Chapter 22: Zeltoble Grand Tournament

"WELCOME, FIGHTERS, TO THE 11TH GRAND TOURNAMENT OF ZELTOBLE! MY NAME IS DAMIAN KAUR, AND I AM THE MAYOR OF ZELTOBLE HARBOR. TODAY, I'M PROUD TO BE THE HOST OF THIS GRAND ANNUAL EVENT OF OUR COUNTRY!"

The voice of the man standing at the highest separate seat box of the colosseum boomed into every corner of the stands, over the roar of sound that was now filling the packed stadium.

So this is the Zeltoble Grand Tournament, EMIYA thought while glancing around. He was standing in the middle of the field together with about four hundred other competitors. The Grand Stadium of Zeltoble wasn't named such for nothing, indeed. It was something that could put even the largest stadium EMIYA had ever known, the Narendra Modi in India, to shame. This colosseum must have more than 150,000 seats, and somehow all of those seats were packed with people who were screaming cheers and curses at the same deafening volume. On top of the spectator's stand sat a gigantic blackboard, on which gold writings kept dashing across as if a giant invisible hand was writing advertisements upon it and then wiping it off again immediately; the former Counter Guardian guessed that this was this world's equivalent of an electric scoreboard. The field made of orange clay looked and felt smooth as velvet. On that field, hundreds of fighters were gathering; every one of them was brimming with confidence and eagerness. Among them, EMIYA could see the panda girl he had met at Mirso Village, Larsazusa, standing together with two more beastmen who were seemingly gladiators.

And yet, somehow the voice of the governor still managed to echo around such a large place. To do something like that, he must have used magic to amplify his voice. Maybe that's the reason why he needed to stand at that separate seat box, not only because he's the mayor, but also because his voice would rupture the eardrums of anyone who dared to stay near him when he spoke.

"As of every year, warriors around the continent gather here today to find out who the strongest fighter of the world is," the mayor continued. "For ten years straight, the champion's belt has always stayed in the hand of our mighty Seven Star Axe Hero, Captain Fargus, but will there be a surprise this year, with four hundred and twenty-three powerful fighters gathering here from every corner of the continent?"

Loud cheers rose from both the spectator stands and the field where the aforementioned 423 fighters were standing.

"However," his voice continued to boom around the stadium, "of course, not every one of you has the necessary strength and power to arrive at the final stage, where you might have a chance to face the Champion. Over four hundred is too big of a number of contestants for a tournament. Because of that, just like usual… we are going to begin with a preliminary round."

Kaur's voice suddenly raised to a dangerous octave. "However… this year's preliminary is going to be different. That's right," he continued with a giddy voice, "this year's preliminary is going to be a battle royale between all of the contestants!"

Silence suddenly filled the stadium. Then, murmurs started rising from the crowd of warriors.

"Battle royale?!"

"I don't know… that sounds dangerous… doesn't it?"

"What are they trying to do…?"

"The rule for the preliminary is very simple," the mayor continued. "You don't have to defeat or kill the other contestants; it's not like you can do it easily, anyway, as the only equipment you are allowed to bring with you is normal clothes without defensive enchantment and non-lethal weapons such as wooden swords or quarterstaffs. You all were already equipped with an anti-magic bangle when you entered the stadium, as you can see on your wrist," he lifted something he was holding in his hand for everyone to see. "This little band suppresses the movement of magic in your body, so you are not going to be able to cast any magic. And if you try to do so, an alarm will go off immediately, and you will be disqualified, no exception."

So that's the reason why they asked everyone to leave their armor and weapons back in the participants' waiting room. EMIYA had to admit, the organizer had already thought of everything. Luckily for EMIYA, he had changed the Legendary Sword into that of a normal wooden sword before he entered the colosseum, so he managed to get it past the checkpoint without any problem.

That anti-magic bangle WAS a problem for him, though. It actually worked as the mayor had just said; he had tested it in the waiting room before entering the arena, and to his surprise, he couldn't activate his Magic Circuits. That bangle somehow managed to block even magecraft from another world. It would be a very big problem if an enemy got their hand on that technology.

"Then how are we going to win?" a burly man who was wearing nothing but a pair of pants and a belt, showing off his muscles yelled. Kaur just smiled.

"Oh, very simple. What you need to do is to push as many opponents as possible out of the battlefield. The fighters who remain on the field after forty minutes, or the last seven fighters who manage to stay on the field, will advance to the final round, where you will take part in a single-elimination tournament against each other to find out who the strongest is!"

That was pretty interesting. Without magic and lethal weapons, this preliminary was ultimately reduced to a contest of martial art prowess and physical strength. Sounds pretty fair, and even though normal fighting could still end up lethal, at least under these conditions the tournament doesn't need to finish in a bloodbath. There's only one problem, though…

"How are we going to push our opponent out of the battlefield when the border of the field is the spectator's stands like that?"

There's no need for a genius to see that the contestant who had just raised his voice was correct. If they wanted to remove a fighter from the ring without killing him, the only way to do it was to kick him over the high fence into the spectator's stand. And the spectator's stand was about three meters high. There's no way anyone without magical enhancement of their body could even try to throw someone out of the ring in that case.

But instead of faltering, the governor just answered him with an enigmatic smile. "Oh, you'll see."

"What does that m-?!"

Before the man could finish his sentence, the ground below him had started to rumble. Then with a sudden movement no one could have expected, the battlefield started rising from the ground into the air, shocking everyone both in the spectator boxes and on the field itself.

"Wh-whoa! What's going on?!"

"Just as you're seeing," the mayor continued with a gleeful voice when the platform stopped ascending in the middle of the air and was now hovering about seven meters from the ground. "This platform is made of Azurite, the material with the ability to hover in the air. You are going to fight on top of it, without skills or magic and no special equipment, just your body and whatever you are equipped with at the moment, with the goal of pushing as many opponents as possible out of bounds and off the platform. I believe that the rule is clear enough for all of you to understand?"

"But that is dangerous!" a boy who was no more than sixteen years old protested. "People might die from falling from this height!"

Kaur only answered him with a nasty grin. "If you are afraid of dying from that trivial thing, then perhaps you're not cut out to be in this tournament."

Those words sent a chill through the crowd. EMIYA's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure whether he liked this mayor or not. He seemed too… enthusiastic about the idea of violence. But it's not like he encouraged people to take part in this if they weren't ready, either. EMIYA didn't know whether he should be wary of this or not.

"That's also the reason I want to say this now," the mayor's voice suddenly went cold. "Anyone who thinks that they don't want to take part in the tournament under those conditions, this is your last chance to leave. Just raise your hand, and our people will escort you back to the ground. Otherwise… we will consider it your unconditional consent, and we're not going to guarantee your safety if anything happens to you during the battle."

Some younger contestants freaked out and raised their hands, but most of the fighters standing on the platform didn't move an inch from the thinly veiled threat of the mayor. EMIYA looked around, and he believed that it was time to raise his voice for the last question.

"Where is Captain Fargus? Isn't he going to take part in the preliminary, too?"

The mayor smirked. "Already aiming for the grand prize? The champion is of course not going to take part in the preliminary; he's the goal for every fighter here to aim for anyway. If you want to see him, just pass this preliminary first; he's going to wait for you in the final round."

That was actually reasonable, EMIYA thought. After all, having the champion eliminated in the preliminary wasn't good for business. He doubted there was anyone among this crowd who could eliminate that brute of a Hero, though. He had taken a quick glance around the crowd of competitors, and he could safely say that at least half of them were just cannon fodders. Someone like the Axe Hero would mow all of them down in a blink of an eye.

The voice of Damian Kaur rose again. "No one else wants to quit?"

None of the remaining fighters moved a muscle. The mayor's mouth curled up into a smile.

"Does that mean all of you are ready? Then…"

The air around the arena seemed to thicken.

"…I announce the preliminary round of the 11th Zeltoble Grand Tournament…"

EMIYA's muscles tensed up. He reached for the hilt of the Legendary Sword in its wooden form, lying on his back and gripped it tightly.

"…BEGINS!"

"GO SENSEI! DO YOUR BEST! THROW THEM ALL OFF THE ARENA!"

Tersia's scream was drowned in an unholy orchestra of cheers, curses, yells and all kinds of music coming from the various instruments of all volumes coming from the crowd. Even though the five members of Team EMIYA had taken the seats at the highest row of the stand, the people standing and jumping up and down in excitement in the lower rows still made it difficult for them to keep track of the chaotic battle which was happening in the arena below.

And indeed, the battle had immediately devolved into a chaotic mess just a moment right at the mayor's declaration. Most of the fighters couldn't procure a weapon in time like EMIYA, so they resorted to utilizing the next best thing, which was their bodies. Therefore, the battle soon became a no-hold-barred brawl. Every fighter in the arena was trying their best, punching, kicking, and even using their whole body to tackle the other fighters off the platform. It's safe to say that the battlefield had now become a mess of limbs tangling at each other.

However, it wasn't that difficult to see EMIYA among the mess. His black undershirt and trousers were very easy to recognize, and compared to other fighters, he was pretty tall. And also…

"Why isn't sensei fighting?"

It was exactly like what Farrie had just said. The Sword Hero was one of the few fighters who had moved to the center area of the battlefield since the beginning of the fight, and so far, he was the ONLY fighter who hadn't actively engaged any other contestant. Even worse, it seemed he was AVOIDING combat deliberately. Since the beginning of the battle, the only things he had done were dodging and running away.

"What the hell is he doing?" Wyndia raised an eyebrow curiously. "Doesn't he want to win?"

"Don't worry!" Tersia pumped her fist enthusiastically. "I know sensei is going to win! He always has a plan!"

"Really?" Welt looked at her with incredulity clear on his face. "The goal of this preliminary is to throw as many other fighters off the ring as possible, right? If sensei doesn't fight, how is he going to win?"

"Hmph. You call yourself his apprentices, and yet you can't even understand what he's doing? That's just too sad."

The five youngsters of Team EMIYA nearly jumped at the same time from the voice suddenly rising next to them. They snapped their heads toward the direction of the voice, and realized in horror and shock who had been sitting next to them since the beginning of the match.

"Y-you!"

The person who had spoken, Captain Fargus, grinned at the five youngsters. "Yo."

"What are you doing here?" Tersia demanded. "Aren't you the champion?"

Captain Fargus just raised an eyebrow. "Is there any rule forbidding the champion from watching the tournament from the stand?"

The sword maiden flinched. "Ugh… well, no, but…"

The captain laughed and leaned back on his seat, stretching his back and arms with a yawn. "When you're in a position like I am, a chance to relax and enjoy yourself to the fullest extent is very rare. So why imprison myself in that box? Sitting in the middle of the crowd, enjoying the heated atmosphere of the battle as a spectator is way more enjoyable."

The members of Team EMIYA stared at the captain. There was no sign of the menacing pirate captain who had decapitated people without a blink of an eye the previous day. Right now, the Hero of the Axe was just like a normal, if a little bit eccentric and hot-blooded, man whose only intention was to enjoy the day as much as he could.

Maybe it was just like what Tersia said the other day. Weird people are usually strong… or maybe it's the reverse; strong people are usually weird.

"So… you understand why sensei is not fighting seriously?" asked Farrie hesitantly. The Axe Hero grinned; his eyes still locked firmly at the arena below.

"Oh, he is fighting seriously, just not in the way you think. He didn't attack simply because it was the most efficient way to fight in this case."

"Huh?"

The five youngsters stared at the captain. It was obvious that none of them understood what he had just said.

"Tell me then. Do you think you can take on an army of hundreds of monsters alone, with just a sword in your hand and no access to protective gear and skill?"

Tersia blinked. "Well, of course not! I'm not sensei, you know!"

"Then you understood the problem he's having at the moment down there," the Axe Hero nodded. "With his magic power sealed and no access to his Legendary Sword or his protective gear, he's no more powerful than anyone of you now. He's fighting down there with his sheer skill and a body of a normal person, if not just a little bit stronger than an average one. Therefore, the best strategy for this kind of fight is to stay at the center of the field to reduce the probability of being accidentally pushed off the platform as much as possible, and to lay low and avoid wasting stamina unnecessarily, which is exactly what your teacher is doing at the moment. Don't forget that the goal of this preliminary is not to eliminate as many opponents as possible, but to survive for as long as you can."

The members of Team EMIYA stared at the captain in awe. So he's not just a battle-hungry musclehead; when necessary he's also an experienced tactician. No wonder why he was chosen as the Seven Star Axe Hero.

"But don't worry," the man's grin suddenly widened. His eyes were glued to the place where EMIYA was standing on the platform. "If you want to see your teacher in action, then it's time for you to return to the match. He's going to start moving soon."

Now, show me what you can do... the man who claimed to be the Hero of the Sword, Emiya Shirou!

EMIYA glanced around the battlefield with his usual calculating eyes while dodging left, avoiding another sloppy punch coming from a fighter next to him. With a quick movement, he swept the feet of the one who had just tried to hit him, making him fall to the ground in pain, and taking that opportunity, he bolted away.

About twenty minutes had passed after the battle began and the number of fighters remaining on the platform was already cut by half. Most of the eliminations were because of the incompetence of the fighters themselves; some of them were even stupid enough to accidentally fall off the ring when trying to avoid attacks from other fighters. Right upon the announcement of the mayor, EMIYA had already moved to the center of the field, and since the beginning of the battle, he had done nothing but stay away from combat and watch the other fighters. There's no need for him to push himself right at the beginning; this was, after all, a battle of survival. And as someone who specializes in fighting alone and surviving, he was more than qualified to do something like this.

A young man who looked like he wasn't even older than sixteen was running toward the ex-Counter Guardian. He didn't look fit to be a fighter in a colosseum; compared to other fighters in the arena, he was scrawny and clumsy, and beside the wooden sword he was holding, there was nothing showing that he was ready for a battle. Looking at the guy reminded EMIYA annoyingly of the Polignac brothers, and from what he was showing here, he might as well be someone like that; rich boys who mistakenly believe they could do anything by throwing money at others and showing off the political power of their parents. And now he was coming at EMIYA with suicidal confidence on his face. It was obvious that the foolish lad was stupid enough to think EMIYA was easy prey for him to take on, as he hadn't actively fought anyone once since the beginning of the battle.

And of course, someone like this was only able to give EMIYA a little bit of annoyance at best. When the brat clumsily swung his sword at him, he nonchalantly stopped the blade dead on its way with his own sword, so easily it seemed like he didn't even have to strain a muscle. He then gave the poor lad a brutal kick straight in the crotch. The brat's eyes bugged out in excruciating pain, and he was sent tumbling to the ground with a girly shriek of agony, right into the way another fighter was rampaging, who looked like an ox demi-human with a horn missing the tip, and got thrown off the platform as a result. Rolling his eyes, EMIYA turned away and started moving around the center part of the platform again, still carefully avoiding combat on his way.

Those fodders weren't the ones he needed to pay attention to, though. In a fight like this one, the ones who win are the ones who were able to keep themselves in the arena until the end, not the ones who eliminate the most fighters. But it seemed not a lot of contestants understood that fact. They kept throwing themselves into pointless fights, trying to throw as many opponents off the ring as they could. The cheers from the audience didn't help; it only made the contestants' blood boil even hotter and made them even more berserk.

Then again, that was still a viable tactic if your body was strong enough to withstand the strain of fighting nonstop like that. However, that was also the reason why even though any hero could be summoned as Berserker, only the strongest and most skilled ones could utilize that class to its full potential. And from what EMIYA was seeing, there was a fighter in this preliminary who was able to do that.

That person was a tiger demi-human boy no older than thirteen. Different from the other tiger demi-humans EMIYA had seen before in this world, he looked more like a normal human with tiger ears and a tail covered in white fur with stripes of black instead of the normal orange color people usually see on a tiger. What intrigued the former Counter Guardian the most, though, was the way the boy fought. He was very young, and yet he could hold his own and even overwhelm a lot of fighters much older than him. His body strength was incredible compared to other fighters in the arena despite his age, which surprised EMIYA very much, because he could toss away adults much older and heavier than his own body easily without having to strain his muscles too much. His stamina was immense; even after plowing through an army of fighters, he only looked a little bit winded. It was pretty obvious he was trained in martial arts since he was young, but his training was cut abruptly in the middle, because his movement looked pretty crude and unrefined, and from what EMIYA had seen, what the boy lacked the most was real combat experience. Basically, he was fighting like what a normal Berserker would do.

But what separated him from a Berserker was his eyes. His blue, slitted eyes, even in the middle of a battle, were shining with a light full of determination, the kind of determination someone had in their eyes when they had a purpose. The purpose of protect someone close to them. EMIYA knew more than anyone else how powerful someone could be if they needed to fight for the sake of someone else. If the boy had a few more years of training, he could become a very powerful fighter who could put even Heroes to shame.

Thirty minutes had passed. He glanced around; the number of fighters on the platform was now less than one hundred.

"There he is! That's the guy who humiliated our boss!"

EMIYA turned around. He was surrounded by six other fighters who looked like professional gladiators, and all of them bore a similar murderous look on their faces. He knew who these guys were; in tournaments like this, there are always rich people with less than adequate skills and power but still wanted to claim the rewards. To do that, they would hire fighters who did all the fighting for them, and they would just need to swoop in and take the fruit of their work after those lackeys "accidentally" eliminated themselves at the end of the fight. And of course, to do that they would need to have an inner source of information to know the format of the tournament, too. The guy from before must have been their master, and now these lackeys were trying to get revenge, maybe for the sake and honor of their master, but might also be because their bread and butter had just been robbed abruptly by the Sword Hero.

"Get him!" the tallest among the group snarled, and just like a signal gunshot, all six fighters leaped at EMIYA with feral faces full of rage. The Sword Hero immediately withdrew his sword to the side and took a stance; dealing with these guys wasn't something out of his reach, but these guys were professional fighters, and it would be a nuisance since he couldn't use his Reinforcement magic to strengthen himself. Not to mention after that, there might be a chance that the other remaining combatants would consider him a significant threat and make him their prime target, which was something he didn't want to happen at all.

But before he could do anything, two of the assailants were violently tossed away when a blur of white and black crashed into them from nowhere with a sickening "thud". The four others glanced around in confusion, and their eyes widened when they realized who the newest combatant was.

"Y-you!"

The one who had just intervened was Larsazusa, whose chubby arms were stretching out in front of her in a strange martial art stance EMIYA had never seen before. The enemy fighters unconsciously took a step back while EMIYA raised an eyebrow.

"I don't remember asking for help, you know."

The panda woman glanced back at the ex-Guardian with a smirk. "I don't like seeing bullies who gang up on someone without doing anything to help. Especially if that someone is the one I've promised to meet before, and I'm sure as hell won't let that guy be eliminated that easily in the prelim. Mind you, these ears never forget a sound they've heard before, Fujimaru Ritsuka," she pointed a finger at her left ear and referred to EMIYA by the fake name he had given her in Mirso Village with a wink.

EMIYA also smirked. He knew that it was useless to try to conceal his identity by now. "Well then, let's deal with these guys first before saying anything, hm?" he said while raising the "wooden" sword in his hands to his eye level.

The gang of thugs went down faster than he had expected. With the collaboration of both the Sword Hero and the powerful panda fighter, before they knew it the gang had become a pile of unconscious bodies under their feet. Unceremoniously, Larsa sent them off the platform with a merciless kick. EMIYA looked at the falling bodies and raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that a little bit too cruel?"

The panda woman just looked at him. "Do you want them to stay in here and continue harassing you when they wake up?"

The Sword Hero rolled his eyes. "You got a point. And speaking of which…"

The blade of the wooden Legendary Sword was now at the panda woman's neck.

"Turning against your savior so soon?" she asked, but there was more amusement than wariness and disappointment in her voice. EMIYA smirked.

"We're in a battle royale, aren't we? Anyone can and will become an enemy here. And just like I said before, I don't remember asking you for help. I'm going to leave you one chance. If you don't take it, then a fight between us is kinda inevitable here."

The two just stood there and stared at each other for two seconds. Then, Larsa laughed and turned around, walking away.

"You're still as interesting as you were before, eh, Fujimaru Ritsuka?"

EMIYA looked at the retreating panda woman. Her back was exposed; he could strike her down from the back any time he wanted, but for some reason, he didn't do that.

Heh… she read me that well, huh…

He chuckled and glanced at the hourglass showing the time limit of the match. Only about six minutes left, and now the number of fighters remaining on the platform was reduced to less than thirty, which were fighting each other in three separate groups around the platform. And obviously, having managed to survive until now, all of them weren't pushovers at all.

It's time for him to finally take action.

Moving like a storm, he dashed straight into the group that was fighting at the far side of the platform. As a wooden sword, the Legendary Sword couldn't straight up kill anyone, but strikes to the correct points were more than enough to knock unconscious even some of the stronger fighters. And even though he might not like fighting that much, when he needed to be ruthless, he was utterly ruthless. Very quickly, four fighters who didn't pay attention were down for the count.

Startled, the six remaining fighters of the group immediately fell into panic. They hadn't realized the existence of the newest combatant who had just joined the fight, and getting too engrossed in their own battle, with blood boiling in their heads, they couldn't react in time until it was too late. Before they knew it, three more fighters had already fallen under the blade of EMIYA's sword.

Only now did the remaining fighters wake up from their stupor. They immediately realized that the newcomer was anything but a no-name pushover. He wasn't that strong or fast compared to some other fighters on the platform right now, but his sheer skill with the sword and battle experience was way too big of a gap for anyone to overcome. Even though they had just been enemies a few seconds ago, they realized by sheer instinct that if they didn't collaborate, the ones who would suffer from a humiliating defeat would be them.

Before they knew it, the three fighters suddenly started working together unconsciously. One of them, the only one wielding a weapon which was a quarterstaff, roared and swung his weapon in a big sweep at the legs of the sword wielder, forcing him to jump up. Then, while he was still hanging in the air, the two other fighters, a wolf beastman and a panther demi, closed the distance and started engaging him in a two-on-one hand-to-hand brawl. Their speed was impressive, but obviously wasn't something that could give EMIYA much difficulty. The former Counter Guardian dodged and deflected each strike of the two brawlers with utmost accuracy, and at the same time, positioned himself so skillfully that the third one with the quarterstaff couldn't find an opening to join the battle, but couldn't run away either.

Having spent too much stamina on fighting each other before, of course the three brawlers would be the ones who got their stances slipped first. And EMIYA, not having even one single redundant movement, knocked out the wolf beastman with a brutal slash to the back of his neck, followed by kneeing the panther demi in the stomach, knocking the air out of his lungs before rendering him unconscious by an uppercut to the chin. Then, he turned to the quarterstaff-wielding fighter. The poor man, a pretty experienced fighter himself, obviously knew when he was completely outmatched, but he also knew even if he surrendered he would be knocked out of the ring anyway. Therefore, he did the only sensible thing in that situation and charged the Sword Hero with his weapon brandished. He fought vigorously and desperately, swinging and thrusting his staff valiantly with all the strength he had left in his body, but even the biggest effort he spent couldn't help him in his struggle against a much more skilled opponent who had effortlessly been countering every move he had made.

Soon, the fight between the two was pushed to the edge of the ring. One wrong step and it would be a ring out. And of course, with his back to the edge, the one with the staff was at an obvious disadvantage. He knew there was no other way for him; the sword wielder was too strong. Letting out the final desperate battle cry, he leaped forward, swinging his staff for a final strike…

…only for his opponent to do something unexpected and duck.

"Eh?"

Something heavy and powerful struck his face right from where his opponent's head had just been one single second ago. The poor man got sent flying out of the ring without even knowing what had just hit him in the face.

Even the person who had just delivered the blow was surprised by what had just happened. The sudden mobilization of the Sword Hero and his quick dispatch of nine combatants in just a short moment attracted not only the attention of the audience, but also of all the other remaining combatants on the battlefield at that moment. Among them, of course, there was the white tiger boy whom EMIYA had paid attention to since the beginning of the battle. He joined this tournament for one reason, and that reason had given him the strength to fight. And he had overpowered many other fighters to stay in this arena until now, with his sheer determination. But now… seeing the unbelievable performance of someone he hadn't even seen before right in front of him suddenly overwhelmed his heart with a terrifying fear. He felt that this person might be the one who would smother the flame of hope in his heart before it could even start burning.

At that moment, something snapped inside the thirteen-year-old boy. Letting his instinct take over, he launched himself at the warrior with the sword and threw a punch with all of his remaining power at his back. Even though he was young, his body, as what belonged to a descendant of the prestigious hakuko race of Siltvelt, held incredible physical power; if that punch hit, there's no reason to doubt the swordsman would be knocked unconscious immediately, or at least sent off the arena like a sack of rice.

He just didn't expect that the man could somehow predict that he was attacking him and ducked right before his fist landed on his back. Because of that, his punch, instead of knocking the swordsman out of the ring like he had intended to, found the face of the man's opponent who was also coming at him from the other side and eliminated the poor guy by accident.

But he's not going to stop there. Turning immediately on his heels, he launched another punch at the swordsman who had recovered, only to see the blade of the wooden sword coming at him. He gritted his teeth and pushed even more power into his arm; now it's either eliminating him or being eliminated…!

"AND TIME IS UP!"

The booming voice of Damian Kaur blasted across the stadium, making everyone, combatants and audience, jumped in surprise. EMIYA's sword was only a centimeter short of dislocating the neck of the tiger boy, while the boy's fist was also just a centimeter short of caving the Sword Hero's face in.

"And there you have it!" the mayor's voice echoed around every corner of the stadium cheerfully again. "Forty minutes of fierce battle and now we have here the final seven strongest fighters of this year's Grand Tournament! Some of these faces are familiar to most of the people here, but this year, there are also some new faces that have shown bright potential, as we have already seen during the preliminary match! Will our Champion keep the belt once again, or will the belt go to the hand of a new owner this year?!"

Cheers erupted from every corner of the audience's stand, shaking the whole stadium. Now EMIYA was sure that the match was over, he stood straight up and looked around. Among the seven survivors, he could recognize Larsa, who was obviously powerful enough to overwhelm most of the other fighters. There was another guy who fought unarmed beside the white tiger boy, as well as two other beastmen wielding quarterstaffs and a young woman holding a wooden sword just like EMIYA himself. Even though they didn't look that impressive, EMIYA knew that to be able to last this long, they must be really skilled and powerful.

The mayor walked into the platform. His hand was now holding a small box that no one had seen him holding before.

"And now, champs in the making," he said, and EMIYA realized he had turned off the magic he used to amplify his voice before. "It's time for you to have a look at this. This box here contains eight orbs of different colors: red, blue, green, and yellow. Each of you is going to pick one orb in the box, and the ones with the matching orbs are going to face each other in the quarterfinal. Easy enough to understand, isn't it? But before we start..."

He lowered his voice for dramatic effect, and waved his hand to the center of the field. "PLEASE WELCOME OUR CHAMPION, CAPTAAAAAAIN FARGUUUUUUUUS!"

Captain Fargus stood up from his seat. He glanced at the members of Team EMIYA with a big grin on his face. "Sounds like it's time for me to go. See ya later, kids."

Then with a blinding flash of light, he disappeared from the stand at the shocked expression of Team EMIYA and the other spectators around him. And before no one knew anything, a similar flash of light burst into view at the center of the fighting arena, and the captain reappeared with his signature smirk. The crowd erupted with cheers again upon seeing their beloved champion.

The captain raised his hand and pointed to the sky. He hollered; even though he didn't even use the amplification magic, his voice still boomed around the stadium, to every corner of the spectator's stand, drowning even the cheers of the audience.

"THERE IS ONLY ONE CHAMP, AND THAT IS ME!"

And with that, the cheer became louder than it had ever been before.

EMIYA's eyes narrowed. He could be wrong about anything, but this was something he was absolutely sure of. Those words weren't targeting anyone specifically, but he knew for a fact that they were meant for him. It was a direct challenge from the Axe Hero to him; he was challenging him to come and take the crown from him.

The glance that the man threw at him together with the smirk on his face was the obvious proof of that.

Kaur walked toward the Captain. He offered the box to the Hero. "Will you please do the honor, Captain?"

The Axe Hero grinned. He stuck his hand into the hole on top of the box, and after a few seconds of rummaging inside it, he pulled out, revealing in his hand a marble with the color of the deep sea.

The mayor moved the box in front of EMIYA. "Your turn, please." The ex-Counter Guardian glanced at the man warily, then shrugged and stuck his hand into the box, just like Captain Fargus had just done. Kaur was telling the truth; he could feel the presence of small, round objects in there. After a few seconds of considering, he grabbed one of them and pulled it out. He was a little bit disappointed upon discovering that it was blood red instead of blue. It meant he wouldn't be able to face Fargus in the quarterfinal; he was here to fight the Axe Hero, not to win the tournament.

The box was passed around the contestants one by one. Larsazusa got paired with the girl wielding the wooden sword by the green pair of marbles, and the crowd was brimming with excitement upon the idea of a fight between two women. Captain Fargus got the unarmed brawler as his opponent, and the two staff-wielders got paired together by the yellow orbs.

Which left, of course, EMIYA with the white tiger boy. The boy shot him a glare while gripping his red orb in his palm.

"And we had the pairings for the quarterfinals," Kaur said after every fighter had received their own orb, and waved his hand at something behind his back. Immediately, the magic scoreboard on the stand flashed into a brilliant light, and when the light faded, new content appeared on the black face of the board, which showed a bracket with eight branches leading to a final match at the top.

MATCH 1: Captain Fargus vs. Alder Abelot

MATCH 2: Margrave Raymundos vs. Artos

MATCH 3: Larsazusa vs. Miria Enndolynn

MATCH 4: Emiya Shirou vs. Fohl

And that concludes the preliminary!

If anyone was wondering, then yes, at this point of the story Fohl and Atla still hadn't been enslaved yet. In canon, Atla's condition had been very bad before Naofumi arrived and bought her from the slave trader; in my opinion, she wouldn't have survived until when Naofumi bought her if she had been enslaved before the Third Wave happened. My headcanon is that Fohl was able to provide for her for a while by battling in Zeltoble's colosseums, but then when they finally ran out of money they had no choice but to sell themselves as slaves, and even after that Fohl still had to fight in the colosseums to bring money back to the slave trader.

And, no matter what you think, Fohl is strong. Even in canon, he was stated to have been fighting in the underground colosseum before Naofumi came for him, and managed to impress even a veteran fighter like Sadeena. Whether he would be able to hold his own against someone like EMIYA or not... well, you will have to wait until the next chapter to see.

Next time: EMIYA vs. Fohl! What is going to happen? Stay tuned to find out!

And a lot of thanks to Mernom for finding out the mistake; I really didn't realize that I used semifinals when it was supposed to be quarterfinals, haha.