Eve's hand stops trembling.
Her mind is clearer than ever. For once, her resolve is unwavering.
"Come." These words come out quietly, but Slackjaw manages to hear them.
What comes next out of his mouth is a war cry; his scream is so loud that the first row of spectators covers their ears.
Slackjaw stretches his legs and dashes with insane speed towards Eve. His mouth is ready to tear her to bits.
Yet Eve is just like a statue.
Slackjaw is getting closer.
Fifty meters.
Five meters.
Then a loud CRUNCH is heard through the Colosseum.
The fight is over.
Slackjaw's massive teeth bite Eve's right collarbone. The bone breaks in half from the pressure. Yet the wretch doesn't stop. A bite, then another one. He devours her flesh like there's no tomorrow. Eve's ichor pours out from her torn shoulder, spilling on the dirty sand. The damage is so serious that it makes Eve drop Nightfall.
Slackjaw wails in happiness; his stomach is getting fuller and fuller. And his victory is just around the corner.
While Slackjaw is happily feasting, Eve didn't move an inch except when she dropped her sword.
And yet, she remains unmoving. Slackjaw holds her by the shoulders, not daring her to interrupt his feast.
Then, as Slackjaw is about to rip out a bigger piece of her flesh, Eve leans her body to the left and
she whispers in his ear.
"That's enough."
Eve's right fist connects with Slackjaw's throat; the punch shouldn't carry that much power, but in a way, it does because of adrenaline and a well-placed hit. It carries almost enough power to crush his windpipe.
Slackjaw stumbles back, coughing and holding his neck with his hands. For a few seconds, he feels fear. How can she turn the tables so fast?
No, he won't have it.
His eyes dart back to Eve, no fear or hunger present, just a need to kill her. And what looks back at him is the same killing intent as in his own eyes.
"My my, what a sight, everyone, we thought Eve was a goner there." Calliopius yells in fake excitement.
Slackjaw lets go of his throat and prepares to dash back to his prey.
"If you take just a single step, you will die."
Who does she think she is? Slackjaw can move freely without her orders. Yet he doesn't. He is physically much stronger than she is, yet how can her words have such an effect on him? Right now, he doesn't know, and he doesn't move.
Eve bends down and picks up Nightfall in her right hand, then she throws it across the arena, crashing against one of the walls and falling into the sand.
Eve is left without a weapon.
"You may continue," she tells Slackjaw as she faces him again.
Slackjaw gets back on all fours. Then his war cry is heard again through the arena.
Eve does the same pose, but her hands don't touch the sand.
"Just know, I am hungry as well."
Then they both dash towards each other.
But before they crash into each other, Eve swirls to the right and effectively ducks under his open left arm. She plants her left foot in front of her, angling to halt herself. She turns back and looks at Slackjaw's distancing body. Due to his mass, he can't do the same. He crashes into the wall. A loud bang is heard through the arena, and a massive cloud of dust is formed where he made contact.
Before he can grasp what happened, something lands on his back, no, it's someone, as light as a feather.
Then CRUNCH.
Now it's Eve's turn to feed, but instead of going for his collarbone. She sinks her teeth into his neck, tearing at his carotid artery. Her bite is not as strong as his, but she still manages to rip his flesh off and with his flesh came blood from his torn artery. After Eve rips his flesh off, she just looks at the back of his head for a bit, her teeth clamp around the ripped piece of flesh, and his lifeline drips down on his shoulders. Eve jumps off his back and lets him turn towards her.
As Slackjaw turns around, Eve spits out the bloody chunk of flesh, which lands silently on the sand.
Slackjaw fully turned, there's something new in his eyes, but instead of killing intent, there's fear, but this time, it doesn't disappear so easily.
He tries to cover his bleeding artery without success; blood keeps dripping and dripping. He starts to pant wildly, with deep gasps and dilated pupils.
Eve turns her back to him and walks over to Nightfall. She picks it up and walks over to him; she throws Nightfall at his feet.
"Take your life." Not an ounce of emotion is heard in her voice.
But instead of obeying her again, Slackjaw's gaze falls on the sand. With the last of his might, he bends down as fast as he can, then gets a fistful of sand, and he throws it all at Eve, forming a brief cloud of sand.
Eve is momentarily surprised, but her expression goes back to a neutral one.
She walks through the sand cloud and stands right in front of him.
Her left fist connects with Slackjaw's hand that's on his bleeding artery. His upper body turns a bit after the punch, and more blood starts to spill out.
"Pick it up,"
yet Slackjaw doesn't abide by Eve's demands.
Then a punch to his jaw, Slackjaw is left disoriented.
Then another punch to his neck.
"I won't repeat myself."
And Slackjaw does just that, he holds Nightfall by the blade, the tip biting into his trachea.
Eve puts her right hand on the pommel and pushes the sword into Slackjaw's throat. After a moment of pushing, Nightfall comes to a stop; it hits his spine.
Eve pulls out her sword and looks at the crowd.
Then she wipes the blood from her mouth.
The second fight is finished.
"What an interesting fight, ladies and gentlemen. We thought Eve was as good as dead when Slackjaw bit her. Yet she proved us wrong. Let's hope her next fight, the semi-finals, is going to be even more awesome," the announcers say with a bit of concern mixed with excitement.
The massive gate through which she entered the arena opens, and she walks toward it.
When the gate fully opens, she sees a trembling guard looking at her.
"W-weapon."
Eve gives him Nightfall without saying anything. The trembling guard escorts her to her cell. The guard tells her.
"D-drink this. It will heal you." He hands her a healing potion. Eve takes it, pops it open, and in two gulps she manages to finish it. She hands the guard the empty glass. The guard picks it up involuntarily, his shaking never stopping.
Eve walks up to her bed made of straws and lies on it. Then, after some minutes, she falls asleep.
Yet again, the crowd wasn't impressed by her performance.