As the arena floors rumble, a marksman and markswoman clash with each other like magnets, anticipating a competition to find who will stand at the end of their duel. An unknown beast facing an experienced bull was a probable risk. They haven’t pulled off a move yet, but their staring has. A testament to their will.

The will manifested in the translation of their powers. It was enough for Julius to bring out his sky-blue aura; the last time being a fight against Adalberht and the swamps. While his opponent brought out her leafy greenery to the table. Two auras illuminated over their respective owners only forced them to break off from the clash. It jolted them apart at a reasonable distance. They reacted with tough feet, craving the hard layer of sand from the arena’s floor. The friction and pressure raised a load of sand like a water geyser, forming a towering wall that stood briefly high in the air. The next second, it all came down to heavyweight. Julius felt a slight breeze after the effect. Once it all rained down, he exerted his qi pressure to trigger a sound bomb, startling the audience’s ears to where they broke into a howling cry of agony.

“That was rude,” Qiang Zhao said. She then crouched and exerted all the debris out of her way before launching herself. Julius danced his right foot, nudging away by a few inches to spare. He unloaded a hook through with his forearm head on.

Boom!

She blew my punch! Julius flipped away from a jab to the face despite having a full mouthplate. He could feel the slight pressure right onto the surface of his cheek as the metal deflected off most of the force. Amid the deflection, he flew. She took after.

Both crashed down on their backs, feeling the heavy scrape could come at any moment. Instinctively, they fired a fair share of qi bullets at each other while sliding their remaining distances across the arena. Carelessly not paying attention behind him, he struck through a group of fighters in their own match. They reacted like bowling pins, collapsing wildly and scattered from each other at a considerable reach.

Pew!

“Umph,” Julius grunted all the letters and held the right side of his chest. He swiftly got up from the floor, ignoring the head bump. He could feel a leak squirting right into his left hand. “I’m her first blood,” he mumbled. She was still in his view, standing with one hand in her pocket. He was unsure of what her plan was because goddamn, she was a beauty. That was the one thing he noticed the longer he lived in Raal. All the women are as attractive as diamonds. A rarity on earth. So far, all could share similar traits, but what separated them from each were their masked character and interactive efforts. Her trails of black hair danced amongst the winds, vibrating off its vividness and display of a silklike surface. It vibed well with her black cowboy hat.

Reigniting the confrontation, he was getting distracted by the bowling pins behind him. He head-down dodged away as one swirled their arm over, aiming for Julius’s head. He skidded in the distance, witnessing them. With such malice, he eyed Qiang and back at them, who were totally not having it. A loud bang rammed his ears when Qiang appeared right next to him, firing out her bullets.

Julius leaped away to regain his personal space; he too fired at the bowling pins. There were at least six. He could only get three, as Qiang already put them on statistics. When he landed back on his feet, he then looked back at Qiang. Her facial expressions weren't pleasing, and she grimaced with a heavy green aura swarming all around her. Ah, fuck. She's not in the mood. Julius grew a little disturbed as he could feel the gust reach him. That was when he got a brief intrusive moment, and he fired again at the injured three, effectively killing them.

Her devilish grin returned, and Julius fired another round at her to return to the momentum of their duel.

“I'm tired of being down here. Let's head up,” she said before leaping high into the air, leaving behind a massive crater that caused a few matches to collapse. Even the lake got a glimpse of the change in the flow of water. A couple of gallons worth splashed onto the original stage of the arena and spread out across the space, ruining various brawls. Julius, without hesitation, jumped into the air like he was on a trampoline. The after-effect came upon after lifting himself upwards, bringing another round of crackling and banging noises. While speeding through layers of high clouds, he saw her trying to intercept his path, forcing him to fire a bullet. It missed terribly. He continued again and again. Still missed. She’s hella fast. Why are my bullets ain’t reaching her?

Screech!

Licht blocked his back, but he felt it. However, it had more power deflecting it off compared to his mouthplate. Unlike the punch of a knuckle that sounded like a thump, this was scratching metal to cause ear torture. After the shot, Julius glared back at her, and she teleported. He realized his marksman capabilities were slim compared to her, prompting him to change the scenario and holster the pistol away. Barehanded, he went on hyper sensation and traced back her flight path, intercepting her right when she was going near light speed. He performed a swirl kick, striking her at her head. The sole of his boot was right on the top of her cowboy hat.

Yes. Finally. Julius was excited that he had got a hit. It created a shocking echo in the air that dissipated through the high clouds in the vicinity.

Bang!

His eyes then flashed after immediate contact. He fell midair while having the view of the entire lake and the festival surrounding it. A small puddle of blue blood splattered on the invisible surface. Julius braced himself up in denial that he got shot again, but right outside of his orbital bone. He kept his frustration inside, not exposing it to her or any of his opponents this soon. Qiang then dashed right behind him with one hand holding the top of her head. Julius’s eyes moved like a tracker, as if he had already pinpointed her. His left eye’s vision was a little foggy, but the latter eye caught her, and he took the least of a second to hit her again.

He instead went for a double-two combo. First, he went for an impaling gesture with his tightened fist right into her abdomen. Making use of his right hand’s metallic capabilities, Julius conducted the electricity through it. His qi shared with metallic black, raising the voltage and potency of the charge. That was when he led the final push from it, boosting it through his forearm muscles. Qiang got knocked back in a blink. He didn’t let her off before blasting a cylindrical beam as wide as an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Qiang spitted green blood from the vessels in her mouth. It splattered right at Julius’s face as he flew towards her. I keep getting splattered, for Yinhai’s sake. Some internal irritation brought enough energy to reload his SIG P210. He reloaded quickly for one and fired a jolting beam, striking her head. The cowboy hat flew off of her head, revealing a bloody scrape soaking her forehead. Shit. Julius has no time to spare, going in a detour down below as the hat descended faster than an elephant dropped from midair. He boosted his feet, going beyond Mach two, and reached his hand out.

Pop!

“Ow! Son of a bitch!” Julius yelled after he felt a muscle tear around underneath his armpit; the pain reached down to his ribs. He gripped the cowboy hat in time and jolted his left arm back. Afterward, he did an arc like a backflip, steering him back up high in the stratosphere. There were miles' worth of contrails left behind from the beam that phased out. Thus, with the hat on, Julius sped at an overload passing Mach four. When he arrived at arm's reach, Qiang was still conscious but unable to escape the remaining force that sent her flying. He grappled her from the back and zoomed, breaking the force.

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“What are you doing?!” Qiang asked.

“We’re too damn far away from the arena,” Julius said while swarming in a breeze.

“Where the fuck is my hat?!”

“I have it on me!”

“Hey, give it back! Nobody outside of my family can wear that!!”

This woman is so feisty. I don’t even know if I can hold it much longer! Julius wanted to rant. He doesn’t know if it is joyful or pure anger. But it was a strange feeling and only showed up inside his chest. He and Qiang began fighting over the damn hat. She moved her arms unpredictably, like a spider. Predictable, but then not. The cowboy hat was really that important, a family’s worth of generations. The unpredictability struck Julius’s nose at least twice, putting him in a nosebleed. Her accuracy was insanely terrifying because, keep in mind, Julius had his mouthplate on the entire time. However, it only protected the bottom half of his nasal bridge. Now, ain’t that a painful mother—.

This duel had to end somewhat, otherwise it dragged on to boredom. Slam!

“Stop hitting me!” Julius said, with a progressively decent blindness in his left eye after taking a blow from Qiang’s elbow. To his joy, the arena was right ahead and below. Much more progress for sure and more fights have scattered out, using the lake to advantage. Not even wanting to be blind in both eyes, he went for an even higher speed, spraining his calves. He almost went into a state of prayer when he went in a dive, prompting Qiang to yell. She urged him to stop. Julius ignored her demands, steering away from the arena floor and heading right to the lake for a less rough landing. He doesn’t care if fighters are doing their thing. They only have to deal with an upcoming mimic of a meteorite. Julius closed his eyes shut while Qiang continued to scream, now in agony, with only less than ten seconds left to crash into the lake. He let his sky-blue aura envelop, taking over both of them. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered.

Splash! Boom!

The crash in the lake may be catastrophic. This might become a war crime since the West Cai Dynasty was already in a state of war. However, the problem was Julius was being advised before going to the tournament was behind the name of the dynasty. The division was so uncanny it reminded him of a confederation type of government. Like how Longyue used to have multiple families and sects having shared parts of the capital, the same applies here. The factions, families, and the alike are so disunity with the central government that news was blocked off or unreachable. But it’s whatever. If the tournament doesn’t get their attention, then option B might be feasible. Definitely a mental hell; most probably don’t even know who Julius is despite being the emperor for at least a week.

The damage has been done. The crash site erupted a towering pillar of boiling water that exerted a mist ring with a heat of at least 160°F (71.12°C). Perfect in a sauna, but not for anything else. The ring of mist turned into clouds and rained, probably the hottest water Julius ever experienced. He had made it through the crash with the hat on. However, he couldn’t stay in the area for long as the precipitation escalated within a certain radius. Opening his mouthplate, he then swam back to the arena. He came across Qiang, who was distorted, and took a breather. He went for a full grapple, attempting to go for swimming records as he had never done that before.

“You want the hat back, take it!” Julius said in a raised voice, despite half of his face being submerged under the water. Qiang finally took it off of his head. She was furious with the thrilling stares combined with the dried green blood masking her forehead and bits of her hair. When he saw Qiang lift one of her arms, he gave a glare to the right behind her. Luckily, getting back on the arena stage should be an ease because of a setup similar to a boat ramp that reaches from the depths to land. Subsequently, Julius shoved her right back to the arena’s floor, preventing himself from getting slammed by her.

Julius leaped out of the water, landing back on the arena’s surface with a blind left eye. Coincidentally, Solomon and Celeste were on a tag team nearby, finishing their battle against a group of opponents. Then he tumbled down to his knees and puked a puddle of blue blood. His nostrils also spit out as the vessels within the naval cavity erupted again, leaking out more. Darn, not now! Julius wanted it to end, but couldn’t. Being the unknown emperor, he has to prove he can survive the entire show, so he isn’t satisfied personally.

“Oh, my Yinhai!” Celeste yelled, probably noticing Julius in a troubling state. He turned right to where her voice was. The right eye revealed her bursting in enrage, sending her opponents into the abyss. She then grabbed Solomon’s shoulder, teleporting them right next to him. Julius spats again, to Celeste’s despair.

“What the hell happened to you?” Celeste asked.

“Duel…I need a heal…please,” Julius mumbled with a drool of blood lingering loosely behind his lips.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Celeste summoned a barrier and a form of healing spell directly around his head.

After a few seconds, his left eye's foggy vision progressively dissipates. As it healed, he spat and blew out any last of the lingering blood as the healing took over. Solomon acted as the shield while also the monitor of his condition.

“Uh, Julius. We got trouble.”

Julius looked up and saw Qiang get herself out of the rubble and healed, loading her dual revolvers. “No, only me,” he responded. Celeste attempted to persuade him not to and let Solomon take a bit of his time for the healing process to be complete. Julius, in response, shook his head. He doesn’t want to break the momentum and desires to settle this as this is it. He then grabbed his greatsword’s hilt.

< It’s time, Licht. > Julius telepathically said.

<< I was waiting for your call. You are madlad. That crash almost took you off the hook. >> Licht said with an intent of concern.

< No time for that right now. I’m at the last moments, and if I don’t give it all, it’s over. >

<< How much do you want to go against a markswoman.? >>

< Only enough. I can’t calculate this one but try not to make it too hard. I need her alive. >

<< As you wish… >>

Julius firmly gripped the hilt, lifting the greatsword out of his back. While Celeste moved out of the way and went to his left, she hadn’t let off her healing spell.

Despite being much farther this time, Julius and Qiang stared at each other immensely with more intent and direction. Like the start of the duel, now this is the finale. “Let it go,” Julius said to Celeste, insisting he was fine now while not forgetting to thank her. He gestured to them to back away while maintaining focus on Qiang. Boom!

A shockwave from his exertion of energy reigniting his sky-blue aura. Qiang, correspondingly, brought out hers. The two simultaneously charged themselves up. Pools of heat waves generated and encircled around them, triggering a full rumble. The vibration went beyond the arena’s borders, spreading through various parts of the ongoing festival. The rest of the ongoing fights and brawls were put to a halt. A few more irritations and threats came and went, all on Julius. He responded with a menacing glare, resulting in a fragment of his energy surging at their faces and knocking them out of the blue. Damn them. They have fucking done it. Julius grew angrier, unintentionally triggering a hidden trump card.

As he grunted, smoke exhaled from his mouth and nose. The whole finale turned into a potential death spree, and the smoke went darker by the second. He wasn’t affected health-wise, as it appeared like being shoved in a plume of burning smoke. His mind became less complicated, desiring a confrontation to the fullest. It felt manic good!

Bang!

Julius launched from his spot and sped right at Qiang. Her feet glowed leafy green and launched like a rocket booster as the ends of her feet exerted green-colored emission. Julius’s greatsword aura turned black, with white outlines; a symptom of darkness. The smoke wrapped around his body and formed a layer of armor as he sped up closer and closer. Qiang’s revolvers glowed at the ends of the barrel, ready to blast at its target.

“Face yourself!” Julius roared, echoing the guttering and a shudder of a lion’s scream. “YUEQIU HAIXIAO!” He twirled his torso and right arm in one-eighty, unleashing all the potential energy out from the entire surface of the blade.

“You’re insane!” Qiang yelled. She fired her dual revolvers and combined the two blasts together into a humongous beam, clashing with Julius’s tsunami wave of dark qi.

Both exerted their energy into the clash. The moment leaves their fates to be decided as a fragment of qi from the two was enough to ignite the strength of a nuclear bomb explosion at a minimum. Therefore, the debris and smoke enveloped the entire arena and swiftly expanded its radius beyond.