Grandma's fight was about to begin, and we were able to take a look at part of the arena from the glass box. Her opponent, at the other end of the stadium, was a full-grown orc. He was equipped with plate armor, as well as a sword and shield.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Today! And only today will the mighty, the incredible, the invincible gladiator Berevor compete against the horned rabbit we all know as the black lightning.”

The voice of the female orc I know echoed through the arena. Unlike the last few days, her voice sounded in a good mood.

"Let the fight begin!?"

A gong was heard after her words, and the fight began. I could watch Berevor rush towards Grandma. He wanted to hit her with one quick blow, but she backed away, out of my field of vision. Lightning hit Berevor, and he fended it off with the shield.

Wait? Why isn't lightning going through all of the metal?

A murmur went through the rows of spectators.

Berevor also jumped out of my field of vision. I could only guess what was happening by the fighting noises or the reactions of the audience.

In an instant, there was a flash of lightning that forced me to close my eyes, and when I was able to open them again, I could see Berevor fling back into my field of vision. Grandma appeared too, and I could watch her disarm the gladiator. Both the sword and the shield fell from his hands. He was wide open to attack, and Grandma didn't have to be told that twice. She threw a tremendous lightning bolt at Berevor, who began to scream miserably.

I could smell the smell of burnt meat up here.

Thunderous applause went off as the fight officially ended in Grandma's favor. Orcs wanted to push her back to the box, but she ignored it and went back herself.

Her box was placed right next to us.

“Grandma! Another victorious day."

Si was happy, but Grandma just looked exhausted.

"Thanks…"

She answered in a weak voice and closed her eyes.

Now it was our turn. Two orcs placed our box on the edge of the arena.

"Ready?"

I looked over at Si, and she nodded to me.

"Ready!"

Some orcs carried a second box in on the other side of the arena.

“En!?”

Si cried out, frozen in shock. I looked at her first and followed her gaze, which was directed to the other box. In the box were the two brothers Tox and Vex. It seemed like the two skulled rabbits have also been captured.

"What are they doing here? There was only one carriage with living rabbits, I'm sure!?”

Si was right. They hadn't been in the box in which we were all transported here. And when we looked through the gap, we hadn't seen a second car.

"That's true, or rather, something is wrong here!"

"What do we do?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

I replied, lost something.

Before we could think again, the voice of the female orc rang out.

“Our dear audience! Today and only today, two of our newcomer rabbits will compete against two rabbits from our necroms."

Necroms? What are or who are they?

I couldn't tell Si what I had just heard. I hoped we could avoid this fight, but... I didn't know how the orcs would play along.

"Si..."

I whisper her name but didn't speak to her.

"Start the fight!"

The female orc screamed across the arena, and a bell rang.

"Si, the fight has started."

Strangely enough, Si backed away when the bell rang.

I was so busy with Si that I couldn't see the threat coming. Vex rammed me in the side, and I flew a few feet through the air.

"Urgh!"

I groaned in pain as I hit the floor.

“En!”

Si jumped in front of me and shielded me from another attack.

"Si, look in Vex's eyes, these are empty!?"

She focused on Vex as I straightened up and looked for Tox.

“VEX!! TOX!! What are you doing!?"

She shouted at them in anger. But she had to wait in vain for an answer, as both prepared a joint attack. They both rushed towards us, Si and I standing back to back.

"Si, because of their skulls, we can forget frontal fire magic. Let's move to the side."

"OK!"

"Still wait! ...wait ...wait ...now! "

For the last moment, we each dodged to the right and now faced each other. In front of us, Vex and Tox collided.

"Fireball!"

I yelled over at Si and threw a ball of fire at them both. Si followed my lead, and both Vex and Tox were cloaked in flames. A moment later, the fire and smoke subsided. Vex and Tox's fur was partially burned away, and exposed burned flesh could be seen. But neither showed any reaction.

"Lifeless yet functional, I'm impressed."

I heard a voice come from the audience. Unlike in the other arena, the spectators in this arena were quiet and watched the fight with excitement and curiosity.

"Come on, my servants!"

I could hear a low whisper. It came from the direction of the cage from which Vex and Tox were let out.

Necroms, no! Necromancers!? Vex and Tox are death, they... they are zombies... empty shells with no mind...

“Si! The two are already dead. Let's give them our last respects, and let their empty bodies find their final rest!"

"OK!"

Si seemed to have understood. The only question remained how we could defeat the two of them because they would fight back and fight despite broken bones or amputated legs as zombies.

Vex turned to me as Tox turned towards Si. I looked into Vex's dead eyes, bloodshot and bleary they stared at me. It felt like I was looking into an endless abyss of emptiness.

Vex ran, his sagging skin and fur shaking with the movement. He left bloody paw prints on the ground. He lowered his head to ram me with his skull, but I jumped so far in the air that he missed me, and I landed behind him. I turned to him and shot a fireball at him.

His fur began to burn again, and as a result, he began to roll over the floor, trying to put out the flames. I seized the moment and looked over at Si. She and I had managed to put Tox on fire. I turned back to Vex, who just stopped writhing on the floor. The strange voice echoed again, but this time it was louder and loud enough for everyone in the audience to hear.

“Come on, my slaves! Use power level 2!"

Vex's body language changed suddenly. It looked... more precise and purposeful. His emotionless eyes were lit up as if he had fallen into a race. His otherwise brown fur turned pitch black.

"What happened to you guys?"

I whispered the question softly to myself. He started running, but this time he was moving a lot faster. Before I could properly assess the difference from before, it had almost reached me. His skull crashed into my side as I was about to dodge.

F*ck!

I cursed out loud in pain as I lost my balance and fell to the floor.

It will be more difficult for us than I thought...