25.

The blinding light forced my eyelids flutter closed for a few short moments as we stepped outside the stone walls, tiredly pressing my forehead against the gladiator’s armor-clad chest as he carefully carried me cradled in his bulky arms.

Oh yay...Respect for the god blood...even though I was being carried towards my impending execution...

Numbly raising my sight to look up at him, I noticed how his stoic gaze remained trained ahead throughout the entire walk, intently holding his breath, a small bead of sweat already making its way down the side of his face.

Gods...it is already affecting him too...

I quickly lowered my head back down, nervously biting my lip, already feeling even more scared than ever, rendering completely still in his arms as I now felt so afraid that this current situation could turn into something far more worse than my sole demise.

So when he finally lowered me on the heated sand of the arena, we both exhaled almost in unison, relieved to finally be able to get