REGIME (English Version)

Chapter 11 - A Hundred Against One

- Wait! - I startle and open my eyes, looking at that familiar voice. It was Rebecca emerging from the crowd. - It can't be like this! This is not how it's supposed to be done! - Then the confused elder questions:

- What are you talking about, child? Don't you see you're disrupting the sacred ritual?

- Elder Zulayka, please! You told me that before the ceremony, the goddesses communicate with the animals so they understand that their death will be important! But... she's not willing to listen to the voice of the... g-goddesses she... believes in the god of men!

- This is true, my lady, this sacrifice would not be accepted by the goddesses. - A woman beside the elder speaks. Then Rebecca concludes:

- If we sacrifice her, her suffering for the goddesses will be bitter and repugnant! We need to make her believe first. - I didn't immediately understand where exactly Becca was going with this, but I followed along:

- Yes, that's true! I won't... be a worthy sacrifice for your goddesses! - The elder approaches me and says threateningly:

- What are you planning?

- We need a way for the sacrifice to be worthy! - A villager shouts from the crowd, and then they all continue shouting in agreement.

- I challenge you to a duel.

- A duel? What do you think you're doing, child?

- Let's put our faith to the test. - I intone for all to hear, as I realize that the crowd is crucial to the elder's decision. - I will invoke my God to help me in our battle. And you do the same with your goddesses.
In the end, one of us will have to renounce her faith.

- You can't speak for the goddesses!

- But you can... what do you say?

-... the stranger wants to challenge me to combat. - Everyone laughs. - She wants to put our faith to the test. - The elder steps back and points at me.

- She thinks she can come to our land and spit on the altar of our goddesses! - Then the crowd of women continues booing.

- Get her out of there. - So they do, and I find myself free from that seemingly unsolvable situation.
After a moment, a huge circle is made in the space where the bonfire would be, and everyone prepares to watch the combat.
Some village women, servants of the elder, emerge from the crowd carrying a small altar for the invocation of their goddesses.
They place the small altar in front of the elder, and she cuts her palm with a sharp stone, pouring her blood into a pot.
Then she raised the pot to the sky and began her ritual, reciting various names, probably of the goddesses who would aid her in her combat, and when she finished her prayer, she drank her own blood, which spilled onto her chin and dripped down her entire body.
While the servants prepared the elder for the combat, I simply knelt, clasped my hands, and closed my eyes.

"Most Holy God.
Thank you for having mercy
on my life.
Lord, I will ask for the necessary power to defeat the giants that have been
raised against me by the enemy.
But not so that my strength
is glorified, but Yours. Amen."

I didn't linger in my prayer, after I finished it, I remained kneeling for a while, just breathing deeply and concentrating.
Then I stood up, making the sign of the cross.
The village women showed no respect whatsoever; they were all mocking me even during the prayer.

- Choose your weapons. - A woman approaches along with other women holding different weapons for combat from short to medium range.
I chose a spear and a dagger, and positioned myself while taking deep breaths.

- Attention! - The duel judge approaches to announce the rules and stands between me and Zulayka.

- Only strikes while the weapons are in hand will be allowed, meaning: no throwing! Duels usually only end when one of the fighters is killed.
But thanks to the sacrifice case, feel free to withdraw and renounce your belief at any time, Miss Dzulay. - I just stare at her and show no reaction. I've come too far to give in to a simple provocation.

- Alright. Prepare! - I prepare myself, holding the spear above my shoulders and the dagger in the other hand to defend myself.

- Begin! - The elder Zulayka had two long daggers and showed no hurry.
So I take a deep breath and lunge forward, thrusting the spear towards her, which she deflects with one dagger and cuts my face with the other.
We back away a bit, and the crowd starts cheering.

- Haha, look, you're already bleeding - She laughs at me, and licks the dagger stained with blood. - Your pain will be a feast for the goddesses! - Zulayka advances towards me, but I defend against her sequence of strikes with my spear, but I drop the dagger and am forced to the ground.

- Where... is... your god? - I lose the battle for balance and fall to the ground, then she strikes me twice with her daggers, which are deflected by my backwards rolls.
The second dagger got stuck in the ground, so I take advantage of her distraction to hit her in the eye region.

- Arghh!! - Her right eye was hit, that spear made surgical cuts.

- You... bitch! - She gets up and we distance ourselves, then she strikes with the dagger again, this time towards my neck, but I block with my arm and hit her abdomen with a knee.
After hitting the knee, I pull her by the hair and spin her, making her fall to the ground, but I'm pulled along, and as we fall together, she hits me with the knife in my belly.

- Ow... shit... - She quickly recovers, it was clear that her combat vigor was superior to mine, even though she was older. Then she climbs on top of me and starts choking me.

- Renounce... now!

- Krgh... krgh... - Even if I wanted to, I couldn't say anything.

- It's... over, this was dull - some villagers spoke.

- Renounce your god now! - I couldn't break free from her hold, and every punch I threw at her seemed to have no effect.

- LOUISE! - Rebecca shouts from the side, catching my attention. Then when I look slightly to the side, I hear the sound of the blade scraping the ground.
Becca had kicked the dagger she had lost in the fight close to me, all I had to do was raise my right arm to the side, grabbing the dagger, then I stab it into her rib, as I did so I felt the pressure on my neck going away, so I take a deep breath and twist the blade to cause even more damage.

- Aaarhg! No! - The elder tries to speak, but I quickly push her off me and climb on top of her, reversing roles.
I start a sequence of punches to her face, she couldn't react and just received the violent blows I was giving. The more I punched her, the more my anger grew, and the more I wanted to destroy her skull.
She was already becoming disfigured and choking on her her own blood.
When a voice spoke in my ear for me to stop. A punch of mine that would have finished her is stopped halfway... I stagger to my feet and move away from Zulayka, still conscious.
The crowd was dissatisfied that Rebecca had helped me, but there were no rules preventing external intervention.

- Finish... quickly... with... - Zulayka tried to speak but the blood on her face made it difficult.

- No... I'll help you, it doesn't have to end like this.

- Hrrf... the goddesses have abandoned me... I don't deserve life...

- We don't deserve it. None of us.

- Enough... - The elder, still coughing, tries to speak:

- You've already got what you wanted... I don't want... forgiveness from your... god... - Zulayka seemed to sob as she spoke this last sentence. Probably her heart had collapsed while she tried to survive. I offered her my forgiveness, but she didn't want to accept it. However, ironically or not. "God" was the last thing she said in her life.