Hemon walked into the battle circle silently cursing his luck, “Fuck me”.

He had drawn the number one seeded fighter in the tournament to face off in the round of 4.

“Ladies and gentlemen, under the moon’s light, we now prepare ourselves for the 1st of the 2 rounds of four matches.” The announcer said which got the crowd going.

“At one corner, we have a new rising star amidst ourselves. Coming out of parts unknown, Hemon!” He introduced as Hemon walked out there to the cheers of the crowd. People started to chant his name which made him feel a little better, but next, everything changed.

“And his opponent for this round, from the very prominent areas of the Raison herself, she is the number one seeded fighter of this tournament. She is the winner of three back to back Level 2 tournaments, loved by many people, cheered by all, your favourite, the Spear Princess, Charlot Simp!!!” No sooner had the announcer ended his spiel, the crowd erupted at the sight of the fighter that was walking to the battle circle.

Hemon saw the environment within the ground shift. The same people who were calling him and cheering him were now chanting his opponent's name. She was their favourite and Hemon, whom the crowd loved all this while, has now begun to dislike him and they wanted him to lose.

The woman facing him stood tall, a few inches taller than him, she had a slim yet muscular build. She wore leather armour on her upper body which seemed light in weight. She had opted out of wearing any protection on her head. Hemon noticed the woman had kept her brown hair short, they were just touching her nape. She had both protection on her wrists as well on her legs. She had already picked out her weapon of choice and waited and coldly staring at him which made her more intimidating.

The bout started with the official’s signal and it began with a sudden fury of strikes from Charlot. She possessed quick acceleration which helped her to get within striking distance of Hemon, who was not expecting the sudden speed and was caught flat footed and without a way to dodge her. Her strikes were swift, strong and came at all angles, targeting different parts of his upper body and within the first few exchanges, Hemon suffered blows to his previously injured shoulder as well as his ribcage making it difficult for him to breath.

The crowd cheered when he was pushed back with ease within the opening moments of the match. He tried to counter her moves,but ended up getting hit on his injured shoulder again by the blunt tip of his opponent’s spear. Intense pain was shooting through him, which made it really difficult to hold on to the spear. Every time he tried to use his spear, his right shoulder created problems, making his offence sloppy and his defence shaky.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Hemon understood that any more damage to his injured shoulder would spell disaster for him as he would be unable to lift the spear much less use power to strike at his opponent. Keeping that in his mind, he disengaged with her and started to move backwards towards the weapon's rack. As much as he didn’t like, but Charlot’s onslaught has cut the circle in half, denying him any chance of pressing forward. Only space he can move was behind him and that is not the ideal place to be when an opponent is overwhelming him.

Hemon picked out a shield from the weapon’s rack uncontested. He switched the spear from his injured right to his left and held the shield on his injured side. Charlot, surprisingly, gave him space to pick out the shield which surprised many people in the crowd. They urged her to press him without wasting any more time, but she approached him cautiously.

Charlot finally lunged with her spear, but Hemon deflected the powerful strike with his newly acquired shield. She didn’t immediately launch into another attack, instead cautiously threw out probing attacks. It came to notice to many people that her pace had dropped off quite a bit after the initial engagement. It was a boon for Hemon as a result he was able to anticipate her strikes better. Still he was far from capitalising on this moment, his shoulder was hurting badly because of which he could barely move it without searing pain going up and down within his body. Even with a shield to defend, he knew he wouldn’t last long. He had to find a way to attack and strike fast or else risk losing the bout.

Charlot’s face tightened while her eyes narrowed. She aimed a lunge towards his injured shoulder once again and Hemon was ready to defend it. He put up his shield to defend the strike but instead felt a massive pain on his right thigh. His eyes teared up in pain and with a heavy grunt he retreated a few steps back, but his opponent pressed and aimed another strike towards his thighs. Hemon bent down on one knee and deflected the spear while keeping his eyesight free this time. He noticed Charlot had overextended with her lunge and struck with his own which caught the woman flush on her collarbone… a lucky strike.

As soon as the spear struck, the woman cried in pain which in turn loosened her grip on her spear. He heard loud gasps from somewhere in the crowd, but his focus didn’t waver. Hemon struck her hand with his shield and knocked the spear out of her hand. She tried to retreat and create some distance between them, but Hemon managed to catch her hand. He yanked her towards him while dropping his own spear and punched her. The strike landed on her face, disorienting her for a moment. He punched her again on her face this time with more force. Charlot stood still while staring blankly up in the air after getting hit. Hemon then spun her around and with his free hand he choked her in a modified rear naked choke while locking her other arm behind her.

He quickly fell on the ground on his back while dragging her with him. She was squirming, kicking her legs in the air, trying her best to free herself, but Hemon’s grip proved too strong for her. Within a moment, her movements and resistance slowed down and then she went limp. Hemon was careful not to suffocate her to death and as he felt she had passed out, he let go of her. Her body lay still on the ground while he got up. He made sure to check if she was breathing to which she was and then dragged her limp body close to the boundary and with one final heave, he chucked her out of the circle, winning the bout.

The whole time there was total silence from the crowd as they couldn't believe their eyes. The crowd favourite and the person who was the overwhelming choice of theirs to win the tournament had been defeated by a no name fighter. An upset just like what the announcer screeched in his announce tube when he found his wits.

Hemon cared less, he had more things to worry about. His injuries as well as the final match.