"No need to be nervous...
You haven't been exposed yet. No one here will make a move against you."
"...! What do you know?"
At this moment, Spartacus was wondering if his purpose had already been discovered.
If so, he would have no choice but to force his way out of the arena, search everywhere for where his compatriots were imprisoned, and lead them in a bloody escape from Rome.
But Spartacus had no confidence in slaughtering his way out with so many people.
If he caught Rome off guard at the perfect moment, it might work.
But if discovered, he wouldn't even know where his compatriots were held.
They would lose precious escape time, and once surrounded by enemy forces...
Even he would eventually tire.
Then he wouldn't be able to protect his compatriots, and might even drag them all to their deaths.
Night looked at the man in front of him and spoke. "A man more than ten times stronger than a lion or a tiger, yet willingly remaining a slave, bound in this place.
Killing beasts in the arena for the entertainment of those nobles and slave masters.
With your power, if you wanted to escape, I don't believe you couldn't.
No one is born to be enslaved.
That heart of yours that yearns for freedom is telling me that you're hiding here, waiting for something...
Let me guess: you're waiting for the right moment, aren't you? What kind of moment is that?"
When Night spoke calmly, his words struck directly at Spartacus's soul.
Especially that line, "No one is born to be enslaved." It made Spartacus's blood boil. And that other line, "That heart of yours that yearns for freedom." Does my heart... yearn for freedom?
Yes...
Up until now, although Spartacus had been fighting to save his compatriots, in fact he had no clear goal in life.
He was simply carrying out the act of rescue...
But Night's words just now had reminded him, making him discover his true essence.
Do I yearn for freedom?
No, it was more than that.
He also longed for a world without oppression, to liberate all those compatriots who suffered just as he did.
"Which powerful warrior doesn't crave to build honor for himself on the battlefield? Spartacus, it's not that you don't desire honor. It's that you have a heart that cannot tolerate darkness.
You could have escaped alone,
but you witnessed the darkness of the gladiators' world. You saw the oppression your compatriots endured, the pain of being slaves. So you chose to stay, to rescue your companions. Am I right?"
"Yes... Since you understand this, you should know that I won't follow anyone, nor will I pledge loyalty to you and become your slave."
Spartacus decided to speak plainly.
Although he felt some goodwill toward Night because of what had happened earlier, and his attitude wasn't as hostile as toward other nobles, he still wouldn't let himself be bought like other slaves.
He was free.
Both his soul and his body told him this, shouting loudly that he was a free man, absolutely not a tool to be bought and sold at will.
No one had the right to ignore his own will and command his strength.
Yet in the next moment,
Spartacus was stunned by Night's words.
Because the young man shook his head and said, "I don't need you to become my slave...
I simply admire you, that's all.
Even if you won't pledge loyalty to me, we can still be friends."
Night truly appreciated those idealists who flung themselves at flames like moths, knowing it was impossible yet doing it anyway.
Though they were doomed to tragedy, that brilliance was undeniable.
He would never imitate such inevitably fatal stupidity, but that didn't stop him from admiring that nobility, that embodiment of humanity's beautiful spirit.
"Friends...?" Sensing the sincerity and purity in Night's words, Spartacus's heart trembled and he lowered his guard just a little.
"Very well. I am willing to call you my friend," Spartacus said.
As expected, Night did not bring up the topic of loyalty again afterward.
This allowed Spartacus to gradually let down his guard completely.
Especially during their conversation, he learned many novel ideas from hom.
Things like the division of classes, why oppression existed between people, why they couldn't live as equals.
And in this process, the more he understood, the deeper he delved into the essence of humanity, the more despairing it became.
One could see just how irredeemable humans truly were.
As long as classes existed, true equality among humans could never be achieved.
And as long as humanity existed, classes would continuously emerge, unless humanity itself was eradicated at the root!
Spartacus naturally did not entertain such extreme ideas.
But he discovered that it was not as unbearable as he had imagined.
In fact, his initial goal had only been to save his own compatriots, and now, going a step further, he simply wanted to rescue those slaves who were being exploited.
Having suffered himself and witnessed the darkness within, he did not want others to go through the same hell again.
Precisely because he still held onto his humanity, Spartacus, who had been drenched by the rain, had no desire to tear away others' umbrellas.
Instead, he wanted to hold an umbrella over them.
So, he settled for the next best thing: he only wished to dismantle the very existence of slavery.
But after Night's analysis, he realized just how extraordinarily difficult that would be.
With only his own strength, it was practically impossible to accomplish.
Or rather, in this current era, the conditions for achieving it simply did not exist.
It was a process that would require countless years of accumulated struggle and conflict to bring about change.
Thus, Spartacus was left utterly despondent by the various ideologies Night had brought from the future and his piercing dissection of reality.
From initially regarding him as a heavenly figure, awed by his vast knowledge, to witnessing the truth of the world and the essence of class, his heart grew so heavy he could barely breathe.
And finally, after understanding that wherever there are people, there will be conflict,
Spartacus spoke..
"Is there truly no way to achieve mutual understanding between people?"
...emmmm
Of course there is. If you had something like Naruto's Talk no Jutsu from the neighboring manga, forcibly brainwashing everyone into becoming truly kind and beautiful, it wouldn't be impossible.
"In theory, true mutual understanding is very difficult to achieve, but a relative degree of mutual understanding is possible."
"What do you mean?"
Night said nothing.
He simply extended one hand, inviting him to grasp it.
Spartacus glanced at the young man, then reached out and gripped his forearm.
The next moment, Night suddenly exerted force...
The terrifying muscular strength, reinforced multiple times and continuously nourished by the red dragon, erupted with power far beyond human limits.
That instantaneous burst made Spartacus break out in cold sweat, overwhelmed with pain. He immediately responded with full strength.
Yet no matter how much force he applied, he could not break free from this cage.
Night spoke. "All things in existence are bound by rules...
To achieve a relative degree of mutual understanding is simple: become the one who sets the rules yourself.
When you feel pain, you will instinctively rebel.
That is the turning point for change.
When everyone has a powerful common enemy to face, people's hearts will unite as never before."
What?!
Such an unusual statement captivated Spartacus.
It felt absurd yet profound, dangerous yet tangibly real.
Cold sweat poured down Spartacus as he was gripped.
His own hand strength was already immense, enough to wrestle with mountains, yet he could not muster even the slightest confidence to resist this man.
No matter how he increased his grip, the other always kept him feeling the pain in the bones of his fingers.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
.
.