Since someone had to stay behind to guard the ship, not everyone in their group had come.
Rossi and four others set foot on the island.
They now stood in the Flavian Amphitheatre—more commonly known as the Beast Fighting Arena.
From a distance, the building appeared perfectly circular; viewed from high above, however, it proved to be an ellipse.
Its outer walls rose fifty-seven meters high, with three tiers of staggered, ring-shaped arcades stacked atop one another, enough to swallow nearly ninety thousand feverish hearts.
"Ha! It was over before I even warmed up."
The voice came from one side of the stands.
Diamante walked back with two women in his arms, a soft body entwined around each arm.
Traces that had yet to dry still stained the tip of the slender rapier in his hand.
"Don't get carried away."
Rossi glanced at him.
Diamante raised his eyebrows in response.
"Are all you heroes... from the North Blue too?"
The woman nestled against Diamante turned her face, casting a flirtatious glance toward Trebol and Gladius beside him.
The younger boy immediately looked away, his ears reddening.
"Come any closer,"
he said tensely, "and I'll throw you down there to keep the beasts company."
The smiles froze on both women's faces.
They were accustomed to handling a different sort of heat; their tricks often failed on half-grown children like this one.
If they truly provoked him, the sand below would likely gain two more unrecognizable bodies.
"Lord Diamante, your little companion is so fierce."
"He doesn't know how to treat a lady at all~~"
They wound themselves around the man beside them like vines, their voices so cloying they could have dripped honey.
This was the instinct they depended on to survive.
"Hahaha, as long as I'm a gentleman, that's enough."