With my unexpected victory against Kiara, the match moved on to the third round. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. Kiara was finally serious and I thought I would have a challenging match but by technicalities, I won. It wasn’t a satisfying victory.

I walked towards my waiting room and saw Suisei.

“Mikage! That was an awesome fight!” she said.

“Yeah. I thought I was screwed when Kiara unleashed her wings... Luckily, her ribbon burned off”, I replied.

“Now I can perform in Westa Grand Music Festival. Although I would like it if you reach the finals so I can sing a solo song.”

“If you really wanted to, you could have someone stronger than me to represent you. I mean, I’m just an administrative officer. Heck, I was only lucky that I won against Kiara.”

“I have my own reasons as to why I wanted you to fight.”

“Is it because of the stars again?”

“You could say that’s one of the reasons.”

“Then what’s the other?”

“Seeing you do your best for me makes me happy. Any girl would be happy if the man she’s interested in would fight for her”, she smiled and walked towards the door.

“Hey. What do you mean by that?”

“Take it however you want it to be. A secret makes a girl into a woman”, she winked at me and left the room.

Suisei was interested in me? How else was I supposed to take it?

“Now then... It’s time for the third match!!!” the referee announced and I watched the TV.

“Representing Sora, the captain of Westa Knight Order’s 13 unit, Noel Shirogane!!”

“And her opponent is Nene’s champion, the leader of Kageyama Clan’s Westa Branch, Botan Shishiro!!”

The two girls looked at each other.

“This is interesting. I never thought I’d fight a captain”, Botan said.

“I’ve fought beastmen before but I’m sure you would give me a challenge”, Captain Noel replied.

“That’s right. Shien wouldn’t trust me to become a leader if I was weak.”

“Then I guess I need to be careful.”

“Let your blades dance and magic go wild! The third round of the Idol Fan Tournament... Start!!”

Botan lunged at Captain Noel and delivered punches. I see. She was a hand-to-hand combat specialist.

Captain Noel responded by dealing with her in hand-to-hand combat as well. They blocked each other's punches and kicks. Captain Noel’s punches were fast but Botan could dodge or block it.

“Why are you not using your mace? Are you underestimating me?” Botan asked.

“If you’re not taking me seriously, then I have no reason to fight you seriously as well”, Captain Noel replied.

“Botan is not taking her seriously?” I asked.

My sword glowed and turned into Anya, “It’s her style. Botan is using human-style martial arts.”

“Human-style martial arts?”

“See her punches and kicks? That’s how a regular human fights. Beastmen use a different style.”

I looked at the screen again and Botan smiled.

“I’m just warming up. How about you? Are you done?” she asked.

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“Oh my! You’re giving your opponent a chance to warm up?” Captain Noel asked her.

“Yeah. I want a total victory. If I win because you were not fully ready, then it’s not a satisfying victory.”

“That’s fair. I think I’m more than ready for anything you could throw at me.”

“Then... I’ll be serious”, Botan took off her jacket and was on fours.

Botan fought like a beast. Instead of punching, she scratched Captain Noel. Her nails were glowing and looked dangerous so Captain Noel avoided it. Botan was attacking Captain Noel’s lower body and Captain Noel drew her mace to block her strikes.

“Why is she so wary of Botan’s nails?” I asked.

“Her nail is glowing thanks to a Beastman Magic called Beast Art: Claw Nails. Her nails are as sharp and as tough as a wild beast’s. It’s the common weapon of Beastmen whenever they are fighting”, Anya answered.

“I see. And since Beastmen have the strength of several humans thanks to the beast blood inside of them, they have an advantage.”

“That’s right. But Noel is no pushover either.”

Botan became faster and Captain Noel was doing her best in blocking her attacks. After a while of fighting, it was clear it was a stalemate.

“You are strong to be able to keep up against me”, Botan said.

“Thanks”, Captain Noel replied.

“But play time’s over!” Botan bit her hand and blood fell down.

Marks appeared all over her body and her eyes turned red.

“Primal Awakening. And she did it voluntarily... She’s strong”, Anya said.

“Primal Awakening? What’s that?” I asked.

“Primal Awakening is a state of frenzy that Beastmen would sometimes have. Their strength and speed multiplied several times and they became more bloodthirsty. Only a few Beastmen can enter that state freely and maintain control over themselves.”

“You mean that Botan, who already has the strength of several people, became stronger thanks to that?!”

“That’s right.”

Botan was very fast and scratched Captain Noel. Captain Noel managed to block it but she was forced to be on the defensive as Botan continued her attack.

“Why don’t Captain Noel use magic? She could possibly do it, right?” I asked.

“That’s impossible”, a voice said from the doorway.

Temma waved at me.

“Temma. What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Just wanna congratulate you for winning”, he answered.

“You’re gathering information against Mikage, aren’t you?” Anya asked.

“Maybe... But I want to see you before we fight. You know... To make sure that there are no hard feelings if I win.”

“That’s cool but this is just a tournament. Besides, I’m not really fighting for personal reasons”, I replied.

“If that’s the case, then you wouldn’t be able to win against me”, Temma’s smile faded.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Mikage... In a fight, the one with the stronger resolve always wins. If you fight with a half-hearted reason, then there’s no way you would win against someone who is resolved to take you down”, Anya said.

“What she said was right. If you can’t find a reason to defeat me, then it’s impossible for you to win.”

I gulped down.

“Anyways... For your question, Captain Noel can’t do magic”, Temma said.

“Really? Then how did she become the youngest captain ever?” Anya asked.

“It’s because of her brute strength. She had poor grades in academics and magic back in her student days but her physical strength and combat abilities are beyond this world. Just watch”, Temma answered.

The fight between Captain Noel and Botan continued. Captain Noel was pushed to a corner and would be out of bounds if she moved backwards.

“Is this all you can do, Captain?” Botan asked while grinning maniacally.

“This is bad... Captain Noel’s gonna lose”, I said.

“Hey, Mikage. Have you ever seen Captain Noel do a proper stance?” Temma asked.

“What?”

“If you’ve noticed, her battle stance is full of openings and is not efficient. Heck, she is even swinging her mace freely while her other hand is doing nothing.”

Now that I think about it, she never took any battle stance in all of the fights I’ve seen her. Even against a dragon, her footwork was the same as standing normally.

“Everyone takes a battle stance to adjust their balance and bring out the maximum power their muscles can create. But Captain Noel isn’t doing any of that and she still holds on. Now look at her maintaining a proper stance.”

Captain Noel’s feet were planted firmly on the ground and both her hands were holding her mace.

“Hey. Did you know? If you use both hands in delivering a swing, it would be more powerful especially if you have a proper stance”, Captain Noel asked.

Botan looked a bit confused but then smiled.

“Everybody knows that!” She then began running towards Captain Noel.

“I don’t think you do”, Captain Noel raised her mace and swung it.

At that moment, Botan probably sensed danger. I mean, I could feel it too. When I saw Captain Noel’s mace going down, Botan hesitated and backed away.

After finishing her swing, a powerful gust of wind blew. The sheer force of her swing created a powerful shockwave and blew Botan away. It was like a Detroit Smash of a certain anime character.

Everyone in the arena was stunned into silence. The winds died down and Botan was blown several meters away from the stage.

“B-Botan is out of bounds! The winner is: Noel Shirogane!!” the referee announced.