Go Gin liked to believe that he had lived his life thus far as a proud warrior, that he had proven that his power was not the mere result of his innate racial capabilities, but the combination of his training and dedication that allowed him to make that strength his own. Spending his life chasing one battlefield after another, only the promise of the opportunity to clash with a worthy opponent kept him chained to the arena. He had not cared that his purpose in life was being used as just entertainment, that the honour he sought in every one of his duels was used to stuff his benefactor's pockets. But this time his patience went over his limit.
That frilly youngling that barely got up to his waist had not even bothered to spare him a second of her attention. She was running around like a giddy toddler, more interested in trying to show off her dress and those strange moves of hers to the audience than preparing to fight her opponent. Did this ignorant outsider know nothing of the blood that was spilt here, soaking into the earth so profusely it forever marked the land with the stench of death? Of the desperate struggle that brought every single one of them here, seeking strength, glory, or simply the right to live? Or was she aware, and simply chose to make a mockery out of it?
"GIRL!" Unable to contain his anger any longer, he brought down his giant club, the ground under him cracking under the might of his fury. His outburst seemed to somewhat help the audience snap out of their bewilderment, reminding them of what they actually had all come here for. "For how long do think I will allow you to make fun of me like that?"
The Martial Lord's provocation did seem to get a reaction from her, but it wasn't the fear nor the anger he was used to. Rather it was utter confusion.
"What are you talking about, piggy?" she asked, bringing her index finger to her cheek and tilting her head to an unnatural angle. "This is my entrance, if course I had to go all out. You've already had your turn, didn't you? I know we didn't have a chance to rehearse the show beforehand, but I had been told that my co-host would be a professional. If you wanted to do something together for the opening, you should have let me know beforehand." The giant war troll didn't know how to feel about the genuine disappointment directed at him.
"What opening show? This is a battle stadium, not a theatre!" He rebutted. From the stands, a lot of heads were nodding, glad that somebody had given voice to what everybody was thinking.
"Don't be silly piggy! The venue isn't what makes the show, people come here for the performers!"
"Yes! Wait no! I mean...Stop it!" He shook his head violently, a rather hard feat considering the metal helmet on his head. He didn't know how, but he was getting caught in the woman's rhythm somehow. "I am here to fight. Leave the arena at once, or suffer the consequences of your foolishness. Only those ready to kill and die have the right to step through those gates."
Go Gin had seen many warriors come and go in his time here. Some had fought valiantly, thus he had spared their lives, others dropped their weapons and pitifully begged for mercy, only to be met with the cold hard steel of his club. Yet every single one of them could not hide that tiny spark of fear in their eyes, the slight trembling of their hand when confronted with the sight of his approach, of the monster hailed as without equal through the Empire. Yet all the strange pipsqueak did was bring her hand to her chin, humming in thought.
"Yeah, that could work!" She eventually exclaimed, excitement slowly overtaking her as she wondered aloud. "My concert should be the highlight of the whole venue, but I only have enough songs for half the timeslot. Until then we can create more anticipation for my debut with an exhibition match. It's like if a band had the autograph signing before the concert instead of after! That's very bold, but I like it! Sorry to doubt you, piggy! You really know your stuff, after all." She gave the large behemoth a big thumbs-up, before turning to address the two women accompanying her. "Change of plans, bring out the smoke machine!"
"Um... my lady, what's a smoke machine?" One of them asked while the other seemed just as clueless.
Lizzie watched both of them in disbelief. "How can you not know what a smoke machine is, that's a staple for any idol concert!" While the outburst was more akin to a 4-year-old whose toy got broken than a cruel master scolding his servants for their incompetence, the women still recoiled in fear. Seeing that, Lizzie's expression softened. "Well, it can't be helped. I knew you had no experience in the field, I should have given you a more proper education. We'll consider this my failing this time, but I expect better of both of you at the next live, you hear?"
"We will try to live up to your expectations! Thank you very much for your understanding!" The two answered in unison, tears of gratitude swelling down their cheeks.
By this time, the Martial Lord had stopped right in front of the small blob of pink, his massive figure blocking out the sun behind him.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr Piggy! Let's both do our best even in these less-than-ideal circumstances." Her heartfelt apology only seemed to rile up further.
"So you insist to continue with your nonsense to the very end. Very well, then." A part of himself felt torn up about injuring a defenceless child, the fact that she was driving him up the wall aside. His weapon briefly hovered over his head, unsure of its next move. But he told himself it was for the best. She was without a doubt the daughter of some rich doting noble, who never had the heart to refuse any of her requests. She had to understand that her ignorant, spoiled attitude could not help her survive in the real world, and it just so happened that it came to him to teach her that lesson. He had to be careful not to injure her permanently, only enough to make her understand her shortcomings.
His club was brought down, only to meet nothing but air. Go Gin froze on the spot, unable to understand what happened. He quickly spun around, his eyes scanning the whole arena, but it was as if she had vanished. It was only then that he noticed the slight weight upon his head.
"Of, have we started already?" a pleasant voice rang in his years, his whole field of vision becoming covered as the girl bent over upside down to meet him face to face. His hand blurred as he tried to batter her aside, but once more he had not even come close to touching her. In the next moment, he felt something grabbing unto his foot, causing him to trip and plummet face down into the dirt.
She crawled over his hunched back, music starting back up again as she struck a victory pose. Needless to say, the audience could only stare at the unbelievable things happening right in front of their eyes. Some were even pinching their cheeks to see if they were awake or not.
At this moment, all the war troll could see in front of his eyes was red. He started getting up, coming once more face to face with his opponent, who looked just as smug and carefree as before. Before he knew it, he was smashing his club around in a frenzy, all of his technique and strategic insight long forgotten as he desperately tried to squash the annoying fly in front of him. Yet for all he tried, not one of his attacks connected.
Lizzie's attention was still mostly on the audience as she effortlessly danced around the flurry of strikes. Literally danced. She was making sure her moves were perfectly in sync with the song, a feat she was quite proud of herself for. The manager had given her access to her previous producer's collection of music, but between her vocal training and scrambling to secure the venue, she hadn't had that much time to practice.
As the song crescendoed into its climax, Lizzie used the incoming club as a jumping stool and launched herself high into the air, giving the signal to her attendants to light up the fireworks at that moment. The resulting spectacle wasn't as grandiose as she hoped for, the sun was still up after all, but judging from the gasps of the audience she thought she still nailed it.
The Martial Lord could only stare dumbly as the girl gracefully landed on the other side of the arena, not a scratch on her. What's more, she had somehow pulled up a gigantic cannon-like object from underneath her dress and was using it to launch what looked like t-shirts into the audience. And to top it all off, the crowd was actually starting to get into her insulting antics! It was still a bit muted, but they were definitely beginning to cheer for her.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" he screamed, his rage reverting his speech back to his rougher, more limited vocabulary. He couldn't stand her. Her dancing, her cheering, that smug look on her face. She was the furthest thing from a fighter in his mind, so why was it that he felt so utterly powerless before her? Wasn't he supposed to be the strongest?
"Flow Acceleration!" With his Martial Arts boosting his speed and reflexes, he crossed the distance in a flash, ready to end the whole farse once and for all. In response, the pink-haired girl held out her hand, a swarm of blue lights gathering in her palm and giving form to a large, odd-shaped lance. His swing got stuck in its tracks, unable to budge the intercepting spear for even a centimetre.
"Down, puppy!" she scolded him, and in the next second Go Gin found himself flung into a nearby wall. her strike had cut through everything: his armour, his rage, his pride, all as if it was a thin sheet of paper.
If the audience had been reticent in their excitement before, now all hell came loose. There was barely anybody left in their seats as they all shouted at the top of their lungs. If someone would have told them this morning that this small lady in a fancy dress could kick the Martial Lord around like a rag, they would have probably thought that person had drunk the entire country's alcohol reserve. Now though, they were all for it.
Go Gin slowly scrambled back up, a distinct sense of clarity enveloping him for perhaps the first time in a long while. One of his hands was hanging on the side of his stomach where he had been hit, the area marked by the bent plating in the region. But it wasn't the pain of his wound that was bothering him, it was his own foolishness.
"I-huff-apologize for before" The girl, who had been in the middle of revelling in the audience's applause, turned to him to see him bow down in front of her. "You are a true warrior. I am ashamed to have looked down on you. Even though I am no longer worthy to ask of you, will you still grant me the honour of fighting you properly?"
It was true. He had gone too complacent with his position as the Martial Lord. All those years of being showered in the people's awe and reverence, everybody around him calling him the strongest, they had all made him lose sight of himself. Before he knew it, he had stopped truly searching for a worthy opponent, for in the back of his mind he no longer believed that there was anyone on his level. It was a hard pill to swallow, but it must be the truth. What other reason would the girl have for making fun of him for so long? She must have realised that he was looking down on her, and she started teaching him a lesson. She might have been a bit eccentric about it, but she did manage to pen his eyes.
"Is this a new bit or something?" Lizzie muttered to herself, before puffing her chest and getting into character. "But of course, let us cross swords honourably. Let's see if your measly weapon can resist the weight of my dreams!" She overlay-dramatically declared, raising her microphone-spear.
"Then, once more. My name is Go Gin, the Eight Martial Lord. Let us have an honourable duel!" He mimicked her stance.
"You can just call me Lizzie!" And with that, the two clashed in a blur of speed.
Now that he was back to his more level-headed self, he could properly appraise his opponent's fighting style. She was no amateur, but purely from a technical perspective, he was the better fighter. What he lacked, in comparison, was the overwhelming power and speed she was displaying. Even by repeatedly employing his Martial Arts, he was still left in the dust. If he could have spared even a second of his attention away from the fight, he would have laughed at the irony of the situation. He had always thought of his inherent strength as an unfair advantage, but now it was the very department where he was getting grossly outclassed in.
They continued to exchange strike after strike, the troll finding himself on the losing side of every trade of blows. His superior stature was suddenly a disadvantage as his longer reach meant nothing if his opponent could just run lapse around him and deliver devastating attacks at every turn. He found his arms aching as his club struggled to parry what felt like a mountain crashing repeatedly against him. His breath was running haggardly, and the rate at which he was consuming his oxygen made his vision start blackening around the edges. Yet, despite all of that, Go Gin had never felt more alive before. It was as if the first part of the fight hadn't even existed, and his opponent wasn't still wearing her top hat and oversized dress. This was the fight he had been waiting for.
Using a feint to bait her in the other direction, he used the opportunity to distance himself from her. He knew that it was a futile effort, but the self-proclaimed idol made no attempt to impede his retreat. As he struggled to regain his breath, he noticed there was not a trail of sweat on her face, in fact, she was looking even more energetic than before they started.
"Done already? I was kind of expecting better, we still have more than 15 minutes left to fill." She said as she took in his exhausted figure.
"Indeed, I can't defeat you," he admitted. "Still, I refuse to back down. This will be my final attack."
"Okay then, be sure to make it flashy!"
Behind his helmet, the Martial Lord grinned at that particular choice of words. He still had a trick up his sleeve, after all.
"Here I come, Lizieeee!"
The spear twirled in her hands, ready to intercept the club from any direction it might come. The war troll, on the other hand, stopped just short of striking, his change of tempo causing the slightest opening in her defence. It wouldn't usually have been enough to allow him to capitalize on it, however. So he didn't try to.
"Divine Skill Single Flash!" The secret trump card that he had never used in a match before, saving it for this exact moment. His entire person was enveloped in a blinding light, forcing his opponent to drop his guard and avert her gaze. The brightness was so intense not even the members of the audience have been spared. A surefire technique that allowed him to pull off exactly one attack, and that was all he needed. Yet before he could pull it off, a voice answered his challenge:
"Kilenc Sárkány!" At that moment he knew that his strike would never be allowed its completion. Go had never known anything about magic, the closest things to it would be his Martial Arts, yet he never bothered to try to understand how they work, it was more making to a feeling than any conscious thought. So that spoke volumes when even he could tell the sheer amount of power permeating through those words, sounding oh so foreign in his ears.
It wasn't something as simple as an incantation, the manipulation of mana into creating a phenomenon that went against the rules of the World. Not, it was as if the entire weight of a history he hadn't known of had come crashing down on him, a weight so unbearable no mortal could hope to comprehend it. A crystalised legend, a fragment of a realm he will never be allowed into, no matter how much he could struggle. So when the thunderous winds gathered his way, rending both his weapon and his armour asunder, he hadn't bothered to oppose it. He couldn't have, anyway, it would have been like trying to hold the very Heavens upon his shoulders.
His visions blurred, and soon darkness followed, but he held no fear in his heart. He had lived his life the way he wanted to, so if this were to be the end, he will welcome it with open arms.
Jircniv was currently doing his best to convince himself the last 20 minutes of his life had been a fever dream. He was constantly overworking himself after all, so it wouldn't have been too outrageous to consider that he was currently bedridden back in his own room in the Palace, hallucinating some strange events even a child would be getting laughed at for coming up with.
Yet as the seconds passed, and reality continued to deny his hypothesis, he was forced to relent to what his eyes and ears were currently communicating to him. What he couldn't understand was why was everyone else suddenly okay with the sheer insanity happening in the Arena. When did everybody decide there was nothing strange about cheering for what looked like a fifteen-year-old, dressed like she was attending a tea party with her dolls, as she pummeled the strongest fighter in the whole Empire into the ground?
As the thunderous applause flooded the stands, Jircniv's mind was slowly returning to its usual self, already elaborating on multiple plans that would allow him to benefit from this situation in what way or another,
"My, it seems you really weren't exaggerating when you told me it would be an unforgettable experience. I apologize for doubting you, your Grace!" The statement reminded him of the existence of the other person in the room.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show!" He answered between his teeth. And indeed, she seemed like she had. Kistra looked like she had broken out of the shock much earlier than he had, politely cheering alongside the rest of the audience. She had even taken a flower from the bouquet arranged on the nearby cupboard and had thrown it towards the scene, a gesture that had gathered the attention of many people present. A lot of people who were stealing glances towards the balcony had even taken it as the Emperor himself expressing his approval of the match. "I must admit, however, even I was taken quite aback by such a sudden turn of events!"
"I did notice," she answered with a giggle, subtly alluding to his earlier outburst. It took all of his self-control to prevent his face from reddening.
"I do remember we still were in the middle of an interesting discussion before," Jircniv quickly changed the subject, "but I doubt that either of us is currently feeling like engaging in the more sour topics after witnessing such a... unique performance. How about we postpone the meeting until the evening, in my private quarters?"
"I see no problem with it. I just want to inform you that regrettably, I will be leaving tomorrow morning. I originally intended for a longer stay, but I don't think I can bat aside my duties for too long. I do have a capable assistant supporting me, but people like us can't help but want to be at the helm of the ship as it sails, as they say."
"I can deeply empathise with that sentiment," Jircniv answered. "It is much of a shame you won't be able to indulge yourself in the many pleasures Baharuth had to offer, but I supposed it can't be helped." He had no illusions that this 'incidental' change of plans had nothing to do with the match they just attended. He was sure the City Alliance couldn't wait to hear about what went down in the Grand Arena.
Jircniv briefly glanced over to one of his Imperial Knights, Baziwood, so quickly anybody else wouldn't have been able to catch it. Yet the message was clear as day: 'Find out everything you can about Elizabeth Bathory. Under no circumstances is she allowed to leave the capital'. A slight nod was the only sign that the intent was transmitted.
"Thank you, everyone!" Instantly, all attention snapped back to the Arena, where the aforementioned girl went back to addressing the audience: "Please give it up for Mr Piggy over there for putting up a decent performance, but now it's time for what everyone has been waiting for!"
Just like everybody else, Jircniv waited with bathed breath for her to continue. 'Just what is she planning now? How can she possibly one-up herself after she had just pulled off?"
"My brand new single: 'Hungarian nights!' " She cheerfully announced.
The Emperor felt disappointed in himself for not seeing that one coming. Then the singing began, and he didn't feel a thing any longer. In fact, nobody did. When they would all awaken again after the show was over, all that they could recall was a slight ringing in their ears, and an indescribable sense of dread.
Author's notes:
My shoulders have been killing me this past week. I really need a massage or something.