Chapter 1: Prisoner of Evil
Akira woke up with a severe headache. His eyes were barely opening, and the first thing he saw was a dim, blinking lamp on the ceiling. The sky outside the walls was gray, covered with dense clouds, and the air seemed heavy and saturated with the smell of sweat and iron. He couldn't figure out where he was, but everything around him was so alien and ominous that every breath he took hurt in his chest.
He tried to sit up, but his body wouldn't listen. The moment his hands met the cold metal floor, he noticed that his wrists were chained, and his legs couldn't move freely either. Akira jerked, trying to get up, and then he was surrounded by unfamiliar figures. Their robes were dark and stained with blood, and their faces were hidden by masks, only their eyes glowed with a cold light. In the center of them stood a man, huge, with armor covering his entire body and darkly glittering eyes.
Akira frantically tried to remember how he got here. All he remembered were the last moments of his life on Earth, how he died. A flash of pain, a disappearance... and now he was here.
"Get up, slave!" A man with a metallic voice bellowed, as if he was just a piece of machinery devoid of human emotions. He took Akira by the shoulder, forcing her to her feet.
Akira struggled to his feet, trying to look around. He realized that he was in some kind of underground room. The gloomy and cold walls, lit by rare torches, made everything around even more gloomy.
"You're a gladiator now," the man said, stepping aside and letting Akira see the wide open gate. There was something like an arena behind them. The space was huge, surrounded by high walls, and there were other people standing in the arena itself, dressed in ragged clothes, with chains on their arms and legs.
— Your life is now an arena. You're fighting to survive, or I'll tear you to pieces. The man with the mask chuckled. He was clearly stronger and more powerful than an ordinary person. There was nothing human in his eyes, just cold cruelty.
Akira was in shock, but his inner voice was telling him not to give up. He noticed the other slaves around him, who looked like they had accepted their fate. They stood motionless, as if waiting for something.
Akira, struggling through the shackles and trying not to look at those around him, tried to find at least the slightest clue that could give him a chance at survival. But then he heard a noise — a huge monster was rolled out from behind the gate. The creature looked like it was made from parts of different animals, with three heads, each of which growled in different directions.
—Come on, new gladiator,— the commander said, and his voice echoed through the arena.
Akira couldn't believe that he was going to have to fight this monster. His body was chained up, and he didn't know what to do. But something clicked inside. Strange images appeared in his memory like a flash—images of power that he had never felt before. Incredible power bubbled inside, like a dormant volcano about to erupt.
Without realizing how, Akira yanked the chains off his feet, and without giving the monster time to retaliate, he darted forward. He felt his muscles start to burn, but it wasn't from fatigue—it was something else. The energy that overflowed was immeasurable.
He dodged the monster's blow and, using all his strength, jumped towards its head. An instant reaction, and his fist met one of the monster's heads. The sound of the impact was like an explosion, and the monster's head flew off to the side.
The other heads tried to attack, but Akira, now fully aware of his strength, attacked them with such speed and power that there was no chance.
When the last monster was defeated, Akira stood in the middle of the arena, realizing that this was just the beginning. He was alive, but his struggle was far from over. This world was cruel, and he had to survive. He had to find a way to get out of these shackles and regain his freedom.
The commander, who was standing on the podium, looked at him in surprise.
— Unexpectedly. His voice was low, but there was a threat in it. "You're going to be an interesting gladiator."
Akira felt something stir in his chest. It wasn't fear, but determination. His strength was too great to just give up. He knew he had to find a way to get out of here and maybe even destroy whoever was running this world.
But for that, he needed to survive. Survive in the arena.