Chapter 10

Tournament Arc:

Melee!

After one month of preparation, the time has come.

Mika fixed his gear, a simple round shield strapped to his arm and a short sword on the other, his mind slowly entering to its combat mindset. Dante meanwhile is far giddier, shaking in unbidden excitement to which Lycoris rolled her eyes at as she prepared her dual sabers.

In this round, it will be a huge melee between 100 combatants where only 20 people can qualify to the next round.

The plan is simple for the trio; stick together and fuck anyone up.

After a short wait, the Coliseum door opens to its battleground, they all march out.

All 100 combatants.

The arena floor is a massive, sand-covered expanse, surrounded by tiered stone seats filled with onlookers who have come to witness the Tournament. The air is thick with excitement and anticipation as the competitors, including Mika, Dante, and Lycoris, gather at the center of the arena.

Up in an undisclosed balcony, the Goddess Celestine appears to address the combatants.

Dante can't help but feel her heart skip a beat as the Goddess Celestine, Eostia's divine protector, appears before them. The goddess's ethereal form glows with an aura of power and wisdom, her voice echoing through the arena.

"Warriors of Eostia! You have gathered here this day to prove your worth and earn my blessings. In the months leading up to this tournament, you have trained tirelessly, honed your skills, and forged your weapons. Now, that dedication shall be put to the test."

The crowd roars its approval, and Dante feels a surge of adrenaline course through her veins. She looks to Mika and Lycoris, nodding determinedly. They have a plan, and they will stick to it.

"I hereby declare this tournament... Begin!" As the words of Celestine ring out, the melee erupts. Warriors of all shapes and sizes dash towards each other, weapons flashing in the sunlight. The trio, Dante, Mika, and Lycoris, work together expertly, using their training and teamwork to keep each other from harm. They quickly find a rhythm, darting between enemies and striking with precise, deadly blows.

Dante's tower shield was a bastion of defense, bashing and blocking anyone foolish to be in her path while her long sword sweeps anyone who tries to attack her blindspot.

Fortunately, she doesn't need to.

Covering her blindspot is Mika, expertly deflecting and parrying any attacks towards the blonde elf. With his age, his fellow combatants underestimated. A mistake they would fail to realize until it's too late.

Meanwhile, Lycoris darted in and out of their formation, taking out unsuspecting enemies and assisting the two.

Together, the trio immediately thinned out a number of competitions in their area.

Not far from their area, is Vult's mercenaries. Using his own men, Vult casually watched the battlefield as his men do all the dirty work.

"Look at them go, they are really knocking down the competition for us." Hicks said to him, pointing at the trio's group.

Vult nodded in agreement, "Yes, they are quite impressive. Let's hope they can maintain this pace." As he spoke, his gaze drifted over to the other side of the arena, where Alicia was fighting with her usual grace and ferocity. Despite her petite frame, she had already felled several opponents and was making quick work of those who dared cross her path.

"And look at our lovely Alicia," he continued. "It will be a shamed if something happens to her in this tournament." Vult said, giving Hicks the signal.

The man smiled wickedly.

After this tournament, Alicia will finally come to age to take her mantle as Feoh's ruler. Something that many people didn't want to happen.

So they offered Vult and his men a job.

Assassinate the princess.

The tournament is the perfect cover. Fatalities are not common to happen even if it's frowned upon but anything can happen in live combat.

Using the chaotic melee ensuing, Hicks slowly stalks his prey. Not knowing the danger, Alicia continued to cut down competition around her as Hicks slowly closes the distance, a poisoned blade poised to strike.

Bashing another man to the ground, Dante suddenly froze as she smelled the faint scent of poison.

Erised Poison.

An insidious poison that slowly kills it's target by multiple bouts of sickness until the body gives up.

Now alert than ever, she surveys the battlefield, following her nose.

'There!' Without any hesitation, she charges towards the direction of the Princess of Feoh, bulldozing anyone unlucky to be in her path. Her tower shield becoming a giant battering ram to part the competition.

"Where the hell is that cow going!" Lycoris yelled out in alarm, ducking under a slash and paying it back with a slash to the attackers leg.

"I don't know but she needs cover!" Mika yelled as he immediately follows Dante's departure while jumping over a downed body and bashing the poor sod who tried to stop him.

"Urgh!" Lycoris groaned but quickly follows.

Slowly, Hicks gets into position. The small blade poised to be thrown, just to Nick the princess' skin and the poison will do the rest.

But before he can throw it, he's body was thrown like a ragdoll as Dante rammed him with her tower shield, throwing him far from the battle.

He was instantly knocked out with a frontal tooth missing.

"Did I hit something?" Dante wondered as she step over the poisoned blade, it's rotting smell basically oozing of it with the use of her nose.

"Hi, Princess! Wanna team up?" The Princess of Feoh, Alicia, turns her head to the direction of Dante. Her eyes widen slightly in surprise before narrowing into a determined glare as she takes a defensive stance. "Thank you for your rescue, lady knight," she says coolly, "but I think I can handle myself from here on out." She said not knowing she just brushed death a little too close for comfort.

But it all changed when she saw Mika approaching Dante with Lycoris close behind.

"You!" Alicia pointes her sword to Mika, recognizing him from last night's incident.

"Oh, shit! Not good!" Understandably, Mika turn tail. Running back into the huge melee with an irate princess on his tail, promising vengeance and pain.

Dante turned to Lycoris. "Little man knows the princess? Who knew?" She shrugged.

Lycoris smiled wryly and shrugged, "I cannot say for certain, but one does not tend to forget such a spirited encounter, even in a dream." She glanced at the princess, who was currently giving chase to Mika, looking unforgiving. "Perhaps you should help him out, just until we can ensure his safety?"

Dante looked at the chase and grimaced. "I don't think they needed help." Pointing out the carnage the princess unleashed with her unbridled rage to chase after Mika, cutting down any poor fool that comes between her and her prey.

Mika meanwhile is motivated with the fear of God and a woman's fury, dodging and taking down as much to slow down Alicia with the bodies he left behind.

Dante sighed, "Fine, then. Let's just stay close and make sure nothing happens." With that, they continued to fight their way through the tournament, keeping an eye out for any signs of danger to Alicia or Mika.

The battle rages on, with Dante and Lycoris fighting with vigor and skill. Their attention is divided between the enemies before them and the chase between Alicia and Mika, who is managing to keep just out of her reach.

At the same time, Vult notices that something has gone awry. He observes as Hicks fails to assassinate the princess and sees Mika being chased by her. His eyes narrow in anger and he quickly formulates a new plan. But alas, the first round is over.

In the far corner, Mai stood alone with a pile of bodies around her. A smirk of pride and superiority blooming on her lips.

In the center, Dante and Lycoris watched in amusement as Mika continued to run from the princess who is still trying to cut him even though the round is over.

The first round is finally over and we now have our twenty qualifiers for the second round.

In the stands, Marion beamed with pride for Mika. Her student have really come a long way. The crowd erupts into cheers and applause as the first round of the tournament comes to a close. The air is thick with tension and excitement, with the warriors of Eos giving their all in the arena below. Marion, watching from the stands, can't help but feel a surge of pride for Mika, her talented student who has proven himself to be one of the most skilled warriors in the tournament.

"Oh, so that's your boy! I didn't know you like them young!" Selene give her slight nudge with her jest.

Marion chuckled, rolling her eyes. "He's not just some boy, Selene. Mika's more like a son to me. And he's certainly getting talented." As she spoke, her gaze drifted back to the arena, where the battle was starting to die down as the competitors caught their breath.

The Goddess Celestine once again appeared in her balcony, addressing the 20 qualifiers.

"Congratulations, the twenty of you have proven your worth and secured a place in the second round," she announced with a warm smile. "But remember, the stakes are only getting higher from here on. Do not grow complacent. The victor of this tournament shall be rewarded greatly, so fight with all your heart!"

The second round will commence tomorrow. For now, it's time for celebration.

Fortunately for Mika, he narrowly escaped the Princess on the way out. Regrouping to his allies, he gave them a flat stare.

"You all didn't even try to help." Lycoris shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, we did not want to interfere with your... personal matters, my dear Mika. Besides, it's not as if we expected the princess to chase you down through the tournament grounds." Dante snickered, earning a sharp elbow to the ribs from Lycoris.

"Well forget about that guys! Let's party!" Before they can even reply, Dante had both of them under her arms, carrying them like barrels of wine.

"Half-troll or Half-Orc?" Lycoris muttered to Mika, unamused to her predicament.

"A Halfling maybe." Lycoris jerked a thumb towards Dante's huge breasts bouncing at every step on the way.

"Definitely not a Halfling then." Mika sighed.

We got a major plot here Bois.

To those who is asking:

Mika can kick Alicia's ass till Sunday, he just not because 1. Politics, 2. Too public (both confrontations with her are in public settings).