The conclusion of the exhilarating battle between Arthur and Trent was well above the expectations of all its spectators. Although a few people felt that the outcome felt slightly undeserving, most of the demigods would still agree that the battle would remain in their memories for a long time.
All that remained before the second battle's commencement was the presence of both fighters from the medical facility.
Klaus waited patiently for Arthur and Trent's arrival so that the event would continue. He felt a bit uneasy knowing that there was a possibility his name would be called next. The demigods continued to talk among themselves, mostly about their experiences from training and their surprise at how dedicated they were. But eventually, after a few minutes, Trent and Arthur walked back into the arena.
Trent walked in with a smile as a few of his fellow demigods greeted him and commented on his performance in the battle. Although he felt that he was undeserving of their praise, Trent still happily accepted their gratitude.
Arthur also received a few comments from the demigods, but his lack of interaction with them made his welcoming feel slightly more forced than Trent's. Although, it was not like he wanted their praise to begin with since all he cared about was what Lance had to say.
"You did good, brother," Lance stated to Arthur. "But you were sloppy, and your battle style at the end lacked elegance."
"I apologize, brother," Arthur responded. "I will use this as a learning opportunity to grow."
Lance sighed slightly before turning his focus to Trent.
"You did well, Trent. Your strength ranked among the elites was truly not a mistake," Lance said to Trent.
"Thank you, my friend," Trent then responded. "I appreciate your compliment."
This action made Klaus slightly confused. He noticed how strict Lance was with his brother, but knew that this was not how Lance normally acted to the rest of the demigods, including himself. He wondered why this was the case, but after a few seconds of thought, he decided to drop it considering it was none of his business.
"There you are, chico," Iris suddenly chanted as she moved towards Trent and hugged him tightly. "You were amazing."
"Thanks, Iris," Trent responded with a smile to her. "Although, I don't think I deserve all this praise."
"Nonsense, you shocked us all" Iris continued with a smile to him before lowering her voice. "Frankly, I think you would've won if you would've kept going, but I guess we'll never know."
Trent responded with a cheeky laugh before Iris then turned her attention to Arthur, who was a bit farther from the crowd.
"You too," Iris stated. "You also surprised me with your power."
"If my display of power came as a surprise to you, then your earlier assessment of my power would be substandard," Arthur responded.
Iris then walked closer and stared at him with a smile and stretched her right hand out for a handshake.
"You won the battle and performed well, mijo. At least be happy about that," she then continued to Arthur.
Arthur saw her gesture and initially decided not to respond. But he knew that she was right and that he didn't need to feel too bad about the way he won so he decided to humor her. He then turned to her as he raised his hand as well, reciprocating the handshake with Iris.
"Now, was that so hard?" Iris said to him with a smile on her face.
Arthur then pulled his hand back before turning his face from her, disregarding her statement and awaiting the next announcement from XVII.
And after a short duration, XVII finally walked to the front of the spectators.
"I will now announce the next battle," XVII proceeded.
All the demigods watched patiently, awaiting the announcement of the next two fighters from XVII.
"The next battle is... Rose Valentine vs Iris Haze."
Iris smiled after hearing her name before proceeding to the entrance of the stage.
"You've got to be kidding me," Rose said softly after hearing her name paired with Iris.
It wasn't that Rose hated Iris, it was more like she couldn't stand her. For some reason, Iris just always struck Rose a careless type that loved to party and have fun by flirting with others, but these were also traits that Rose possessed chronically as well so she wasn't sure why exactly Iris annoyed her.
Rose eventually proceeded from her seat and walked towards the arena's stage as well, entering after Iris. Both fighters faced each other at the center of the battlefield, awaiting the commencement of the battle. The smile on Iris' face made Rose feel more annoyed because she knew that Iris was going to do something that would annoy her, but she decided not to lose her calm and focus since these things could affect her performance in battle.
"I hoped chica here's gonna put up a good fight?" Iris stated with a smile to Rose.
Rose decided to ignore her opponent as XVII eventually requested their confirmation of being ready.
And after a few seconds, the alarm rang and the fourth battle commenced.
Iris took her stance as she awaited Rose's attack and Rose also did the same. A few seconds went by before Rose then eventually stretched both her palms. In doing so, Rose revealed two rings that were on the middle finger of both her hands.
The rings were identical and were slick, deep blue. And around the ring was a reddish-pink slim design that wrapped around the body of the ring. After revealing her ring for a brief moment, Rose then clenched both her fists before taking another stance.
Suddenly, on her hands, a metallic-like object proceeded to form what seemed to be two batons, completely different from her previous ones. These batons had the same deep blue color, similar to each other, but the body of the batons appeared to be more sturdy and strong, even though her grip on the weapons revealed that they were lighter than the previous ones. Also, along each baton was a design of what seemed to be a prickly stem, with a rose at the tips, all in a deep pink color.
The weapon's transformation surprised the other demigods since they could not understand how the weapons were created from mere rings.
"Woahh," Ace said. "What sorcery is this?"
A lot of the demigods didn't seem to understand how Rose was able to create these weapons since there was no logic to it, but it seemed like one of them had an idea.
"It's celestial metal."
The demigods turned to notice Link as he continued to explain their nature.
"What's that?" Mia asked.
"Metal that can be compressed and morphed while still maintaining natural metallic properties like its tensile strength," Link stated.
"How do you know of such a thing?" Klaus asked in curiosity.
"During the training for this tournament, I occasionally visited the resource facility. And there, I came across a certain metal that appeared to be similar to any other kind of metal, but had a lot of unfamiliar properties as well," Link explained.
A lot of them still found the information surprising since some questions were still present.
"That's cool and all, but she just spawned weapons from her rings. Isn't that a bit too much compression for realism?" Tyler asked.
"True. This leaves me with the idea that it's possible these weapons were not made by her, but rather, possibly created by a God." Link then continued.
This made more sense to them, especially since they were aware that any of the Gods were capable of shifting matter into another form as shown when Sonar recreated the arena from itself. So these weapons might have been created using the metal Link had mentioned, but were modified by one of the Gods, possibly Zeal, per Rose's request.
Rose held on to her weapons tightly as she awaited Iris' next move.
"Damn, those are some pretty cool sticks," Iris said to Rose before taking a pause and continuing. "Though I have one question. Why bring blunt weapons to a death match."
As Iris stated this, she immediately placed her palms by the side of her waist, instantly pulling what seemed to be two sleek daggers from the pockets at the sides of her pants.
This action made Rose slightly concerned about if the blades were real or not so she attempted to decipher this by checking if she was under the illusion of its presence. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she immediately realized and concluded that these were real weapons and that she had to be careful.
Rose still stayed in her defensive position so Iris knew she had to be the one to engage, which she did.
Iris and Rose proceeded to swing their weapons at each other in an attempt to eliminate their foe. The two metallic weapons clashed constantly as each swing from one of them was either evaded or blocked by the other. But Rose knew that, unlike her opponent, she had to worry more about getting cut or stabbed by Iris' blades.
The two continued to clash in a very heated battle as Rose seemed to be extremely focused on the match in order not to be eliminated. This made Iris curious about whether she could do much more for Rose than hand-to-hand combat.
"You seem to be more quiet than usual, mija," Iris stated to Rose with a cheeky tone. "I'm surprised your mouth is even capable of closing."
"Can you shut up and take this seriously for once?" Rose asked Iris, knowing that her opponent was trying to make her lose focus.
"Oh sure, like you're one to talk," Iris then continued.
A few more seconds of clashes occurred before Rose responded.
"What do you mean by that? I'm not like you who just can't stop meddling with others," Rose replied.
"Flirting isn't meddling," Iris said. "Learn the difference."
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
"Oh, sure. And btw, flirting is MY thing, so learn to be original," Rose responded.
"YOUR thing?" Iris asked after backing up from the fight. "Don't make me laugh. And you literally cannot think you're original after copying my hairstyle."
Rose was blonde with a light shade of pink at the tips of her hair, which was coincidentally similar to Iris, who had black hair with purple tips. Even though Iris' hair was slightly shorter than Rose's, they both normally had their hair flowing down to their shoulders. Although at this moment, Iris had tied her hair together with a hair band.
But it seemed like Iris' previously made statement had ticked Rose off as immediately Iris said it, Rose stopped her assault instantly to argue.
"YOUR hairstyle? Bitch, what are you on?" Rose stated. "I've had this hairstyle before I even saw your dumb face, so don't even try to be smart right now."
"Oh please, don't give me that crap," Iris responded, also stopping her attacks. "Immediately you saw this beautiful chica you knew you were outmatched, so you had to settle for my hairstyle."
"You want to compare beauty now?" Rose expressed. "Oh, you wish you were even half as pretty as me."
"Why would I wish to be beneath such a puta," Iris also expressed with anger.
The battle seemed to have shifted from physical to verbal as the spectators continued to watch in confusion.
"What is even happening?" Lance asked as the two fighters continued to talk about their looks.
"Seems they're comparing looks," Ace responded. "I mean it's technically still a battle, right?"
The demigods continued to spectate as Rose and Iris continued to argue. Eventually, Iris suddenly smiled before she managed to say something that caused Rose to back off a bit.
"If you think you're better than me, then why didn't you end up in bed with Klaus as I did."
Immediately after this statement was made, back at the spectator's area, all the demigods instantly turned to Klaus.
"You have got to be kidding me," Klaus chanted in frustration at his name being mentioned again. "Why do I always have to be involved?"
Hearing Iris say this made Rose quiet for a bit, but since she had already known about the situation, she was not as surprised as Iris had expected.
"H-He was drunk, that's why," Rose managed to say.
"So you DID know about it?" Iris then said with a smile on her face.
Rose seemed to be unable to keep eye contact with Iris. The topic felt too heavy for her to talk about, so she didn't appear to be as enthusiastic as she was a few seconds prior.
This action made Iris a bit curious as to why Rose's reaction seemed off, so she decided to press on.
"You seemed to flutter every time Klaus was brought up. Care to elaborate, Mija?" Iris stated.
Rose's face gradually started turning red all of a sudden before she managed to get a few words out.
"Can you just drop it and continue the battle?" Rose replied.
Iris knew that she had gotten Rose exactly where she wanted, so she persisted in her statement.
"Wait, don't tell me. You have a crush on papi, don't you?" Iris said.
Rose, as well as the rest of the demigods, continued in silence. Rose could not say anything since she knew that Iris was right, but she didn't want to talk about it, especially after what had happened the last time she did.
"So have you told him about it yet?" Iris asked. "Don't worry, I can help you out if you like."
Iris then placed her left palm beside her mouth, hiding it from the spectator's area before coming closer and whispering something to Rose.
"Especially since I can vouch that you're a very good kisser."
This statement made Rose more furious and she instantly rushed at Iris, continuing her assault.
Iris proceeded to dodge the attacks effortlessly since Rose's anger caused her attacks to be a bit sloppy.
"Did that hurt your feelings?" Iris cheekily asked. "Y'know, I'd expected you to be happy that I'm trying to help you get with the guy of your dreams."
Iris stood for a few seconds after stating this as she realized that Rose had stopped her passionate assault and was now standing in utter embarrassment. This made Iris wonder why and if it was due to what she had just said.
Then it hit her.
"Wait," Iris started. "Unless you already HAVE gotten with him."
The demigods present in the spectator's area immediately turned to Klaus once more after Rose's silence persisted before Iris' statement.
"I give up," Klaus muttered without even turning his focus from the battle and remaining quiet immediately after his statement, making the others continue to watch the battle as well.
"Wow, I didn't expect that," Iris then continued. "Good job, I guess."
Rose took a second before she finally decided to continue her attack on Iris. Even though this battle seemed to be going nowhere, Rose was still not ready to continue to verbal battle and wanted to move on from the topic.
"Just drop it and fight," Rose stated to Iris as she continued to swing.
"Oh c'mon, mija. I'd expect you to be happy to talk about this," Iris stated before pausing and continuing. "Unless... Unless the situation wasn't mutual."
"Shut up," Rose muttered immediately after Iris finished her statement.
Rose had stopped moving and had closed her eyes in slight embarrassment at the topic as well as anger towards Iris.
"Ohh, I see. So the situation wasn't as fun for him as it was for you, huh?" Iris said as she walked closer to Rose with a smile on her face.
"What exactly is Iris trying to achieve from this?" Shade asked back in the spectator's area.
"I'm guessing she's trying to break her opponent down with verbal assault, making it easier for her when she finally switches up to physical," Quinn responded after a few seconds.
"But isn't this a bit too much?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah. I think she's trying to exploit her opponent's emotions. I'm guessing she was able to see through what had happened between Klaus and Rose and used the information to her advantage in breaking Rose down," Quinn then continued.
A few seconds passed before Quinn then stated something that caught the other demigods' attention.
"Though, I really wouldn't recommend such an action."
"Why not?" Shade asked in curiosity.
"I dunno. But It's just strange to me that someone is trying to use emotional manipulation on the child of the God of emotion, y'know," Quinn stated.
Immediately after this statement was made, all their attention was drawn instantly to the battlefield as they all turned to witness what was occurring.
Iris continued to make the same comments, with Rose continuing her request for Iris to shut up. But as this continued, Iris eventually crossed a line that she possibly shouldn't have.
"You know what, mija. I guess after this battle I'll try to ask Klaus which one of us he preferred more."
As this statement was made, Rose couldn't take it anymore.
"SHUT UP!" Rose screamed as she instantly reopened her eyes, revealing her anger towards Iris. But this was not all she was revealing.
"What the..." Mia stated at the spectator's area as Rose revealed her crimson red pupils to the rest of the demigods.
Rose's face was just as red as it was previously from the statements Iris made, however this time, it was clear that this was due to her rage, rather than being flushed from the topic.
Rose's breathing escalated as she stared at Iris in pure rage. Her grip on the batons she wielded was firm as her eyes remained locked with Iris.
"You know what," Rose then stated. "I'll just make you."
As Rose finished her statement, she darted at her opponent at an unbelievable speed. Rose swung her batons at Iris in a hasty manner, with her opponent barely able to evade and block them.
"What is this?" Iris asked with what seemed to be the first time that her eyes widened in shock. "She's faster and stronger."
Rose's rage was evident as she continued to swing at Iris, hitting her now more than she did prior.
Klaus looked at what was going on in curiosity as he tried to understand why Rose had suddenly gotten the upper hand.
"Uhh, what just happened?" Ace asked in confusion. "Her pupils are all red now and she's stronger."
"I guess Rose got fed up with Iris and let her rage get the best of her," Quinn stated.
As Klaus heard this statement, his eyes widened as he suddenly remembered something.
CONVERSATION
Klaus: There's something I've always wondered. Why is it that some of the other demigods seem to have more power than others? Is it just training and experience, or something more?
IV took a second to think about what he could say to answer Klaus' question.
IV: There are a lot of factors that can make someone stronger than another both in general and at a given moment.
Klaus: So the latter being something like an adrenaline rush?
IV: Exactly. While it is correct that both experience and commitment to improving oneself are influential factors in making one demigod more effective in combat than another, a shift in mindset can also be a decisive factor that can turn the tide of battle. Happiness, fear, pride. These are typical examples. But there is one particular emotion that holds more significance for demigods than any other.
"Rage."
Although her multiplied strength seemed to be an outcome of the ability she was utilizing, the rage Rose felt in the battle might have caused her to awaken it.
Iris attempted to swing her daggers as well, but Rose did not seem the least bit worried by this as all the attacks that Iris swung, Rose took them head-on, regardless of the injuries she received. This caused Iris to continue her attacks, but her actions were almost immediately nullified as she was in a state where all she could do was defend instead.
"Why can't I find an opening?" Iris thought to herself as she used her daggers to defend herself from Rose's vicious swings of her batons.
Iris continued to defend her opponent's attacks until she realized that her daggers were breaking with each clash she and Rose made. This was very surprising to her, especially since Rose's batons seemed to be taking the impact extremely well.
"Guess it really is celestial metal," Link stated in the spectator's area.
"Wow," Trent commented. "It's that strong?"
"According to what I know, it's approximately seven times stronger than diamonds back on Earth," Link explained.
"What! That's crazy," Ace commented in shock at the information.
"Yeah, well that's not the only thing crazy about it," Link then whispered to himself before continuing to spectate the ongoing battle.
Iris knew that she was not going to be able to take any more blows from Rose, and her weapons had been completely broken at this point, so she wondered what else she could do that could assist her in the battle. And she only had one thing in mind.
As Iris barely continued to evade Rose's attacks, she instantly closed her eyes for a second, before opening her eyes and revealing her deep purple pupils as she stared into Rose's eyes.
Iris knew that this was the best thing she could do, especially since she was all out of options, so she planned to create something that she could use to attack Rose before her opponent realized it was an illusion. She had also hidden the purple color of her eyes from Rose and the other demigods as she normally does, so no one knew that her ability was active.
But as she attempted to pull out anything that would act as a weapon, Iris noticed something extremely strange.
"Why isn't it working?"
The demigods spectated as Iris attempted to do something about the attacks, but saw that all her actions were futile.
"You'd have expected Iris to try using her illusions at this point," Trent commented.
Quinn then squinted her eyes a bit as she tilted her face slightly forward, continuing to spectate the battle.
"Weird," she then commented. "It's almost as if she's trying so hard to do so, but isn't able to."
This statement caused Klaus to focus on the battle a bit more as he realized that Iris was attempting to create a weapon out of nowhere but was ultimately failing to do so. This idea caused Klaus to wonder what was going on with Iris and why the battle was so one-sided. Then he had an idea that may have made the outcome slightly more understandable to him.
"Is it possible that her eyes have something to do with it?" Klaus asked as he turned to Quinn.
Quinn took a second to think before she finally responded.
"I have a theory about that. It's possible that similar to her usual ability to send psychic signals to her target, making them fall in love with her, it's possible that this one does the opposite and repels any psychic signals sent at her. And since Iris requires her target's belief before spawning an illusion, it's safe to say that she is probably unable to create one as long as Rose's eyes remain that color."
"If that is the case, then it makes this battle more one-sided than before," Lance immediately commented as they continued to spectate the battle.
Iris' attempts to create any possible illusion were unsuccessful, and due to this, she knew that she could not keep up any longer. Rose continued to attack Iris with stronger and faster attacks, which meant that Iris was not going to last long on defense against her opponent.
And eventually, Rose swung a devastating attack with her baton that caused Iris to fall to the ground, with which Rose then launched herself at her opponent, picking up a piece of the remains from one of Iris' previously used daggers on the floor and holding it directly at Iris' neck.
Iris stared as she saw the anger in Rose's eyes. Silence briefly filled the arena as the outcome seemed to be determined by whether Rose was able to manifest the capability to kill her opponent. But this didn't seem to be a difficult task for Rose as immediately, she raised the shard he held on to and attempted to swing it at Iris.
However, before Rose could land the deciding attack, a statement was made to the entire arena.
"I forfeit."
This was a bit more surprising than everyone had expected as these words flew out of Iris' mouth. Iris felt that there was no reason to continue a losing battle, especially since her abilities couldn't help her, and her opponent seemed to have multiplied in strength and agility during battle. Even though she genuinely didn't want to lose to someone like Rose, and for the second time as well, she knew that there was genuinely nothing she could do.
As Iris stated her previous words, Rose immediately stopped her attack.
"Are you certain?" XVII asked Iris.
"I guess," Iris then responded after which XVII immediately announced Rose to be the victor.
"It seems that the battle is over," Shade said to Klaus.
"Watching that gave me a headache," Klaus then responded.
Rose dropped the broken piece she was holding and picked her batons from the ground before pressing what seemed to be a button on the handle of each of them. After she pressed it, the weapons instantly proceeded to shrink and change form, eventually reverting to the rings she had on at the beginning.
"Yup, definitely celestial metal," Link softly worded after watching this action.
After a while, Rose's eyes eventually reverted to their initial sky-blue color. But immediately this occurred, Rose instantly fell to the floor in agony and noticeable exhaustion. Rose continued to breathe heavily as it was clear that the strain of using the ability she had just used was more than she had anticipated.
Eventually, Rose and Iris, still on the ground due to exhaustion, suddenly proceeded to dematerialize as they were being transported to the medical facility.