The arena of al-Aliriq was a rather shallow imitation of the grand colosseum of the Eternal City of Kalanaar, but it was still quite sizable when considering the city’s overall scale and population.
It was a circular amphitheater built from earthen sandstone and whitish marble, with a large, round area of fine sand in the middle, fully surrounded by layered terraces that had space for about one to perhaps two thousand spectators. Today’s battle had drawn in enough to nearly fill out the ranks, with just about every type of resident being present, from the humble, industrious worker to the masters of the guilds and even a detachment of the Djinnum Palace – and most were accompanied by their spouses, which meant that it was a truly momentous event, one that partially shifted the focus onto him.
Arakiel, Aurora and their collared maidservant Nyanna had been seated in a special tribune within a special box that further housed a fully cloaked Mellia alongside Selene and her handmaidens. It was situated right below the place reserved for the sultan and his two main spouses, one from each other city. And while Zimraan’s little box had curtains and veils to mask them from the spectators, Arakiel had not.
There were a whole lot of people and many were looking over towards him. In fact, he was fairly certain that everyone had at least stolen a glance at the Lord Executor who had been seated right in between the other two delegations from the other cities, which really only consisted of another jinnum and a pair of manservants.
And while a part of him appreciated the curiosity and the attention, another part of him wasn’t exactly thrilled by being put on the spot like this.
Nonetheless, he had to make it through this while keeping up appearances and the scorching hot sun wasn’t exactly helping, considering his full regalia. Sweat had begun to flow freely just minutes after arriving and even though he had taken on Aurora’s aspect for the show… it didn’t help in this regard.
Now, nearly an hour and two emptied carafes of water later, he just hoped for the event to start so he could get it over with.
He couldn’t help but envy Aurora’s airy loose scarlet dress of thin velvet with golden, embroidered flourishes that she had been gifted by Jenaya, especially since it kept her shoulders free while the detached sleeves were also slit. She had even chosen to wear two thin gossamer veils just to fit in the locals, one for her hair and the other for her face, yet both only served to highlight her beautiful, mesmerizing gold. It had become his favorite color bar none at this point.
His seraphim had just beamed another charming smile at him before feeding him a little grape, which might be the only good thing about this entire affair so far. People got to witness him being fed by a staggeringly beautiful immortal whose neck showed his adornment.
Thankfully, the commotion in the theater seemed to slowly die down as the last seats were being filled and when Akili and Aisha stepped onto a small stage slightly above him, the entire crowd turned silent, eyes focused onto the two jinnum siblings.
Arakiel wasn’t even certain if Sultan Zimraan was here. From what he had been able to gleam from the surrounding talks thus far, none knew. The akh did like to shroud himself in mystery.
He saw one of the veiled women – the handmaidens of the sultan – weave a spell just before the male jinnum, dressed in a glorious scarlet robe with white and golden embroidery, spoke up in a voice boosted by air magic that acted as a sort of magnifier. It likely reached every corner of the arena without becoming grating.
“People of al-Aliriq! Graceful ladies, industrious sirs, venerable children and brave heroes in the making! Today is a momentous occasion, for not only marks it the penultimate day before our glorious Smokeless Host under the command of the Lord Executor which will restore our people’s dignity. It shall also decide who will in fact become the Lord Executor!”
A slight murmur went through the crowd, but most were well-aware of what was being decided today. Aisha went on in her brother’s stead, as they so loved to do.
“The steadfast city of al-Bukhari and the resplendent city of al-Zuhyar has each sent a candidate, an honored kin of ours – yet Sultan Zimraan al al-Aliriq has confidence that the Divine Envoy of Prosperity and Justice can seize victory today, for his champion is none other than his own right hand.”
Approving nods, slight applause, bated breath. The crowd listened.
Akili went on to announce in a solemn tone. “Please, welcome Ezekiel il Kalanaar, the Argent Blade!”
Arakiel cringed a bit at the title, but Aurora claimed it was quite fitting.
The crowd seemed to agree, for it erupted into cheers, more applause and even a few shouts as the iron portcullis leading into the arena was opened, with Ezekiel entering the arena’s floor in his full gear. Longsword on the back, halberd in hand and all pieces of armor put on, yet his silver fiery aura slightly shone through it, although not everywhere.
Upon his entry, Ezekiel raised the dark metallic halberd to the sky while letting it slowly circle around until it eventually ended on Arakiel, Aurora and Selene. Most likely on Selene, but the spectators wouldn’t be able to tell.
Funnily enough, the crowd didn’t seem to care at all when Akili and Aisha announced the champions of the other two cities and even Aurora kept asking him what he thought about the moniker. He refused to comment, though. He cringed internally, but was surprised how much these people seemed to like it.
Down there, two jinnum in full gear, one with two one-handed curved swords and another with a large curved cleaver had entered as well, their skin hidden behind gilded plates of lamellar and heavy mail, partially shrouded underneath an earthen colored cloak who was a bit more brown than the white sand beneath. The one with the two swords had much lighter, agile gear, though.
Arakiel heard some snide remarks from either side, but he kind of dismissed them, instead trying his best to convince his aurea to stop pestering him while Aisha was about to conclude the introductory stage, speaking up after the crowd had calmed down somewhat.
“Champions! There are three of you, but only one can be the winner! It has therefore been decided that you will face each other in duels and the person who wins twice will be announced as the winner. You are expected to treat your opponent with respect! The fight is over once someone gives up or can no longer stand up.”
A brief murmur went through the crowd and Arakiel could tell that some of the spectators seemed a little surprised and he had to agree. It appeared almost too simple a fight, but maybe that’s exactly why the sultan had decided it so.
To the side, he heard the other city’s delegations offer slight outrage, with some even looking up towards the curtained lodge, yet no answer returned.
Akili did not waste any more time and immediately announced the first two combatants. “The initial fight is to be held between the Argent Blade and the Desert Slicer!”
The crowd erupted into applause once more while the man with the two one-handed swords retreated to the edge of the arena, his countenance unreadable from up here.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel and the jinnum called ‘Desert Slicer’ began to face one another.
“Pay your respects to one another!” Aisha ordered and the two duelists gave each other a slight bow.
“Now pay your respects to the God-in-Gold, for it is by his mercy that we shall be victorious!” The jinnum female went on and when the two combatants began to face towards the south, Arakiel noticed a tiny chapel having been carved into the arena’s interior wall. There, a small golden statue of a hooded man wrapped in a cloak stood. His arms were slightly raised outward, yet only the hands had been modeled.
Another bow, deeper this time.
“And now, fight!” Akili and Aisha announced at the same time and from one moment to another, the crowd began to quiet down as the combatants turned to one another.
Both men slightly adjusted their posture, but none made any move just yet.
From up here, it looked as though both were merely staring at one another for a minute, although Arakiel presumed that both were examining their opponent in order to see whether there was any immediate flaw in their resting stance.
After that minute had passed, the Desert Slicer began to slightly raise his hand, causing a flame of yellow with a notable orange tinge to form in his hand which immediately caused Ezekiel to gesture on his own with his free hand.
Both men began to buff themselves and to the side, some spectators remarked the Argent Blade’s rather unusual method of casting spells, for he was drawing silver runes into the air that he then caught and clashed into himself.
It went on for roughly one and a half minutes after which Ezekiel dropped Selene’s aspect and began to charge the Desert Slicer. His own outline became blurry and he seemed to create slight afterimages which veiled his position just slightly.
The jinnum, had begun to burn in very yellow flames with notable orange hues in the meantime and given that both his skin and equipment was aflame, Arakiel had to assume that he was both Enchanter and Alterator, which was a rather bold pick.
Just before Ezekiel reached him, the jinnum swung his massive saber in a wide, slightly upward arc, presumably hitting only air yet when the afterimage of yellow flame suddenly lashed out, Arakiel changed his mind.
The Argent Blade, not having expected such a wide, sweeping attack, had to brave the flames with his body alone as he couldn’t just create a gust of air like Arakiel would’ve done in his position.
Ezekiel raised his arms and braved the jet of yellow-orange flames, but it cost him a moment of concentration that the Desert Slice had anticipated to happen as he kept up his weapon’s momentum, spinning around once in order to execute another fiery slash of yellow. This time, the attach came slightly downward, holding a lot more force.
Selene gasped below Arakiel, but her master managed to move his halberd’s metallic shaft to the side just in time to block the attack, although he slightly recoiled from the heavy weapon’s impact.
The metal connected, causing a surprisingly loud clanking noise while more flames began to wash over Ezekiel. The Desert Slicer immediately pushed, intending to keep Ezekiel close in order to heat up his armor’s metal. The Fire Alterator’s aura was undoubtedly producing quite a bit of heat in addition to repeatedly covering his opponent in flame.
And although Ezekiel’s armor didn’t catch fire, he looked to be on the defensive pretty much right away, especially when the jinnum’s fiery saber flared up once more, causing yet another wave of yellow flames to wash over Ezekiel.
The Argent Blade then suddenly pushed against the jinnum’s force, overpowering him just briefly enough to free his halberd’s shaft after which he spun it around, bringing the axeblade low. The Desert Slicer immediately went for another attack, but Ezekiel quickly stepped to the side while he flipped his halberd. In a single, swift movement, he hooked the Desert Slicer’s right leg and dragged it along, cause the man to stumble and lose his balance, but not fall by some miracle.
With another surprisingly swift albeit blurry motion due to his alterations, Ezekiel unhooked the blade, twirled the halberd and then brought the hook’s pick down onto the Alterator’s helmet.
The Argent Blade hit the Desert Slicer’s conically-shaped helmet with a loud clank, but the jinnum had managed to swing his heavy blade enough that Ezekiel couldn’t exploit the brief opening he created.
Instead, he used it to create some space between the warrior and himself, dodging the trail of fire along the way.
With the Desert Slicer still reeling just a little bit from the attack, Ezekiel went for a thrusting attack, using his halberd’s considerable range, but the jinnum noticed and, again, somehow managed to sidestep the attack, after which he grabbed the weapon’s shaft.
Arakiel couldn’t tell whether his companion had anticipated it, but he quickly let go of the halberd and went in while drawing his longsword from its sheath on the back.
The Desert Slicer noticed, but too late as Ezekiel sprinted much faster than before, undoubtedly having forced more of Selene’s fire into his legs.
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The jinnum had to block Ezekiel’s overhead strike with one hand which proved to be inadequate. He blocked the attack, but Ezekiel put so much force into his attack that he quite literally struck the blade from his opponents hands, but he hadn’t anticipated it, causing him to stumble forward just a little bit. The arena’s crowd cheered, but Arakiel narrowed his eyes a little when the Desert Slicer suddenly went low. He then dashed forward, using Ezekiel’s mishap to grab the man in order to tackle him to the ground.
For a brief moment, Arakiel thought the match to be over as the astral enchantment should now prevent that attack – but it did not.
Ezekiel had most likely expected it to happen as well and when it didn’t, he was wrestled to the ground by the Desert Slicer who then flared up even more, undoubtedly intending to keep Ezekiel down as he slowly cooked him alive.
The Argent Blade, unable to get the armored man off of his body, reversed his grip and began to hammer his longsword’s pommel against whatever his hand found and when the Desert Slicer tried to undermine it, Ezekiel rose up against the other man with a loud and strained cry, enough to slightly shove him off to free his other hand that reached for the dagger that he then began to frantically plunge into the other man, but he did not manage to find a good opening.
Judging by his increasingly load groans, he was in great pain, much more so than his opponent.
Meanwhile, the Fire Alterator kept close, not even intending to go for any weapon.
The two armored men’s wrestle looked somewhat odd but also very intense from up here. Most of the crowd was cheering, uncaring for who beat who as long as they beat each other, but as far as Arakiel could tell, Ezekiel might actually be losing this if he didn’t land a hit soon.
Aurora offered some careful remarks and down below, Selene had began to bite her lips until she eventually began to shout in the lingua kalans. “Don’t you dare to lose! Don’t you dare to get beaten by some random hoodlum!”
Contrary to what one might expect, the Desert Slicer then further managed to grab Ezekiel’s dagger hand and it started to look real bad as this stalemate only helped one of them and it wasn’t the Argent Blade.
Selene repeated her demands, louder this time.
To celebrate it, the Desert Slicer got back onto Ezekiel and rammed his conical helmet against the planeswalker’s hemlet and when Selene screamed again, Aurora remarked that she shouldn’t scream at her champion, but that she help him.
When the silver-eyed, silver-haired seraphim turned around while her wings began to tremble, there were tears in her eyes and for some reason, it seemed to hit Aurora quite deeply as she kept staring into Selene’s eyes without saying anything else.
But then, the crowd suddenly let out a collective gasp. Arakiel switched focus, but he only saw how the jinnum recoiled and Ezekiel, with an exerted yell, threw the jinnum off to the side again while freeing the head that held his longsword.
He immediately brought the blade’s slightly pointy pommel against his opponent once more, and this time, Ezekiel used enough force to hit the enemy’s head that it left him reeling.
Using this thin lapse, he kicked the Desert Slicer away and freed his other hand, after which he scrambled to his feet.
When the Fire Alterator noticed, he scrambled up as well, but he only had Ezekiel’s dagger while Ezekiel had longsword and halberd, although the Fire Alterator was notably gasping for air, the heat having fatigued and damaged him quite a bit.
The champion of al-Bukhari let out a scream on his own and then charged straight at his opponent while flaring up once again.
Ezekiel, wielding sword and halberd, went to meet him, but he was once again switching up his speed, appearing exceptionally sluggish at first only to burst into a sprint just before the charging jinnum met him.
For the few seconds of their collision, Ezekiel became too quick for Arakiel’s eyes to follow, but he could see the result. The jinnum had been suddenly flung forward as though something had pulled his leg from under him, right after which Ezekiel’s sword struck him from above.
The ablaze jinnum slid across the sand, but before he could get up, the Argent Blade ran after him, having dropped the longsword to wield his halberd with full strength.
Ezekiel managed to stab the man twice before the Desert Slicer could even react, and then it became a rather one-sided match as he kept swinging and swirling the poleaxe instead of thrusting, giving his opponent no proper chance to reach for the shaft.
And although Ezekiel clearly had the upper hand and occasionally landed hits, the jinnum did not give up while the Argent Blade grew just a bit more sluggish with every single attack.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more erratic Selene became in her antics, going through a whole range of emotions. Whenever her master hit, she screamed ecstatically only to gasp and whimper if it looked as though he struggled or was about to be beset by the Desert Slicer.
Arakiel had never seen the girl show such emotion – it almost felt as though she had bottled them all up, only to unleash them in a single, constant storm.
Aurora hadn’t mocked her after the first time, instead rooting for Ezekiel alongside Selene.
Mellia, on the other hand, kept her cool, only occasionally turning her white-hooded face towards Arakiel, which was a little weird. He couldn’t read her expressions but maybe she was just trying to read his and he kept a relatively neutral expression.
He was out in the open as the future Lord Executor – some people still caught glimpses of him only to see and assess his reactions.
He rooted for Ezekiel, but he had to show that he was above playing favorites, just like the two other delegations did.
Unfortunately, the Desert Slicer had managed to get a hold of his large saber despite having taken several hits and if the little stains of blood in the sand were any indication, Selene’s master had wounded him.
Unlike the beginning, the fight of weapon against weapon went differently, as the Desert Slicer could no longer enchant his weapon, at which point it became a dance of thrusts, parries, swings, evades and several more daring maneuvers, such as Ezekiel flipping his halberd to strike his opponents’ shin with the metal shaft or the Desert Slicer burying his blade in the sand after a downward thrust, only to kick it, causing sand to swirl up in the process.
It became an even grind of attrition, one that Ezekiel ended up winning by once again using the halberd’s hook to drag his opponent after he had briefly lost his footing after an especially daring attack. The crowd collectively held its breath.
It caused the jinnum to fall on his back which allowed Ezekiel an aimed, powerful thrust right into his shoulder. The Argent Blade screamed as though he put all his remaining strength into the strike. This time, it pierced the other man’s mail who screamed in pain at first and then surrendered.
The crowd erupted into cheers yet again, the foremost one being Selene who screamed all her collected anxiety out in an outburst that caused her wings to flutter excitedly which, honestly, made the usually cold and aloof Selenyean princess almost appear… mortal.
Down in the sand, Ezekiel went on his knees, taking off his helmet to reveal his amethyst eyes, his slightly longer blonde hair and ruffled beard. His head was as red as a beetle and he had trouble breathing, but the Argent Blade had won.
Aisha and Akili announced the winner together while several people hurried down onto the field. They handed potions to both combatants right after which an Astral Evoker began to heal both combatants with a soothing silver-white light, which caused both to nearly faint while also disabling any buffs they might have.
The Desert Slicer was then given a small powder to inhale as he had to fight against the Scorpion's Pincers, the champion of al-Zuhyar while Ezekiel got to watch from the sidelines. He seemed drained, fatigued – but at least he didn’t need to fight right away.
Arakiel once again heard one delegation complain, claim that Sultan Zimraan was playing favorites which might be correct, but they’d be thoroughly unable to prove it.
Still, whatever powder the greatsaber jinnum had been given, he seemed ready for action just a few moments later, although Arakiel strongly guessed that it’d be a very temporary boost of energy. Everything, especially in the lower levels, had some kind of drawback unless one drew from an outside source which was mainly blood sorcery.
The fight, however, wasn’t nearly as exciting as the previous one for the Scorpion’s Pincers with his two one-handed sabers ended up striking the Desert Slicer down over the course of four minutes, his nimble, highly mobile fighting style proving too much for the rather slow and lumbering Desert Slicer. Unlike him, he was a Double Alterator given the way he flared his body and muscles for brief and concise moments, allowing for potent surges of strength or speed when he needed it.
The Desert Slicer’s tactic of fatiguing his enemy out did not work when the opponent landed several deep cuts which put him in a losing spot in the waiting game.
Arakiel became very worried and even Selene, who had been ecstatic just a few moments ago began to grow anxious once more, even going so far as to nibble at her own fingers.
For a moment, he wondered whether this was the true Selene, the one that Ezekiel’s presence suppressed. It reminded him that he had never seen the girl without her master. Or rather, he hadn’t seen her in any actual scenarios where she might do something.
The Astral Evoker healed the Scorpion’s Pincers, but when he was offered powder, he declined right after which the third and final fight was announced to take place without delay, causing the crowd to go for cheers once again, as the previous match had ended a little too quickly.
Arakiel kept his cool on the outside as best as possible, never minding all the pearls of sweat that were only making the sun’s heat worse; on the inside, however, he, too, was growing anxious.
Ezekiel was a good fighter, but he had won the last engagement because his opponent had a rather improbable strategy for a duel. However, the Argent Blade would need to come up with something because his opponent had a rather straightforward manner of just attacking after getting up their buffs.
Next to him, the other delegation also began to suspect foul play, but the sultan’s lodge remained silent.
Uncaring for all of it, Aisha made the duelists bow twice again before the duelist was underway.
Unlike the two previous times, the battle started right away, with Ezekiel having decided to go all-in from the get-go, hoping to prevent his opponent from buffing himself as he, too, had been stripped clean by the astral healing or he might’ve actually been dispelled if the mage happened to be an Astral Thaumaturge as well. The Argent Blade charged at the dual-wielding jinnum with respectable speed.
It did actually catch the Scorpion’s Pincer off-guard, for he forewent his buffs and instead tried to meet Ezekiel’s challenge head-on, flaring his fire right away.
Both combatants accelerated on the last stretch, enough for their outline to blur just a little as Arakiel’s eyes once again couldn’t catch up. If he dropped his seraphim’s aspect, he might be able to keep up with their speed, but he could not due to too many eyes being upon him.
As such, the clashes between the two combatants became rather curious, for their outlines always stabilized whenever Ezekiel’s halberd met his opponent’s swords, yet neither combatant intended to commit to an actual test of strength, always choosing to go for another attempt at making it past the other’s defenses.
It resulted in a fast-paced match where neither duelist seemed to have the upper hand from the get-go and whenever someone seemed about to, the other switched up his style a little and then they were back to square one.
It wasn’t as impressive a battle to watch as Ezekiel’s first, but it was certainly the more thrilling one – at least Selene seemed to think so. Her initial anxiety gave way to excitement and a strong and loud desire to support her master from the ranks.
That began to turn when it became more and more obvious that Ezekiel could more or less keep up with the other jinnum’s speed, but he never got into a position to actually land a decent strike while he constantly had to deflect near-hits due to his opponent’s sudden surges of power and although Arakiel kind of hoped that the guy would run out of steam, that hadn’t happened just yet, nor was it hard to tell whether that happened at all.
Granted, the two had only fought for five minutes so far, but Arakiel was certainly more strained than the lightly armored fighter who really only relied on his skills as a swordsman and athlete.
Things took a turn for the worse when one time, Ezekiel just barely managed to deflect a slash at his neck when suddenly the other blade struck at his boots.
Afterwards, his opponent switched up his fighting style once again and this time, he went for actual pincer attacks, using one sword to draw his opponent’s attention while following up the second strike with a slight delay.
The Argent Blade switched up his style in response as well, only that his answer relied on an all-out attack, hoping to trade with his opponent – which would’ve been great in theory had his opponent not the ability to near-blink with every flare of his self-alteration.
Ezekiel took several hits which his armor deflected for now, but it wouldn’t last for long. So, in a rather desperate attempt, he created some space with an attempted hook into an uppercut after which he dropped his halberd to once again pull the longsword on his back.
The Scorpion Pincer’s, however, had most likely only waited for this as he basically blinked himself in front of Ezekiel with a massive flare of his lemon-colored flame with a slight orange tinge that most jinnum had on this plane.
He struck both blades at Ezekiel’s right ankle and pierced the reinforced boot’s leather, drawing blood.
The crowd drew in breath, some cheered, some yelled.
Selene cried out as well.
Arakiel grimaced and Aurora reached for his hand.
And then everything went very quickly.
Ezekiel managed to draw his blade, but was forced to defend as his opponent began to shower him with flurry of attacks and at some point, the Argent Blade’s ankle gave out and he slipped, falling over backwards.
Selene gasped as her wings began to spread in full while Aurora looked away, unable to watch.
Arakiel clawed his fingers into the chair and even Mellia let out a slight yelp, never minding all the al-Aliriqeans that were cheering, shouting and hollering.
Ezekiel landed on his back but managed to hold onto his longsword that he just loosely held out towards his opponent, who suddenly stopped mid-motion and then, when the tip of Ezekiel’s tip of the blade was right at his neck, the jinnum suddenly froze, let his blades fall onto the ground while announcing his surrender.
Stunned silence ensued.
Aisha and Akili immediately announced the Argent Blade the winner.
A new voice, one ripe with authority that carried it far and wide, declared Arakiel il Kalanaar the Lord Executor of the Smokeless Host.
And from silence came… thunderous roars.