The white pillar of light seeped out of energy, thinning more and more before it became just a strand surrounded by clouds of dust. What could have been made out of the fighting arena through the clutter of visual obstructions showed that the entire stage had been wrecked and was drowning in the storming, whirling lake with the calamitous quake that caught the section of the continent scattering the pebbles and larger chunks of debris that shot out into the atmosphere on collision back into the lake one by one.
"It's over!" Rajul exclaimed. From his point of view, he saw enough to determine that the battle was decided, however, the Stars' section of the spectator stands still had a lingering wall of dust obscuring their view. Being ever the wonderful sport, Rajul didn't spoil the outcome for the audience members who yet couldn't see it, instead, letting them experience the jolt themselves.
Mana tried extending her chakra senses and taking a whiff of both combatants' locations. Because of the relative proximity and their chakra systems being in peak activity just before the resolution, the chakra signatures betrayed the outcome. Then again, given the early signs that the arena didn't make it, just because she sensed Bishiyari on the far outer end of the fighting stage, where the protective walls separating the spectator stands from the fighting area were, while Dashula hovered somewhere vaguely in the ring, only suggested the most likely outcome.
It was when enough dust had settled to see Bishiyari sprawled out and embedded into the protective wall that Mana sighed in relief, realizing that this bout was finally over. While the fact that she wouldn't have to compete against the man previously known as the Supreme Salvari was a relief, knowing that she'll still have to fight against the one who defeated Bishiyari on his own terms, playing by mutually accepted rules as opposed to a freak elimination during a battle royale where anything could happen at any time was still something troublesome enough.
"Hey, Bishiyari lost!" Damisan exclaimed before turning to Mana with a cheerful look that asked for reciprocation, almost as if her boyfriend was scoping her general vibes and wondering if Mana's attitude matched his expectations of what it would be. "That's good, right?"
"Talk about a shocking conclusion…" Shige-H crossed her arms, sighing in relief as well. Passionate bouts like the collision between Bishiyari and Dashula tended to leave one's breathing irregularly at times because of all the times one cut it to focus on the finer aspects of the match. In cases of prolonged engagements, this meant that sometimes the spectators were as short of breath as the people actually fighting.
"How's it any better for Mana?" Asuka leaned back and looked longingly at the evening sky. "Two guys fought and the better guy won. If anything, that means she'll end up facing the stronger of the two."
"That's not necessarily the case," Mana shook her head in polite disagreement. "During the final stretch of the match, if Bishiyari-san's Sudarshana Chakram hit Dashula-san, Dashula-san would have undoubtedly lost. Also, if Dashula-san tried matching his dharma against Bishiyari-san's, he'd have lost as well. In terms of their skill with dharmic techniques and chakra capacity, Bishiyari-san is a clear superior of the two. However, Dashula-san is much physically stronger and tougher, he also employed budojutsu in sync with dharma, creating an almost balanced chakra vortex. No matter how potent dharma is, when competing in a direct clash against chakra, it will lose most of the time."
"Hmph… So that's how it is," Damisan scratched his head and stretched out in his seat, glaring down at the arena where the veiled healers helped Bishiyari out of the protective wall and helped him step down into their boat. "It's so strange how despite them battering each other with those ludicrous techniques, they still look quite healthy, but I've got a feeling like neither of them could fight effectively, regardless."
"It's because both of them employ dharma in their matches. Because dharma is mostly composed of spiritual energy, it harms not the target's physical body, but aspects of their spirituality: their mind, their experiences, their willpower, and their consciousness. I suppose it shouldn't be uncommon for fighters using dharma to collapse on the battlefield with little to no physical injuries, despite going through a grueling and flashy match," Shige-H explained. "Must be another reason these Salvari are such treasured combatants in this arena–they don't get injured much or injure other combatants, despite being every bit as flashy and effective in putting incredible matches as more physical martial artists."
Looking somewhat stunned and humbled by his defeat, Bishiyari stepped onto the fighting stage and approached Dashula, who looked beside himself, shedding his cosmic layer of dharma and stepping out of the dissolving coating with his physical flesh and bone body. Even a fighting maniac like Dashula seemed blown away by his victory. Like a dog who chased the caravan passing by their home every morning, only to one day catch up to it and break down.
"Bishiyari…" Dashula muttered.
"Congratulations, you've finally defeated the Supreme Being of Ultimate Goodness. The title of the Supreme Salvari now rightfully belongs to you," Bishiyari nodded in approval, despite looking flattened and absent about his defeat. Almost as if he was still fitting in the pieces of how this defeat could have been possible in his head.
"How admirable!" Rajul exclaimed, encouraging the audience to stand up with an unleashed series of cheers and waving for the two Salvari who put up an incredible match that meant just as much to each of them as it did to the audience that had just witnessed a stupendous performance of old-timey Sun Disc fighting action to seal the end of an era of the previous Sheikh and guide them into the future. "As expected of the Salvari to display exemplary fair play and accept defeat, as shocking as it was to all of us!"
"Are you kidding me? Forget about that!" Dashula snickered sheepishly and waved his hand in dismissal, shocking Bishiyari and leaving him with a gaping jaw. With the back of his right hand, the Blissful Yogi Destroyer answered his opponent's handshake but raised the hand of his defeated opponent in the air instead of letting Bishiyari raise his hand. "This is just one victory. Exactly how many times have you beaten me fair and square, one-on-one? How many more times you've triumphed over me in events? Besides, your heart just isn't into bouts where you aren't purifying the hearts of evil or misguided people. Heated battles just for the sake of it are exactly my forte, so you've had every handicap working against you, even then, you put me through one heck of a match."
"Dashula…" Bishiyari was about to argue.
"Shut up!" Dashula snapped, smacking his opponent's shoulder with his free hand while squeezing Bishiyari's shaking hand as hard as he could to show the strength of his conviction in what he was saying. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life! I've just had the wildest fight ever, even if I had to tap into physical energy to beat you, which doesn't feel right to me. Still, to claim the title of the Supreme Salvari just because of one win, when I've got dozens of losses on my record, wouldn't be right. Besides, if I took the title now, that'd mean that the wrong guy had the title this whole time, which would only demean the weight of my victory. I am not the Supreme Salvari, that would mean that I just beat up some Bishiyari guy. No! I'm Dashula, and I defeated the Supreme Salvari one-on-one!"
"As you wish. You're the winner, so I shall honor your will," Bishiyari nodded, even though it looked as if he would need to simmer on this for a few more days before he would accept addressing himself as the Supreme Salvari again. "If you will permit me one more thing to say, I'd just like to address the audience and the Sheikh and say… I accept you as the Salvari to fight on for the right to succeed the Sheikh and become the new Sheikh of Agbarah! If there still was anyone in the audience who thought that my elimination in the Battle Royale was just an unfortunate freak accident, and that it crippled the chances of the Salvari to win, or that somehow the wrong Salvari moved on, let this match convince you that Dashula is a worthy successor. Even if you reject the title of the Supreme Salvari, I can only ask that you accept the title of the Hope of the Salvari."
"HOPE!" someone in the arena cheered with a pumping fist.
"HOPE!" another person joined in.
"HOPE! HOPE! HOPE! HOPE!" more and more people joined suit until, before long, the entire arena was chanting in unison. Even Mana, who had little emotional investment into this feud between two men who were previously unfamiliar to her, couldn't help but smile, seeing so many people united in admiration and placing their hopes on the shoulders of one vigorous and powerful man.
"What are you talking about?" Dashula scratched his ear with his pinky finger after the two Salvari parted and stopped congratulating each other, pouting his lips. "I'd have much rather had you take over as Sheikh and boss people around like you already are… I just wanted to defeat you far too much to anticipate that many steps ahead. Anyway, you can call me whatever you want. I ain't gonna fight for the sake of becoming the next Sheikh or whatever, in fact, I'd hate ruling this joint instead of fighting in it! I'll fight because I'm looking forward to putting myself through more crazy tribulations and facing off against all those guys!"
Dashula turned to face the audience, placing his hand on his brow while he scanned the colosseum with his raised finger, all the way until his gaze met the same seated and dormant Cursed Warrior that Endo wouldn't look away from, even for a second. "A man amongst monsters, a terrifying, unstoppable powerhouse, the impenetrable skin and ground-shaking power!" Dashula exclaimed before scanning the audience again and settling on Mana and looking her straight in the eyes. "The second Goddess of the Arena, who restored order and glory only to leave to conquer the world, just like the First Goddess did. I can't wait to fight ALL OF YOU!"
The audience went crazy at this daring challenge, shooting their fists in the air, throwing their turbans and hats in the air and scooping them up, or accidentally grabbing their neighbors, causing a friendly trade in the process of each other's headwear. Sensing this tremendous energy in the atmosphere, for the first time since her victory in the Ascension Gauntlet a few years back, Mana felt welcome and loved in this arena like never before. Purely because one of the audience's favorites called her out, and because she was there to answer his challenge.
The quarter-finals of the Succession Tournament concluded with a rowdy crowd, singing, cheering, and celebrating the remarkable time they've already had and the incredible martial arts festivity that was still ahead in the semi-finals and the finals.
After the rowdy fourth quarter-final match, the spectators began to slowly vacate the premises. This match enjoyed by far the largest number of spectators and made the most noise out of the bunch, and the entire stuffed and emotionally charged arena needed to vacate and flow into the Agbarah desert town. This slowed down slipping out of the arena to a crawl as the entire place had to funnel into one of sixteen different corridors and stuff into the same hallways until they flowed out into the street.
"Look at Endo, it's not like you to stay put," Asuka noted Endo's calm demeanor as the swordsman kept sitting down and staring at the dormant Cursed Warrior with a strict and focused stare as if he wasn't glaring at him for a few hours now without glancing sideways once.
"The Curse Walker hasn't made a move yet, but when it does, I'll be here to track it," Endo replied, closing his eyes to breathe deep in and out, ventilate his lungs and stretch his numb muscles, then resumed his quirky staring routine.
"You mean you're going to stay here overnight?" Asuka pouted, placing her hands on her hips after the rest of the Stars picked themselves up from their seats and waited for the crowd to thin out so that they could leave through the hallways. "I could use your no-nonsense attitude and general lack of appreciation for human life. I'm planning to hit the town and ask around if anyone's seen or heard anything about our lucky undead mercs from Fennec's group."
"I don't like the sound of that, so I think I'll tag along to see that you don't do anything stupid," Shige-H glared over Asuka from behind with a worried motherbear look. "I don't advise you to sit here through the night and look at someone that's clearly dormant and won't be making any moves until the time of their match tomorrow, but if you want to do that and keep the eye of the arena premises in general, I won't stop you, Endo. Just promise me you won't try cutting the Curse Walker down for whatever reason. We don't need the trouble of the attempted assassination of an active competitor right now."
"If I wanted to pick a fight with that thing, I'd have run at it long ago. I'm gathering information," Endo grumbled without looking back at his worried superior.
"Alright, do I need to know what you two will be up to?" Shige-H turned to Mana and Damisan as if they were a unit.
"I'd like to meditate on a few things. I wouldn't mind practicing some dharma manipulation myself," Mana shrugged.
"I'm going to check up on Genshi. He's been alone for a long time and he'll probably want some debriefing about the rest of the matches. Besides, I know what's it like being in his shoes, to feel crippled, alienated, and all alone. I think that above all he just wants to be included in anything that's going on," Damisan reported with a look as if he knew that this would annoy the rest of the Stars, to his moderate surprise, Shige-H nodded in agreement while Asuka and Endo didn't seem to care that much.
"I'll come with," Mana smiled kindly.
"Hmm… I'm not sure that's a good idea. You'll be fighting Genshi first thing tomorrow, remember?" Damisan made a hesitant expression as if he was testing the waters and just trying to be nice. "If Genshi sees us visiting him together, he'll be hesitant to ask me for repairs, because he won't be feeling comfortable asking me to undermine you by helping him in front of your face. It'll make a lot of things a lot more awkward than they need to be."
"Oh, I see…" Mana looked away, feeling a bit nasty about herself for not thinking about something like this. She wouldn't have minded running through a few things with Genshi before their match tomorrow. She wanted to see if their previous quarrel about Mana surrendering without a match that would wear his sponsored equipment a whole lot more still stood. Besides, she'd have liked to carefully scope out the idea of throwing the match more subtly, without directly surrendering to him by indirectly hinting in that direction. The last time they spoke, Genshi was vehemently against the idea, ideals of fair play, and all that…
"It's okay, I'll meet up with you after I'm done, okay?" Damisan looked almost as if he was guilty of something and felt obliged to make up for it to Mana.
"It's alright, I understand you see a lot of how you used to be in Genshi-san. Just let him know that I'll be rooting for him too tomorrow, even if I won't hold back, as per his request. And if he wins tomorrow–I'll hold him up to win the whole thing," Mana tried encouraging her squad mate with a smile, to show him that there were no hard feelings between them.
"R-Right," Damisan nodded. "I'll let him know."
Dharmic techniques piqued Mana's interest. The ability to strike an opponent's will to fight directly without harming their body felt ideal to her, however, weaponizing such an ability required focused and grueling training. Besides, it wasn't like such an ability would have been too effective against ninja who could wield more balanced chakra techniques. At best, such techniques would serve the most use fighting focused budo users, mercenaries, and common criminals who used technology to compensate for their shortcomings in terms of combat ability.
Still, even having those drawbacks in mind, Mana may have had an advantage in honing those skills because of a lifetime of experience meditating. It was a prime way of sharpening her spirit. The same way studying was. It might have been useful to ask the Salvari for some help in honing her skills in tapping into dharma, however, given how she was their direct competitor at this time, it might not have been such a good idea. In any case, Mana recalled the lessons in the Academy about honing spiritual energy.
Spiritual energy included one's consciousness, so one strengthened their spiritual energy by minding their surroundings and being observant, being aware of their emotions, and handling them in a mature and proper way. Studying just about any subject and deepening one's knowledge was another way of honing their spiritual energy. Meditation too. Gathering lifetime experience in different subjects, both positive and negative, also bolstered spiritual energy. Right now, those were the best ways for Mana to explore to tap into dharmic techniques.
The door to her room in the Agbarmahal palace opened with haste, snapping Mana out of meditation. She'd have likely snapped out of it faster, upon merely sensing Damisan's chakra signature, if it wasn't so familiar to her and she didn't feel so safe around it that she could continue meditating in its presence. Damisan looked sweaty and worked up about something.
"Is everything okay?" Mana wondered.
"Genshi's gone. I can't find him in the infirmary, he's not in his palace chamber and none of the nurses know anything," Damisan grumbled out, looking frustrated at his lack of progress. "I could ask around the palace guards, but…"
"They probably won't tell you anything since you're not a competitor, and, if Genshi-san really disappeared, they'll recall you looking for him and you'll instantly become a person of interest," Mana surmised. She stood up off the mat on the floor and picked up a jacket off her luxurious palace bed, rushing at Damisan. "Come on, let's find him," she said, asking no further questions nor hesitating.