With Aulus's order, the 60 auxiliary guards who were in formation clashed with Septimus's 60 private clone guards.
The fight began suddenly, and the private clone guards, using their experience in combat as gladiators, faced the auxiliary guards with their short swords.
In less than 10 minutes, both sides suffered losses. The private clone guards had experience as gladiators, but in fights with Roman formations they had a slight disadvantage; likewise, gladiator combat uses excessive and flashy fighting movements that are less efficient on a battlefield.
On the other hand, the 60 auxiliary guards did not have much of an advantage either; in individual combat they could not defeat the clone guards, and their advantage in formation was gradually lost as the clone guards adapted to the battlefield.
In 20 minutes, the formation of the auxiliary guards broke, and the clone guards began their unrestrained charge.
The skills learned in hundreds of combats in the underground arena favored the clone guards, who did not hesitate to use all kinds of dirty fighting methods against their enemies.
The clone guards began to kill the auxiliary guards, who were in panic, easily as if they were unarmed people, using brutal combat skills.
Observing the situation, Aulus's expression turned pale; in his impression, he had not believed that Septimus and his guards would be so bold as to attack and kill his auxiliary guards. He was a prefect and was carrying out his duty.
Seeing the irreversible situation, Aulus knew that this man planned to rebel against Rome and prepared to flee.
Seeing that Aulus mounted a horse, 10 clone soldiers mounted horses brought by other clones and began a pursuit. Septimus knew that the situation had drastically worsened and did not plan to show mercy.
In the worst case, Septimus would rebel. In a few months, with the death of the consul Marius from old age, the consul Cinna would initiate an even more intense purge against the supporters of Sulla.
If Septimus were forced into a situation with no way out, he could rebel and take Capua; with his ability to generate clones easily, he could gather a completely loyal army and resist until Sulla's landing.
The 10 clone guards pursued Prefect Aulus, managing to intercept him after riding 20 kilometers. With a slash of a gladius, one of the slave guards killed Aulus's horse, causing him to fall to the ground and strike the earth heavily.
The clone guards surrounded Aulus.
Aulus stood up, dazed, and the first thing he saw was his dead horse and the enemies surrounding him threateningly.
"I am a prefect; you are opposing Rome," Aulus shouted with a cowardly attitude.
"Fuck Rome," said one of the clones, looking coldly at Aulus while spitting at him.
The clones approached Aulus with malice and, using their swords, dismembered his body before decapitating him and placing his head on a spear on the way back to the villa.
Septimus knew that his actions would bring serious consequences, so it was time to show his fangs. The nearest legions to Capua were three days away with a forced march, and the closest force was 5,000 men under the command of the admiral of Campania; those troops were dedicated to protecting the region from pirates and were trained in naval combat, only half were considered marines and could be deployed.
With the situation already established, Septimus ordered the battlefield to be cleared; he had lost 26 clone soldiers and taken 32 prisoners. With a gesture of his hand, the clone soldiers, amid the screams and pleas of the prisoners, executed them; Septimus was not one to show mercy to the enemy.
At the same time, 300 clone soldiers left the villa heading toward Gaius's ludus. Septimus was not going to let that man get away with it; he had to pay a blood price with his own blood.
Septimus also sent clones to buy more armor and weapons; before the situation became known, he planned to form a complete legion of clones.
After setting his objectives, Septimus headed to the villa under the nervous gaze of the beautiful slave women, who were full of questions but did not dare to ask.
A slave woman with reddish hair and a well-proportioned body, looking nervously at Septimus, gathered her courage.
"Dominus, a sister heard shouts outside from the prefect accusing you," said the slave with a hint of panic.
Septimus understood; it was when Aulus had been shouting at the clone guards that some nearby slave had heard the shouts. The prefect of Capua was also their administrator and represented Rome; it was understandable why the slaves were so worried.
In Septimus's villa, apart from attending to Septimus's physical needs and doing household tasks, the slave women did not perform other work nor did they endure humiliation from the clone guards, who kept their distance, only helping in tasks that required strength, and, in addition, Septimus treated them kindly as if they were his own women. For these slaves, having an owner like Septimus was a blessing from all the gods, and therefore they feared losing their way of life.
If Septimus were taken and judged by the prefect of Capua, they would lose the good life they had; for that reason, although they were slaves, and knowing that Septimus was good and tolerant with them, the red-haired slave dared to ask.
Septimus looked at her and, with the faint cry of the slave, embraced her while grabbing her buttocks and looking into her eyes.
"You are my woman and my slave; you do not need to worry about anything else and only need to serve me," said Septimus seriously to the slave while kissing her forehead.
The slave nodded quickly while in Septimus's arms.
The other slaves remained silent and also nodded at Septimus's words without asking further questions. They understood that Septimus would not harm them and treated them as his women, but they still retained the identity of slaves.
Septimus, with the slave in his arms, took a second slave at random and headed to the room; he was going to vent some of his fury by having sexual relations.
Meanwhile, Gaius's ludus turned into hell.
The 300 clone guards advanced and launched an attack directly without making noise or shouting.
At first, the guards who guarded the gate of the ludus believed they were auxiliary guards of the prefect who had come to deliver the results of Septimus's judgment, but upon seeing how their companions were attacked, they were thrown into shock.
Two hundred clone guards entered the ludus and unleashed a massacre against the guards, gladiators, and slaves of the ludus.
The screams grew louder, and the smell of blood filled the entire place.
Two clone guards dragged Gaius while the other clone guards killed the slaves along with Gaius's wife and children with a slash of the sword.
"Who are you? Damn you, you have made a mistake, I am a friend of the prefect," Gaius shouted in pain upon hearing the screams of his wife and children.
He still did not understand who these men were or why they attacked him; the shock of the slaughter of his entire ludus stunned him, and he could not process the death of his family, believing it was a nightmare.
Seeing him in that state, the clone soldiers brought the heads of his wife and children close to Gaius, allowing him to see the expressions of terror imprinted on their faces at the moment of death.
Gaius looked at the heads of his family in shock, unable to understand whether he was in a nightmare.
"In the name of Septimus Novius, the impaler of heads, he sends you his regards. In your next life, pray to your gods not to offend my lord," said the clone soldier as he cut off Gaius's arms and legs.
Upon hearing the words of the clone soldier, before Gaius could process the statements, he felt intense pain from the loss of his arms and legs; one of the clones, waiting 10 minutes before he bled out, cut off Gaius's head.
Septimus planned to forge a fearsome name for himself and proclaim himself the impaler of heads. He also planned to have a motto and to customize a standard using cheap colors in Rome such as gray, black, brown, and red.
Fear would become the tool that Septimus would use to protect his wealth.