The Gladiator War

The Gladiator War

Chapter 1: The Beast Awakens

It began quietly, as all dark things do. Officially, the conflict was branded as "Operation Eternal Unity," a humanitarian effort to "protect democracy in Ukraine." But to the discerning eye, it was nothing short of madness—a war orchestrated not to be won, but to last. The European Union, now a hollow shell of sovereignty, was governed by unelected bureaucrats who spoke in soft tones of peace while sharpening the swords of war.

Markus, a humble tradesman and a Christian who clung tightly to his King James Bible, watched it all unfold from his frostbitten home in Dresden. The propaganda was relentless: glowing screens in every shop and every home blared the necessity of the war, the nobility of the sacrifice. "For peace," they said, as trains full of young men rumbled eastward, never to return.

Inflation had reduced Markus's savings to worthless paper. The Central Bank Digital Currency, implemented with promises of convenience, tracked every purchase, every movement, every thought. The government rationed energy—one hour of heat per day in the freezing German winters. Informants lurked in every shadow, neighbors spying on neighbors, a new Stasi for a new age.

Chapter 2: The Coliseum

The true purpose of the war was whispered about in hushed tones. Soldiers weren’t just being sent to fight; they were being sent to die, as the elite hosted their macabre spectacles. The Coliseum had been reborn—not as stone and sand, but as an arena of endless war streamed directly into the minds of the masses.

The EU’s unelected leaders sat in their ivory towers, sipping imported wine as they watched drone footage of battlefields. This wasn’t war; it was sport. Generals and politicians placed bets on kill counts, entertained by the spectacle of flesh and steel. The soldiers were no longer men but fodder for the machine. The bear—the Russian war machine—was fed relentlessly with human lives, while the EU elites grew rich laundering money through endless defense contracts.

Markus saw through the charade. He saw how the war drained nations of their men, leaving behind broken families and a void of masculinity. Women were drafted next, conscripted to fill the ranks as the "inclusive army." The result was a society reduced to obedience, bereft of strength, and fearful of resistance.

Chapter 3: The Freezing Point

The winters grew colder. The energy crisis, worsened by the Nord Stream sabotage, left entire cities dark and silent. People burned furniture to survive. Markus and his small church gathered in secret, praying for deliverance and sharing what little food they could scrape together. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers," Markus would remind them, reading from Ephesians 6:12.

But Markus had grown wary of the churches themselves. Many had fallen under the sway of the government, preaching loyalty to the regime rather than the Gospel. Pastors secretly collaborated with the authorities, betraying believers who dared to question the war or refuse the digital currency. Markus’s own church had been infiltrated, but the true believers held on in private gatherings, reading the Scriptures and praying in whispers.

One night, as the remnant prayed, a knock came at the door. Markus opened it cautiously to find a shivering young soldier, barely more than a boy, in a torn EU uniform. He had fled the front lines, sickened by the horrors he had seen. "They’re not sending us to fight," the boy stammered. "They’re sending us to die. It’s all a game to them."

The remnant took him in, but Markus knew the boy’s presence was a death sentence. Informants would report them, and the "Peacekeepers" would come. True to form, the neighbors betrayed them, whispering to the authorities in exchange for extra food credits.

Chapter 4: The Final Showdown

Markus’s arrest was swift and brutal. He was taken to a reeducation facility, where the walls were plastered with slogans: "Obedience is Freedom," "Sacrifice is Peace." The guards, devoid of humanity, taunted him. "You still believe in your fairy tale book? Your God won’t save you now."

But Markus clung to his Bible, smuggled in at great risk. He read aloud to his fellow prisoners from Matthew 24: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." His words ignited a flicker of hope in the broken men around him, a reminder that their suffering was not the end.

Chapter 5: The Great Tribulation

Outside, the world descended into chaos. The war expanded, dragging in nations like North Korea, whose troops marched through Ukrainian fields in service of their EU benefactors. The gladiatorial spectacle grew bloodier, feeding the insatiable lust of the elites. The economy collapsed entirely, and CBDCs became chains, used to starve dissenters into submission.

Markus and his fellow believers endured torment beyond comprehension, but their faith remained unshaken. As the sky darkened with ash and the rivers turned to blood, Markus whispered a final prayer. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."