The heat of the darkness awakened my senses one by one.
I could feel him.
His aura.
It was moving around me.
To the right, then to the left, he was circling around me.
Probably trying to disorient me.
He must still think his decoy had worked.
I had to take advantage of my information advantage over my opponent.
It was now or never. The element of surprise wasn't going to work twice.
Suddenly, I felt a tingling in my right ear and instantly moved my arm to intercept his attack.
My grip on the handle of my sword tightened.
The vibration of the blade reached me, telling me that I had successfully stopped his attack.
I hadn't heard any metallic clang.
Was he really unarmed?
No.
Don't jump to conclusions.
He could very well have the ability to mask the sounds he made.
I could almost hear the astonishment coming from his mouth, but I was too focused.
I was in the zone.
I felt a cold mass moving behind me and instinctively understood that he was armed.
I flattened myself against the ground, breathing in dust.
His blade passed just above me through empty air.
The dust in my lungs made me cough as I rolled to the side and got back up.
"How—"
Sensing that he was shaken, I charged headfirst into his legs and, using my hands to pivot, made him fall onto the dusty ground before placing my blade against his throat.
It was as if I possessed a sixth sense.
I could see each of his attacks coming.
They reached my mind as clear as crystal.
The screams of the delirious crowd echoed in my ears.
To them, they must have been watching me fight empty air.
I was fighting in complete darkness, free from all judgment.
The world, beneath my blind eyes, had disappeared.
The referee announced the winner as I slowly opened my eyes.
The crowd chanted my name.
A name they had probably only learned today.
When I returned to the stands, Doran grabbed me and pinned me under his arm, vigorously rubbing my head.
"Well then! You were hiding this talent from me, little genius." He released me. "You'll really have to teach me that trick of yours..."
He started walking with his eyes closed and his arms stretched out in front of him, clumsily imitating me.
He tripped over one of his soldiers, making everyone laugh.
I smiled along with them.
"To be honest... I don't even know how I do it..."
Doran straightened himself up, rubbing his sore forehead.
"Even better! You'll be able to teach me something you don't understand! Hahahahaha!"
"That might be complicated."
"Hahahahahaha!"
Doran's jovial laughter comforted me.
By itself, it was enough to give me back my strength.
The other soldiers were still laughing when my gaze turned toward the arena.
The next fight was apparently about to begin.
The second semifinal.
I looked at the glowing window floating above the stadium.
***
SEMIFINAL
ISAAC [URUK]
VS
ELENA [VALERIA]
***
Isaac.
The Prince of Uruk.
The sensation of my last encounter with him was still engraved in my mind.
He seemed cold and calculating despite his young age.
He must have suffered a lot to become the heir among all his brothers and sisters.
Today, no one had managed to push him to his limits.
I watched the young man enter the arena.
He was still wearing the same calm and arrogant expression he had displayed during our previous encounter.
Opposite him, the young woman who had also reached the semifinals stepped forward.
Elena.
I knew almost nothing about her except her name.
She was shorter than Isaac and even seemed frail beside him.
Yet, when she stopped at the center of the arena, something in her gaze made me understand that she hadn't gotten this far by chance.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Isaac disappeared.
His body propelled itself forward at a speed my eyes struggled to follow.
Elena stepped to the side.
A blade passed within a few centimeters of her face.
She immediately retaliated.
A thin blade of ether formed instantly in her hand.
She threw it in the direction of her attacker.
Isaac dodged it and struck.
Elena summoned another blade and parried.
The impact seemed to shake her entire body.
She stepped back.
One step.
Two steps.
Then three.
Isaac gave her no respite.
His attacks were simple and direct.
Surprisingly, terribly effective.
It was as if she was destined to lose.
Every movement seemed to have been calculated in advance.
Elena eventually raised her free hand.
A multitude of small glowing circles appeared around her.
Isaac stopped.
For the first time since the beginning of the tournament, his expression changed slightly.
Elena smiled.
"You're not the only one with hidden cards."
The circles lit up and dozens of projectiles shot out simultaneously.
The stadium erupted in screams.
Isaac dodged the first projectile.
Then a second.
And finally a third.
But the projectiles weren't chasing him.
They were crashing into the ground around him.
Again and again and again.
I suddenly understood.
"She's limiting his movements..."
Doran turned his head toward me.
"What?"
I pointed toward the arena.
"She's not trying to hit him. She's taking away his movement options."
Doran watched for a few seconds before his eyes lit up.
"Oh..."
Isaac was indeed finding himself trapped in an increasingly smaller space.
Elena then raised both hands, and all the remaining circles converged toward him.
BOOM!
A gigantic explosion rang out across the arena.
Smoke rose toward the ceiling.
The spectators screamed as I held my breath.
A silhouette emerged from the smoke.
Isaac.
His uniform was torn and blood trickled slightly from his forehead, but he was still standing.
Elena went pale.
Isaac raised his arrogant eyes toward her.
"That was well thought out."
Then he disappeared.
One second later, Elena fell to her knees.
The referee was already at her side.
"Victory for Isaac of Uruk!"
The stadium erupted.
I remained silent.
Isaac had just won, but this time he had been injured.
He had been forced to use more strength.
That meant one thing.
It was possible for me to defeat him.
A few minutes later, the glowing window appeared again.
***
FINAL
KAEL [BRITAIN]
VS
ISAAC [URUK]
***
I watched Isaac leave the arena.
He looked in my direction.
Our eyes met.
He smiled.
A genuine smile.
I didn't know whether that was supposed to reassure me or worry me.
But somewhere deep inside...
I was happy.
I wanted to fight him.
Not for my uncle.
Not for Britain.
Not to prove anything.
For myself.
***
The arena had fallen silent.
Tens of thousands of people were watching us.
I stood on one side.
Isaac on the other.
The referee stood between us.
"Are you ready?"
I tightened my fingers around the handle of my sword.
"Yes."
Isaac nodded.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin!"
Isaac charged, and I did the same.
Our blades collided with a metallic crash.
CLANG!
The impact echoed throughout the entire stadium.
I was immediately pushed backward by the force of the clash.
My feet slid across the stone of the arena.
Isaac didn't give me time to breathe, charging at me again.
One strike.
Then two.
Then three.
I parried.
Again and again.
I was struggling to keep up with his rhythm, retreating a little farther with every exchange.
He was faster.
More precise.
More experienced.
The years of training I lacked, he had probably spent training relentlessly, driven by the competition between his siblings.
Perhaps he had even put his life on the line in battle several times before.
I felt a sharp pain shoot through my shoulder.
His blade had just grazed me.
It hadn't touched me directly, but the ether radiating from it was sharp and deadly.
Blood began to flow down my arm.
The crowd screamed.
"Isaac! Isaac! Isaac!"
I'm already losing. No need to hype him up...
I gritted my teeth.
[The skill 'Monarch's Flames' (Lv.5) has been activated.]