Chapter 56: Mortal-Cup part 1: Simple man’s virgin solo battle.

Chapter 56: Mortal-Cup part 1: Simple man’s virgin solo battle.

The day of the tournament has begun. The song sung by Sisu got those interested to go to places where a screen provided by USEG were placed. Those screens were placed in all sorts of places across all three mortal realms.

The fight itself took place in a pocket realm made in collaboration between the gods and USEG. In that pocket realm, killing the opponent was impossible. While you could argue that there was no point in getting seats in the arena itself, the thrill of being right there where the contestant jumped to the battle is thrilling as the air before the battle could often tell a thousand tales.

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Faust Ilumnos (Demigod) - Lucina Lirel (Dark Elf):

The first contestants, Lud and Lucina, were preparing to go to the center of the stadium to be sent to the plane of combat that selects the environment at random.

Lud was worried about leaving his prep room. His first real battle ever was about to happen and he had no confidence in himself.

Lud muttered to himself "How in the hell am I going to win this? I have never fought anyone. Well, I have died thanks to Eris and tried to escape with my life when Ill was after me, but that wasn’t real combat."

Lud pondered "Or was it?" He ruffled his hair in frustration as he pondered how he got into this situation in the first place.

Then Li came to Lud’s prep room and said "The first round is about to start my lord. Are you ready?"

Lud asked Li in a not so confident way "Define ’ready’."

Li saw that Lud was anxious, so he went and sat beside him for a moment and said "I understand your worries. You haven’t really fought anyone in your life and won. True, when you were in the game, you conquered dungeons and completed quests, but you always had help. Now however... You are on your own."

Lud asks "And that is supposed to make me feel better?"

Li denies it as he says "No. That is not what I’m saying."

Li leans forward and puts his hands together as he says "I also had many doubts when I had to go to battle for the first time."

Lud was listening as LI continued "We rell never really were meant to experience combat as far as we knew, but we were pulled towards it anyways. Our Parent wanted us to experience many things, but made us harm others... It is debatable if they ever wanted that to happen."

Lud was deep in thought as Li places his hand to Lud’s shoulder and says "The first step is the hardest. As the saying goes, birds have to take the leap eventually. This is your leap, but instead of plummeting to the ground and risking dying, you have people around you to make sure you get back up in one piece."

Lud felt what Li was saying, but still, his heart was filled with doubt.

So Li slapped Lud in the back, making Lud stumble to stand, but he didn’t end up falling over.

Lud looks at Li in confusion, but Li just rises calmly from the bench and says "Just go do your best. Your subjects have full confidence in you that you’ll make a good fight."

Li hands a sword made from mithril and forged by Illi. Lud looks at it for a moment in trance, until the announcement says "Contestants Faust Ilumnos and Lucina Lirel, please proceed to the arena to start the match."

Lud looks at Li once more and sees a warm smile on his face. This makes up Lud’s mind as he proceeds to grab the sword from Li’s hand.

But before he fully takes the sword, he hesitates for a moment. Just for a moment though, as he then fully braces himself and places the sword, still in its scarab, to his hilt.

And with that, Lud nods at Li, who in turn nods back, and so Lud walks towards his first solo match ever.

On the other end before the call of the battle was made, Lucina looked at her sword while sitting on a bench in her prep room. She was contemplating many things, but when Diane came to see how Lucina was doing, she was asked "Are you ready?"

Lucina keeps staring at her sword as she says "I... don’t know."

Diane sits beside Lucina and asks her "What’s on your mind, hero?"

Lucina asks as she keeps staring at the sword "Am I truly worthy of the title of the hero?"

Diane asks back "What makes you say that?"

Lucina confides her doubts on Diane as she says "Back in the sword tournament, I lost to a machine. And while I’m looking at all of the other contestants, I can’t help but feel like I’m out of place here. So hence, am I worthy of the hero title?"

Diane says "What makes a hero isn’t how strong you are in battle. What makes a hero is the will to save lives and do everything in your power to fulfill that will even after acknowledging your weaknesses."

Lucina is still in deep contemplation and doesn’t say anything, So instead, Diane continues "You saved a lot of people back then. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it at all."

Lucina asks "Even though... I despise humans?"

Diane is silent for a moment until she says "You are fighting a person who was once human, are you not?"

Lucina nods her head in acknowledgement.

Diane continues "And he was the first ever true demigod in this world. A feat that even the races of the middle realm could not achieve. A feat that you’d previously considered impossible."

Lucina is silent.

Diane finishes with "I’m not telling you to change your worldview just like that, but consider this. The first ever demigod is facing the hero of Lodres as his first opponent. Doesn’t that fill you with pride?"

The announcement to go to the arena was broadcasted at that moment. So Diane finishes with "Just know this. Every race has the potential to be a hero just like you. Now go show that demigod how a hero fights."

Lucina contemplated a little before she rose and walked towards a battle that could end in all sorts of ways. All that was in Lucina’s mind was that she would do her utmost in this battle. To not let down those who are cheering for her back in Rusteror.

And so, the two contestants stepped in the ring full of confidence. Neither was ready to act halfheartedly in this match, as the pride on their backs weighed on them heavily.

And so, Mercy asked both of them from a balcony "Contestants! Are you ready?!"

Both shout "I am ready!" and Mercy sends them off with the words "May your battle be glorious!"

Lud and Lucina were sent to a pocket realm that looked like some war torn city. Lucina was standing on a railway track that was above the city street and Lud was standing on some building with a side missing.

Both were almost at the same heights, but there was a need for one of them to jump into action.

For Lud, this was a death sentence.

For Lucina, it was doable, but the unknown power of her opponent was something to consider.

Both contestants were holding on to their sword that still rested on their hilts. Neither dare to make the first move.

Then, as another Lud was speaking to himself, he heard a voice saying "What are you waiting for? Use the power of legion."

Lud was confused for a moment, as this was clearly meant to be one-on-one battle, but then he realized another use of the legion, and that was its ability to borrow a bit of his units’ powers at the cost of mana. And mana was something that Lud had in droves, so while thinking of Li’s strong legs, he jumped at Lucina.

Lucina, who didn’t expect such speed, was in turn very surprised and readied her weapon for impact.

Unfortunately, Lud didn’t adjust his leg strength properly, making him crash to another building.

As the building blocks fell down, Lud got back to his senses and tried again. This time, with little less straight.

And this time, Lud managed to jump just enough to reach the railway track.

Forgetting that he was in a fight, Lud was surprised when Lucina’s sword was just inches away from his face.

Lud didn’t understand why the time seemingly slowed down, but he took this opportunity to move away from the attack.

And in the instant he moved even a little away from the sword, Lucina’s attack continued to move in the trajectory it was going in the first place.

Lucina was surprised by Lud’s dodge, as she saw an opening just before, but Lud seemingly dodged it with no effort.

Lucina didn’t relent and continued her attacks, to which Lud had this time taken out his own blade and started blocking quite effectively.

Well, effective is a strong word. Lud was more like sluggishly placing the sword just in the right place to block Lucina’s swings. A feat that made both contestants confused.

For outlookers, it seemed like Lud had a full grasp of Lucina’s capabilities, but in truth, Lud was just doing something he didn’t quite understand and it was putting a huge strain on his body.

In the audience, Perkele asked a three headed abyssan warrior "What do you think is going on?"

To this, the abyssan warrior with the left dragon face on his first head "While it is subtle, I can clearly sense that he somehow takes a grasp of alternative timelines as a thryv’nith and moving in the tune of a timeline he sees most optimal."

Perkele asks "Is that how you see this? Personally, I think he is just following his instincts or being lucky."

The abyssan warrior speaks from the middle head that looks like an orc "There is a good chance that he isn’t doing any of this intentionally, as he seems to move almost as if some sort of puppet."

Perkele rubs his chin and says "Interesting. So that’s how it appears."

The abyssan warrior asks Perkele from the middle face of his top head that looks like a dragon "Did you ask because you didn’t know, or did you ask because you wanted another’s viewpoint?"

Perkele taps the abyssan warrior’s right shoulder and says "Think whatever you want. I’m bored of this match already. The winner is obvious."

Then Perkele makes a bottle resembling scotch appear and starts jugging its contents down his throat.

The abyssan warrior just says from his lowest head that looked like a locust "You gods and your pompous ways."

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Lucina is getting frustrated that almost none of her attacks land no matter how hard she tries. And those that land don’t cause any significant damage.

Lud is feeling a bit out of breath by now and wants to end the match as soon as he can. He had tried to use the strength of other legion members, but in the constant barrage of attacks, he hadn’t had enough time to fully concentrate.

Then Lud did something he didn’t expect. When he swung his sword to block Lucina’s attack that time, the cling of the swords came twice. Lud could also swear that he saw some apparition following his action to block the attack just before the sound, but he was confident that he was just imagining things.

But as the battle went on, those bonus clings and apparitions came more and more apparent. Lucina even asked him straight up "What are you doing?"

And Lud, confused himself, said "I have no idea what I’m doing, but it seems to me that I’m getting closer and closer to victory."

Lud did not realize that he was making banter at Lucina’s expense, but Lucina herself took this personally and her attacks became stronger and faster all of a sudden.

Lud started to get more and more cuts, while Lucina didn’t have a single scratch on her.

It started to get harder and harder for Lud to move as his flesh was being cut every so often.

But not wanting to lose, Lud thought of Xu. His undefeated defence and the sword dances of his fingers.

The images Lud started to see started to form into a form of a sword style. Before, he just crudely moved his sword like an amateur, but now, he started to make his sword’s movements have some semblance of form.

Lucina noticed this and immediately started to push herself to her limit. The battle on a railway track came to a halt when Lucina made an attack so strong that made Lud fall off the track and to the streets below.

It was quite a fall and a normal human would probably die if they fell from that height, but Lud only had his right arm broken. Lud considered himself lucky, since he was left handed in the first place. Of course, this wasn’t optimal, since he would use both of his hands to swing to attack or block.

Lucina jumped off of the railway track to attack Lud as she fell. Lud managed to block Lucina just barely, but somehow he noticed an opening as Lucina was still in the air after the attack and now Lud tried to think of a form of his attack.

His ability to have multiples of himself think about the same problem came in handy, as he found out the most optimal attack he can come up with.

In a moment that lasted barely three seconds, Lud managed to harness power that didn’t even belong to his legion. The power of Nemesis that could destroy anything in his path.

Lud had a sick smile as he dropped his sword and aimed his index finger at Lucina.

The world seemed to move much, much slower in that moment, and Lud said with a sick smile on his face "Die".

With a fraction of the power Lud saw from Nemesis that day, Lud disintegrated Lucina and everything else in the direction that his finger pointed. Lucina didn’t have a single particle remaining in that space after Lud’s attack.

The battle had ended and Lud and Lucina were brought to the arena once more and almost everyone there cheered for the contestant who gave their all.

Lucina was still a bit stunned by her loss, as she was lying on the ground, but Lud came to her and offered a hand.

This made the audience hold their breath, as the racism Lucina had for someone like Lud was apparent for all.

But as Lucina saw Lud’s hand, there were many thoughts running through her mind. "How disgusting" "How dare he" "A human gloating, how ridiculous".

But one voice in her head said "What does it matter anyway? It was a fair match." And with that thought on her head, Lucina accepted Lud’s hand, who then helped her rise back up as the crowd cheered.

In the audience, Diane looked at Lucina with pride. A moment where she had a little growth that differs from the cultural norms of their people. A small step, but a step nonetheless.

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Loyrktoshthil Embershthir (Phoneix) - Tiara Culling (Transcended Human):

Tiara looked at the screen with a smile. Of course someone she trusts will defeat a mere hero. Tiara even laughed in amusement "Look at that boy Crown. That is the kind of man that you can count on."

Crown said to Tiara "But I trust daddy more than anything." Then Crown realized something and said "You don’t think so too? Ima go tell daddy immediately."

Tiara restraints Crown and says "Don’t be hasty, my dear Crown. Of course I trust my hubby more than anyone. In fact, my trust for him far surpasses yours, I’m afraid."

Crown pouts and says "That can’t be. I was born from your love for daddy, so obviously my love surpasses aaanyone else’s."

Tiara says "Love and trust are two separate, yet interconnected things, my dear."

Crown turns her back on her mother and says "Hmph. You just say that because you know I’m right. But where is daddy anyways? Shouldn’t he be here cheering for you before you match?"

Crown gasps for a moment and says "Does it mean that he doesn’t care anymore?! Has his love for mommy disappeared already because of my cuteness? This can’t be."

Tiara says "Calm down. He is with the audience at the moment. He felt like it was better for him to be there than trying to find his way back to the audience after cheering me on here."

Crown says "Right. Daddy has bad luck with directions at moments like this, so that is understandable."

Then the announcer says from the intercom "Contestants Loyrktoshthil Embershthir and Tiara Culling, please proceed to the arena to start the match."

Tiara rose up from the bench and said "Welp... Time to kick some bird ass. Go find daddy and watch me together with him, okay?"

Crown salutes and says "Ai ai, dear mommy."

And on the other side, Loyr looks proudly at the screen where Lud helps Lucina get up. He says to Flot and Shala "Ah... Such a fine man that benefactor is. It is a shame we didn’t manage to make him join our family as well."

Shala says "Dad, please stop talking about that nonsense already."

Flot says "That is right dear. We shouldn’t lose hope just yet."

Shala says in an embarrassed tone "Mom!"

Flot continues "I heard a rumor that our benefactor is fine with marrying multiple people, so our chances aren’t lost just yet."

Loyr has a hand on his chin as he contemplates "Hmm... Is that so, my dear wife."

Shala says "Just stop you two. I’m fine as long as I get to be in my eternal sanctuary."

Flot says "Which will be located in Elysium, you potential future husband."

Shala sighs as she can’t take her parent’s antics anymore. Then she asks her father "So dad, are you sure you are fine going into battle after you just got out of being bedridden?"

Loyr answers "My child. I am fine. While I haven’t fully recovered yet, I still have my fire burning, so a battle or two will be fine."

Flot places her hands on Loyr’s hand and says "Just don’t push yourself too hard, dear."

Loyr smiles gently and takes a hold of Flot’s hands as he says "Of course, my love. I’ll be careful."

And then the announcement came to tell Loyr to get to the arena, and Loyr says "Well, time to go, I suppose."

Flot says as Loyr leaves "Please be careful, dear."

And so, the emperor of Nous Empire and well respected Phoenix patriarch came to the arena. Both of them had confidence written all over their faces.

Mercy shouts once more "Contestants! Are you ready?!"

Both shout "I am ready!" and Mercy sends them off with the words "May your battle be glorious!"

And so, the contestants were sent to a tropical island that wasn’t really big. This made both contestants immediately rise to the skies with their respective means.

Loyr says to Tiara "It seems our paths cross again, empress of Nous Empire. Hope you haven’t grown dull since our last meeting."

Tiara jabs back "Oh my sharpness is far from gone. But let’s hope that this time will be at least as interesting as the last one. Granted, you did sacrifice quite a lot of your power during the swarm attack, I hear."

Loyr says "Unfortunately that is correct. But thanks to my benefactor Faust Ilumnos, I have regained most of my strength that I should have at this stage of this life. Please, do go all out from the get go."

Tiara says to annoy Loyr "Oh but I can’t. Wouldn’t that just end our bout too soon and leave the audience hanging? After all, I’ve grown quite a bit stronger since that day, and you seem to have grown weaker."

Loyr smirks while still annoyed "You do have kept your sharpness, Ms. Culling. Let us not dawdle any longer, alas, the audience may grow impatient."

And with that, Loyr sends a barrage of fire arrows at Tiara, who in turn blocks most of them with her magic shield.

Tiara says "You need a bit more firepower if you are going to defeat me, bird man."

Loyr, getting annoyed, summons a firespiral coming from the ocean that traps Tiara and causes a bit of damage.

Tiara, however extinguishes the flame not long after, but it did burn a bit of her clothes.

Tiara says to Loyr "I suppose it is my turn now." And with those words, Tiara launches balls of pure magical energy at Loyr like they were bullets. Very massive bullets.

Loyr has to dodge them continually, as he didn’t manage to make his superior magic shield quite in time while he was attacking earlier. The barrage of magic bullets doesn’t relent, and even after making his so-called "Superior magic shield", the magic bullets pass right through it like it was nothing more than paper.

This failure to block Tiara’s attack properly makes Loyr’s left wing unusable and he starts to plummet to the ocean.

Tiara just says to Loyr as he is falling "Your kind do tend to forget to find other means of flight other than your wings. Granted, the healing factor of phoenixes is impressive, but not so if the aether that makes the wing is consumed."

Loyr finally understood why those "magic bullets" passed through his "superior magic shield" so easily. The so called "magic bullets" were made to eat away the aether that they pass through, making almost all forms of shields unreliable.

Loyr says as he is falling "I have to admit, never did I expect you to find that kind of way to use magic."

And with that, Loyr falls to the ocean, which is very dangerous to most phoenixes.

But as he should sink to the ocean, he is instead stopped at the surface of the water as if it was solid.

Tiara noticed immediately that Loyr casted a spell on himself that made him able to "walk" on water. While the spell is complex, once mastered, it makes the target of the spell unable to fall through a liquid surface no matter what anyone else tries.

This does bring a smile on Tiara’s face, which makes Loyr shed a drop of sweat.

Now that the ocean was technically considered ground below him, Tiara just casted a spell that makes their target experience much higher gravity than they normally would.

While Loyr was being crushed, he complimented Tiara by saying "I didn’t expect you to learn few tricks that star and moon elves use. I’m impressed. You truly have..."

Loyr spills blood from his mouth as his lungs are being crushed while at the same time healed by Loyr’s phoenix regeneration.

He manages to say "You truly have surpassed your kind’s limits. I concede."

And with that, the match was over

Lud looks from the audience this time and says to Sarah, who is sitting beside him "So I’m going to face Tiara in the 2nd round."

Sarah mutters as she is munching some food "Seems like it."

Lud then asks Sarah "By the way, why didn’t you join this tournament?"

Sarah says "Mercy forbid me to."

Lud asks in astonishment "And you just went with it?"

Sarah shrugs and says "I mean, I would have won it pretty much. She said that if I could beat her, there was no way I couldn’t beat the other contestants."

Lud looks back at the arena where Tiara and Loyr are shaking hands and says "I mean as long as you are fine with it."

Sarah says as she swallows her food "I mean, I see a lot of potential in the contestants like I did with Weiss."

Lud says "Speaking of Weiss, I heard that Thews will join the immortal-cup."

Sarah looks at Lud questioningly "Really? Then I’d like to join that bout."

Lud says "I don’t think they accept any more contestants."

Sarah gets a little sad and says "Is that so. Pops is in it, so maybe I could trade... nevermind."

Lud pats Sarah’s head and says "There there. I’m sure you’ll face good opponents in no time."

This makes Sarah hug Lud and drop all the food remains she had on her.

Altair then comes up and says "You two seem to have gotten close."

Sarah mutters "Haven’t we always been that way to you?"

Altair says "Probably. Just don’t litter when you are being affectionate."

Sarah gets a little sad and says "Sorry. I’ll clean up."

Then Sarah notices that all the garbage is gone already and Altair says before Sarah asks "Already cleaned them up for you."

Sarah smiles as she looks at Altair and says "Thanks Al. Love you."

Altair sighs and says "Spare me from those kinds of words. I’m too old for them."

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Zimelogos Ka’at (Transcended Demon) - Synthia Altrenas (Deadman):

Zimel was waiting patiently in the waiting room, not expecting anyone to come, but for her surprise, Mercy came and said to her "Remember, it isn’t necessary for you to win, so while you can go all out, don’t sacrifice your soul essence in this match. It won’t be worth it."

Zimel answers with a simple, "Understood, mam."

Mercy smiles gently and pats Zimel’s head "You and your family really make me proud. There is no need to prove your right to be by my side. So just have fun in this match. My honour isn’t on the line."

Zimel smiles a little and says "A-Aknowledged. M-Mommy, I-I-I mean mam."

And as for Synthia, Thews and Mira are talking to each other in front of her.

Mira says "So... You heard that Elysium king has a... ahem... big appendix, so now you want him to have children with Thia. Am I getting this right?"

Thews nods with confidence "Yep! That way our family will prosper!"

Mira is rubbing her temple as she tries to understand the logic of her husband’s whim.

Thews then says "And in the first place, Thia said that she was fine with it as long as the boy has some fighting skills. Isn’t that right Thia?"

Thia answers with enthusiasm "That’s right! Though after I saw what he could do in that match, I was a little disappointed, but then he suddenly managed to swing his sword with some form. Ahh... And then the last attack. How I’d like to experience it myself."

Thews gives a thumbs up and says "I know you’re gonna eventually." Then he lowers his thumb and says in a more serious tone "But don’t forget. His huge dick is going to belong to our bloodline."

Thia says with enthusiasm "That shall be done papa!"

Mira just shakes her head and mutters "You two. Why didn’t Andrew or Livia stick around? Why does it have to be only you two?"

Thia says with confidence "Those weaklings couldn’t swing a sword to save their life!"

Then the announcement call that tells Thia and Algol to go to the arena comes, and Thia jumps from the bench she was sitting in and makes a sly salute as she leaves "I’m gonna bring glory to our family! Just you wait!"

Thews and Mira are left in the prep room for a moment, and Mira just sighs "How did things turn out like this? We even made that poor boy leave just so that Thia could join this tournament."

Thews says as he leaves "He wouldn’t have amounted much even if we didn’t kick him out. Relax. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see someone as good as Thia go fighting instead of him."

In the audience, the nameless man who was kicked from the tournament to give Thia their position was seen shedding a single tear while muttering "This is fine. I didn’t want to test my skills anyways."

When the two contestants are in the arena, Mercy says the same thing she has said previously, and both contestants respond positively.

And with that, the contestants are sent to a volcanic area, which is kind of bad for Thia, since she doesn’t have any flight abilities.

Nevertheless, Thia charges at Zimel, who in turn makes a lot of magic mines on the ground.

Thia walks right to the magic mines, but just brushes it off while saying "Is that all?!"

Zimel jumps away as Thia strikes, but she fails to dodge the attack completely, make a scratch to her throat that starts to bleed heavily.

With magic, Zimel flies high up and heals the wound with her magic.

After the healing is sufficient, Zimel summons a meteor to hit Thia, who just laughs and says "Is that all you got?! Disappointing!"

Thia jumps high up and slashes right through the meteor and jumps from the debris of that meteor towards Zimel and cuts her left arm off.

Thia says "Dang. Just missed it." As she begins to fall towards a lavapool.

As she is falling, Zimel heals her arm so that she doesn’t bleed to death.

When Thia is about to dive into the lava, she swings her sword with enough force to split and cool just enough of the lava that she gets a platform to jump from.

Of course, lava doesn’t cool of that fast, and now Thia’s shoes have burned a little.

Thia tries to blow her shoes so that they don’t feel so hot, but when it doesn’t seem to work, she takes her shoes off, completely ignoring Zimel.

Zimel, while having lost a lot of blood, still manages to cast a magic hand that she plans to crush Thia with.

Thia, being oblivious while the magic hand is descending, realizes just in time to panic and pick her sword and swing as hard as she can.

This attack slices through the magic hand and even manages to cut off Zimel’s torso diagonally.

In her last moments before she loses consciousness, Zimel summons a magic arrow from behind Thia and manages to shoot it right before she loses consciousness.

Thia was hit with that arrow, but it just hit her shoulder, so it didn’t make Thia lose the match.

And so, the match was over.

When Zimel and Thia came back to the arena, Thia looked excited and jumped up and down for a moment, before realizing Zimel had something she wanted to say.

Zimel said to Thia "I wasn’t good enough to defeat you, but it was a good match."

Zimel offers her hand to shake with Thia, and Thia grabs her hand with a smile on her face and says "It was great, but would have been better if you could have given your real all."

Zimel, realizing that Thia already knew that Zimel had a hidden trump card she couldn’t use in that match, just smiled back and said "Well I hope that I never have a need to show it to you."

Thia smiled as she let go of Zimel’s hand to wipe the snot off her own face and say "Well even if it wouldn’t be best for all of us, I’d make sure to enjoy your real all to the fullest."

Zimel was astonished by Thia’s positivity and had a surprised face for a moment. Then she smiled back, turned around, waved back and said "Well if we meet in the afterlife, I’ll be sure to give you my all then."

Thia shouted while Zimel was leaving "That is a promise, okay! I’ll be sure to be there when you reach the afterlife so that you can’t take back what you just said! A promise is a promise!"

Zimel left that arena with a smile on her face, not having the need to think negatively about her loss.

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Zaron (Human) - Algol (Transcended Star Elf):

Zaron, in his prep room, looks worried as he says "How am I supposed to beat the likes of them?"

Pinja says to him "It isn’t the matter of winning or losing. People all over the world are here to witness all kinds of battles, from minor to major."

Zaron says "You really think that I can face a nine pointed star elf like Algol?"

Pinja looks away for a moment and then back with a nervous smile. She says "Don’t worry about it. Just give your all and it’ll all be good."

Meanwhile Algol was waiting patiently for his dear mother to come and cheer for him. He waited and waited, until the announcer said that it was time for his match.

Algol just muttered to himself "Well... I’m sure my mother dearest will be waiting for me on my way to the arena. I’m sure she’ll send me off with a smile."

With a smile on his face, Algol leaves the prep room.

Meanwhile, Altair just sits with Lud and Sarah. Lud asks her "Come to think of it, isn’t it Algol’s match now?"

Altair says a simple "Yep."

Lud asks "Aren’t you going to give him a prep talk?"

Altair says in a simple "Nope."

Lud looks at Altair with a worried look "You... are his mother right?"

Altair corrects Lud by saying "Adoptive mother."

Lud says a simple "Right" as he looks at the arena where Algol and Zaron are.

When Mercy says her thing, Zaron answers positively and Algol just says nothing.

Mercy asks "Contestant Algol. Is something the matter?"

Algol mutters to himself "She didn’t come to cheer me on. She didn’t come to cheer me on. She didn’t come to cheer me on. She didn’t come to cheer me on. She didn’t come to..."

Altair notices Algol being weird and shouts from the audience "Oi Algol! Don’t act stupid and beat that thunder hammer’s ass or whoever he was!"

There is a slight silence where Zaron just mutters "So she does remember me. I have made it in life mama."

Then as the people wait for Algol’s response in silence, Algol takes a deep breath and smiles like an innocent child "Yes mother. I’ll do just that."

Mercy, taking this as agreement to proceed with the battle, says "May your...um... battle be glorious!"

And with that, Zaron and Algol were sent to a jungle. Where before Zaron could even take a step, Algol just slices the surrounding area with an invisible blade and cuts even Zaron in half horizontally.

And with that, the battle between the master of the adventurers guild of the lower realm and the nine pointed star elf ended.

When Algol and Zaron were brought back to the arena, Algol just smiled and waved at Altair as he said "Did you see that mother? I did great, didn’t I?"

Altair gives a smirk and a thumbs up which makes Algol smile even more creepier.

Meanwhile Zaron is close to tears as he holds onto his hammer for dear life.

Algol goes to Zaron and places his hand on his shoulder. Zaron looked at Algol who still had a creepy smile. Algol said "You face me with honor. Be proud." whilst giving a thumbs up.

Zaron was shaking as he barely was able to smile and made a thumbs up himself to respond to Algol’s creepy gesture.

.

Etiri Yuinli (God Chosen Human) - Yi (Automaton):

In a prep room Etiri was readying her battle suit as Takeru and Yukimi were there to cheer her on.

Takeru said to his wife, "It really has been ages since I saw you wear that."

Etiri says "How does it look? It seems to still fit me fine."

Yukimi says "You look very powerful dear mother. I’m sure you’ll give up a good fight."

Etiri says "That is to be expected as I am Maiden of Jyqbolos. This time, I’m sure that he will be watching."

Takeru asks "Are you nervous?"

Etiri scoffs and says "If I was scared now, I wouldn’t have made it this far. Besides..."

Etiri pats Yukimi’s head and kisses Takeru’s cheek "I was more nervous when the time to give birth to Yukimi came and when our wedding was about to happen."

The announcer calls the contestants to the arena, and Etiri says "I’ll be back with honour."

Takeru responds by saying "Go get them, my lovely tigress."

On the other end, Yi was being cheered on by her named sisters.

Tuzi says to Yi "Have confidence."

An says to Yi "Do not let your mind wander."

A sword says to Yi "Sister Zhu Sishiwu sends a message ’Tear her to pieces! Make her bleed!’, sister Fang Liushiba sends a message ’Don’t let even gods topple you down!’, sister Hei Jiushiqi sends a message ’Use whatever means necessary.’, and I Gu Sanshi send a message ’Observe, analyse, overcome.’. We are rooting for you, weakest one."

Yi rose up and shouted "I’ll be back!"

While Yi was leaving, Wushi’er shouted at Yi "Beat that god blessed bitch to the ground or I’ll make sure to work you like a horse!"

Yi smiled and raised her hand in acknowledgement of Wushi’er’s words and went to the arena

Both Etiri and Yi stood in the arena, both sensing a crueling battle ahead.

When they were sent to the pocket realm, they stood on an open field with grass and flowers all around.

Etiri took out her katana and said to Yi "I heard of your dedication to the art of combat, so I... Etiri, the Maiden of Jyqbolos, will do my utmost to show you my dedication as well as a sign of respect."

Yi summoned her blade to her hand and said "I am thankful to receive such respect from someone I can sense having beat many mighty foes. So I, Yi, the first finger of Xu and the weakest model, will do my utmost to show you the dedication you so respect."

Both stare at each other for a moment, waiting for the wind to carry a leaf gently to a rock that stood beside them.

And as the leaf landed, both charged at each other with a might that was meant to show respect for the opponent they were facing.

With both swordsmen passing through each other and waiting for the impact of their blades to settle, a moment of silence arose.

In a moment after, Yi lost her left arm and a little of her the side of her head. The holographic face that Yi had stopped working. Etiri meanwhile, was unscathed.

Etiri complimented Yi by saying "You managed to shift my blade just enough so that my attack didn’t fully land. My respect for you wasn’t unfounded.

Yi, while in pain and heating up, said to Etiri "Thank you. May we continue this bout?"

Etiri looked at her katana a little and said "I wouldn’t expect less from someone as dedicated as you."

And with that, the dance of blades began with god’s chosen and the weakest finger.

The clings of the swords clashing, while filling the audience with excitement, none dared to make a sound out of sheer respect.

All of Yi’s sisters were looking at the match intensely, even Bai had to take a glance for the feelings she felt her sisters had at the moment.

Takeru and Yukimi could barely follow the movement that was slowed down for the average viewer for clarity. Even Takeru could feel that his wife had to sweat, something Etiri hadn’t done since giving birth to Yukimi.

Each eye looked closely at the sword dance and the heat that Yi felt was similar to the heat she felt when she faced Weiss for the first time.

In a moment Yi lost her second arm, she decided to execute the Qian Jian 100th form "Deus Ex Machina" to make one final move.

Yi felt her parts bursting out of their place and in that split of a moment, manifesting a pure electrical spirit body so that she could strike once more.

And in that form, she managed to cause a scratch on Etiri’s stomach, but since it wasn’t fatal, the battle ended with the erosion of the form Yi had in that moment, causing the win to go to Etiri.

Once both of them returned to the arena, the crowd cheered for a heartstopping match.

Yi opened her eyes, looked at Etiri for a moment opposite of her, smiled and said, "Thank you."

As the crowd cheered and the announcer announced the winner, Etiri and Yi bowed out of respect for each other. Yi left the arena, waving to the audience as she went.

But when Yi was alone for a moment, in the pathway to the arena, she looked at the arena once more and said "I’ve come farther. I can feel it."

And as Yi said those words, a familiar voice said to her "Maybe if you fought like that when we first clashed swords, perhaps even I would have dropped a few sweats."

Yi smiled, closed her eyes for a moment and said "So you were watching."

Weiss said to Yi, extending her fist toward her. "But unfortunately for you, I have also grown stronger since we last met."

Yi looked at Weiss and extended her own fist to bump Weiss’.

Somewhere else, Gu spoke seemingly to herself "Now I’ll be. I don’t think any of us has reached that level of concentration ever during our lives. It might be because we have acclimated to this world and its laws, or it might be just that much level of growth our weakest has made. What do you think... Song Bai?"

Bai doesn’t answer, which in turns makes Gu feel like Bai feels a bit annoyed at the idea of someone learning a new technique before her.

But on the contrary, Bai is smiling as no one is looking at her at the moment. She is proud that Yi has achieved something that even the best model has yet to achieve.

Bai does mutter to herself "And now I also have to step up my game. What a bother."

Each finger sister now feels a surge of inspiration to train so that they themselves might achieve such a miracle. Bai however, had much less time to train since she was going to have a battle with a god or two soon.

.

Shalaphinar Embershthir (Phoenix) - Re’ût Ekt Ömmash (Transcended Abyssan):

Next round was Shala and someone from the abyss known as Re’ût. Shala was worried what kind of monster had stepped foot on the realms.

And while she is worrying, Shala is being patted by Flot, who says to her "Don’t worry too much about it."

Shala asks "You know what I’m worrying about?"

To which Flot says "Of course I know. I’m your mother after all."

Loyr then steps in and says "Abyssan as he may be, this tournament is meant to entertain and connect the races of Lutah. I’m sure Lady Mercy wouldn’t allow just anyone to enter the tournament."

Shala looks down and says "Yeah, you are right." And as she says it, the announcement to call the contestants to the arena is made and Shala says "Time to show them what’s up."

Loyr and Flot look at Shala with a proud look on their eyes, and Flot asks Loyr after Shala has gone "Do you know anything about that Re’ût guy?"

Loyr says "Apparently he is the top of the abyssal born hierarchy when it comes to combat."

Flot asks "Does Shalaphinar have a chance?" To which Loyr answers "I’m not sure, but I’d wager no."

As Shala is walking to the arena, she sees a tall looking creature of a man.

Re’ût has three heads that are stacked from the chest, neck and actual headplace. His lowest head looks like a locust, middle head looks like an orc and top head looks like a dragon with three faces. Outside his three heads, he has a torso. His lowest head is just in his chest. He has three three hands, two on the right side, one in left, and right hands have three claw-like fingers while the left one has four.

Both the contestants are asked the same spiel as usual from Mercy, and soon they find themselves in a desert.

Shala says in her native tongue "I’m gonna burn you to a crip, you abyss filth."

To which Re’ût just holds his arms crossed in a way. Angering Shala a bit.

At this point, Shala forgot how not everyone speaks flametongue, and Re’ût is one of those who doesn’t, so all she says don’t land.

Shala attacks with her flaming sword and Re’ût just takes a hold of her sword with one of his right hands, surprising Shala.

Shala brings out some heat that starts to turn the sand around them into glass, but Re’ût just stands there with the rest of his hands still crossed.

Shala is getting even more heated, and the area starts to fully boil like they were in some glass bath. Re’ût however, he just sinks in without worrying about anything.

Then after Shala has exhausted herself and the temperature starts to cool down, Re’ût breaks the sword that somehow survived the abominable heat earlier with his fingers.

Shala is shocked, but too out of breath to step back. She just asks "Who are you" in flametongue, to which Re’ût simply answers with his locus head "Apologies. I don’t speak your language. Farewell."

And with that, Re’ût just stabs Shala’s throat with his sharp fingers that were barely warm.

The round ended in Re’ût’s victory, and when they were sent back to the arena, all were silent for the match they just witnessed.

Most were hoping Re’ût would lose early, but none expected such overwhelming victory for the abyssan.

The announcer almost forgot to announce Re’ût’s victory before he left the arena.

And thus ends the first half of stage 1.