When Zhang Heng charged at Nasika, his partner did not help him fight off Zhang Heng.
The reason why he made such a decision was that he was too frightened. After a while, he calmed himself down and started to assess the situation. In his opinion, if Zhang Heng had concealed his strength earlier, he should not be much stronger than Nasika. In other words, even if Nasika could not defeat him, he should at least be able to hang in there for a while.
Thus, he chose this opportunity to kill Varo, the weakest gladiator in the arena. After that, he planned to work together with Nasika to attack Zhang Heng.
There shouldn’t be any problem with this strategy. It was true that Varo was weak as he thought he was. As soon as he approached him, Varo started to lose his calm. Besides, retiarius was a profession that focused more on offense instead of defense. Once Varo lost his calm and began to focus on defense, it was equivalent to revealing his opponents’ weakness.
In this way, he would become more and more passive in the fight. All he could do was to back-off from his opponent, which was very risky for him.
But at this moment, a familiar voice came to Varo’s ear, “Don’t be afraid. He is just bluffing. Just go all out and fight with him. He may not be able to defeat you.”
Nasika’s partner was shocked when he heard Zhang Heng’s advice to Varo. Since he had the time to give advice, it meant his battle with Nasika had ended.
Everything happened way too quickly. Nasika’s partner had considered the possibility that Nasika would lose to Zhang Heng, but he would have never expected the battle to be a one-sided slaughter. To his horror, Nasika couldn’t even last a short while. And now he had to fight two opponents at the same time.
He disagreed with Zhang Heng’s statement about him not being able to defeat Varo. However, when he knew that Nasika was defeated, his fighting spirit had been greatly affected. And with Zhang Heng watching from behind, he could not help but begin to act clumsily.
On the contrary, Varo, on the opposite, found out that Zhang Heng had killed Nasika and began to advise him. Suddenly, he could feel a surge of energy flowed within his body. Maybe he felt that someone was nearby him to help him if he failed to defeat Nasika’s partner. So Varo was able to fight his opponent confidently, showcasing everything that he learned from the training camp and his recent training results.
As the battle raged on, Nasika’s partner was beginning to get overwhelmed. He was, after all, a veteran gladiator, and although his talent was not too outstanding, he did not expect to be suppressed by a newcomer who had just stepped into the arena. Until now, he still could not figure out how the experienced Nasika lost the twelve-man mixed battle so quickly. And how ridiculously powerful could Zhang Heng have been that he managed to defeat Nasika in such a short time?
This was the main reason why he still could focus on his battle right now.
However, even though he knew that there was no hope of winning even if he defeated Varo, he still did not immediately admit defeat. This was the most basic professional quality of a veteran gladiator. It was not until Varo’s fishing net trapped him when he was distracted that he put down his weapon and surrendered.
On the other side, only two teams were left in the loser group. The battle had also reached its climax. Trying their best to fight for the only chance to redeem themselves, the fighting scene remained brutal and bloody.
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In the end, only one group barely claimed the victory. After examining their wounds, however, the judge ruled that they could not continue fighting. Hence, the final winner of the twelve-man mixed fight was born. When Varo heard the audience cheering for them, he felt surreal, feeling as though he were in a dream. He did contribute to the final victory and, for the first time, defeated a strong opponent one-on-one. This had significantly boosted his confidence.
Of course, he also knew that most screams and cheers were actually dedicated to Zhang Heng, next to him. Simultaneously, the cheers were mixed with curses from those who bet on Nasika’s group.
In the end, though, those voices were suppressed by one, and that was Zhang Heng’s name.
There was no doubt that a new star was rising in the Victor Arena at this moment.
There was an ear-to-ear smile on Mark Reuss’s face. He lost Rufus and Nasika, who could earn him a lot of money. Technically speaking, Nasika only lost his reputation and not his life. Only an experienced man like Gaby knew how ruthless Zhang Heng was. By destroying the thing that Nasika was most proud of, Zhang Heng had basically destroyed his mental state.
During the battle, Zhang Heng had him overpowered entirely. It would not be easy for him to get out of this frustration. In a worst-case scenario, his strength would decline sharply, and he would live under the shadows of this lost battle for the rest of his life.
But even if this tragedy happened to Nasika, Mark Reuss wouldn’t be too bothered. The reason was simple—he had found himself a new gold mine. Not only was it enough to make up for the loss of Nassika, but it also seemed that Zhang Heng would be making him heaps of money.
“Who do you think is more powerful?” Mark Reuss asked Gaby enthusiastically.
The latter, of course, knew that Mark Reuss was not talking about Zhang Heng and Nasika because the answer to that question was obvious. Nasika had lost the fight in the worst possible way. Zhang Heng used this battle to prove that the two were not on the same level, so it was easy to guess who Mark Reuss was talking about now.
Although Gaby was displeased by the fact that Zhang Heng concealed his strength, he had to put that thought away. “He had almost the same strength as Sethnets when he was at the peak of his career,” he said.
Mark Reuss’s eyes lit up when he heard what Gaby said. But then Gaby reminded him, “But he is more difficult to control than Sethnets. We may not be able to control him fully.”
“It doesn’t matter. Your job is to keep discovering talented gladiators for the school. Leave the rest for me to handle.” Mark Reuss did not take Gaby’s concern seriously. He then rubbed the emerald ring on his index finger and proclaimed with pride, “Everyone has their weakness. It could be money, beauty, honor, freedom… The key to controlling the people like them is to know what they want. You’re nowhere as good as me when it comes to these things.”
“How can I compare with you, my master.” Gaby bowed respectfully.
“Wait until the gladiatorial performance… No, bring him to see me after this match is over.” After Mark Reuss spoke, he stood up and had no intention to watch the performance anymore. He was now thinking about how to package Zhang Heng into a star gladiator. Since he had found the new successor for the throne, the rest of the performance was now incredibly boring to him. So, he stood up and left.
On the other hand, the celebration continued. Female slaves holding plates walked around the arena, where spectators would throw their gifts for the gladiators onto the plates. Most of the gifts were coins. Among them were some feminine items that represented their love for their favorite gladiator.
Zhang Heng waved his hand to thank the audience. Suddenly, he felt that someone was watching him amind the crowd in a hostile manner. When he looked at the person, he only saw the person fully covered in clothes.