a single kick.

You failed as owner of the coliseum. The people deserve someone better than you.

He didn’t waste time catching up with them in less than ten minutes.

"Answer, I’m in a very bad mood right now." He didn’t have to raise his voice to make himself clear.

They turned to look at Thanatos. He swallowed and began to speak.

"Is me. I’m the human that made this plan. Who are you?"

"You? Did you also kill the warriors in the restricted area? How did you pass the magic sensor?"

"If you want answers, how about telling me your name."

"Don’t push my patience, human." Sertus’s bloodshot eyes were full of anger. It took a lot of restraint to not kill them all the moment he landed. He was a member of the council. He had to get information first, mainly about how he escaped the collar magic system.

He took a deep breath and calmed down. "I’ll only ask one more time: how the hell did you take the collar off?" His tiger eyes were shining. He was trying to contain his urge to kill.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I [Lightning ball]!" He raised his hand and launched an attack.

The electric ball went straight for the demi human. The spell was kicked into the air like a football and exploded away from its target.

"I knew it. Those boots are enchanted to the fullest." Thanatos revealed his claws This was not the time to worry about keeping the disguise. He was sure that if he held back against this man, he would die. "If you want to escape, do it now!"

He yelled to the others, but they refused and prepared to fight.

"After what you did for us, I'd rather die fighting at your side than run away like a coward!"

"I don’t want to die, but our chances can only increase if we all fight together."

"I’ll attack from a distance. You and Robert need to keep him busy in close combat."

The three of them were in debt to 44 after he asked for their help to escape. With him, the three of them would have died here with no chance to regain their freedom. They weren't going to abandon him at the end.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, HUMANS!" Sertus jumped in the air and crashed on top of Thanatos.

He felt his bones about to break. "[Strengthening]!" he used in his whole body, the kick was so strong that the ground broke apart like in a tremor.

Even with magic, his right arm broke. He could still use it, but not to its full capacity.

What the hell are these boots? He’s barely wearing armor on his arms and body. He fights mainly with his legs then...

Thanatos used his left arm and tried to stab the leg, but Serturs deflected it. His movements were like those of a dancer. Another kick came to his gut, but someone came from behind.

"[Slithering attack]!" Robert used his special ability to combine the two enchanted blades, his arms moved like two independent snakes. He moved around trying to confuse Sertus and struck from below and above at the same time.

CLANK, CLANCK. The two attacks were repelled, and the green sword was broken with a kick. The next thing Robert felt was the boot breaking his nose and face. He went flying to the other side with a powerful kick.

"Robert! [Necrotic wave]" The necrotic power reached Sertus. He was about to slash his leg in half, but his movements barely slowed down.

Protection against necrotic power!

Sertus's boots were immune to any magical effect that reduced his speed. The protection only applied to his legs, but it was more than enough. He bashed Thanatos’s stomach and crushed his face with a barrage of kicks.

"OHHH!" He could only recoil from the pain and his internal organs were pulverized.

"[Constrictor roots] [Healing plant]." Hilrun trapped one of Sertus' legs and then summoned some plants to heal his companions. "Now Gro!"

"Yeah!" Gro was in the back, focusing his mana. The disparity of power was evident. They couldn’t play the long game, so he decided to use half of his mana in his strongest spell.

"[Double Dragon lightning]", two dragons of electricity, went flying toward Sertus.

He had one leg trapped, so he only kicked one of the dragons and got hit by the other. The dragon exploded, and the rays engulfed him. His clothes were torn, but the boots were still intact. He was barely burned, and his face still had a furious expression.

"You are a demi human helping these lowly creatures! Do you have no pride!"

"Pride? Pride is the reason I’m fighting you. I won’t turn my back on those who have helped me! [Double-" Gro stopped in the middle of his spell as Sertus broke free from the roots and kicked his ribs. "GUUUHHH!"

The rock human went flying, vomiting blood.

"GRO! [Healing plant]" Hilrun managed to help before the boot descended on him. He didn’t have time to cast another spell.

CRASH. The kick was stopped by claws and a broken arm. Thanatos ran to his side and blocked the kick with all he got. He managed to stop the kick, but another was coming for his gut.

He looked around the battlefield. Robert was running to help, Hilrun was backing away, and Gro was trying to regain his senses and cast a spell. He wasn’t fast enough to block the kick. This was the end.

CRASH……….

A blue shield stopped the attack and cracked.

"What the!"

Thanatos noticed, and the shield changed into a yellow flash. He teleported away.

"What are you doing here? I still have two more days?"

"Shut up! I’m going to smack you in the head later!"

"Glad to see you okay, Thanatos."

Neo and Kit join the battle.