Bhishma looked down with satisfaction as the tournament neared its climactic ending.

Lightning filled the stadium like a torrent of blue flames, turning to ashes anything that came into contact with it. In the midst of it all, a man named Röktim from the tribal eastern coasts of the kingdom stood proudly facing Arjun, two curved short-swords glowing with demonic power in both of his hands. He was a man with some demon blood in him; a protégé of Nörök, supposedly.

Unfortunately for Röktim, Arjun's victory was inevitable.

Brahmashira

That attack Indra's son performed shone brilliantly in the dome. Lightning and blue flames washed away the dome as it strained to contain an attack that was meant to wipe out and entire kingdom in a single shot.

‘That boy…..!’

Bhishma sighed internally.

That boy needed to learn humility and restraint.

Bhishma knew all about his daughter's and Arjun's feelings for each other. It was a divine mystery why the youngsters always thought that the elderly were prude people who knew nothing about feelings, mischief and the like. He was a father before a military-politician! Moreover, hadn't he been young once?

What no one knew though, Bhishma's own little secret, was that this tournament was a calculated move meant to appease both the Kingdom and his daughter. This was him fulfilling his duty towards all of whom he owed.

The disappearance of the King of Angeland had destabilized the long standing stable power structure of the world. Some kingdoms from the Okzident Alliance of South, an alliance to which Angeland belonged, would certainly be trying to gain the great island kingdom. Just because they were in an alliance did not mean they were all honorable friends, at the end of the day. Especially Celt and Njord, being the battle thirsty, power hungry Kingdoms they were, could never pass up this opportunity.

Of the Auriento alliance, which Bhárat itself was a part of, Keihatsu could probably try to wipe out their Southeastern neighbor so as to gain a better leverage at the sea routes. Bhishma could see that happening despite the internal tension of Keihatsu; given that the Okzident Alliance itself wasn't quite as unified now as it used to be, Keihatsu could definitely take advantage of this window of opportunity.

What was even worse was the fact that the Central Continent, Gondwana, could be moving in when the conflicts started boiling over as well. That continent was already blotted out by the three empires - Roma, Arcadia and Mogul. If all the three empires began to move, even with each of them having their own agenda, the infighting amongst the Okzident would make it absolutely difficult for them to resist the might of the empires. Once Okzident fell, Auriento would be in for a time of war as well.

All speculations aside, it was a time of tension regardless of who would make a move and what the consequences would turn out to be. The fact that no one had made a move as of yet was a strain on everyone's nerves - a tension of a rope pulled taut, which might snap at any given moment. So the Kingdom needed to be prepared independent of the stasis around them.

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There was at the same time the matter of Bhishma's daughter's marriage on a more private front. He knew well of her affection towards Arjun. At the same time, he knew how fickle his daughter's heart was. He wasn't sure if she was yet ready for marriage. But the society would not let her alone in peace to grow and develop. That was the reason she was fickle in the first place - she had not yet had enough experience of the world for true wisdom and gravity of experience to sink in yet. His dear daughter might burn away fast with that emptiness in her heart. And yet, the pressure was mounting upon him for the marriage of his daughter. He could not shield her much longer now.

But if only Arjun was mature enough, if he learnt humility, learnt the virtue of restraint, had the experience of struggle enough to bear the burden of his daughter, he could see the match working out.

So Bhishma had decided to make a gamble. He had arranged a tournament where he pledged the hand of his daughter to the victor. It would be a trial by fire for Arjun, where he would have the opportunity to grow and steadily become the sort of man who could handle the happiness of his daughter. At the same time, great warriors would come out to the forefront in the public eye. That would also help solve the problem of military strengthening of the Kingdom. Arjun himself would definitely get that push that he needed to truly stand shoulder to shoulder with the greats. He was the most promising warrior Bhishma could see, after all.

While it was far from an ideal arrangement, it was the best Bhishma could do. That, and pray for the best outcome possible. 

But now it seemed that what Bhishma had hoped for did not come to pass. What Arjun cultivated here was instead the vicious side of every human being. Arjun had increased the difficulty for himself that he would no doubt have to face later on.

That man though - Karma was his name - he was one who had caught Bhishma's eyes immediately. A promising young man looked like. Whoever won between Arjun and Karma, Bhishma was sure he was in for a win-win situation. But the way Arjun had handled the problem of Karma left a bad taste in Bhishma's mouth. Arjun was a brilliant archer, and yet his wisdom was lacking, his heart still lacked a real resolve that would last a lifetime. He was just looking in front of the him and nowhere else. That is not how a great warrior should be. At least, not one who would inherit the title of Atimaharathi.

Whatever might be the case, there was no turning back now. Bhishma had done the best he could, and the results, though far from ideal, were good enough. Now, the only thing to do was to wait and observe.

In the arena, he could see Drona, the warfare-sage and his colleague, drop into the arena and invoke his own defensive armament. The power and pressure of Arjun's astra was starting to overwhelm the defenses of the arena.

Brahmadanda

The destruction was immediately swallowed up and the arena was cleared. As the dust cleared and visibility grew, Arjun could be seen standing victorious over Röktim.

The crowd went wild. A roar of cheer thundered as great as the thunder of Indra's son himself, drowning out the sound of Arjun being declared the victor of the tournament. 

As the last moments of the tournament waned towards its dusk, Bhishma could only see the rows of warriors streaming into the arena, and a painfully bright happiness upon his daughter's eyes.

Bhishma for a moment allowed himself a small smile. Every war had its own devastation. Despite that, the results here were quite satisfactory. His daughter was happy, the kingdom was satisfied. For now, Bhishma's duty was done.