The finalists were given half an hour of break to prepare for the final bout. Hemon had the opportunity to punch his ticket into the final first so he got to rest even longer. The second match took close to an hour to finish, the majority of which Hemon spent trying to relieve some pain from his shoulder and any other places where he was hit by applying hot compression. Many in his position would have chosen to watch the second match to scout his opponent which was crucial for any fighter who aspired to win tournaments, but Hemon wanted to reserve some energy for his upcoming match. These types of tournaments were a test of endurance more than anything.

He had a half a mind to forfeit this round. He has already made a lot of Rais so far yet his competitive side reminded him, qualifying for the final of any tournament is no easy feat especially for an orphan. When glory was so close to him, he couldn’t let that chance slip away. So what he was injured and barely walking straight, he was still standing and for a fighter is all that mattered sometimes.

There was a loud knock from the outside on the door of his rest room. Someone called out,

“It’s time for your match, Sir.”

He walked out from the administrative tent just as the announcer was pointing towards him, introducing him. Rather than the warm welcome he had been receiving early on, now the crowd booed him with a certain vitriol. Well to be fair, he did beat their favourite fighter to reach the final. Although he anticipated some boos but not like this, never this type of reaction. For him, the atmosphere had changed inside the ground. It felt like he was in a hostile territory now and he won't be getting any support from the crowd. They most likely were out for his blood.

His final opponent, a woman named Sasa Vernad, limped to the battle circle with great fanfare. She had a small yet an athletic build. She had standard protection on her upper body and legs. Her knees were heavily wrapped around by lots of bandages. She was the second seeded fighter in the tournament as well and the crowd welcomed her as if she was a conquering warrior returning from an victorious adventure.

She entered the circle and stood in front of him and smiled at him. She looked pleasant which made Hemon smile as well. There was a massive roar going on among the crowd, but he heard her say,

"Thank you."

He asked in confusion, "Why?"

“For beating Charlot, that bitch” She replied.

A streak of anger coursed through her face as she continued, "I have had to face her three times in the finals of three different tournaments and lost every single time. Can you believe that? That bitch! Finally got the beating she deserved tonight." Her smile returned on her face.

The announcer called out to both of them to check if they were ready to start. After the fighters gave a slight nod of their heads, the official signalled for the match to be started much to the delight of the fans.

She armed herself with a standard sword and shield and started to advance slowly. Hemon picked up a sword with his only working arm and waited for his opponent to close the distance between them. The crowd chanted Sasa’s name in unison and it was deafening in the ground.

Sasa very cautiously moved forward, definitely protecting her heavily bandaged leg. Hemon didn’t fare any better. Every time he moved his right leg it pained him and coupled it with his shoulder then things were not looking good for him. When both of the fighters moved within each other’s striking distance, they exchanged a series of probing strikes. Sword clashed with sword in a flurry as they were coming from all angles to test each other's defence. They wanted to figure out the best way to break each other’s defence quickly as both knew it would be trouble for them if they dragged this bout much longer.

Sasa had it relatively easy to defend because of her shield with which she attempted to bash Hemon on his shoulder, but he managed to side step just in time. She missed, but had put too much force for her liking which made her balance shaky and hampered her footwork to turn around and defend. Hemon threw quick jabs, one of which connected on her collarbone while Sasa managed to dodge the rest.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She grimaced and he heard her cursing him after getting hit, a smirk crept up on his face.

“That fucking hurt” she said to which he replied with a simple apology, “Sorry, I guess.”

She snorted and pressed him by going low with her strikes. He desperately defended with his sword, but her sword sneaked past him and he felt a slash of her sword struck him on his hips. Even though he was wearing armour, the strike hurt badly.

Suddenly, Hemon moved his injured arm downwards, locking her arm along with her sword. There was a visible shock on her face as she tried to drag her arm back, but was unsuccessful. Hemon had locked it tight against his hips. She looked towards him and saw him clenching his teeth with a fierce gaze.

He swung his sword upwards aiming for her hand and struck her on her wrists holding the shield. She cried in pain, trying to jerk her hand free but he was relentless. He kept slashing, aiming her wrists until she dropped her shield. He then struck her on her face with a closed first to knock her out. Sasa took the full blow, but dropped to one knee and with her now free hand struck with a fast uppercut.

It was Hemon's turn to be surprised this time. The uppercut didn't cause much pain but it stung as his head jerked back. Sasa didn’t stop at just one, she caught him with a barrage of jabs. Each of them stung and he wasn't in the proper stance to defend them at all. Each and every one of those landed flush on his face, blurring his vision.

In a desperate attempt to stop her, he let go of his sword and grabbed hold of her throat. By now, the crowd was pin drop silent as if all the noise was sucked right out of the ground. Her upper body protection made it very difficult for him to grab hold of her throat properly, hence he couldn't exert as much force as he would have liked.

In a flash, Sasa hit him with a combo of a jab followed by an uppercut, which split his lips. He still managed to maintain his hold on her. She switched it up and started punching his injured shoulder. The more stinging punches landed on him the more pain went through his body. It went on until finally, he couldn't hold any longer and released her arm which he had locked to his hips.

He knew his right arm was now gone and moving it would be a monumental task in itself. He would have to work with one arm for the remainder of the bout. She tried to wield her sword and strike at him, but he pulled her towards him, closing the gap between them. He released his hold on her throat and attempted to pick her up on his shoulders. It seemed to be his one final gamble.

He managed to hoist her up on his shoulders, both her arms dangling to either side of him.

"Hey watch where you're grabbing!" Sasa quipped while trying to free herself from him.

"Sorry but this is going to hurt a bit" he replied while flipping her entire body from his shoulders and dropping her onto the floor on her back.

She landed on the ground floor with a thud. Even though the floor has been reinforced with hay under it, still it was a relatively hard surface. Air forced out her lungs as she grunted and started to cough. Hemon on the other hand was kneeling with the support of one leg, panting.

Sasa lay on her back while trying hard to get air back into her lungs which gave him enough time to get back up and walk towards her. He grabbed hold of one of her arms and started to drag her towards the boundary. People watching in the crowd were mad and booed him vehemently. It seemed like if he won, there would be a riot, such was the hostility towards him.

Using his only uninjured arm, he managed to drag her for quite a bit before Sasa started to give some resistance and grit. He stopped and looked back at her without releasing his grip on her arm. Sasa was attempting to rise and stand back up, but received a strong knee strike on her face for the attempt. It split her lips open as both fighters were now bleeding.

Sasa still tried to get up and again got kneed to her face, but she kept on trying to get up. This act of defiance got the crowd roaring and back into chanting her name. He attempted to knee her again but this time she blocked it by catching hold of his leg with her other arm.

Slowly she got up without releasing his leg. Hemon was limping at that stage, he had to put pressure on his injured thigh to keep him standing while maintaining his hold. He was at his limit in enduring his pain and tried desperately to free himself. He saw her smiling, showing him her blood stained teeth and with a grin she kicked him on his injured thigh.

This time it was Hemon who dropped on the ground on one knee while crying in pain. He received another kick on his face and another one to rattle him. Miraculous, he still held onto her arm even with all the beating he took.

"Fuck… fucking let go of me!" She cried and kicked his injured shoulders.

He cried in pain, but still kept his hold on her arm.

"Fuck" she panted and spit a glob of blood on the floor.

She was panting and barely kept standing. "Give up! Why won't you give up?" She asked him while taking heavy breaths through her mouth.

He looked towards her and gave his best smile and in a flash speared her by driving his shoulders into her gut. Sasa's body went up in the air for a moment before both of them crashed onto the floor on one another. Hemon's body was pinning her down on the ground while both lay still, breathing heavily.

"Hey… you awake?" Hemon asked, panting for air.

"Hmm… argh…" came her reply. She had shut her eyes and tried to move her body slowly.

"Want to go out for food after this?" He asked.

Sala coughed a few times before answering, "Sure".

Hemon cracked a smile and slowly moved her body and placed her on top of him. She still couldn't get up, nor get any type of offence in. He wrapped his injured arm around her throat while gritting his teeth as by now, the pain was unbearable. He rolled over along with her, pinning her face on the ground while choking her with his arm. He was now on top of her and using his body weight to wedge in his arm around her throat.

Sasa tried desperately to do something, but exhaustion gave way and atlast she tapped on his arm three times which brought the match to its end.

Hemon had won his first tournament while getting booed by all.