Chapter 371

From deep within the undercroft they could still hear the cheers of the crowd as the elimination rounds went on, but Brain heard them only as mere background noise, his eyes were focused instead on the woman in front of him. "What do you know about my Layali?" He asked, his eyes narrowed dangerously, but he kept his hand away from the hilt of his sword.

"I know she can't die, but she can bleed, she can suffer, but she will always heal." Aureole raised her hand to stop him before he could speak beyond sputtering denials. "She revealed it herself, she made a trade, an offer, to let herself be studied gently by the greatest minds in Nazarick, and in exchange we would ensure that her 'family' would not only remain safe, but together."

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked through gritted teeth, "What did you do to her?"

"We had her hold crystals to absorb her mana, took flecks of skin, some strands of hair, oh and we gave her ice cream, cookies, we did take blood samples, but it was no more than a pinch, just a needle. If you ask her, she'll be eager for her next visit because we promised her a way to make ice cream drinkable." Aureole giggled a bit, her youth obvious, and bemusement disarming, Brain still had goosebumps on his arms, but he relaxed nonetheless.

"The sticker on her cheek?" He asked as the realization hit him.

"From one of our maids, she finds Layali to be very cute." Aureole explained, and Brain relaxed enough that he went to a nearby stone bench and sat down.

Aureole Omega followed and sat opposite himself and went on. "You may die fighting Cerebrate, it's her greatest fear. What I'm here to offer you is not the throne, which you care little about, I'm offering you two things. The certainty of victory in avenging her, and something else." She leaned across the space between them and whispered, "A glimpse at the peak. I can unlock your potential, you will have your victory. Then follow me to my homeland for a few hours each day. You've heard of our team's work in the Draconic Kingdom, I'm sure. We shattered their limits in days, and all we ask for is your soul. Give your devotion to the generous God, Ainz Ooal Gown as the others have, and we will show you the way to heaven, not after death, but in the here and now."

"How do I know you can do what you say?" Brain asked, his suspicion mounting by the moment.

"Because we did it with Zesshi already, though she will weaken back to her current state, unlocking her potential was only temporary. But after your fight with Cerebrate, if you excuse yourself, we will make a permanent change. The unjust limits you've always had," she snapped her fingers, "gone, just like that."

"So Zesshi's performance…" Brain rubbed the faint blue stubble on his chin, then raised his face again to look at the young girl before him, "I'm still more concerned with what will happen to Layali. I don't like the idea of her being used for experiments."

"Nazarick bargains hard," Aureole Omega said, then reached out to take his hand in hers, "but our word is our bond. We will leave no marks but sticker stains, and she will be given every comfort. And I remind you, we have the power to simply take her if we wished. But she came to us, she made a deal. That I'm here and talking to you now should tell you that we're keeping it."

"Will you ever 'stop' using her?" Brain asked with the steady stare of a protective father.

"Even I don't know what will happen, but," she squeezed his hand, "I can promise that our discovery process will leave her unharmed. Also, she will be among the most protected people in the world, especially as the child of 'close supporters'." Aureole said with a playful upturn of her lips.

But suspicions still clouded Brain's thoughts, "You're offering me a lot here, and in my experience when something sounds too good to be true, it's false."

"Hmpf, Zesshi didn't even ask questions of me. You're a hard one." Aureole put her hands into her lap and looked down in a pout.

"She's an innocent still, in a lot of ways, she's used to taking direction and just going with the flow. I'm used to following only my own whims, and I'm used to people lying to me." Brain said with a casual shrug.

"Hmpf… then a taste. I will give you a taste that will last through your fight with Cerebrate. So you know what is possible. When you win, if you want what I'm offering, come see me again in this place. The Empire will be yours, Layali will live as a princess, you will promote the deification of our lord, and we will keep you and all your descendants secure for as long as you are loyal, and yes, your true potential, your promise as a swordsman, will be given to you in exchange." Aureole said and stood up, "Take it, or risk dying in front of your daughter's eyes, making all her work for nothing."

"Damn, you sound priestly enough… fine, do what you're going to do." Brain groused as his nerves went on edge again.

Curiously, there was no 'spell' instead the red and white clad maiden simply danced, gracefully sweeping her wooden sword in circles, her flowing robes fluttering about, for a moment he wondered, 'Is this all some sort of twisted joke?'

Then he felt it, like a locked door in his mind being opened for the first time.

"Hmmm, now that's interesting." Aureole remarked offhandedly as her dance came to an end, "You've been a busy little bee, haven't you? It looks as if you had a few levels already in you, just held back by your body's limitations. I wonder if you'll get to keep those…?" She shrugged as Brain looked at his hands as if expecting them to be different.

"Go, face your enemy, and I will see you again soon." She said and pointed toward the door.

Brain left in disbelieving silence, everything about his body felt lighter, stronger, the tingle was gone, and unable to think of what else to do, he simply walked out without a word.

"Comes to see a beautiful young lady in private, has her dance for him, and leaves without so much as a farewell? How rude." Aureole said when the door shut, then laughed at her own joke and took her seat again to wait for his return.

Brain blinked when he saw the sun stream through the little gaps in the cavernous opening beyond the undercroft. 'The sun is in the wrong place. No, it's setting. How long was I down there?' He wondered, the fog on his mind was entirely gone, and the previous hours now felt like a dream-like experience, recalled through mists.

It was the sound of his name that drew his attention.

"Brain Unglaus versus Cerebrate!" The call went up, and the crowd began to rumble.

"Shit, I don't want to be late." He cursed and set all other thoughts aside and passed through into fading light of day.

"We've seen some incredible matches here today, beastmen, trolls, elves, humans, orcs… warriors of all kinds come to battle for the throne of an Empire, and now we bring two adventurers together, they are the only humans to last this long! Now only one of them can carry humanity to the top!" The crier exhorted the crowd, but Brain had eyes only for his prey.

Cerebrate looked frankly bored, until his face lit up. He leveled his sword across the arena, it appeared to the crowd as if it was being leveled toward Brain himself, however as Brain followed the direction, it pointed toward Layali.

He'd seen her.

He'd seen her, and Brian could see that Layali knew she'd been seen. She began to weep and cling to Zesshi's leg.

Brain's heart ceased to pump blood, it felt instead as if he was pumping pure, unfiltered hatred through his veins. 'If someone told me a year ago I'd be killing a man in an arena to avenge one little girl, before the eyes of her, my half elf lover, and a crowd of beastmen, trolls, and the gods know what else, I'd have laughed, bought them a drink, and asked them to tell me another tall tale. But right now… this is my dream. To see her smile again, and to see him twisted in pain at my feet.' Hatred settled over him like a shadowy cloak, and the power of his presence, made tenfold by the curious actions of his benefactor, drew Cerebrate's attention away from Layali.

"What, you know that little cunt?" Cerebrate asked when he saw the way Brain looked at him after spying the look between the abuser and the abused.

Cerebrate stopped and held a hand to his mouth, "Oh no, wait! You're why she's alive… I thought for sure I lost her, sorry I popped her cherries before you could get to her, but hey a secondhand sheath will still hold a sword!" He laughed, but Brain did not.

Cerebrate could feel the murderous intent, and turned to put himself sideways toward Brain while the blue haired swordsman took his position. "She's just a half elf with no family, don't get so upset, I won't even contest ownership, keep her, dispose of her, what have you, elves are kind of gross anyway with those pointy ears and all." Cerebrate knew he was rambling, but couldn't stop himself. His calm front was a facade.

"Come on, Brain, you don't really think I'm the same as I was, you got lucky before, and I left you with more injuries than I had. It won't go the same, you know it, just put up a good show, and I'll let you down easy, no need to get upset over getting a half grown gash before you." Cerebrate said and leveled his sword ahead as Brain drew his own in turn.

"She has a family." Brain said, "And right now, her father is going to kill you, her mother is going to watch, and she'll sleep well for the rest of her life when the worms are eating your corpse."

Cerebrate took a half step back, his face registering his surprise with the widening of his eyes and his mouth briefing forming a stunned 'O' shape before he regained his senses. 'Is this idiot serious?'

It was very clear that he was, as Brain said nothing more, he only began activating his martial arts.

"Fine, I'll kill her father in front of her, maybe her mother later, and she'll beg for death before I'm done." Cerebrate taunted before using his own martial arts. 'That ought to set him on edge.' He told himself, and when the signal came, he dashed forward. [Knight's Charge] He used his final martial art, 'I'll end it-'

Cerebrate never finished the thought, Brain was gone.

The arena shook for fifty paces in every direction as Brain grabbed Cerebrate's wrist, snapped it, and then flung him down to the sands.

The cry of pain did not get to leave his lips before Cerebrate felt his elbow snap, his knee turn to powder, and his foot go sailing away, while Brain's sword ran with blood when it was held overhead. "This is the end. You hurt my daughter, you humiliated her, you made her want to die, and there's no forgiveness for that." His sword came down again, and the scream finally left Cerebrate's mouth.

"You. Never. Should. Have. Touched. Her." Brain bellowed down at his prey, it was not a man, it was a lump of meat, offensive meat to be disposed of. Each word was punctuated by a flawless swing of his sword, no blow was lethal, it just 'shaved' away at flesh.

Cerebrate tried to roll over, to crawl away. 'My sword?' He wondered and saw it lying there, just out of reach.

"How can you use your sword without any fingers?" Brain asked, and while Cerebrate wondered what he was talking about, his fingers fell away from his outstretched hand to land like little sausages in the sands.

"You don't get a warrior's death, Cerebrate. No honor, no glory, nothing like that…" He stood beside the groaning warrior and with a casual thump of his boot, rolled his daughter's tormenter onto his back.

Brain then thrust the tip of his sword into the sand, straddled and squatted down over the limp figure, and began pounding his fists into him again and again. Ribs cracked and broke, Cerebrate lost the power to moan when a brutal punch across his face shattered his jaw and sent it sliding away from his body, leaving a half malformed face and eyes of wide eyed horror.

"Rot in hell." Brain snarled, raised his fist one more time, and brought it down into Cerebrate's nose, the sickening crunch of bone and flesh was the only noise to be heard as it all gave way beneath the impact of Brain's hand.

The brain beneath became a lump of mush, and Brain stood up, viscera and brain matter dripped from his fist, which Brain raised in triumph.

"I think… they had history." The crier shouted, "Emphasis on 'had' history." They added, allowing for a somewhat feeble laugh as Brain snatched up his sword and walked away from the corpse, and back to enjoy the rest of the day with his family… after one, brief, stop.