Book 2 Chapter 33: Colosseum Breakout

Koshchei

Colosseum, unknown Elven Realm date and time

All matters considered, the plan went smoothly. Manipulating everyone to do his bidding proved easy. Koshchei sent chat texts with the [Mysterious Benefactor] tag, just after Jane sent her own message through the filming crew. The humans' brains did all the work for him, assuming he was the detective. They were so gullible…

Managing so much texting had been hard, though. There had been blunders, such as sending the wrong message to the wrong people or forgetting to send an important update. However, the big lines worked.

The most important part was getting rid of Isolde and unlocking his Partnership stat. The original Baba Yaga curse was still hanging on—it was Old Magic, after all—but the arrays of geases and sensors in the Arena were diminishing its power. Tricking the curse was possible, and he got a new Ba— pilot. The Irishman had adapted very fast. It was the best choice, if not the most fun. All the damage they took was stored in Dorian's photo, and together, they were all but invulnerable.

As on cue, as soon as Sam killed the king, all the available guards converged on the royal box. Koshchei sent Pops and Maverick to block the access from the stalls. The narrow alleys were easily defensible. After taking a storm in the face, fearing they might hurt the paying public, the guards chose to go through the Arena. Fighting those numbers had not been easy. Tristan's AOE had made the fight more balanced, with Dorian taking out the first wave of attackers with his damage discharge. Then, Koshchei and Tristan dealt with the DPS, while Cedric healed, and Juniper raised the dead Orcs to fight for their side. Finally, when the fight began to tilt in their favor, Koshchei sent for Sensibility to the Royal box.

At the same time, in a predictable move, recognizing that the guards could not catch the escaped prisoners, the champions decided to take matters into their own hands. Seconds before they engaged the escapees, the Royal Orb accepted Sensibility as their new master. The only thing that didn't go according to plan was the Colosseum refusing orders. Still, the Champions agreed to deal with it. Things were going in the right direction. If only the others would have made a simple effort to put two and two together. Sam's question disrupted Koshchei's satisfaction feng shui.

[Sam]: Does anyone care to explain what the heck is happening?

The Duke's hysterical tone made Koshchei's blood boil. Or oil, now. Was the man really so stupid? He forced himself to reply politely.

[Mysterious Benefactor]: If a king dies and the Parliament cannot get a quorum, the crown goes to the next of kin. Technically, Sensibility is Karoperos' official heir. The guards recognized her as their new master, and the rest is history.

[Sam]: I don't understand a thing. And why are you talking to me in chat anymore?

The idiot was looking at Jane. I did make them think I was her, didn't I? Koshchei thought, remaining civil.

[Mysterious Benefactor]: To gain our freedom, we needed to kill the king and make sure the title goes to Sensibility. It was a close call. We were about to be attacked by the champions of the Arena.

[Sam]: Are those champions so powerful?

[Mysterious Benefactor]: Yes. They had fought for decades, some even centuries. While their DPS might not be much higher than yours, they can keep going for days. I once fought against that huge guy with an axe, Volwodyn. We chained spells for three days and nights with no pause.

[Sam]: Chaining spells for three days? Wait! You're not Jane?

Koshchei could see Jane patting Sam's shoulder, pointing toward the arena. He waved, and Dorian did it too.

[Koshchei]: No reason to keep up the pretense. It's me. Tadaaa…

[Sam]: How the heck are you using the chat? And how did you transform into a robot?

[Koshchei]: A Gundam. Remember the mutated children you treated in the base, at my suggestion? Well, not all of them were kids; some were little people. With the proper motivation, one of them borrowed an awakening shot for me. I have the System.

[Sam]: I explicitly told you—

[Koshchei]: I beg your pardon for what I'm about to say in your crude, Americana cliché idiom. Buddy, sorry, but I don't give a shit. One does not live so old as I did without taking care of himself first. So please, don't lecture me about—

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

[Sam]: How can you be so irresponsible? You made me kill their king! What if they declare war on us?

[Koshchei]: On us? You mean on you. Your problem. Don't care.

[Sam]: You ass—

[Tristan]: Watch your tongue. There are kids in the chat.

[Eliza]: Guys, we should leave first and argue later.

[Koshchei]: That would be the smart thing to do. Loot what needs looting, then come to the Arena. Aldric, where's the other guy, Kariperos? He can open portals too. It runs in the family.

[Aldric]: I brought him in Sam's cell, as you ordered. We're still there.

[Koshchei]: Yeah… I forgot. Well, bring him here. It's time to go home. And you, the merry bunch, come down from that box. Tell Emfinsamkait to open the force field for you and Aldric.

It took more than ten minutes for those in the Royal Box to reach the Arena. The public was evacuating in disorder, trampling on each other. The guards and a group of three champions were taking care of the big gargoyles and the undead, but a few small gargoyles had managed to slip their attention and were running wild in the stalls. Tristan tried to catch some with his AOE, but the monsters somehow noticed his attempt and dashed away. His ability scared the patrons more than the monsters. Eliza and Sam teamed up to clear the gargoyles blocking their way and smashed them into dust. The camera crews fearlessly followed the fights from just a few dozen feet away.

"Did you know he stole a System shot?" Sam yelled at Dorian, who was visible through the Gundam's windshield.

"No!" Dorian yelled.

"Press that green button with a speaker drawn on it," Koshchei said.

"I didn't," Dorian repeated after slamming his thumb on the speaker's ON button.

"Can you talk about this on the other side?" Jane asked.

Some of the guards had started shooting Mana bolts or arrows at the gargoyles, and they didn't look very proficient. A few shiny projectiles passed way too close to them for comfort.

"Can this guy make portals too?" Aldric asked, arriving with Kariperos and his wife in tow.

"You arrived here through the portal I made," the falke king replied.

"It wasn't the other?"

"He replaced him a while ago," Sam said.

"I thought he tried it today and was caught. The prison guards didn't explain much."

"How long will it take to open the portal?" Koshchei asked.

For reasons he couldn't care less about, there were now two groups on opposite sides of the arena that started firing at each other, some with guns. With Dorian inside him, sharing his invulnerability, Koshchei didn't fear much, but all it took was a bullet in Kariperos' head to leave them stranded there, a situation he preferred to avoid.

Once back on Earth, I'll take some time off. Feels good to be able to move without a Baba…

"I need a minute to focus. Spread this in a circle around us," Kariperos ordered, forwarding Sam a bunch of small wooden totems engraved with runes.

"I stick them into the ground?" Sam asked.

"Don't you see the pointy end?" Koshchei snapped. "How long will it take?" he asked the Elf.

"Five minutes after the circle is done. How small can you make yourself?"

Koshchei scratched his nape. Transforming into a human was supposed to take days. Going back to a chariot form was possible, but still needed the best part of an hour.

Maybe when I level up, I'll be able to change into a car, like in those movies.

"I'll stretch myself to fit in, and if I need to, I'll shed my arms," he said.

"I'll make the portal on the ground this time," the former king said, extracting a wand he used to connect the sticks through lines drawn in sand, in various patterns. "It's the only way you'll fit. When the portal sends us to the Realm, stay still for a minute, or you'll be sick."

Slowly, the portal preparations were done. From drawing, Kariperos switched to chanting, a long, complex chant in Old Elven, or so Koshchei presumed, because he couldn't understand the words, and he knew well the Modern Elven. In the background, a large group of people was breaking through a wall, coming from the basement.

"The convicted criminals are escaping," Sensibility pointed out. "We should do something."

"Not our problem," Koshchei said deadpan. "You want to do something, do it on your own."

"But—"

"Our leave of absence is just temporary," Kariperos said. "We'll be back and take care of things properly, but in this chaos, our intervention could do more harm than good. The heroes will notice and stop them. Remember: stay put for a minute. Portal activating in three… two… one."

The lines the Elv had drawn in the sand started to shine, and the light rose, surrounding them.

"Looks like Aurora Borealis," Eliza said.

"That's greener," Koshchei said, because living in the north had offered him plenty of occasions to admire the phenomenon.

The light let out a blinding flash, and all of a sudden, they were in a different place. Koshchei's eyes were artificial, and adapted to the change the fastest. They were back on the Realm, in a fortress courtyard, a very large one. To the north was a river, probably the Danube. It was early evening, and the only building in the courtyard, a sort of castle, had its lights on.

"This is not Brno," Eliza stated the obvious. When they had left the Realm, the delegation had gathered together in that city, because it was the closest big town near the Outworlder Base.

"I apologize; something went wrong," Kariperos said. "I was too stressed, and I think I mispronounced a word. We can't be far, though. Maybe a few miles to the south."

"I propose we check that building," Tristan said.

"Good idea. I smell food," Cedric said.

"We should send someone ahead to check if it's safe," Kariperos said.

"I'll go," Eliza said, entering Stealth and aiming toward the building.

To Koshchei, her general shape remained visible because it radiated heat. He could also swear that Tristan detected the woman too, because he followed her with his eyes. Eliza proceeded obliquely, gluing herself to the wall and stepping on a small bench to raise up and look inside through the window. She widened her eyes—Koshchei was extremely happy with his eyes' new zoom, since he could detect such small details—and beckoned, jumping down.