(Kaiser's POV)
"KAISER WINS!!!"
I heard the announcer loudly declare that.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The whole coliseum was still dead silent.
They'd been like this ever since I started elbowing Umar non-stop.
"..."
I slightly glanced around.
Then my eyes landed on Umar's unmoving body.
A pool of blood was spreading beneath his head—his face was completely fucked up.
"Ugh..."
The bruises and cuts on my face throbbed with pain. Even my right elbow was screaming now.
My entire body felt wrecked.
"Ptu—"
I spit out blood from my mouth.
My head was pounding, my thoughts were fuzzy, and my vision was still kind of blurry.
The adrenaline I have was slowly drying out.
"Hmm...?"
I noticed Umar's weapon on the ground.
I tried kicking it—
"..."
But it was so heavy, it didn't even budge.
'What a shame. I would've brought it with me if I could.'
I thought to myself.
Then—
Tap- tap- tap—
"..."
I turned around and silently started walking back the way I came—from where the iron door was.
I just left Umar's body lying there on the sand.
'The staff members will deal with that mess.'
I thought.
And as I was walking—
"WHOOOOAAA!!!"
A loud cheer erupted.
And right after that—
"KID, THAT WAS AWESOME!!!"
"THAT WAS FUCKING GOOD!!!"
"GOOD JOB, KID!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"I LOST THE BET, BUT THAT WAS EPIC!!!"
Others started joining in.
They were cheering for me now.
They didn't care that Umar was dead. That a child killed him.
All they were thinking about—
Was how much fun they had.
"..."
Tap- tap- tap—
I just ignored them and kept walking, a frown glued to my face.
"DON'T DIE UNTIL YOUR NEXT FIGHT, KID!!!"
"LET'S SEE HOW FAR YOUR LUCK WILL GET YOU!!!"
"YOU SHOULD'VE CUT OFF UMAR'S HEAD!!!"
They were loud. Obnoxiously loud.
"Ugh... Shut the fuck up..."
I muttered weakly.
My ears were still ringing—and it hurt like hell.
*****
Tap—
THUD!
I immediately closed the iron door behind me as soon as I got back to the waiting room.
I could still hear the people shouting from outside.
'Urgh...'
I groaned internally.
I was exhausted.
My eyelids felt heavy.
I honestly didn't know how I was still standing. Probably just running on the last bit of adrenaline in my body.
"Fucking hell..."
A weak curse escaped my lips.
Pat—
And then I sat down on the same wooden bench from before.
'AARRGHH...!'
My wounds throbbed again, making my face wince from the pain.
My left shoulder felt like a ragdoll, still limp from being dislocated.
I could barely move my right arm either—it had been pummeled by Umar over and over, and my elbow hurt like shit, not gonna lie.
And so, while I was seated—
"Fuck it..."
I just rested my back and head against the wall.
My vision was still hazy, not clear.
It made my head ache.
"..."
I closed my eyes.
I immediately felt a bit better.
Though—
"..."
I couldn't open them again.
'Ugh... Whatever...'
I thought, brushing it off.
And just like that, after a while—
"..."
I lost consciousness.
...
...
...
*****
"Ugh..."
I weakly groaned.
I don't know how long I was out, but the moment I woke up, I immediately opened my eyes.
"...?"
And when my vision adjusted to the light—
"Hmm?"
I noticed right away that it wasn't blurry anymore.
'That's good.'
I thought.
Then—
"Gurgh..."
Fwip—
I pushed myself up with my arms and sat upright.
My body still ached.
Anyway—
"Where am I...?"
I looked around, scanning my surroundings.
I was in a fairly spacious room with no windows—obviously a cell. There were a lot of beds inside too.
And I was lying on one of them.
'They're softer than the one I have in my room.'
I thought, pressing my hand against the mattress.
'Still hard though.'
Moving on, I continued observing the room.
Then—
"Huh...?"
I spotted someone lying on one of the other beds.
"..."
His whole right arm was gone. The area where it should've been was wrapped in bloodstained bandages.
And it wasn't just him—
"..."
There were about ten more wounded people scattered around, not counting the man with the missing arm or myself.
And judging from what I saw—
Only four of us still had all our limbs intact.
I'm glad I'm one of them.
'Hmm, I'm probably in some kind of medical room. These guys must be gladiators too—ones who also fought in the same event that I was in.'
I quickly concluded in my head as I looked down on my hands.
Both my arms are bandaged.
"Hmm?"
I touched my face.
I can feel clothes covering it too.
'Guess I was pretty messed up, huh.'
I thought.
Then, at that moment—
Tap- tap- tap—
"Hm?"
I saw someone approaching me. He was wearing an all-dirty white outfit and was covered in blood—probably not his own.
I immediately knew he was a staff member in charge of healing fighters.
And as soon as he got to me—
Tap-
"Can you see me just fine?"
He asked that.
"Yes."
I nodded and simply replied.
"Hmm..."
He stared at me for a few seconds.
And after that—
"Let me check."
He then started checking all over my body, touching my wounded parts and putting pressure on them.
"Gurgh..."
I groaned as he pressed on one of the sore spots.
"Do they hurt?"
He asked.
'No shit, dipshit! It hurts when you put pressure on them.'
I thought.
But I just said—
"Yes."
"Hmm, by how much?"
He followed.
And this time—
"Well..."
I told him that they ache, but I can still move just fine.
And upon hearing that—
"Then you're all good. You can return to your room and just rest to recover further. We need the space, so I'll get you accompanied out of this place as soon as possible."
The staff said that.
"..."
I was speechless.
It was so obvious that he doesn't care about my condition.
And before I could even say anything—
"Guard! Come and bring this kid back to his cell!"
He exclaimed that toward the door.
'Meh, whatever.'
I just decided to not think about it.
...
...
...
*****
"..."
Tap- tap- tap—
I'm now following a guard back to the copper place where my room is.
Tap- tap- tap—
My walking is fine and all since my lower body suffered no damage from my fight with Umar.
Though—
'This bastard doesn't care too that I'm hurt, huh.'
I grumbled in my head, referring to the guard I was trailing behind. He was walking way too fast for a kid to follow.
But still—
"..."
I just held it in and remained silent.
I don't want to cause unnecessary trouble for now.
Then—
"...?"
A question appeared in my head.
And out of curiosity—
"How long was I out?"
I asked the guard that.
"Huh?"
He looked back at me. And with a frown on his face—
"How the fuck would I know?"
He shot back with a question of his own.
"..."
I just went silent.
Though all in all—
I really want to punch his face now.
'I'll remember his face.'
I thought.
Then, suddenly—
"Wait..."
The guard raised a brow, looking at me.
"Ah...!"
His eyes slightly widened.
And opening his mouth—
"You're that kid that killed his opponent!"
He exclaimed.
"Haha, that was fun to watch!"
He added with a laugh.
And with his mood all much better now—
"That event was four days ago. You've been sleeping for that long."
He casually declared that, smiling at me.