-Chapter 35-
Battle Royale
Kid stood ten paces away from Soul, and mouthed for him to wait. The applause died down and the golden ceremonial bugles sounded in three long peals before fading into silence.
Soul frowned with confusion, new to the situation he was forced to trust Kid's honour.
A throbbing chant grew from the crowd as they spoke their anthem.
On and on the cities groaned
looking forward without a sound,
fighting with sword and blistering wounds
singing a chant without a tune
On and on 'till Death arrived
and wiped the pastures bare,
The deserts watered with blood of man
now flowered under his stern hand.
Up and up the fresh stone rose
in walls and towers glittering gold,
and no man would feel the need to hide
or drown in ale without his pride.
Shinigami and his Death city!
We drink not to us but to thee,
without your guidance and your heart,
this city would have become but nought.
Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori.
Great leader, we offer our lives for thee.
Shinigami stood and bowed humbly three times to the unmoving mass of flesh, and silence continued its oppressive echo.
A lone blast of a bugle broke the silence, and heralded the entrance of a pompous and colourful man whose shrill voice screeched the battle to be "Until nightfall or first blood". He was wearing a ballooning hat that created a black shadow over his face and distorted his shadow.
Death the Kid wielded two swords, one longer than the other. They didn't look particularly unique, none of the glamour that one would expect from someone as high up as he was. There was nothing scrawled onto the sword, nothing in excess.
That's the trick. Don't misjudge him. Those swords are… Soul thought
…perfect. The Imp cut in.
Listen Soul, you do not lose. Understood? Keep him at a distance, watch for those swords, keep your back to the light – the sunset might blind you.
Soul's sword growled amongst the sand as it rose from the small pit it had dug in the ground, grains of dirty sand dropped from the gleaming metal and the point viciously looked into Kid's eyes.
If Kid recognised the sword he made no acknowledgement, though that's a lie – a smug look of satisfaction held his face as the match began. Soul could only wonder what had made Kid feel that way.
Soul stared at Kid coldly, emotionless. His red eyes looked empty, a hearth not yet lit as Soul focussed on re-building a mask covered with dust. His emotions started dropping back from under the surface where they'd lain of late, and began an infinite fall into limbo.
Good The Imp breathed heavily, stringing the vowels together in a long, gargling sound. You're remembering.
There was no bite in its voice as it began to be infected like the audience with the suspense of the fight soon to begin.
On an unspoken cue Kid dashed forward into Soul, and twisted behind his heels as vortexes picked them up before collapsing into small heaps. Soul's feet buried themselves into the arena as his long sword blocked a heavy double blow from Kid, the crowd erupted as the deafening sound travelled around the arena, slowly being absorbed into the writhing audience.
Distaannccee... The Imp chastised like a teacher who'd corrected the same mistake a hundred times.
The teeth of Soul's sword bit into Kid's blades and gripped them as Soul swung Kid down into the ground.
A crowd-pleasing move as the spectators saw Soul win the first of what was to be many engagements.
Soul jumped back, being too cautious to press the advantage. His feet left trenches in the soft ground as the gritty sand piled up behind his heels.
Kid's eyes glinted with golden fury that the wrath of the heavens couldn't match. He sprung up and you could see the dust stains covering select patches of his dark outfit. He looked like his father.
Soul was the first opponent Kid had fought who was good enough to concern him, and the worry of so many eyes nagged at him further. Kid had to win the crowd back; otherwise father would not be pleased.
With this anger bubbling over into his energies Kid's attacks came with all the more haste and all the more fury. This was a novel experience for the crowd, having never seen Kid fight at even near full capacity. Many of the matches held in the arena were staged and though entertaining, offered no real thrill.
Sweat was now pouring down the sides of their faces, giving a glinting, glassy edge to their jaws as the light faded further from the sky.
Shinigami rose and called a halt to the fight.
"This fight will not stop at Sunset, it is to blood, or death. Illuminate the arena men, this is to be recorded for the tomes."
Night was nearly fallen, and the empty sky was pouring chilly air down onto them.
The break was direly needed as both warriors panted with locked eyes. Had they broken their gaze they would have watched torches flicker into existence amongst the crowd to counter the chill as smoke spiralled up from them.
The stars blinked against the velvety purpling sky before the burning light of the bonfires blocked them out as the fires sprung to life around the arena with huge crackles and the occasional bursting of damp wood.
Soul's and Kid's shadows flickered in the stance, morphing and tearing their shape unpredictably as they stood hunched over. Large silvered plates cranked slowly upwards behind the bonfires as their technicians angled the light downwards; the cumulative effect put them in a spotlight without blinding them. The small seats behind these large discs held room for one operator, as they would need to rotate the discs in order to keep the two fighters well lit.
Once the arena was prepared, Shinigami rose and restarted the fight with a silent drop of his hand. Trumpets sounded in cheery melody and the superfluous workers retreated from the arena like mice from an eagle.
As their blades locked and spat light the ripping shadows were obliterated before instantly reappearing with all their earlier vigour. The dance was no longer between two, but four, as their silhouetted brothers stretched along the floor and fought just as fiercely. Looking closely one could have sworn they weren't matching the movements of their owners, but maybe that was just the light playing tricks.
Bawling cheers screamed out of the crowd, with the people becoming increasingly drunk as the evening wore on. Their breaths shortened more quickly now as their muscles strained, Soul felt the scar along his chest tighten and relax with each breath he took.
Kid grinned and in a perfectly executed twist knocked the long sword aside from Soul and aimed to plunge his second into Soul's throat.
Drop!
A panicked yelp came from the Imp as Soul allowed his legs to buckle and felt the blade tear through his hair, yanking on the roots in a strip along the middle.
The Imp had been mysteriously silent during the battle; neither insults nor pointers had come from the cretin until now.
Fire burned in his lungs as his muscle memory began to shake under the strain of having to respond so often quickly. Kid was wearing him down and though not completely swapped, one could see after numerous engagements that the tables were turning on Soul.
Kid was winning the crowd back as he attacked repeatedly, sometimes not even attempting to bypass Soul's defence, but simply attacked the block with the intent to weaken his arms. It was working; Soul's arms felt the sword resting more leaden in his hands.
His breathing was fast and his throat had a dry, cold taste as he feared to swallow – worried that to do so would result in a gagging cough.
Kid grinned shortly again before quickly jogging backwards away from Soul, forcing him to rest. A smart move, now every single muscle in Soul's body had the opportunity to send impulses into his brain saying how exhausted they were, to report the masses of lactic acid that had built up.
Kid's grin turned markedly malicious as he lowered his head and returned to a crouch.
My turn Soul.Soul was too exhausted to reply as the Imp steamrollered over his self-control.
A dark tinge infected his skin, and his eyes burnt with purple fire as he met Kid's eyes. He saw the crouch for what it was – a jump attack – and waited pretending to be exhausted still.
Kid rushed forward and sprung up, intending to drive both swords into his torso besides his neck. As he jumped Soul dashed forward underneath him with renewed vigour, a look of surprise flitted onto Kid's face has he struggled to twist mid-air, blocking the attack that would have chopped into his spine.
His expression changed as he couldn't fathom where Soul's energy was coming from, nor the new skill he appeared to have.
The Imp held onto his sword tightly, the blade feeding a thirst of death, the energy flowing out of the metal and into him.
Noticing the sword's crimson tinge, Kid began to wrap his own wavelength thinly around his dual swords; they weren't supposed to use soul energy during these fights due to the huge risk of collateral damage. Kid could not afford to lose.
The Imp struck again, aiming low along the kidneys he too was intending to end the fight with a death.
Exchanging blows once more to the delight of the audience, the sizzling shreds of energy that flew from the contact points entranced the people, the energy changing colour as it was freed from the owner.
Kid realised he wouldn't be able to prolong this battle and putting the remains of his energy into speeding up his movements he went for first blood, knowing he was no longer able to kill Soul.
The Imp had no similar idea, contrarily it was relishing the control it had again and with each strike of his sword he would strip Kid of some energy. The imp was just slashing and smashing for fun.
Kid's attack was predicted, a triple strike to the Imp's right side was blocked quickly, the attacks changed side and design, sometimes they were piercing and other times they were slicing – the Imp was forced to react and constantly defend by twisting and rotating on a dime as Kid counter-attacked with violent and precise aggression.
The Imp couldn't have predicted that Kid would release one of his swords, and his smaller wazakashi blade sliced along Soul's temple.
The sharp blade only skimmed Soul's head but already he could feel blood oozing out.
Time froze.
Kid slowly backed away with his remaining sword, now holding it with two hands.
"The fight is over, Evans." Kid cautiously concluded.
No. That didn't happen. He didn't...
He did. Hey, we knew this was going to happen. Soul tried to console the Imp, trying to limit the internal damage it would wreak when they were alone.
That was if you fought alone Soul. You lose, not me. I don't lose. I never lose.
Evidently you do... Soul couldn't help but let the sarcastic comment slip out, a smirk on his face and a small laugh.
The glare that the Imp gave him was only an indicator of the wrath he would receive. I'll see you tonight, bitch.
Relinquishing its hold on Soul, it strode into darkness. Soul looked up, raising a hand to his face and staring at the blood smeared across it.
He dropped to a knee and Kid stood away as Shinigami stood and began the applause that rose like a wave around the stadium as whoops, wolf-whistles, and ululations came from a very impressed crowd.
"Tonight, there has been no loser, for this fight was matched between two incredible champions for you, my children, and for that we should be thankful. Never before has this arena been so packed, nor you so entertained. In recognition, this evening is to become a tradition, every year on this night, there is to be a fight between the two greatest fighters in the land!" Shinigami proclaimed over the crowd, whose cheering was only further magnified. The sound was truly deafening as the cacophony rose to new heights.