CW: for Ozai taking it to a new level of incestuous rape 'jokes'. Though with Ozai you can never be sure whether he's joking or not…
Chapter 93
Round 6 results:
Ozai Nakamura 0.5 - Yue Taqqiq 0.5
Gyatso Jetsun 0.5 - Katara Enuaraq 0.5
Long Feng 1 - Zhao Sakamoto 0
Standings after Round 6:
1. Gyatso Jetsun - 5
2. Ozai Nakamura - 4
3.-4. Katara Enuaraq, Yue Taqqiq - 3
5.-6. Zhao Sakamoto, Long Feng - 1.5
Katara was in a very positive, almost elated state of mind for the start of her second encounter with Ozai Nakamura. She could not wait to put their carefully prepared, more aggressive strategies to the test. Katara had already come quite close to defeating Ozai in their first game, so she was brimming with confidence as the second match between them began. Adding to her good mood were the results from the previous round, and the way Yue had managed to hold Ozai to a draw, dictating events on the Pai Sho board and not really allowing the reigning world champion to have even a sniff at victory.
It was clear to Katara that Ozai Nakamura was not in a good mood as their game began. He was probably still rather annoyed about having been forced to a draw against Yue, and the very thought that he was not in the tournament lead must have been bothering him a great deal. As Katara came out of the gate strong and started to aggressively harass Ozai's tiles, the glare of the world champion which he loved to direct at Katara in order to distract her intensified tenfold. There was an almost disgusted look on his face, as if Katara had committed some kind of display of unforgivable disrespect by daring to attack him so aggressively.
Katara would never allow herself to become complacent, however. Zuko in particular had warned both her and Yue about how nasty Ozai could become when he was in danger of losing. At least Katara and Yue had been mentally prepared to withstand his rude staring, and the spectators weren't all uniformly on Ozai's side. Especially the younger generation didn't much care about this rich multi-billionaire, disgusted at the influence Ozai wielded in almost every societal sphere. There were plenty of spectators who didn't even care that Ozai Nakamura was their compatriot. They looked at Katara and Yue as overdue harbingers of change coming to the Pai Sho world, and possibly extending beyond it. And then there also was a subsection of fans who had crushes on one, two or possibly even all three of them and who were sending embarrassing love letters to their Ba Sing Se address. The same fans were also displaying banners saying things like 'I Heart Katara' or 'Kiss Me 4 Luck Yue', and even if the girls had been deeply embarrassed about it all to begin with, they were now capable of having a bit of a laugh when faced with this kind of support.
In short, Katara wasn't sure what other methods of intimidation Ozai might fall back upon, but Azula had warned both her and Yue to be wary. The tournament officials had not yet revealed themselves as bought and paid for by Ozai, but they so far hadn't had any reason to intervene, although, technically they should have given Ozai a warning for his rude and excessive staring a long time ago. But the staring wasn't having much of an effect on Katara during their current game, as Katara continued to develop her tiles in a full-frontal attack on Ozai's position. The world champion desperately tried to create some complications on the left flank by attempting to exploit the weakness which Azula had recently identified in Katara's game. Having created some havoc on the left flank, Ozai deployed his Knotweed tile there, hoping to confuse Katara.
Katara was grinning inwardly at Ozai's futile effort, because this was something that Azula had prepared her for, and after a ten hour long prep session, Katara was not going to forget the lessons she had learned. Instead of swallowing Ozai's bait, Katara simply ignored it and created complications of her own on the right flank. As Ozai transferred his tiles in a mad dash to the right flank to put out the flames, Katara figuratively kicked him in the groin by playing her own Knotweed tile right into the hectic melee. As soon as she had done that, Katara could see that Ozai was literally seething with anger at her disrespectful and cheeky impertinence.
Ozai's trap on the left flank failed, and he had no ways to adequately respond to the multiple threats Katara had created on the right. Soon, Ozai's tiles were in full retreat, trying to organize some kind of counter play by consolidating in the center. It didn't take Katara much time at all to surround Ozai's forces from every side and then start cracking open his closed position, like the shell of a well-steamed lobster. Ozai looked absolutely furious when he realized that there was no way to avoid a rather ignoble and convincing defeat. Unwilling to prolong his suffering any longer, the defending world champion Ozai Nakamura stopped the timing clock and shook Katara's hand, admitting defeat.
"Don't even think of pulling something like that against me again, little Water whore," Ozai whispered to her as he held on to Katara's hand. "I have ways to deal with people who think that they can humiliate me. Before we face each other again, I advise you to think of everything that you hold dear and how painful it would be to lose it," he hissed, then squeezing her hand so hard that Katara almost yelped in pain, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. She shot a desperate look at the officials, but they were all making sure to look anywhere else but at her or Ozai, allowing Azula's father to retreat in a hurry, the officials not bothering to stop and admonish him.
Katara remained a little behind, cradling her sore hand as she stood by the sidelines and waited for the other games to end before she and Yue went to face the reporters together. Katara already knew that she would be swarmed by the press after scoring such a stunning victory, and she was trying to mentally prepare herself for it. And on some level she would have probably enjoyed all the attention from the reporters, but Ozai finally revealing his true colors and outright threatening her had taken a lot of joy out of the victory. Katara didn't necessarily believe Ozai's threats and she was certain that it was purely intimidation tactics, nothing else. Still, they had sort of worked and Katara felt a little rattled. She couldn't wait to be alone with her girlfriends, so that they could help her steady her nerves.
Katara watched Gyatso slowly and methodically dismantle Long Feng in their game. She couldn't help but wonder if Gyatso was actually going to slow down this year. Azula was absolutely certain that Gyatso would hit the wall soon, but Katara still saw no signs of him slowing down, and right now he was running away with the title. Katara had to wonder if maybe Gyatso had discovered some ancient recipe for a tonic of eternal youth. Or maybe he just rubbed himself with yak butter every morning and that was his secret. In any case, it seemed like this could be Gyatso's year, and to Katara that felt acceptable, as long as it wasn't yet another year of Ozai Nakamura.
Yue's match with Zhao Sakamoto was the last to end and even though Yue had held small advantage throughout the whole affair, as the game reached its seventieth move and Yue was still searching for ways to press her advantage home, she seemed to remember Azula's advice about conserving their strength, offering Zhao a draw. It was accepted and Yue soon joined Katara as they headed towards the press zone together. Much to Katara's relief, Yue did not appear in any way disappointed, absolutely beaming with joy.
"I am so happy that you destroyed him like that!" Yue gushed excitedly, forgetting all about her own missed opportunity. "You literally had him running out of the hall! You're our hero, Kat. Azula will be so delighted!"
"Oh, that's right, I'm sure she will be," Katara smiled. Indeed, while Azula had never put it into words, trying not to add more pressure on her and Yue, it was clear to both Water Tribe girls that Azula was desperate to see one of them defeating her father.
Dealing with the reporters felt especially irritating in the wake of such a sensational victory. There were so many of them that Katara's one and only favorite reporter Suki Arya was struggling to get in a word edgewise. Even with the half an hour limit on press availability, Katara was struggling to get away from the reporters and it didn't seem as if any officials were actually on hand to intervene and tell the press to leave her alone. In the end, between Suki and Yue, they had somehow managed to extricate Katara from that situation, then leading her down the side entrance to the employee parking lot.
Having profusely thanked Suki for her help, Katara and Yue continued on their way towards the black Cadillac, but Azula wouldn't allow Katara to get into the car. She ran up to Katara and forcefully shoved the Water Tribe girl against the car, starting to kiss her with such passion and intensity, that Katara could only grip Azula's shoulders and moan helplessly into her lover's mouth as Azula absolutely smothered her girlfriend with this passionate assault.
"That was hot," Yue commented, looking at them wide-eyed. "Can I have some of that, Azula?" she asked hopefully.
"Destroy my father like Katara just did," Azula replied in a husky voice. "I didn't know that watching Ozai humiliated like that would be such a turn on for me, but… apparently it is."
Yue laughed. "Do we like… need to go back to the hotel right now?"
Azula actually looked tempted. "Mhm, no, we have our schedule to keep, and I have already made a reservation at the restaurant, so there's no time for that," she sighed. "But if we don't drag out the dinner and skip on the dessert, we might have a spare hour before we have to start our prep," Azula smiled deviously.
"I think we can safely skip on the dessert," Yue said as she walked up to Katara from behind. She then pushed Katara's hair aside as she leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss against Katara's pulse point on her neck, leaving Katara slightly dazed. "Let's just make Katara our dessert instead," Yue whispered to Azula.
"That works for me," Azula nodded. "Alright, time to be on our way then," she said decisively, releasing Katara and they all got into the Cadillac.
"I like how I don't seem to be given a choice in this," Katara teasingly stuck out her tongue at her girlfriends.
"Sorry, Katara," Yue actually apologized. "We got carried away, I guess. We're not doing anything that one of us doesn't want, that's always been the rule and it always will be."
"Don't be daft, Yue, I was only teasing. I'm happy to be on your and Azula's special dessert menu any day of the week," Katara giggled. Her expression then darkened a little as she remembered her exchange with Ozai Nakamura. "Azula, you should probably know that your father made threats after the game," she said.
"I saw him saying something to you, and it didn't look like it was anything nice," Azula nodded. "To be honest, I kind of expected this."
"What did he say?" Yue asked worriedly.
"Ugh, just some general threats about not embarrassing him again if I valued those dear to me," Katara shrugged. Yue didn't look reassured by the explanation.
"It's pure intimidation, nothing else," Azula said decisively. "Pay no attention to it. He wouldn't do anything like that, not in the middle of a tournament. There's way too much press scrutiny on all of us at the moment."
"Couldn't he-" Yue began, but Azula cut her right off.
"Yue, don't," the Fire Nation girl said sharply. "I'm telling you that he won't. Have I given you any reason to doubt me?" Azula asked. Yue vehemently shook her head. "Then believe me when I say that this is pure posturing, cheap intimidation tactics that he believes will work on young and impressionable girls in their early twenties. Don't give him the satisfaction of falling for his dirty tricks."
"I don't intend to pay any attention to it," Katara said decisively. Azula had been spot on about everything that had happened during the tournament so far and Katara wasn't going to start doubting her girlfriend now. "I'm going to destroy your father when I meet him again."
"Okay, I believe you, Azula," Yue nodded, looking reassured. "The next time I'm facing your father, I'm going to hit him with everything I have as well."
"Good," Azula said, sounding satisfied. "That sounded more like the Water Tribe girls I know and love."
Round 8 results:
Ozai Nakamura 1 - Long Feng 0
Gyatso Jetsun 0.5 - Zhao Sakamoto 0.5
Katara Enuaraq 1 - Yue Taqqiq 0
Standings after Round 8:
1. Gyatso Jetsun – 6.5
2.-3. Ozai Nakamura, Katara Enuaraq - 5
4. Yue Taqqiq – 3.5
5. Zhao Sakamoto – 2.5
6. Long Feng - 1.5
Round 9 results:
Ozai Nakamura 1 - Zhao Sakamoto 0
Gyatso Jetsun 0.5 - Yue Taqqiq 0.5
Katara Enuaraq 0.5 - Long Feng 0.5
Standings after Round 9:
1. Gyatso Jetsun – 7
2. Ozai Nakamura - 6
3. Katara Enuaraq – 5.5
4. Yue Taqqiq – 4
5. Zhao Sakamoto – 2.5
6. Long Feng - 2
Round 10 results:
Ozai Nakamura 0 - Gyatso Jetsun 1
Long Feng 0 - Yue Taqqiq 1
Katara Enuaraq 1 - Zhao Sakamoto 0
Standings after Round 10:
1. Gyatso Jetsun – 8
2. Katara Enuaraq – 6.5
3. Ozai Nakamura - 6
4. Yue Taqqiq – 5
5. Zhao Sakamoto – 2.5
6. Long Feng - 2
As the world championship finals reached their halfway point, Azula felt more than pleased about the performance of her two charges, also her beloved and treasured girlfriends. She liked the way both Yue and Katara were coping with the pressure which was coming in so many forms. The intimidating presence of her father was only one factor at play here, and even though Azula considered it as the potentially biggest threat, she knew that they could not ignore the other sources of mounting pressure either.
The play of both Yue and Katara in the tournament was drawing more and more increased interest from the press and the general public. Katara's results were particularly astounding and her shocking victory over Ozai had received wide international coverage. If the reporters hadn't been hounding them before, then they were absolutely doing so now, trying to secure interviews doing the tournament off days, trying to catch them when they went out in public, sometimes even coming up to their table in a restaurant, which Azula considered incredibly rude. So far, Azula had managed to shield her girls from all this attention quite well. She couldn't protect them from their mandatory post-match press availability, but she could damn well make sure that no reporter other than Suki came near her girls outside of that half an hour. Suki was an exception to this rule, and they made sure to occasionally invite the Kyoshi girl to chill with them when they took time off from their prep and match analysis.
When it came to the rising interest of the general public, Azula was relieved that the tournament was taking place in the Fire Fountain City instead of Caldera. Shuhon Island was a considerably far less populated area than Capital Island. The crowds here were still manageable, even if more and more people were by now recognizing Katara and Yue when they went out in public. Being Water Tribe, they obviously stuck out as a sore thumb, even without Yue's white hair shining like a lighthouse, attracting even more attention.
Concerning the performance of the competitors, the tournament had provided one or two surprises for Azula, even if overall everything seemed to be unfolding more or less as she had expected it to. Katara and Yue were starting to become worried about Gyatso managing to last the distance. Azula still stuck to her earlier assertions that the old grandmaster would soon run out of steam. He had been playing better than Azula had expected, but she also pointed out to Yue and Katara that in his first five games, Gyatso had scored four wins and one draw, but in his next five games, it had changed to only two wins and three draws. Gyatso was definitely slowing down, although he still had a more substantial tournament lead than Azula had expected him to have.
Azula was rather underwhelmed by the performance of her father. There was a touch of arrogance about his play, which was perhaps expected from a six times world champion. But analyzing Ozai's games and looking at them objectively, Azula could see that he had not advanced his game in any meaningful way over the past few years. In fact, Azula was now able to spot more and more weaknesses in his play, although this was probably more due to the fact that she was a much-improved player than what she had been two or three years ago. Still, Ozai seemed to have a very cavalier attitude towards this crop of new players emerging to snap at his heels. It was clear that he hadn't taken Yue and Katara at all seriously, not until Katara had taken him to the cleaners. But Ozai had also lost both of his games to date against Gyatso. It wasn't a massive surprise because Gyatso was definitely one of the best players in the world when he was in his best physical shape, but still… Ozai's performance had been so underwhelming thus far that Azula was not the only one wondering just how he had managed to win the title of world champion for the impressive six times. More and more Azula began to suspect that some of her father's past victories hadn't been exactly clean.
After the first five rounds of games, Azula felt like both of her girls were well poised to emerge as strong contenders for the title. She hadn't been sure which of the girls would make the breakthrough, because Yue and Katara had both performed very similarly at the start of the tournament. But now, with the tournament at halfway mark, it was clear to Azula that Katara would be the one to challenge her father. Katara had taken four whole points from possible five during the previous rotation, outperforming everyone else during this stretch. Sure, she was still well behind Gyatso in the overall standings, but as far as Azula was concerned, Gyatso would soon start to fade. Katara was half a point ahead of her real competitor, which to Azula was her father. Essentially, this made Katara the true leader of the tournament, but of course, Azula would never tell Katara something like that because it would add to the pressure that she must have been experiencing already.
Yue's play had remained rock solid, just as Azula had come to expect from her. She hadn't truly announced herself yet, not in the way Katara had, but Azula knew that it could still happen. Yue was only a point behind Ozai, and she was playing her father in the next round. Yue could really do a massive favor both to herself and to Katara by defeating Ozai, but Azula knew that it would not be easy. Her father was already smarting from so many defeats. In the past, he had often suffered as few as two defeats across the entire marathon of twenty games. This year, he already had three losses from ten games, so there was an obvious weakness here to exploit. Not even the presence of both Zhao Sakamoto and Long Feng was making much of a difference for Ozai. Their whole purpose in the tournament was to lose their games to Ozai and feed him cheap points, while trying to take as many points from Ozai's opponents. So far, they had taken a point from Katara and Yue, and only half a point from Gyatso, so Azula expected her father to be seriously angry with his cronies right now. Indeed, right now Azula would not have wanted to be in the shoes of Zhao Sakamoto and Long Feng.
"How the fuck can you two manage to be so bloody useless?" Ozai Nakamura raged, shouting at both Zhao Sakamoto and Long Feng, covering uselessly before him. "How can you not take more points from those little Water whores? It's pathetic! And you're not doing much better against Gyatso either! Zhao, your draw against him was a lucky squeaker and you know it! If it wasn't for that, between you two losers you would have lost all four games to that old farting goat from the mountains!"
"Ozai, when it comes to Gyatso, I'm actually doing better than you are," Zhao dared to point out. "You've lost both of your games to the old man. I actually managed a draw."
"Shut up!" Ozai yelled, stepping up to Zhao and punching him in the face. Zhao grunted, doubling over and clutching his bloodied nose. "Don't tempt me into breaking another pool cue on your Agni damned useless spine." Zhao looked terrified, taking a step back. Long Feng passed him a handkerchief to hold against his bloody nose, and Zhao accepted it gratefully.
"I suggest we all calm down and take a few deep breaths," the head of the Dai Li suggested in an even voice.
Ozai muttered something unintelligible under his breath before giving the pair a stiff nod. "We shouldn't really be talking about Gyatso," Ozai snapped irately. "He's going to run out of steam soon, as he always does. He doesn't handle the Fire Nation heat very well, and I made sure that he would be given the hotel room that gets the maximum amount of sunlight. Also, the AC in his room is about to suffer severe malfunction and might not work properly until the end of the tournament," Ozai added with a wry smirk.
"Maybe something like that should also happen to the hotel room occupied by the Water Tribe girls," Long Feng suggested.
"Eh, they're too young to be as badly affected by the heat as Gyatso would be," Ozai shrugged. "Besides, my daughter would probably find ways to deal with the problem. She can be very forceful and persuasive when she wants to be."
"But we need to find a way to knock them off their stride, don't we?" Zhao asked, his voice sounding very strange now that he had clamped his nose shut with the by now quite bloody handkerchief.
"At least you are admitting that they are a threat now," Long Feng remarked. He exchanged a quick look of understanding with Zhao, but neither of them quite dared to utter the words 'I told you so' which were at the tips of their tongues.
"They are better than I expected, but I wouldn't call them threats," Ozai snorted. "A little bit more pressure and they will collapse, you'll see."
"Don't you think the situation calls for more drastic measures?" Zhao asked. "How long are you content to wait?"
"I'll wait for how long I deem it necessary, Zhao," Ozai replied. "And I'm curious to know what sort of drastic measures are you thinking about? Knowing your proclivities, I'm guessing that you would like me to send a squad of goons to break into their room and deliver all three of them tied up and gift-wrapped for us so that we can fuck them in every hole we please."
"That's crazy talk, Ozai!" Long Feng exclaimed. He was looking seriously freaked out. "You can't consider something like that! Not even you could sweep such atrocity under the rug! Think of the scandal!"
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, Long Feng!" Ozai yelled back at the Earth Kingdom man. "I'm seriously tempted to prove you wrong right now." Zhao was looking very interested, giving Ozai an encouraging and approving nod.
"You are talking about your own daughter, Ozai," Long Feng still looked quite sick. "Snap out of this madness, man! As a father of daughter who is of the same age as Azula, I can't be onboard with this insanity. Tell me you were only joking!"
"You're right, Long Feng, Azula is my daughter, which means that I own her, in every sense of the word," Ozai retorted. "But you're also right that I was only joking. It's too much fun to get Zhao salivating about his sick and twisted fantasies." Zhao looked very hurt and irritated right now.
"Sometimes I really don't understand you two," Long Feng sighed, shaking his head. "Fucking hell, can I have something stronger to drink? And I'd really appreciate if we could lay off the rape jokes involving daughters. It's creeping me out."
"You mean you've never-" Zhao began, but Long Feng interrupted him.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, or else I'll finish the job that Ozai started by breaking your nose," Long Feng roared at him.
"Alright, that's enough!" Ozai shouted them both down, finally showing some impatience. "I think we've worked our frustrations out for now, haven't we? I'll go for another round of intimidation and threats with the Water whores, but if that doesn't work then I'll think of something more drastic. But for the future, I think I'll have the International Federation pass a resolution to set up a separate women's Pai Sho circuit and a championship event of their own. This is supposed to be a boy's club, damn it, and whores should not be sitting with us at the Pai Sho boards, they should be spreading their legs for us."
"Do you think that's going to fly?" Zhao asked, looking unconvinced. "These bitches are becoming a huge attraction for the pro tournaments, and they're raking in huge amounts of cash for the organizers and their sponsors."
"Honestly, Ozai, that's just not a good idea, and also, it wouldn't be a good look," Long Feng shook his head.
"Explain," Ozai demanded.
"Well, I think a lot of people would just see this as you being afraid of some girls who've only just turned twenty," Long Feng explained. "I don't think you are, but I mean… it would create the perception that you are afraid."
Ozai let out a frustrated growl. "Fine, I see your points," he admitted reluctantly. "Very well, I'll find some other way to make them wish that they had never picked up a Pai Sho board."
Excerpt from an article in The Harmony Ring, written by senior correspondent Suki Arya:
Round 11 of the World Pai Sho Championship Finals saw two crucial matchups, defending champion Ozai Nakamura facing Yue Taqqiq and tournament leader Gyatso Jetsun facing his closest pursuer Katara Enuaraq.
The defending champion continued his unconvincing performance, failing to overcome the resistance of the emerging prodigy from Agna Qel'a. Ozai Nakamura's best chance to win the game came at the fifty-eight move when he missed an opportunity to capitalize on Ms. Taqqiq's isolated Orchid tile. Afterwards, the initiative passed over to Ms. Taqqiq, but she did not risk pressing her minimal advantage in the endgame, perhaps wisely so. In the end, however, a draw did not do anything for the chances of either contender. The biggest question that remains on the minds of every observer is whether Mr. Nakamura will regain his world champion form in time to prevent his title from passing over to one of the contenders.
In the central match of the day, the previously undefeated Gyatso Jetsun took on Katara Enuaraq. Indeed, Mr. Jetsun ended up losing the right to be referred to as undefeated, because Ms. Enuaraq dominated this match from start to finish. While Mr. Jetsun did not commit any egregious errors during the game, his move selection appeared too conservative and tentative, and Ms. Enuaraq capitalized on it ruthlessly, cutting Mr. Jetsun's lead in the tournament standings to the minimum. The intrigue is slowly building in this year's finals and it is about to reach its crescendo. Does this loss announce the impending decline of Mr. Jetsun's challenge for the title? And are we seriously looking at the possibility for a young lady of mere twenty-two summers and hailing from the obscure Water Tribe village of Cape Kuruk to emerge as the leading contender to dethrone the unbeatable Ozai Nakamura?
The answers to these and more burning questions will be answered as the tournament progresses. Find out more in the next copy of… The Harmony Ring, coming to you in two days!
Round 11 results:
Ozai Nakamura 0.5 - Yue Taqqiq 0.5
Gyatso Jetsun 0 - Katara Enuaraq 1
Zhao Sakamoto 0 - Long Feng 1
Standings after Round 11:
1. Gyatso Jetsun – 8
2. Katara Enuaraq – 7.5
3. Ozai Nakamura – 6.5
4. Yue Taqqiq – 5.5
5. Long Feng – 3
6. Zhao Sakamoto – 2.5
Excerpt from an article in The Harmony Ring, written by senior correspondent Suki Arya:
Round 12 of the World Pai Sho Championship Finals saw another breathtaking encounter between defending champion Ozai Nakamura and the surprise challenger to his throne, young Katara Enuaraq from distant Cape Kuruk in the Water Tribes.
The defending champion appeared desperate to reverse his almost embarrassing loss in his previous meeting with Ms. Enuaraq. Ozai Nakamura began the game with a level of aggression and intensity he had yet to show in this tournament, and indeed, many of us had forgotten him capable of adopting such aggressive style.
Much to the chagrin of Mr. Nakamura, however, Ms. Enuaraq appeared well prepared for such a development, defending with remarkable skill and poise. In the past, we have witnessed many of the most skilled grandmasters of the world crumbling under the blistering assault by the defending champion. It must have frustrated Mr. Nakamura to no end that Ms. Enuaraq bent under this vicious assault, but she refused to break. As the attack of the defending champion began to peter out, his young challenger launched a lightning-fast counterattack, shattering Ozai Nakamura's exposed left flank and his position collapsed like a row of stacked dominoes.
It was yet another shocking and ignoble defeat by the defending champion, and his petty and shameful display at the end of the game when he declined to shake the hand of Ms. Enuaraq was noticed by the fans, who rightfully expressed their loud disapproval. This display also revealed a certain mental frailty, a serious chink in the previously unbreakable armor of Ozai Nakamura.
In the other games of Round 12, Yue Taqqiq easily dispatched Zhao Sakamoto, while Gyatso Jetsun lost more points as Long Feng managed to hold him to an exhausting draw. With eight matches left to play, Gyatso Jetsun now shares the tournament lead with Katara Enuaraq, two whole points ahead of Ozai Nakamura and Yue Taqqiq. The defending champion now has a mountain to climb if he wants to defend his title. Will Ozai Nakamura prove capable of pulling it off, or will the world of Pai Sho finally have a new champion? There's no better source to find the answer to these questions than the next issue of… The Harmony Ring, coming to you in two days!
Round 12 results:
Ozai Nakamura 0 - Katara Enuaraq 1
Long Feng 0.5 - Gyatso Jetsun 0.5
Yue Taqqiq 1 - Zhao Sakamoto 0
Standings after Round 12:
1.-2. Gyatso Jetsun, Katara Enuaraq – 8.5
3.-4. Ozai Nakamura, Yue Taqqiq – 6.5
5. Long Feng – 3.5
6. Zhao Sakamoto – 2.5
Next chapter: The tournament is entering its final phase and the tension is becoming nail-baiting. In the middle of all that, it's also time to celebrate Katara's twenty-second birthday.