“Victory to Kiara Azoth!” the referee announced.

The arena around me unraveled as my final match for the day was over.

“Let’s see… #27. Not bad, not bad.” I mumbled.

My climb slowed down as matches at the higher ranks involved a lot more fighting against lower-ranked opponents than higher-ranked ones. Still, the opposition was nothing special, and I just needed to stay at #64 or above to qualify.

“Hello there. Do you have a moment?” a voice said from behind me.

“Sure, what’s up.” I turned around to answer.

My eyes narrowed slightly as I recognized the young man’s face.

“Wait a minute, I am sure I’ve seen you before. Hmm…”

The man chuckled.

“Hahaha, that hurts. I’d thought you might recognize me, but I may have been a little too full of myself.”

He then offered me a hand.

“The name’s Spartacus. I am the fighter at the heart of the Ionian Warforged.”

My eyes widened in surprise and recognition.

“Oh, that was you! I was looking forward to facing you on the coliseum grounds, but I’ll take an early meeting instead.” I said as I took his hand and shook it.

“It’s an honor to speak with an accomplished warrior like yourself. I thought I was easily the strongest warrior in the tournament, but I am glad to see I was wrong. Who knew the four nations had fighters of your caliber.”

I gave an apprehensive chuckle.

“Well, things are a little more nuanced than that. Anyway, enough about that, tell me who you’ve got your eyes on! I’d like to watch some interesting fights rather than the disappointing ones we’ve been seeing so far.”

***

Spartacus and I chatted about the competition. He immediately listed every member of my team as a threat, based on my and Nico’s performance. He also talked about Lanselot of the Knights, Orlando of the Lancers, Nisos of the Hoplites, and most of the Kengir Bulls as threats to look out for in the individuals’ tournament.

“Oh yeah, how come I hardly see anyone from Romellus in the top ranks? Seems odd to me.” I asked.

Spartacus’s face darkened slightly.

“I agree. Something’s fishy about the whole thing. Years ago, I know for a fact that there was a lot of skilled warriors amongst the legion, bur not one of them are participating here. I don’t know what the Republic’s up to, but it can’t be anything good.”

“That’s a harsh assessment. Why do you think so?”

Spartacus gave a chagrined smile and shook his head.

“The Republic is never up to any good. I am not sure how it is in Tamery, but Iona is the nation that had to deal with the Republic’s armies for centuries. I also have some personal grievances with the country, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Still, I wouldn’t trust the Republic with a copper, and I feel justified in thinking so. They’re up to something, and I am here to figure out what exactly that is.”

Huh. Not much for me to say there, I suppose.

“I think you don’t know much about what’s going on either, but if you do find out anything, I’d be grateful if you could pass it on to me. Good day, Kiara.” Spartacus said, waving his hand as he headed for the arena’s exit.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“The Republic’s up to something? Like what?” I wondered.

Well, I could think it over on my way home. I’ve got another day of the tournament to go through.

***

“The Romellus Legionnaires have won the match!”

The entire room was dead silent, though the crowd was celebrating wildly as ever. The commoners’ team just lost their match, and the air was thick with tension. Completely ignoring the mood, the Major clapped her hand to grab our attention.

“Alright, start analyzing. Aptera, what went wrong, and why did the Gale lose the match?” the Major asked.

Aptera stopped combing his hair and looked towards the major.

“The commoner team relies a lot on divide and conquer strategies as well as punishing enemy errors. They’re also good at improvising and taking advantage of obscure opportunities. Their worst opponent would be a team that keeps things simple and is solid all around like the Legionnaires – not to mention that they were simply better. The commoner team also has a serious lack of firepower, and it showed here; they resort to fancy tricks and tactics because they can’t match any other team in brute force.”

The Major frowned.

“Good analysis, but I will not tolerate any disrespect from you towards your fellow teammates. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Aptera lazily saluted and went back to combing his hair.

I thought the Major was going to keep going after him, but she just moved on to her next question.

“Nicotris, if the Suns were fighting in place of the Gales just now, how would you have tackled the Legionnaires?” she asked.

Nico rubbed her chin for a moment before answering.

“The only teams that can come close to matching our offensive strength are the Warforged and the Bulls, but both come with very serious caveats. While the match up against the Legionnaires was disadvantageous to the commoners’ team, it is favorable to us. A team with little mobility like the Legionnaires cannot hold out against our attacks forever if we keep our distance.”

Despite Nico’s confident answer, I felt something was off. Spartacus’s words from yesterday came to mind, though it was far from enough to lead to any concrete conclusions.

“..ara? Kiara!” The Major yelled, snapping me out of my daydreams.

“Whuh?”

Durreg snickered in the back, and I felt the room’s tension break with it.

“If you’re nonchalant enough about the Legionnaires to not pay attention to the discussion, then I am sure you’ve already figured out everything there is to know about them. Why don’t you enlighten us?” The Major said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

I gulped, and even Nico and Asty had to smother their giggling.

***

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, here’s a match you’ve been waiting for! Entering from the red ring, this team is ready to avenge their…”

Asten stepped forward into the coliseum grounds and led us to the arena. Opposite of us were the Ionian Hoplites led by Nisos. Moments after the two captains met with the referee, the man wasted no time and tossed the coin.

“The Hoplites get first choice!” the referee announced.

Nisos looked relieved, then quickly made his choice.

“The Hoplites have chosen a team deathmatch as the match type!” the referee announced.

Asten moved just as quickly to make his choice.

“The Suns have chosen the open desert at noon as the setting!”

“My goodness! The Suns have chosen the same setting as their last battle! And this time, we’ll witness the whole team face off against another for the first time! Will the Suns dominate this match as well, or will the Hoplites earn the upset they need to qualify for the knock-out stage?!” the commentator yelled.

“Remember the plan. This will not be a fight. This will be the violent squashing of a bug.” Asten said nonchalantly.

I winced slightly.

“Sorry, Nisos.” I mumbled.

“Durreg, do you remember what you have to do?” Nico asked.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll shelter Astekhu and Aptera beneath the sand. We’ll come out on your signal or if we hear fighting – not that there will be any.”

Nico nodded in acknowledgement, and we stepped onto the arena. The black lightning emerged from the pillars, and soon enough, we found ourselves in the same desert Nico fought the Bulls on.

“Don’t take too long. The sun is bad for my skin!” Aptera grinned, waving his hand as Asty shielded the three of them with arcane mana and Durreg pulled them into the sands.

Nico sighed.

“Right. Let’s get this over with.”

Opposing us were the Hoplites, who had already stood in a defensive formation and awaited our move. However, instead of rushing at them, the three of us slowly flew upwards, until we were between the Hoplites and the sun.

“[Radiance of Righteousness]!” Nico yelled, raising her hand and summoning a blinding light that covered the entire desert.

This skill is usually effective on creatures with a dark or shadow atypical attribute, as well as evil gods, demon lords, and red-rarity class/evolution holders, but is otherwise harmless to anyone else. All it did was blind both the Hoplites and the audience.

For now.

“[Create Magma]!” I yelled, summoning a large sphere of magna over my head.

Slowly but surely, the sphere was expanding as I continued to pump mana into the spell. Finally, standing between me and Nico in the sky, Asten raised his hand.

Unlike the rest of the team, Asten’s entire skillset revolved around a single powerful skill – including empowering it, protecting himself from it, and dividing its power as necessary. It was the final piece of our strategy’s puzzle, making my and Nico’s spells far more devastating than they normally were. It was also annihilation manifest to both the Hoplites and any of our other opponents alike.

“[Ruthless Sun: Dawn].”