“That was quite something,” Dubnet says, watching the battle of Kiiara, Sienna and Serena.
“Well, guess mine is next,” he adds and walks out of the watching room with his hands in his pocket, having two swords strapped to his waist (one on each side).
“An astounding victory and display from the little genius, Serena Falcon!!!” the commentators declare.
“And to our next match, we have Group B: Dubnet Vs Artemis Vs Buffy. What sort of thrills awaits us in this battle, we shall see,” they add.
As Serena walks back into the participants’ waiting room, her path and Dubnet’s cross, along the long passage leading to the fighting arena.
“You don’t look so happy,” Dubnet calmly says, with his unbothered face, while Serena is still some distance away.
“Humph!!” she sighs and remains silent as she reaches him.
When they cross each other, they exchange high-fives and continue to walk in opposite directions.
“Well done,” Dubnet says, exchanging the high-five.
Serena smiles, remains silent and some distance after passing Dubnet, she stops and says,
“Cous, you’re quite smart and strong, this should be an easy victory for you if you’re really serious.”
“Of course, if even it’s a hassle, I don’t intend to,” Dubnet says, smiles a little and continues walking to the fighting arena.
“Ho Ho, seems it’s my win this time,” Diana laughs at Phoenix, covering her mouth with her left palm.
“Tch!! Well, I propose another contestant for this bet. Let us both choose another person but this time, the bet will be on who wins the tournament itself. Our previous choices still stand which means you have a higher chance at victory seeing as one of your choice, Serena, is still in the tournament and one of mine, Kiiara, is out,” Phoenix proposes.
“Hmm, interesting. Alright I accept,” Diana replies.
“I go with Dubnet,” She quickly proclaims.
“There you go again, making such quick decisions. Well, this time, I’ll go with…Dayve,” Phoenix says.
“Ho ho, this should be quite intriguing,” Diana comments, smiling.
“By the way, we should go see Kiiara after this match. She should have recovered by then,” Diana suggests.
“Sure,” Phoenix replies.
Marcus and Lilian sit there, looking at Phoenix and Diana in a weird way, wondering how they could easily and playfully bet on their daughters and other Lightville participants.
“My my, don’t forget Gerrar is still there. I bet he’ll shock you both and come out victorious,” Lilian speaks up.
“Ah, big sis, so you want to join the bet eh?” Diana replies, looking at Lilian.
“Fine then, let’s do this,” she adds. Marcus lets out a tired sigh and Phoenix chuckles.
Back at the fighting platform…
“Good! Now that you are all here, shall we begin?” Echelone says, addressing Dubnet, Artemis and Buffy, who are gathered at the centre of the platform.
“Alright then, let the battle begin!!!” he shouts, taps his sword with the tip on the ground and jumps backwards to his tall chair just outside the fighting platform.
The three are dressed in the long sleeve navy blue jacket and pair of trousers, given to all participants except that Buffy’s jacket is sleeveless while Dubnet folded the sleeves of his.
Without wasting time, Artemis jumps backwards, drawing out her bow and three arrows, launching them against Dubnet and Buffy simultaneously. Dubnet easily dodges two of the arrows while Buffy moves with speed to attack Dubnet, ignoring the arrow sent against her.
“I’m not going to let this drag on, Beast style: Wolf transformation,” she says. Her hair becomes fuller and her legs transform to that of big grey wolf, her hands, as well.
“Awooo!!!” she lets out a loud howl with a burst of aura flowing from her.
With her sharp claws and increased speed, she initiates her attack on Dubnet with a kick. Dubnet is forced to draw out one of his swords to quickly block the attack. The kick has so much force, it lifts Dubnet off the ground and sends him flying a bit.
Artemis places her hand on the ground and says, “Two dangerous people, however, from what I saw at the island, Dubnet is way more dangerous despite his handsome calm appearance. This stage is empty and big enough, so I guess I’ll try my wood release here.”
“Wood release: Come forth, miniature forest,” she utters and immediately, trees, shrubs and grasses begin emerging from the ground, covering half of the fighting platform.
“What? Give me a break,” Dubnet says as he lands with his feet on the ground.
“Tch!! I see, she intends to hunt this way,” Buffy says.
“However, I’ll find her with my heightened sense of smell and sight,” she says to herself.
Artemis climbs up to the top of a tree and says, “Now let the hunt begin. With my hawk eyes, I’ll be able to locate them easily.”
“There you are,” she says, immediately locating Dubnet and quickly fires an arrow at him. Dubnet senses the arrow and dodges it but it is followed by ten other arrows. Dubnet goes round to the other of the tree behind him to evade the attack.
“Nice but that won’t work for my hawk eye,” Artemis says, shooting an arrow some distance to the left of the tree that Dubnet is behind. She follows up the attack by shooting another arrow which grazes the tail end of the first arrow shot, causing that first arrow to turn towards Dubnet. He notices and swiftly bends down, evading the arrow.
“My energy release: amplification, consumes a lot of energy not to talk of the strain it puts on my body, so for now I think I’ll be taking it easy,” Dubnet says within himself.
Meanwhile, Buffy makes a huge leap, heading to attack Artemis, with her hand claws. Artemis sees this and jumps off the tree she is on, turns and shoots some arrows at Buffy who breaks the branch of that tree with her hand claws. Buffy, with her feet placed on the tree, jumps backwards in the air and avoids the arrows. On getting to the ground, Artemis turns to her back and sees Dubnet, gliding with water, heading for her. Once he gets close to her, he spins in the air and swings one of his swords vertically to cut Artemis. Artemis quickly steps back, dodging the attack and retaliates, releasing two arrows against Dubnet. Dubnet quickly, plunges his sword into the ground and using the hilt as support, bounces off to his left to a nearby tree, evading the arrows.
Artemis tries to move but finds out her feet is stuck. She looks down and sees her feet have been frozen.
“Damn!!” she complains and turns her face, to see Buffy heading for her from behind.
“Did I forget to mention that I could also use ice release?” Buffy says, as she dashes to strike Artemis, with her claws.
“Humph!! I guess I’ll use that then,” Artemis says within herself and bends backwards such that she is seeing Buffy in an inverted position.
“Go!!! Hunter’s beam!!!” she screams, aiming at Buffy and releasing an arrow with a powerful outburst.
The arrow transmutes to a red laser beam and moving at high speed, heads straight for Buffy. Buffy quickly realizes it and moves to her right to avoid the beam but the speed is so fast, it brushes her side and sends her flying to her right, with a boom.
“I didn’t have time to chant so the power output was low compared to what it should have been,” Artemis complains. She stands straight and fires some arrows at her feet, shattering the ice from her feet. Without looking, she points her arrows to her right and shoots them in that direction. Dubnet quickly dodges the arrows and releases a ball of water from his mouth, directing them against Artemis who runs forward, evading them.
Buffy, after panting a bit, lying on the ground, stands up as her wounded area heals up.
“Tch!! that damn Artemis,” Buffy complains, holding her stomach.
“I should end this soon,” she says and stomps her feet on the ground.
“Ice release: Frozen grounds,” she adds. Instantly the ground, the trees, shrubs and grasses all start getting covered in ice. Dubnet notices as the ice approaches him. He swiftly runs, grabs his other sword and using some trees as leverage, jumps high into the air. Artemis waits until the ice is just inches away from her and then makes her jump, evading the ice from making contact with her. In a minute, the entire miniature forest is frozen and Dubnet and Artemis land on the ground.
“Let me keep Dubnet busy,” Artemis says and aims an arrow at Dubnet, who is opposite her, some distance away.
“The arrow is me and I am the arrow. What I see, is where it goes and how I will, is how it goes. Let this, pierce all in its path,” she chants.
““Go!!! Hunter’s beam!!!” she screams, releasing the arrow at Dubnet. The arrow changes to a red laser beam as it approaches Dubnet.
“Humph!! I’ve seen this before,” Dubnet says and makes a run to his right to avoid the beam but it bends and follows him.
“What?!” Dubnet is surprised that the beam is following him everywhere.
“Hehe, that’s how it’s supposed to be, it’ll keep hunting you till it gets you. Because I was knocked out too fast by Mr. Hachi, the attack could not complete its purpose,” Artemis giggles.
“Now I can concentrate on Buffy,” she adds.
Buffy is fast and quickly catches up to Artemis, releasing spikes of ice at Artemis. Artemis uses her arrows to counter, breaking the ice spikes. Swiftly, she shoots some arrows up into the air.
“Laser release: Red shower,” she says and immediately, the arrows bend towards Buffy and transmute to multiple thin red beams, shooting against Buffy. Buffy quickly moves back to evade the attacks which create a bit of dust as they crack the iced ground.
Dubnet suddenly appears some distance behind Artemis, gliding on water.
“Alright, fun time is over,” he says calmly, facing the red beam heading for him and takes a deep breath.
“Energy release: Bilateral strip,” he says and swings his sword vertically, releasing a huge amount of raw energy, blue in a color and shaped like a crescent, sending it against the beam.
The attack divides the beam in half and causes it to explode on both halves, shattering a lot of the frozen trees, shrubs, grasses and even the ground, with the ice fragments flying around and sparkling with the dazzling sunlight.
Artemis turns to shoot at him but he quickly tosses his sword which hits her bow, knocking it off her hand. With a dashing speed, Dubnet instantly appears at her front and lands a kick on her neck. Quickly, he lands another kick at the other side of her neck, proceeds to grab her with water enveloping his hands and throws her up into the air.
“Water release: water prison,” he says, releasing the water from his hands at her. The water encapsulates Artemis, forming a globe round her. The globe of water is connected by a thin line of water to Dubnet’s hand and using this, he tosses Artemis out of the fighting platform. Echelone begins his countdown since Artemis is outside the platform.
“That’ll keep you for ten seconds. Using that your guided missile beam, I’m sure your energy should be depleted and the kicks to the neck should disorient you for a bit while you struggle to breathe in the water prison. That should be enough to take you out,” Dubnet comments.
Artemis is unable to break free from the water prison and Echelone ends his countdown. The water globe evaporates and she falls to the ground, it is over for her.
Buffy immediately rushes to attack Dubnet with her hand claws but Dubnet flips over her and draws out his other sword. Buffy tries to turn to continue her attack but she steps on water left from Dubnet’s water glide, which comes up until it totally enshrouds her just like it did Artemis.
“Humph!! You think this’ll work on me,” she boasts, freezing the globe of water and then breaks free.
“Nah, that wasn’t the plan. I just wanted it to slow you down while I prepared this, Energy release: Bilateral strip,” Dubnet replies and swipes his sword vertically, releasing a huge amount of raw energy, blue in a color and shaped like a crescent, sending it against the Buffy. Buffy tries to block but the force of the attack keeps pushing Buffy taking her all the way to the edge of the platform.
“What?! I…won’t…go down…so easily,” she stutters as the attack pushes her.
Once the attack pushes her and makes her reach the edge, Dubnet calmly says,
“Bye now, it’s been a bit fun.”
Instantly, the crescent shaped amount of energy which Buffy is trying to block, blows up, blasting her out of the platform. Before Buffy can even manage to stand, not to talk of getting back into the stage, Echelone’s countdown for her is over.
“Wow!!! Seems we have our second winner for the day, hailing from Lightville, the calm and unbothered Dubnet Falcon, elegantly ending the battle in a jiffy!!!” the commentators shout with excitement as the viewers give out a loud cheer.
“A nice, smart and elegant display indeed,” Campione, one of the judges, having full afro hair, says to Hachi, with her legs crossed as she views the matches.
“Say, Hachi, you mentioned to me once about that boy saying that he doesn’t intend on becoming a general or whatsoever, right? So what exactly are his dreams?” she asks him.
“That’s right. One of the dreams he stated was about finding the person responsible for the loss of parents’ and that his participation in this tournament was to find out how strong he is at the moment,” Hachi answers.
“I see. Quite an interesting fellow if you ask me. I think he has piqued my interest,” Campione replies, staring at Dubnet as he walks out of the fighting arena.
“Hoo, so you also are enticed by his charming looks, eh?” Hachi teases.
“What?! He’s way younger than I am, fool!!” Campione replies and hisses.
“When has that ever stopped you?” Hachi teases again and laughs.
“I’ll kill you, old man,” Campione replies, glaring at Hachi.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Old man?! Hey! The difference in years isn’t that much,” Hachi states.
“Yes it is. It’s like twelve years, old man,” Campione argues, turning her face away and Hachi sighs. Dinah, Deva and Saphix just laugh at the entire thing.
“By the way, Hachi, Kiiara is your student, right? Won’t you go and see her at the infirmary?” Dinah inquires.
“Not yet. I’ll go after the tournament is over,” Hachi answers.
Meanwhile…
“Oraaa, seems like my second contestant isn’t out yet,” Diana gloats, turning to Phoenix.
“Haha, enjoy. Well, my second one is yet to have his match,” he replies.
“By the way, let’s go see how Kiiara is faring,” Diana suggests. She and Phoenix, stand up and exit the viewing space.
“Now for the next match, Group C: Teru Vs Aurium Vs Jin,” the commentators announce.
On getting to Kiiara’s room at the infirmary, they meet Serena, Dubnet, Sali and Scupto.
“AH! Your majesties,” Sali says, greeting Phoenix and Diana, with a bow.
“Yo! King of Lightville and the beautiful Queen Diana, my pleasure,” Scupto says, taking hold of Diana’s hand and kissing it. Phoenix laughs a bit and glares at Scupto.
“Haha, my bad, that was a bit much, eh?” Scupto chuckles and lets go of Diana’s hand.
“Sure it was,” Dubnet says, tapping Scupto at the back of his head.
“Welcome, your majesties,” Dubnet greets. Phoenix lets out a sigh of exhaustion in relation to Scupto.
“Good to see you, Dubnet, Sali, Scupto,” Phoenix says, rubbing Dubnet’s head and proceeds to open the door of Kiiara’s room at the infirmary.
“Serena, nice win,” he adds, complimenting her and smiling.
“Thank you, dad, mom,” Serena replies with a smile.
As they enter the room, Kiiara is seen, sitting up, viewing the tournament through a large screen in front of her bed.
“Oh!! Teru just removed his chains and they’re super heavy!!!” the commentators announce.
“Wow!! Amazing!!! He was wearing such heavy chains all along,” Kiiara comments.
She turns and sees her family and friends.
“You guys,” she says, smiling.
Serena, Sali, Dubnet and Scupto quickly turn to the screen, to see the ongoing match. They are surprised at the weight of chains Teru removed. The chains are so heavy, that when Teru tosses them to the ground outside the platform, they crack it and sink deep into it, causing large vibrations in the fighting area. The chains were wrapped separately around his hands and legs. The instant he removes these chains, he becomes faster and his punches and kicks carry far more force than before such that when he punches Aurium, even with her gold armor, she feels the hit. Jin who can read attacks due to sensing the movement of bones in the body, finds it difficult to keep up with Teru’s speed in hand to hand combat.
“Kiiara dear, how are you feeling?” Diana asks, lightly touching Kiiara’s face.
“Feeling better, mom, thank you,” she answers.
“You did well too,” Phoenix says, comforting Kiiara.
“Thanks dad,” Kiiara replies.
Sali runs to her side and says, “No need to be sad now Kiiara, I’m sure you’ll do better next time.”
“There’s still time, we’ll definitely reach that top,” Dubnet adds pointing his fist at Kiiara who smiles back.
“Or you can just marry me and relax,” Scupto says, smiling.
“Ugh!! You’re helpless,” Sali replies, putting her palm on her face and shaking her head.
“Haha,” Scupto laughs.
“Don’t mind me but I’m sure you can surpass them all, Kiiara,” he says, with a serious face and a smile this time.
“Don’t worry, sis, I’ll make sure to win for both our sakes,” Serena says and she and Kiiara gaze at each other. They both nod at each other and Serena turns to leave.
“Wow!! Our third winner for the day!!!” the commentators announce and they all turn to the screen to see who it is.
“None other than Teru!!!” they shout.
“Hoo, interesting, so he too has been hiding his true strength,” Serena comments and exits the room alongside Dubnet, Sali and Scupto.
“Till we meet again, my fair princess and Queen,” Scupto says, takes a bow and leaves.
Phoenix, once again, lets out a sigh.
“Anyway, Kiiara, don’t beat yourself too much, you did great. Heck, even I didn’t win the tournament in my time but here I am now,” Phoenix says.
“What?” Kiiara is surprised as this is her first time hearing this.
“Yes, of course you’d be surprised, hehe,” Diana giggles.
“Everyone starts from somewhere, not even your father was the greatest from birth. He has also had his ups and downs,” she adds.
“Always remember Kiiara, it’s not fully a function of where you start but how you continue and where you eventually finish. No matter what, never give up and you’ll achieve what you desire,” Phoenix says.
“But I’ve been trying for quite some time now,” Kiiara sobs.
“Then, keep trying. Until your last breath, don’t stop trying, Kiiara,” Phoenix says looking into Kiiara’s eyes, holding her head.
“You have incredible abilities you know not of, at the moment, but with time you shall become aware of them. Once we get back to Lightville after this event, I’ll tell you a bit of your power and the reason it has been kept a secret,” he adds.
“You mean the stuff I displayed at the tournament wasn’t just my imagination?” Kiiara inquires.
“No, it wasn’t. Like your father stated, you have incredible abilities, so rest and when you’re done, come join us where we are seated if you want,” Diana says touching Kiiara’s cheeks.
Kiiara remembers the words of Suiryu when they bumped into each other.
“Eyes so sinister just like his, the eyes of destruction, no, the flame of destruction.”
“Do these powers have anything to do with the flame of destruction?” Kiiara asks.
“Huh? Who told you that?” Phoenix and Diana, surprised, inquire of it from Kiiara.
“Lucky guess?” Kiiara replies.
“I see. A bit too lucky, aren’t you?” Phoenix replies.
“Anyway when we get to Lightville, we’ll talk about it,” he adds.
“Alright dear, bye now. Remember to come join us if you’re interested,” Diana says. She and Phoenix kiss Kiiara on her forehead and they hug afterwards.
“Say, Dad, mom, something tells me you both placed a bet on Serena and me,” Kiiara says, looking inquisitively at both of them.
“I…have…no idea of such,” Phoenix stutters with a laugh.
“Oh my!!! Time is far spent, what kind of parents do you think we are?” Diana says.
“Come dear, let’s go so we don’t miss any other match,” Diana adds, swiftly dragging Phoenix out of the room.
“Hmmmm,” Kiiara pouts, frowning as she watches them leave, squinting her eyes.
“Shish!! That was close,” Diana says as they both walk out of the infirmary.
“Haha, you know. By the way, let’s pay Sienna a visit also,” Phoenix suggests.
Kiiara sits on her bed, staring at the palm of her hand.
“That voice within that said awaken, who was it? That burning sensation and dominating desire I felt also, what was that? What exactly is this flame of destruction? And who is this ‘he’ that Lady Suiryu referred to?” she ponders, staring at her palm.
Shortly, the commentators shout, “Wow, Arsey has been knocked out of the platform by Damian and Echelone has completed the countdown, she is OUT!!! Now the battle remains between Damian and Dia.”
“Huh? That was quick, as expected of the prodigy,” Kiiara says, turning to the screen in front of her bed.
Back at the fighting arena…
Damian is standing opposite Dia, holding a long hammer-like weapon and they both stare at each.
“Quite interesting what you said back there to Arsey about being born with great abilities from birth and so you already have a place established for you in life as one of the mighty ones,” Damian says to Dia.
“However, you’re wrong. The fact that you were born with great powers doesn’t in any way guarantee your success in life. If you don’t train or work hard, you’ll die a loser,” he adds.
“Humph!!” Dia sighs.
“Says the one born with astonishing abilities and is among the prodigies thanks to that,” she replies.
Damian sighs.
“I see, a spoiled brat like you cannot really understand. Notice I haven’t used my quake style at all yet. In this battle so far, all I have used are normal hand to hand combat and this hammer like weapon. This level of power wasn’t achieved by me being delusional, thinking because I was born with a unique ability I should expect to be the greatest. It doesn’t work that way Dia. Allow me to enlighten you,” he says.
Dia takes her fighting stance and replies, “come, I’ll show you that you can’t defeat me without your quake style.”
“Diamond release: Static Style: Diamond shield,” she says and instantly, out of thin air, diamond like dust appears and soon a thick shield of diamond covers Dia.
“Shoot!! Mini Lance!!!” she utters and immediately, multiple mini lances with flat round heads, made of diamond, shoot out from the shield and with full force, proceed to hit Damian.
Damian rushes towards Dia still and with his Earth release: Grasshopper, he hops around in zig-zag manner, evading the diamond mini lances. When he gets close to the diamond shield, he tosses his hammer-like weapon high up into the sky and passes through downwards into the ground. Quickly, inside the shield of diamond, he sprouts out of the ground and lands a resounding uppercut on Dia’s chin, sending her flying up. She bounces off the top of the diamond shield and returns back to Damian who strikes her stomach with a punch, pushing her backwards. Dia, however, is fast to open up the diamond shield and so screeches out of the shield without hitting it. Swiftly, she closes it up and forms mini lances on the inside setting them against Damian.
Damian, once again, goes through the ground and comes out in front of Dia. Dia anticipates this and controls a mini lance to form from the shield and fire at Damian as he arrives at her location. But Damian is sharp and flips when the attack is inches away from his, evading the mini lance as it now hits Dia on her stomach.
“Argh!!!” she cries out, spewing out blood.
At once, Damian lands a kick on the right side of Dia’s face, knocking her unconscious for a second. As her consciousness returns, he lands another kick on the left side of her face and follows up the attack with a punch to her solar plexus which lifts her off the ground. With his other fist, he lands another one which lifts her even higher and continues striking till she is now well above Damian. He then turns and begins walking away, leaving her to fall to the ground.
“This fight is over,” he says, walking away.
“Not…yet,” Dia stutters, struggling to stand up and gasping heavily.
“You have a natural strong body, I’ll give you that but it truly is over,” he replies, still walking away.
“I…said---,” before Dia can complete her sentence, Damian says, “Ignite.”
Suddenly, a seal appears on the ground Dia is standing on and abruptly, it explodes.
BOOM!!!
After the explosion and the dust settles, Dia is seen lying flat, facing the ground, unable to move. Echelone begins his countdown.
Tesla watching the match, smiles.
“Humph, the mine ignition technique activated by using a seal, smart move, Damian. However, that was quite fast to have planted the seal without her knowledge. Even without his quake style, he’s still very dangerous,” Tesla notes within herself.
“Like I said,” Damian says, stretching his hand as his hammer-like weapon returns to him.
“You see Dia, I didn’t need to use my quake style. I only used my family’s ignition style just to give you a little honor, I could have ended it any other way. You must have always thought you were at the top of the food chain, looking down on others without backing up your pride with power however you can see it clearly, the difference between your power level and mine; at the moment just like heaven and earth. Of course, this was achieved not just by relying on just my abilities but also working hard to improve and get better day by day. That is how prodigies are made in my opinion,” Damian says, walking away with his weapon in hand.
He then halts, turns to look at Dia and says “A bit of a friendly advice, you might not like it now but someday you’ll appreciate this, Dia. With your abilities, you should be one of the best in defense and hand to hand combat, seeing as you are blessed with the ability to manipulate huge amounts of diamond. A feat that only a few in Diamond City are capable of. Train well because arrogance with weakness is shameful, repugnant and miserable. I do hope to be shocked by you whenever we meet next. Till then, bye now.”
After saying this, he leaves the fighting platform as Echelone has already finished his countdown. Dia is a bit conscious and so hears everything Damian says.
“Wow!!! As expected of the Earthville prodigy, Prince Damian, easily putting out Arsey and Dia. We have our fourth winner of the day!!!” the commentators announce.
“Up next, Group E: Tesla vs Armstrong vs Pamla!!!” they scream.
The participants and Echelone gather at the center of the fighting platform and Echelone starts the battle, jumping back to his tall chair.
“I’ll end this real quick,” Tesla says, looking at Armstrong and Pamla.
“Well, I’m not heartless so I’ll give you both a choice, you can as well forfeit the match,” she suggests and shrugs.
“What?! Who do you think you are?!” Armstrong shouts with anger.
“Look Armstrong, yes you have great arms of steel which create powerful force and enable you to use steel release; Also Pamla, yes you can use water release and also a special flammable oil release but let’s be frank both of you, you two are in no way, any match for me. So the best calculated solution here for you two will be to forfeit the match,” Tesla replies, smiling.
“I see, Tesla you’re indeed a powerful opponent, however, in this match, I’ll show how strong I can be,” Armstrong responds angrily.
“You’re joking, if you think---,” before Pamla can finish talking, Tesla appears by her side and is no longer smiling.
“I’ll be going on full power from the beginning,” Tesla says.
Rapidly, she lands a very powerful kick backed up by sparks of silver lightning, on Pamla’s abdominal region, which sends her flying out of the fighting platform and crashing into the wall of the arena, instantly knocking her out. As Echelone is about to begin his countdown, Tesla, in the blink of an eye, appears in front of Armstrong, who is shocked by the immense speed and with a mighty momentum, having lightning clad on her hand, she throws a powerful blow on the huge and muscular Armstrong’s stomach. This sends him soaring out of the fighting platform expressly, with a booming sound, smashing deep into the wall of the arena. Everyone is silent at this crushing display by Tesla and Echelone counts down. The impeccable victory goes to Tesla.
“Humph!! At least I warned them. Unlike the others, I’m not here to play and do kumbaya, I’m here to win. I’m Tesla Silver after all,” she says, walking out with confidence.
“Amazing!!! What a showcase of unparalleled supremacy from the prodigy of Stormville, Tesla Silver. This, my people, is what we call, flawless victory!!! Our fifth winner for the day!!!” the commentators shout.
“That’s Tesla indeed, once she’s serious, there’s no stopping her,” Farads Hertz, King of Stormville, says, smiling as he watches the tournament.
“That’s right, she possesses enormous power just like her grandfather. I wonder if any will prove to be too much of a threat to her in this tournament. Hmmm, maybe Damian Ignition, he also seems quite formidable,” Luxxi Hertz, Queen of Stormville, adds.
“I see, intriguing. Her grandfather, right?” Goryu, King of Galedom, comments and chuckles.
“Next up, Group F: Maka vs May vs Kalium!!!” the commentators broadcast.
Maka and Tesla cross path as Maka steps out into the fighting arena.
“And they’ll say I’m the heartless one,” Maka comments.
“I wasn’t heartless, I gave them a fair warning. Besides, I did not come here to have fun. Playtime is over, now is the time to get serious,” Tesla replies and walks away in the long passage, out of the arena.
“Either way, heartless or not, that’s good for me. Now let’s see what I have here,” Maka says to herself as she steps onto the fighting platform.
At the Kings’ and Queens’ viewing room…
“Your son put up a remarkable display, now it’s time for your daughter. You must be excited, eh Gray?” Phoenix says to Gray, King of Earthville and as usual, Gray remains silent.
Back at the battle Royale arena, after Echelone signals the start of the match, May, Maka and Kalium, gaze at each other.
“So I was planning on having some fun in this battle, torturing and all of that, however Tesla has shown me better, besides, there seems to be a better fun waiting for me in the next round,” Maka declares, changing her gaze to Serena, who is watching from above in the participants’ viewing room. Her eyes and Serena’s meet and Maka smiles.
“What are you saying? I’m sick of hearing you prodigies make a fuss about yourselves,” May quickly replies.
“Earth release: Grasshopper!!!” May screams and hops with speed from an earth boulder which formed beneath, heading straight to strike Maka with a punch.
To May’s surprise, Maka catches her fist and holds it tight.
“I’m not done talking,” Maka says, grinning while May struggles to release her fist from Maka’s grip.
“Maka Ignition, daughter of the great King of Earthville, King Gray Ignition and the fearsome Queen of Aquaville, Queen Isabelle Flo, the mistake that they both decided to keep,” Maka says, mocking May.
May is shocked that Maka knows this since only a handful of people know this.
“Don’t worry only you and I heard what I just said. I won’t tell anyone, hehe,” Maka giggles.
“I’m not a mistake!!” May furiously replies and frees her fist from Maka’s grip.
Kalium, swiftly appears at Maka’s side and spinning his sword, unleashes his attack.
“Lightning release: Lightning tornado,” he says.
Lightning in the form of a small tornado is released and heads for Maka.
“You guys should allow me finish my speech!!!” Maka yells, emitting a vast amount of red aura. The wind pressure around her becomes so vigorous and the force from the aura shifts the direction of the attack away from Maka. Kalium and May find it difficult to breathe.
“I think I should try a bigger lightning tornado,” Kalium says to himself.
“Enough of this, Beast style: Attribute: Elephant Stomp,” Maka says and stomps her foot on the ground. A powerful shockwave is discharged, scattering the ground and cracking it largely, even the pillars shatter. The force of the wave pushes Kalium out of the platform, slamming into the wall of the arena and falling to the ground, lying unconscious. May, however, uses her grasshopper technique to jump high into the air, evading the wave.
From above, May executes a water release technique, sending water with the speed of a bullet from her mouth, at Maka.
“Elemental Release: Water Style: Water bullet,” she says, doing this. Maka calmly and easily dodges the attack. Once May lands on the ground, she unsheathes a short sword strapped to her waist and hurries to battle Maka meanwhile Echelone finishes the countdown for Kalium, rendering him unable to continue the match.
May, continuously, swings her short blade at Maka to cut her while pushing forward but Maka effectively evades the attack, stepping backwards.
“If I can just use the flowing waters technique like Lady Suiryu, I’d stand a chance,” May says within herself while pushing on.
“Hoo, are you seriously trying to use me to learn?” Maka angrily states and grabs May’s arm. Forcefully, she slams May into the ground and stomps her foot on May’s belly using her elephant stomp technique. The excruciating pain from the attack is so much, May screams and coughs out a good amount of blood.
“Well, this isn’t fatal,” Maka utters, smiling mischievously as she stomps her foot again, this time on May’s knee. The crunching sound of the bone cracking accompanied by agonizing pain causes May to cry out.
“Stop please! I give up!! I give up!!!” she screams as tears roll down her cheeks like a river of water. Maka begins laughing out very loud and Echelone tells her to stop the battle as May has conceded for it to be ended.
“My my, what a bore. Humph!! Thought you’d be more fun. What a letdown, that’s too bad,” Maka says and exits the stage.
“Wow!! What brutality!!! Our sixth winner for the day, the beast prodigy, Maka Dusa!!!” the commentators declare.
May remains on the ground, crying and unable to move. What comes to her mind is the look of disappointment from her parents, Gray Ignition and Isabelle Flo. She remembers Maka calling her a mistake and also her elder half-brother, Damian’s elder brother, Drey Ignition, calling her a blunder and a pathetic failure too, saying had it not been for his mother, Derene Ignition’s intervention, she would have been disposed of at birth. With all this imaginations and memories in her thoughts plus the severe injuries suffered, May has no will to move and remains there weeping but is soon carried out of the arena by the medical team. Damian watches from the participants’ viewing room and is furious not at May but at the whole situation, though his facial expression remains calm. Immediately Maka gets into the room, Damian confronts her.
“You didn’t have to go that far, Maka. You could have easily knocked her out and won,” he says.
“Well, it’s a battle and I can do as I like and win as I like,” Maka replies.
“Very well then, pray that you don’t battle me because I’ll not spare you a single bit and let me warn you if May is severely wounded such that she’s unable to use her legs anymore, I’ll be coming not just for your legs but your entire being,” Damian warns and walks away.
“Interesting, I’d like to see that,” Maka responds though just a little, she is scared in her mind.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have seen the frightening power of these prodigies, ending battles in a flash, flawlessly. Well now it’s time for a spectacular match, one I’m sure will keep us thrilled and in anticipation to the end. A battle among three prodigies, the golden Group G: Dayve vs Gerrar vs Erraz. An epic battle is about to begin!!!” the commentators scream.