Chapter 37

"Rito-kun!" The familiar light green-haired princess of Memorze's voice suddenly called out to her self-proclaimed love of her life. Without enough time to react, Rito got tackled before even saying a word.

"Run?" He said, taking a good look at her. "Sorry I'm late! There are a lot of business back on Earth and I can't come yesterday." She said.

"So that's why… Well, it's okay, don't let it bother you." Rito said before she nodded happily.

[Yuuki Rito, the Earth's representative. This Man is the one in which the King's eyes are set on.]

He was just locking up his room before he heard Run's voice calling out to him. "Even though I didn't see your battle yesterday, I'm pretty sure you did great!" Run said while she and Rito are walking down the hallway towards the Arena. "Ahaha, Thanks." He chuckled.

They walked together for a while before finally meeting with the rest and went their own way. "Rito." Before walking towards the path that leads to the waiting room, Yami called out his name and made him turn his head towards her. "Promise me you won't lose. Because in the end, the one that will defeat you is me." She said, despite her slightly cold tone, she's surprisingly worried. Rito, in turn just smiled.

"I promise, I won't lose." He said as he smiled towards her. Yami in turn, also smiled warmly. "This maybe the 2nd battle overall, but don't let your guard down, as there may be stronger people ahead." Momo warned.

"I just have to fight two today, right? No big deal." He said cockily as he stretched out his gloves and smiled. "Don't take this lightly! You could be killed you know?" The concerned Yui suddenly exclaimed, which surprises Rito and caught him off guard for a split second.

"I told you, didn't I? I won't lose, no matter what happens." He said before taking the steps towards the Arena. "Rito! Good Luck!" Lala yelled from the spot she was standing, to Rito. He holds his hand up and put his thumb up before the Girls smiled and walked towards their own respective seats.

"…The 2nd Battle overall! BEGIN!" The Announcer yelled excitedly as two of the fighters faced against each other, waiting for their move.

"In the end, I didn't get the chance to read his bio…" Rito said as he waited patiently for his opponent's move.

"My name's Elhim, and I am a Magician from Meeriot. I hereby challenged you." He looks human-like, although half of his face is covered up, Rito could manage to see some aging in his face, most likely he's middle-aged. He wears a robe that covered his full body, except for his hands and, of course half of his face.

"So you're going to use Magic against me?" Rito asked. "Not merely just a magic, I could also predict your move, read your mind, read who you are…" He said before chanting a spell while holding a magical glass ball that he spawned out of nowhere.

"This is…"

Elhim said before stopping and despite the covered face, he looks… surprised, and… scared.

"It can't be…" He said as he dropped his magic glass ball and stopped his movements.

"U-Um…" Rito slowly called out to him.

"No… NO! There's no way! There's no way I could win against him! Let me out! I, I, I give up!"

And with that, without even battling, the Bell rings and declared Rito's victory. "Wh-What a surprising turn of event! The Fight is over without a fight!" The crowd began cheering, some are even whispering to each other.

"So, my words are useless then…" Back in the VIP lounge, Yami could be seen bowing and looking pretty… depressed at the fight. "No! I'm sure it has an impact on Rito-senpai, onee-chan!"

"Th-That's right, Yami-san!" Mikan and Mea who are trying to make Yami feel even slightly better are trying their hardest at it.

"But then again, it was pretty anti-climactic." Haruna said, slightly worried. "I wonder what he meant by his surrender…" Yui said.

"He couldn't win against him?" Rin is showing slightly more concern.

"Don't worry folks! As Yuuki Rito will be back for another Match today! Stay tuned as we will move to the next contestant…" The Announcer's voice echoed throughout the Arena.

A few hours later

"It's still bugging me… What does it mean?" Rito recalled his opponent's surrender as he flipped the pages of the bio on his next opponent. "My next opponent is… fire, huh? His power's apparently pyrokinesis, name… Brann from Ildinia."

"Yuuki Rito, you are now allowed to enter the Arena to face your next opponent..." The Speaker suddenly said, calling Rito as he should now enter the Arena.

"Guess it's time." He said as he stood up and stretched, ready for the next faceoff.

As he walked into the Arena, the crowd went crazy and cheered, excited for the next turn of event. Across the Arena is Rito's next opponent. "Nice to meet you. I suppose you have known me by now?" He said, surprisingly friendly. "Yup. And you should know me by now too."

"I suppose so."

"THE THIRD BATTLE! BEGIN!" The Announcer yelled.

"Would you rather fight with bare hands or with weapons?" The Fireman asked. "Well, what do you prefer?"

"Personally, I prefer hand-to-hand combat." He said.

"Then so be it." Rito said before both of them charged onto each other, creating a shockwave in the process.

The two keep exchanging fists to fists, attacks to attacks. However, Rito managed to caught him off-guard and tackled him so that he fell. "How about that?"

"Not bad. But still…" He said before his body is engulfed in flames and forces Rito to back up as Brann got back on his feet.

"Heh. Should've known you'd use that." Rito said before both of them once again, clashed.

After some more attack exchanges, it eventually become a battle of endurance as Fireman suddenly started to feel exhausted. "Giving up?" Rito asked nonchalantly. He smirked.

"No way. Just when it's getting good!" He suddenly charges onto Rito, hoping to caught him offguard, however to his surprise, Rito dodged the attack by jumping high in the air.

"Let's finish this."