Those two days of rest passed as if they were only hours. It wasn’t long before the five fighters were called up to the Tengerleg Stadium once again. The Major was about to begin. More hopeless slaughter. Suruj was in a constant state of anger and anxiety, worried about Jose, Kwazhak, and the others. In the atrium, there was a hologram that showed the next lineup.
> 10 Zundui versus 08 Shunji
>
> 07 Perez versus 06 Laoyuang
>
> 04 Izdaha
He didn’t know whether it was on purpose, but Saya was placed on bye, meaning that she was going to skip the first round of the Major since she didn’t have an opponent. Saya was injured during the Minor, which would’ve placed her at a disadvantage if she was placed against someone the likes of Shunji. Suruj didn’t care who he was lined up with. He had to destroy the dome above, and make sure everyone would get out alive. Determined, Suruj stopped at the sight of people praying, giving their condolences to the deceased. Surprised, he felt tension lift off him, seeing that people cared about the ones that had departed from this world.
Even after Suruj had seen people he knew pass before him, his purpose given to him by L didn’t change. Mouka’s memories mingled with his, leaving his mind a jumbled mess of fortitude and angst. Every burnt corpse, every bleeding body, he felt her memories as clear as day. The paraluman’s words, and L’s words, his brain could barely process two separate lives at once, all reducing him into a calm, stressful state.
If there was a slight chance that he would make it out alive, then Suruj wanted to go to the university, just like his nanay wanted. Nothing was stopping him from that life except the Dineh Kazaàd.
“Suruj… I think I’m gonna die soon.”
Jose said to him in Galag while shivering at the hologram. After a pause, Suruj stepped towards him.
“We’re not.”
“Sira! If we stay here any longer we’re all dead in three more rounds of this!” Jose was taken aback, letting his gauntlets slope to his side. “I just want to go home, to my gang. Without being forced to kill the friends I know. Even if Kwazhak doesn’t fight, or I don’t, those mga letseng mananampalataya are going to vote for me as the loser. I’m gonna die.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
At that moment, Kwazhak passed by quickly in between them, dropping a piece of papyrus paper in Suruj’s pocket.
“Quéng ginagawa ninyo, para sayo ‘to,” The multilinguist walked away, waving his hand.
Curious, he unfolded it delicately in his hands. At that moment, his face became tense.
“Jose… we’re gonna get outta here, today.”
“Welcome folks to the next phase of the Dineh Kazaàd, the Kazaàd Major! Consisting of three rounds, these decisive duels will determine who will face the current defending champion, Ayai Toya,” The commentator explained with a loud voice, “Now, for our first match we have the Buhang fighter with a high betting price, Suruj Garcia Zundui!”
The crowd cheered for him as he walked out onto the stadium, tightening the Khoitan hat on his head. Looking downward, he gazed at his left hand, which still bore the missing fingers that Thiệu had mutilated. But as long as Suruj could fold his fists into a ball, he wasn’t going to give up. After Mouka passed, he stored saharic particles within himself from that time. Since the bracelet negated all sahar in his body, he constantly was charging saharic particles himself in order to maintain the small storage of particles. It didn’t prove to be much, but he figured it would help in certain situations.
Niktar Shunji came out from the other side, walking slowly face to face. For a while, they stared a hole into each other silently as time briefly passed. With the ambient chatter of the audience, Suruj took a step forward.
“Shunji. You need to help. If we don’t work together then we’re all good as dead.”
“‘We’re all’, you say?” He covered his face, “I will survive.”
“Was all the times we shared in Wakoku an act, then? Those words you said to us, to go on and fight Thiệu?” Suruj pressed him, while the commentator was silent.
“Those words were true, because I really believed that we could do it,” Shunji responded clearly, before pointing at him. “But now I believe we can’t. So I’ll fight for my own life.”
“Don’t be stupid. If you help us destroy the barrier above us, then-”
“And due to security concerns, for the entire Major there will be a density of zero hyakume!” The announcement came up. When Suruj heard it, something wasn’t right. He didn’t know of any security concerns that came up during their time plotting.
“Barrier? I’d look above if I were you,” Shunji pointed upwards in a sarcastic voice.
For a moment, a feeling of terror struck Suruj. It left his legs glued to the ground. As he slowly glanced at the thing above him, it was as if every single ounce of hope evaporated in the sunny heat.
The dome was repaired.