Chapter 9: Round One, Continued
May 8th, 989 AS…
"Hey, look, I think he's finally waking up!"
"About time…That Kagetsu guy really did a number on him…"
Frederick groaned as he slowly woke up and looked around at his surroundings. He was sitting in an unfamiliar bed that the rest of the Z-Shepherds were standing around.
"...Milord? What happened?" Frederick slowly asked, turning to face Chrom.
"You lost your match against Kagetsu, and he ended up hurting you pretty badly," Chrom explained with a sigh as he crossed his arms. "Luckily they had a medical bay here in the Coliseum, but still…He really did a number on you…"
"Agh! To think I would lose my match after failing to protect Milady Lissa! How shameful," Frederick sighed as he slapped his forehead, before raising an eyebrow at the prince. "How much time has passed since my defeat?"
"They had to take a little break to repair the platform, and right now the fight between those guys Anna and Shankin is going on," Lissa chirped from the side, patting the knight on the shoulder. "It's a good thing we don't know those guys, so we won't feel guilty about missing their match!"
"Speak for yourself, Lissa," Sully scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Me and that Shankin guy fought during the Battle Royale, but he ran away before I could really teach him a lesson! I just know he's going to lose, and I want to see it so badly!..."
As the Z-Shepherds began to talk amongst themselves, Frederick turned towards Robin.
"So, if Kagetsu won his match, that means you will be facing him in the next round," the knight of Ylisse stated matter-of-factly. "Would you say that you are adequately prepared?"
Robin clenched his fists. "I'm…Not sure. His power was like nothing I'd ever seen before! I don't even know what that technique was…But don't worry, Frederick! I'll find a way to win and get revenge on that guy for putting you in this bed in the first place!"
Frederick blinked twice, startled that Robin was going to be fighting in his name. He quickly cleared his throat, however, and looked down at his hands.
"Ahem, well, if you want to do some research before your next match, you can request one of the tournament staff to supply you with Memory Prisms of Kagetsu's previous matches."
"Memory Prisms? What are those?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They're a special type of crystal that was exported here from the neighboring continent of Valm. They can be used to record events, and then you can use them to view that event at a later time," Frederick explained. "The tournament organizers use them to record every single match, and then they sell them later. However, you can ask them for copies to study your upcoming opponent's previous matches. I did that, but I still ended up coming up short…"
Robin brought a hand up to his chin. "Hm…Alright, thanks for the info, Frederick. I'll ask around, and then-"
Before Robin could finish his sentence, a tournament worker suddenly burst into the room, breathing heavily as he did so.
"Sully!...Kellam!...I've been looking all over for you two!..." the man exclaimed in-between pants, wiping some sweat off of his brow. "Your match is about to start! You need to make your way towards the arena immediately…"
"Oh yeah! Let's do this!" Sully exclaimed as she heard the news, pumping her fist into the air excitedly. She then turned to Kellam and smirked. "It's time to teach you a lesson for underestimating me, pipsqueak!"
Kellam gulped and proceeded to hide his face behind his hands. "Oh man…"
As Sully and Kellam quickly left the room to get ready for their fight, Robin raised an eyebrow at the tournament worker.
"Say…Who ended up winning the fight between Anna and Shankin?"
"Oh, it was a close match, but in the end Shankin ended up emerging victorious!"
Robin chuckled nervously when he heard that. "Oh, really? Sully's going to be pretty upset when she hears about that…"
Sully and Kellam were now standing on the platform a few feet away from each other, staring each other down as the crowd cheered wildly. The Z-Shepherds who were still in the tournament were in the waiting area, while everyone else, including Frederick, had made their way to the stands.
"Hehe, you ready to do this, Kellam?" Sully asked with a smirk, swinging her lance around before stabbing it down into the ground.
The armored boy yelped in response, before meekly nodding his head up and down. "Um, yeah, I guess…Listen, Sully, I know you're pretty mad at me, but-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the announcer's loud voice cut through the arena.
"ALRIGHT THEN, FOLKS! WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET THE SIXTH MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN! WHOEVER WINS THIS FIGHT WILL BE FACING SHANKIN IN THE NEXT ROUND!"
Sully blinked twice.
"Shankin…Actually won?..."
Her face slowly began to turn a similar shade to her hair, and she let out a barbaric shout before charging forwards. Kellam barely had enough time to bring his shield up and block an incoming downward slash from Sully.
"Alright, then! I guess I'm just going to have to win this so I can kick his ass in the next round!" Sully shouted with a smirk as she pulled her lance back and quickly began thrusting it a hundred times per second at Kellam, not relenting for even a moment. "You're going down, Kellam!"
Each and every hit was thankfully deflected off of his massive shield, but Kellam was slowly but surely being pushed back because of the number of attacks he was receiving. The brown-haired boy proceeded to take a deep breath, before immediately pushing his shield forwards.
Sully yelped as she was cut off-guard and Kellam followed up by slamming his armored elbow into her face. He wanted to follow up with a strike from his lance, but Sully was one step ahead of him and kicked the weapon out of his hand.
She then proceeded to stab her own lance into the ground and used it to lift herself into the air, slamming Kellam in the face with her foot and pushing him back a couple steps.
"I need to get my lance," Kellam thought to himself as he glanced at his weapon laying down on the floor. He made a mad dash towards it, but Sully slid down onto the ground and kicked it with all her might, causing it to go flying off of the platform. "That's…Not good."
Sully smirked and began charging straight at Kellam, spinning her lance around and around as she did so. Kellam prepared his shield, expecting for her to once again unleash a barrage of strikes against him.
This time, however, the redhead proceeded to once again slam her lance into the ground and used it as a sort of catapult to jump over Kellam's head, landing right behind him. Because of his massive armor, the brown-haired boy was not able to turn around in time to defend himself.
"Alright! This is it!" Sully shouted out with a laugh, getting ready to finish the match off.
Kellam gulped and, in a spur of the moment decision, proceeded to quickly spin around as fast as he could. The speed with which he was moving, combined with the overall bulkiness of his armor and shield, resulted in him accidentally slamming Sully in the face, causing her to immediately crash down onto the ground with a heavy thud that caused everyone watching to wince.
"OH! THAT'S GOT TO SMART!" the announcer exclaimed as blood poured out of Sully's mouth and began to collect down onto the ground.
"Agh! Oh man, I'm so sorry, Sully! I didn't realize you were that close!" Kellam exclaimed as he tossed his shield to the side and bent over to help his friend up. "I hope I didn't hurt you too-"
"This is an official tournament, you idiot!..." Sully growled out as she spat out the last bit of blood that had pooled within her mouth and slowly began to get up to her feet. Her face was hideously bruised, and there was still a bit of blood leaking from her mouth, but she was far too angry to notice that. "Don't you dare talk to me like that!..."
Kellam blinked twice. "Er, Sully, I didn't mean any offense!...It's just that it looked like it really hurt, and I wanted to see if you were-"
"SHUT UP! NAGA, YOU'RE SO EMBARASSING!" Sully screamed at the top of her lungs as she angrily punched Kellam in the face, not even bothering to use her weapon.
The impact caused Kellam to take a few steps back and he froze for a few seconds, before immediately slumping down onto the ground.
"AND SULLY'S DOWNED KELLAM! NOW IT'S TIME TO BEGIN THE COUNTDOWN! TEN…NINE…EIGHT…"
It was now Sully's turn to blink twice. "You've got to be kidding me…Just like that?..."
"…FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…AND ONE!
"THE WINNER OF THE SIXTH MATCH OF THE TOURNAMENT IS…SULLYYYYY! SHE WILL BE FACING OFF AGAINST SHANKIN IN THE NEXT ROUND!"
The crowd went wild, everyone cheering at the top of their lungs. Sully, however, did not share their enthusiasm. The victory felt hollow to her.
"You've got to be kidding me! The only reason I won that is because Kellam was holding back on me! If I was fighting anyone else, they would have taken advantage of my position and knocked me out," she angrily thought to herself, shooting a dangerous glare at the armored boy, who was now beginning to slowly get up to his feet. "Why does he keep on treating me like that?! It's absolutely infuriating!"
"Hehe, it looks like I've lost," Kellam chuckled nervously as he approached Sully, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. "That was a good match, though. You were pretty strong, and-"
Before he could finish his sentence, however, Sully let out an angry huff and spun around, marching her way back to the waiting area. With a disappointed sigh, Kellam turned around and made his way to the stands dejectedly.
"You did it again, Kellam! You know she doesn't like getting treated like that! But…I just can't help myself! I just can't bear to hurt my friends, and Sully...I could never hurt her especially!"
By the time Sully returned to the waiting area, she was absolutely fuming again. The Z-Shepherds who were present wanted to congratulate her, but when they saw her facial expression, they immediately thought twice before doing so.
"Um…Sully…Is everything alright?" Robin hesitantly asked the redhead as she slumped down onto a bench and stabbed her lance into the ground.
"No, everything is NOT alright, Robin!" Sully angrily shouted in response. "That bastard Kellam keeps on going soft on me! First in the Battle Royale he was 'protecting' me, and now here in our match he was obviously going easy on me and holding back! Who the hell does that bastard think he is?!"
Chrom, Robin, and Miriel, who were the only other Z-Shepherds left in the tournament, all exchanged glances with each other, before looking back at Sully.
"Come on, Sully, I'm sure Kellam doesn't mean anything by it," Chrom began, slowly taking a few steps towards his friend. "I mean, come on, he tries to protect all of us, you know? It's just his-"
Before the prince could finish his sentence, however, an annoyingly familiar voice spoke up.
"HAH! It's obvious that he didn't go all out because you're just a GIIIIIIRL! Honestly, I probably would have done the same, especially considering how weak you are!"
Sully quickly looked up and spotted Shankin grinning at her with that stupidly punchable face of his.
"What the hell did you say to me?!" Sully angrily asked as she jumped to her feet and took a few steps towards the monk. Chrom and Robin tried to calm her down, but she simply pushed them out of her way.
"What, are you deaf too?" Shankin asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "It's kind of obvious, to be honest. I ended up holding back against my opponent in the last round, Anna, and I did it unknowingly! It just sort of happens to men like us, you know?"
Sully growled and pulled her fist back, getting ready to punch the bald monk in the face. However, before she could do so, Priam of all people quickly jumped in-between the two fighters and deescalated the situation.
"Alright, you two, that's enough," the teenager who claimed to be a descendant of Emblem Ike said, looking between the two of them. "Your fiery spirits are admirable, but save your energy for your match tomorrow, alright? After all, you're going to be fighting each other…"
Sully and Shankin both looked at Priam, before nodding and looking back at each other.
"I'm gonna make you pay, jerk!..."
"We'll see about that, 'milady'!..."
The two marched to opposite sides of the room and sulked by themselves.
Robin proceeded to make his way towards Priam.
"Nice work deescalating the situation, Priam," the white-haired boy complimented. "Sully's usually incredibly hard to calm down once she gets pissed off at something…"
"Eh, it was nothing," Priam responded with a shrug. "And besides, I didn't want those two to distract me. After all, the next fight between Lon'qu and Bacterian is about to start!"
Sure enough, at that moment, both of the fighters made their way onto the platform. Robin didn't usually listen to the announcer's words, but since he was unfamiliar with both of the fighters, he decided to listen to the introductions…
"IN THIS CORNER, COMING ALL THE WAY FROM VALM, WE HAVE BACTERIAN! HE'S A MASSIVE MARTIAL ARTIST WHO…Um…Hasn't taken a bath since he was a kid? No wonder he smells so bad…"
The audience cheered in response, though a good chunk of them were covering their noses as well.
"AND IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE KHAN BASILIO'S CHAMPION HIMSELF, LON'QU OF FEROX! THE FEROXI IN THE CROWD ARE DEFINITELY ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THIS MASTER SWORDSMAN!"
The cheers for Lon'qu were practically deafening, though the swordsman simply looked down at the ground, not bothering to look up at his adoring fans.
"He could have explained why he's such a big deal for those of us who AREN'T Feroxi," Chrom sighed as he crossed his arms.
"Basically, Regna Ferox is divided into two halves, the East and the West. Both of them have a ruler who watches over them called a 'Khan'. However, every few years, the Khans host a little battle to decide who the 'Supreme Khan' is. The Supreme Khan not only rules over their half of the country, but also deals with international disputes and stuff like that," Priam spoke up. "The Khans have to pick a squad of champions to battle for them, and the current Supreme Khan, Basilio, had Lon'qu on his team. As a result, he's kind of a big deal in Regna Ferox."
"I…See. Thank you for the exposition, Priam."
"ALRIGHT, FOLKS! NOW THAT THE CONTESTANTS HAVE BEEN INTRODCUED…IT'S TIME FOR THE BATTLE TO BEGIN!"
The crowd roared in excitement, and Bacterian cackled as he took a few steps towards Lon'qu, shaking the entire platform beneath his feet as he did so.
"Hehehe! You don't look all that strong to me, little boy!" Bacterian snickered as he slowly made his way towards Lon'qu, towering over the teenager like a skyscraper. "I'll give you one chance to forfeit, before I pummel you into the ground!"
Lon'qu looked up at Bacterian slowly, and his nose twitched slightly as he did so. "Hmph...I will offer you the same courtesy as well, then. Jump off this platform right now."
Bacterian blinked twice before bursting out into laughter.
"HAHAHA! BOY, YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH!" the giant fighter cackled, before quickly raising his arm and exposing his hairy armpit. "Fine then! Have it your way! Have a little whiff of my-"
Before the man could finish his sentence, Lon'qu quickly unsheathed his blade and sliced at Bacterian so fast that nobody could even see him. The only proof that Lon'qu had even moved at all was that he was now standing behind his massive foe.
Bacterian wasn't quite sure what had just happened, though the moment he turned around to face his opponent, he found out.
All of the hair in his armpit immediately fell down onto the ground, and a disgusting green vapor began to emanate from it. Lon'qu sheathed his blade, and the crowd burst out into laughter.
"I-IT SEEMS LON'QU HAS DECIDED TO SLICE OFF BACTERIAN'S ARMPIT HAIR! AN INTERESTING TACTIC FOR SURE!"
"What the…Are you playing games with me, boy?!" Bacterian screamed out, his face turning a bright shade of red as he did so. "I-I'll teach you what happens to people who play games with me!"
Lon'qu sighed and closed his eyes. "
I thought that would have scared you off... Very well, then. Goodbye, Bacterian."
The swordsman crouched down and grabbed his sword, not even flinching in the slightest as the platform beneath began shaking due to the fact that Bacterian was now charging at him in a berserker rage.
A few seconds passed and, once Lon'qu was in Bacterian's grabbing distance, the silent swordsman struck.
"CHON'SIN STYLE: THOUSAND BLADES OF INSTANT DEATH!"
Green energy suddenly flared up around Lon'qu's sword, and he immediately vanished and reappeared behind Bacterian. The stinky fighter tried to grab him, but the swordsman disappeared once more and, this time, appeared right above Bacterian's head.
Suddenly, faster than anyone could see, Lon'qu began slashing and slicing at Bacterian, green energy oozing and flowing from his blade with every strike as he did so. Bacterian's pained screams filled the air as Lon'qu continued his devastating assault, not letting his opponent a chance to recuperate even for one second.
No one could actually see it because of how fast he was, but Lon'qu had actually slashed his opponent a thousand times!
Finally, Lon'qu once again vanished and reappeared behind Bacterian. The silent swordsman sheathed his blade and glanced at the humongous fighter.
"Farewell."
A huge green explosion erupted around Bacterian's body, and he was sent flying off of the platform, landing onto the dirt below and kicking up a huge dust cloud in the process.
"I-INCREDIBLE, FOLKS! THAT'S THE SAME TECHNIQUE THAT WON KHAN BASILIO THE TITLE OF SUPREME KHAN! GIVE IT UP FOR LON'QU, FOLKS! HE WILL BE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT ROUND!"
Thunderous applause enveloped the stadium, and a couple of tournament staff came into the arena to carry Bacterian out of there, since he was completely knocked out and unable to move. However, they were struggling quite a bit because of how stinky he was.
One tournament worker spotted Lon'qu, who was standing still in his spot, and waved at him.
"Hey! You can return to the waiting area now, Lon'qu."
The swordsman remained silent for a few seconds, before speaking up.
"This is the drawback of my technique. It is incredibly powerful, but I cannot move for a few minutes after using it because of the fact that I quite literally have zero energy left in my body. Please…Carry me back to the waiting area."
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
As Lon'qu was carried back to the waiting area, Sully let out an excited laugh as she walked up to the guy, who was plopped down onto a bench by the tournament staff member.
"That was an insane move you did back there, man!" Sully excitedly exclaimed, reaching a hand out to slap Lon'qu on the back. "How'd you do that? I'd totally love to-"
"BACK, WOMAN!" Lon'qu suddenly shouted, causing Sully to flinch and take a few steps back.
"…What the hell?"
"Despite being an incredibly powerful fighter, Lon'qu of Ferox has one weakness and one weakness alone," Priam explained from the side. "Women. He's totally afraid of them."
"What kind of dumbass weakness is that?..." Sully wondered out loud, raising an eyebrow at the silent swordsman who was now eyeing her fearfully.
Priam snickered at her response, before turning towards Miriel. "Well, it looks like it's our turn to fight. Totally unfair that they saved us for last, don't you think?"
"On the contrary, our delayed participation has provided us a significant advantage," Miriel replied, adjusting her glasses as she did so. "By observing the preceding matches, we have acquired valuable data on our potential opponents' combat techniques, physical capabilities, and strategic inclinations—without incurring the fatigue associated with firsthand engagement. One of us will now be eliminated, but the data will be very useful for the winner going forward."
Priam blinked, before smirking. "Hey, I guess you're right! I like the way you think, lady! Let's make this a great match!"
The boy who claimed to be a descendant of Emblem Ike left the waiting area and made his way for the arena, and Miriel proceeded to follow him. Before she could leave, however, she felt Chrom's hand on her shoulder.
"Priam's a tough opponent, Miriel. Are you sure you have what it takes to pull through?"
The Fire Mage smiled slightly, and nodded in response. "Indeed, I believe I do. Based on my observations of Priam's combat capabilities, I have formulated a strategy that should yield approximately a sixty-seven percent chance of victory. Furthermore, I have procured a newly inscribed tome, ensuring that I may unleash potent magical assaults without concern for depletion."
"Sixty-seven?! You sure are optimistic!" Robin exclaimed, slightly startled.
Miriel smiled slightly, before turning around and walking away. "It is simply the data, Robin. Simply the data…"
Miriel made her way to the platform and stood across from Priam. As the two fighters stared each other down, the announcer roared to the crowd.
"ALRIGHT, FOLKS! WE'RE FINALLY HERE! THE LAST MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND, AS THE WELL AS THE LAST ONE THAT WE WILL BE WITNESSING TODAY! LET'S GET THE INTRODUCTIONS OUT OF THE WAY AS SOON AS WE CAN SO WE CAN GET TO THE ACTION!
"IN THIS CORNER, WE HAVE PRIAM! HE CLAIMS TO BE A DESCENDANT OF THE LEGENDARY RADIANT HERO IKE, MORE COMMONLY KNOWN TO US AS EMBLEM IKE! HE WIELDS A BLADE THAT'S APPARENTLY RAGNELL, IKE'S WEAPON OF CHOICE, AND FROM WHAT WE'VE SEEN OF HIM IN THE BATTLE ROYALE, HE'S CERTAINLY A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH!
"AND IN THIS CORNER, HIS OPPONENT, MIRIEL! SHE'S A MEMBER OF THE Z-SHEPHERDS AND HAS COME HERE FROM YLISSE! SHE SPECIALIZES IN FIRE MAGIC, AND WILL HOPEFULLY SHOW US SOME HOT TECHNIQUES!
"NOW…WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"
"Kick his ass, Miriel!" Miriel heard Lissa shout from the stands, causing her to sigh and lift her hand up.
Her fresh red Tome cracked itself open and circled around the Fire Mage, leaving a fiery trail behind itself as it did so. Miriel stretched her arm out, and then…
"FIRE!"
Balls made of roaring red flames materialized around Miriel's body and blitzed towards Priam with the speed of an enraged cheetah. The warrior simply smirked in response, before quickly flicking his sword, slicing two of the fireballs in half and jumping to the side to avoid a third one.
Miriel continued to blast the swordsman with fireballs, though he was undeterred and simply proceeded to either bash them with shield or slice them in half with his sword as he charged forwards towards Miriel, closing the distance between them in seconds.
Priam smirked as he raised his cracked yellow blade and slammed it down towards Miriel, though the Fire Mage quickly avoided the attack by pointing her hand down towards the ground and summoning a stream of flames that boosted herself into the air, allowing her to avoid the attack.
"Clever girl," Priam smirked, looking up at the mage. He then took a deep breath, before quickly jumping up into the air after her. "Luckily for me, I don't need magic to get that high!"
Miriel gasped as Priam easily reached her height, and the blue-haired swordsman wasted no time and immediately began hacking and slashing at her, causing her to scream out in agony. He finished his combo by delivering a mighty kick to her stomach, causing Miriel to go crashing down onto the ground.
The Fire Mage felt the air leave her body as the small of her back collided with the floor, though she was able to quickly recover thanks to the fitness training she received from Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour.
However, Miriel was a mage, and she wasn't supposed to be getting so close to her opponents.
"FIREWALL!" Miriel shouted, waving her hand through the air and immediately summoning a massive wall of flames that separated her from her opponent. "That should buy me some time to-"
Before she could finish her thought, however, Priam somehow sliced through the flames and dashed up towards her, a crazed look in his eyes as he did so. He swung his sword at the Fire Mage with all his might, though thanks to a well-timed dodge from Miriel, he only ended up slicing the tip of her comically oversized hat off.
"He is far more powerful than I initially surmised," Miriel thought to herself as she rolled on the ground and stood up a few feet away from her opponent. She quickly glanced at her Tome, which was floating next to her head, before sighing. "It appears I will have to use my most powerful spell!"
The pages of Miriel's book quickly flipped through itself before landing on the last page. It was empty, save for a little bit of text written in a language which humanity had forgotten the name of hundreds of years ago. The text suddenly started glowing, and Miriel raised her hand as it did so.
"This will use up all of the power I have left in my Tome…But it should allow me to defeat you!"
A massive ball of fiery destruction suddenly appeared above Miriel's head, roaring with the heat of the sun. The ball continued to expand with every passing second, and it grew hotter and hotter as well, to the point that the people in the audience began to start sweating because of it.
"I-INCREDIBLE, FOLKS! THAT'S METOER, AN A-RANK SPELL!" the announcer cried out as he grabbed a handkerchief and dabbed it on his forehead. "AND IT'S SO INCREDIBLY HOT THAT I CAN FEEL IT ALL THE WAY HERE IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT BOOTH!..."
Priam froze in place and looked up at the massive ball of flames that was growing larger and larger. A small smirk crossed his lips, and he settled into a defensive stance.
"BRING IT!" the descendant of Emblem Ike roared.
Miriel's eye twitched, and she proceeded to extend her arm forwards. The moment she did so, the ball of fiery death began to slowly but surely move down towards Priam.
"METOER!"
The moment the word left her lips, the ball quickly began to pick up speed, rocketing towards the swordsman below. Miriel's Tome, which had been floating behind her, suddenly returned to her hands and quickly fell apart due to the amount of energy the spell required.
"I can no longer use any spells," Miriel simply thought to himself, dropping the book onto the ground and letting the pages burn up because of the fire magic. "Thankfully, however, I have won this battle. The Meteor spell will push Priam off of the platform, and I will emerge victorious!"
Miriel looked upwards, though her eyes suddenly widened as she did so.
Priam simply took a deep breath as the ball rocketed towards his location, not even bothered in the slightest. After a few seconds of waiting, a smirk crossed Priam's face, and he suddenly jumped into the air and slashed at Miriel's trump card using his cracked golden blade.
"TAKE…THIS!"
Everyone was shocked as Priam simply sliced through the massive ball, causing one half to rocket down towards the ground and for the other to zoom up into the sky. Both halves immediately exploded in a fiery display akin to fireworks, and as Priam landed down onto the ground, Miriel looked on at him in complete and utter disbelief.
"I-Impossible! After seeing that feat, I now realize that my initial calculations were incorrect," Miriel thought to herself, taking off her glasses and wiping them clean using the cloth from her robe. "My true chances of beating Priam…ARE ZERO PERCENT!"
Priam cracked his neck slightly as the crowd roared in excitement, chanting Priam's name as loudly as possible. The blue-haired swordsman then turned to Miriel, ready to continue the battle.
"Heh, nice spell, but I was nicer. Now, what do you say we get this show back on the road?"
However, instead of giving him a witty response, the red-haired girl simply raised her hands and shook her head in response.
"I forfeit. It has become abundantly clear that there is absolutely no chance of emerging victorious against you, especially considering I can no longer cast spells in my current state. Well fought."
Priam blinked twice. "Oh. Um…Thanks?"
"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! THE FINAL MATCH OF THE FIRST ROUND IS OVER! AND THE WINNER IS…PRIAAAAAAAM!"
"Damn it! I wanted Miriel to kick his butt!" Lissa complained, punching the air angrily. "This is so totally unfair!"
"Don't worry, milady! I am certain he will be eliminated in the next round!" Frederick assured the princess, before immediately wincing and grabbing at his shoulder. "Hopefully not with the same brutality that I suffered, though…"
"Heh, you know, if I fought against Priam, I definitely would have won!" Vaike told Lissa, puffing up his chest as he did so.
He ended up getting ignored by the princess, though Bulma simply gave him a sarcastic laugh. "As if, Vaike! Now shut up, I think the announcer is going to say something regarding the next round!"
"ALRIGHT, FOLKS! PRIAM'S VICTORY OFFICALLY CONCLUDES THE FIRST ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT, AND OUR MATCHES FOR TODAY! BUT DON'T BE TOO DISAPPOINTED! BECAUSE TOMORROW, AT THIS SAME TIME, WE ARE GOING TO BE HOLDING THE NEXT ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT! THE MATCHES WILL BE AS FOLLOWS…
"CHROM VS NAMU!
"KAGETSU VS ROBIN!
"SULLY VS SHANKIN!
"AND FINALLY, LON'QU VS PRIAM!
"WHO WILL WIN? WHO WILL LOSE? FIND OUT TOMORROW IN THE NEXT EXCITING ROUND OF THE 21ST WORLD FIGHTING TOURNAMENT! Now, a word from our sponsors..."
As the crowd outside cheered, Robin gulped as he glanced at the corner of the room, where Kagetsu was polishing his blade.
"There he is, polishing his sword like he didn't put Frederick in the medical bay," Robin thought to himself, a slight anger welling up inside his body. He felt a twinge in his lower back as well, but didn't think much of it. "I'm going to have to prepare if I want to stand a chance against him tomorrow. Frederick mentioned something about match recordings using something called Memory Prism crystals…I guess I'll have to go ahead and do some research tonight!"