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Fiends For Hire [Anti-Hero Action/Slice of Life] (4,500+ Pages)
V4: Chapter 16 - Tournament Arc | Fiend Bracket (9)

V4: Chapter 16 - Tournament Arc | Fiend Bracket (9)

SENLI VS. JAID

“Our first Fiend knows all of your secrets, even if you’ve never told them to anyone. The walls have ears, but they also have mouths in her case. She can uncover any dark truth, though odds are, she doesn’t want to know them. Instead of exploiting her power for personal gain, she spends her time caring for young Fiends who no longer have families to go back to. The Embarrassed Eavesdropper, Senli!”

“And now for our second competitor. Outside of the Fiends For Hire, she may well be the most known Fiend, famous for her stint as a spy in the group. She is the highest ranking Central Peace competitor in this competition, and holds her knightly virtues close to her heart. You know her, you love to hate her, The Prude Paladin, Jaid!”

The woman was met with a bit of a mixed review from the crowd as she walked out, plenty booed her while just as many cheered. Even though she’d ticked off a lot of the Fiends For Hire’s fans, a lot of them found her to be a compelling character in the few appearances she’d made in Fiend TV content.

“So we have a bit of an interesting situation for this match! Senli requested that there be no commentary since it would make using her power more difficult. Not to be unfair, her competitor, Jaid, was informed of her request. And even though Jaid didn’t know who she’d be fighting, she was as knightly as ever and agreed. Additionally, Jaid abstained from voting on obstacles, saying she was content with whatever her opposition chose. So raise them up! Let the match begin!”

Jaid immediately pulled out her sword and pointed it at Senli who was partially hiding behind a brick wall, poking part of her face out to observe her opponent. “Why are you here, Senli?” She then slammed the tip of her sword into the arena floor, lowering her guard.

“You’re not a fighter. In fact, I’d say you’re one of the few at the Fiends For Hire that I admire. What you do is nothing but commendable, and I believe you’re everything right in the Fiend community. But you have no chance of winning this competition, and I’m sure you’re well aware of that. So I ask again, why are you here?”

“Umm, because they wanted to be here,” Senli hesitantly slid out of her hiding spot once she was certain she wouldn’t be immediately attacked. “The kids, I mean. They said that I’d be really cool if I came out here and gave it a shot, and that it would give them the motivation for them to try even harder with their schoolwork. I have no idea if they’ll keep that promise, but I’d do anything to help them succeed.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Jaid could only speak positively about her motives.

“Can I ask why you’re here?” Senli’s words caught The Paladin off-guard. “I get that you’re with the Central Peace and they’re probably making you fulfill an obligation. Or that you see yourself as our enemy. But everything you’re wearing doesn’t seem to agree.”

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“Take your armor for example. They firmly believe that everyone can get along, that you can mend the bridges that you’ve believed to be burnt.”

“Hmph, I suppose that’s to be expected,” Jaid could only shrug. “Since they were gifts from Drim and Nathym, they’d of course never be fully loyal to me. But I still appreciate them, and hope they’ll fight alongside me, even if our goals don’t fully align.”

“But then there’s your sword,” Senli cut in. “Its words are confusing me a bit. It doesn’t think you should be fighting for the Central Peace.”

“Well it can say whatever it wants, but—”

“And not just them,” Senli cut her off. “It doesn’t think you should be fighting for anyone else either, not the Fiends For Hire, nobody with any sort of agenda. According to it, every fight is a waste of time. Every fight that isn’t against her, that is. Not sure who the sword is referring to, but it’s no one here. It really, really wants to fight against whoever this woman is, and… get revenge for all the lives she took.”

“I guess it must have some sort of connection to its past masters then,” Jaid deduced. “It is a very old relic, so it must have a long history. But I received this sword from my mother, so I’ll use it how I see fit.” She finally lifted the blade and tried to take a step towards Senli, but found that a very heavy step to take.

“What did you do?” The knight demanded to know. “Everything’s so much heavier now. I thought you could only hear things.”

“That is all I can do,” The Eavesdropper reaffirmed. “But now that someone’s listening to them, they really want to be heard. Everything has a will of its own. They probably won’t have the power to resist you for long, but they’re going to act in their own interests for as long as they can.”

“Fine then,” Jaid threw her sword to the ground and slipped off her armor. “I hope they’ll work with me again soon, but for now, we’ll settle this with our fists, Senli.”

“And there’s one more piece that’s really concerned for you,” the girl ignored her and continued. “The visor on the back of your head.”

That stopped Jaid in her tracks, but only for a brief moment. “Let me guess, it thinks I’m fighting on the wrong side too?”

“No, nothing like that,” Senli shook her head. “It’s just worried about you. And it says it’s been watching over you ever since it was on her mother’s face, ever since you were born. All it wants, Jaid, is for you to be happy in whatever you do. It says that was your mother’s dying words as it rested on her face, and it wants to see that come to fruition. So Jaid, are you happy?”

“Right now…?” Jaid felt pressure on the back of her eyes and her throat clenched up. If she heard any more of this, she’d lose her strong will and break down right in front of everyone. “No, I’m not!”

The woman took heavy steps forward until she was almost sprinting at Senli. Her opponent put up her fists in response—hesitant, yet resolute. She prepared herself to spar with Jaid, but didn’t get the chance. One punch from The Paladin was all it took. Senli was sent straight to the ground, knocked unconscious.

“Jaid wins!”

~Unfulfilled Wish~

Senli: For the children to receive any resources they need to achieve their dreams in life.