Three days after the Blade Labyrinth, the arena was unrecognizable, thousands of workers had worked day and night to transform the battlefield into a place of duels worthy of the greatest warriors, the red sand had disappeared, replaced by polished white marble tiles, ten fighting circles had been drawn, each twenty meters in diameter, and iron barriers separated the fights to prevent the blood of one duel from mixing with another, the stands were packed, nobles in silk and gold, generals covered in medals, rich merchants, and at the very top, on the royal balcony, behind a golden veil that shone under the sun, stood the Princess, people whispered that she was thirteen years old, that she had never lost a duel, and that with a simple snap of her fingers, she could decide who would live or die.
Below, in the candidate area, the twenty survivors waited, Raider was sitting, his chest bandaged, his right leg wrapped in cloth, he was still limping from the injuries of the labyrinth, Rambo was next to him, his left arm in a sling, three stitches on his cheek, they weren’t talking, they were watching the arena, in the back, alone, Mito was sharpening his knife, again, always, as if it was the only thing that mattered to him.
A herald in red armor climbed onto the central platform and raised a golden spear, “SILENCE!” he shouted, his voice covered the fifty thousand people present, “WELCOME TO THE FINAL TRIAL OF THE TOURNAMENT OF THE SIXTH KINGDOM!”, he pointed to the royal balcony and everyone bowed, “IN THE PRESENCE OF HER HIGHNESS, THE PRINCESS OF THE SIXTH KINGDOM!”, a respectful silence followed, then applause erupted.
“RULES OF THE FINAL DUELS: 20 CANDIDATES, 10 SIMULTANEOUS DUELS, THE 10 WINNERS ADVANCE, THEN, 5 DUELS, THE 5 WINNERS + 1 LOSER CHOSEN BY HER HIGHNESS = 6 ROYAL GUARDS, DEATH IS NOT FORBIDDEN, BUT IF YOU SURRENDER, YOU ARE ELIMINATED.”
A massive magic screen lit up above the arena and the twenty names began to scroll, the tension was cut with a knife, “DUEL 1: LISKO TOKYO #001 VS FURY #20”, “DUEL 2: BLACK BLADE #03 VS TIGER #14”, “DUEL 3: GRIFFIN #07 VS SHADOW #11”, “DUEL 4: RAIDER #147 VS BOULDER #89”, “DUEL 5: SPEAR #05 VS HAWK #18”, “DUEL 6: DRAGON #02 VS BEAR #33”, “DUEL 7: RAMBO #148 VS VIPER #12”, “DUEL 8: SPECTER #09 VS HAMMER #27”, “DUEL 9: LIGHTNING #04 VS WALL #66”, “DUEL 10: PHOENIX #06 VS SNAKE #41”, when Raider and Rambo’s names appeared, Raider closed his eyes “we fought to get here, we don’t lose now”, Rambo nodded, he was scared but he also had rage.
BOOOONG, the gong rang ten times, one for each circle, “LET THE DUELS BEGIN!”
Raider faced a colossus nicknamed Boulder, he was two meters twenty tall, weighed one hundred and forty kilos of muscle, he was bald and held a war axe as big as Rambo, he was covered in scars and came from the Northern Mountains, they said he had killed a bear with his bare hands, Raider next to him looked tiny, one meter eighty, injured, limping, the gong sounded, Boulder didn’t walk, he charged, BOOM BOOM BOOM, the ground shook with every step, his axe came down on Raider who rolled to the side, the axe sank into the marble and shards flew, “too slow” Boulder growled as he raised his axe for another strike, Raider jumped back but his injured leg betrayed him, he winced in pain, blood flowed from his old wound.
GIVE UP!”, in the stands, Rambo gripped the railing shouting “get up brother, get up!”, then Raider stopped, he looked at Boulder, really looked, the giant was strong but predictable, and his left knee was weak, an old injury, Raider whispered “for Nanu”, he feinted right and Boulder took the bait, when the axe came down, Raider slid under his arm and struck, not the chest, not the head, the knee, with all his strength, with his heel, CRACK, the sound echoed through the entire circle, Boulder screamed and fell to his knee, his axe dropped, Raider didn’t hesitate, he jumped on his back, grabbed his armband 147 and slammed it onto Boulder’s chest, the rule was simple, touching the opponent with your seal meant a technical victory, “WINNER: RAIDER FROM KISOLO!” the referee shouted, silence for a second, then the stands exploded in applause, Raider stood up, staggered, looked at the stands and saw Rambo crying and laughing at the same time, he gave him a bloody little smile “I won little brother”, then he collapsed, exhausted but alive, the medics rushed over.
Twenty minutes later, it was Rambo’s turn, his opponent was called Viper, a woman one meter sixty-five tall, thin, short black hair, two curved blades at her belt, she moved like a snake and had already won seven street fights in the capital, Rambo was trembling but he clenched his fists, the gong sounded, Viper attacked without a word, SHING SHING, two cuts, left arm, right shoulder, Rambo stepped back, blood was flowing, SHING, third hit, his cheek, a thin red line, the crowd was laughing, “a child!
what is he doing here!”, Rambo’s vision was blurry, the pain was everywhere, he thought about falling, about giving up.
Then he heard a hoarse voice from the medical stands, “RAMBO!
GET UP!
FOR THE FAMILY!”, it was Raider, his face bandaged, being treated, shouting for him, something clicked in Rambo’s head, the fear was gone, the pain remained but it didn’t matter anymore, Viper rushed in for the final strike, Rambo didn’t dodge, he raised his forearm, the blade cut deep, but at the same time, his fist shot out straight into Viper’s stomach, WHAM, the sound of a sandbag exploding, Viper doubled over, vomited, fell to her knees then to her side, “WINNER: RAMBO FROM KISOLO!”, Rambo fell to his knees, trembling, crying, not from sadness, from relief, he looked up and Raider, below, gave him a thumbs up, his face bloody but proud.
While Rambo was winning, duel number one was already over, Mito faced Fury, a muscular woman of twenty-four years, known for killing in ten seconds with her two swords, she sneered at Mito “a kid? The source of this chapter is novelping(.)com.
seriously?”, she charged, fast, both swords aimed for the throat and heart, then Mito disappeared, not teleportation, just a sidestep and a flick of the wrist, SHING, a sharp sound, Fury stopped dead one meter from him, her eyes widened, a thin red line appeared on her throat, she touched her neck, blood, she fell on her back, dead before she hit the ground, “WINNER: LISKO TOKYO!”, Mito sheathed his knife, he was fifteen years old but his face showed nothing, no joy, no sadness, he went back to sit on a rock at the edge of the circle, as if nothing had happened, even the nobles fell silent.
The other seven duels ended in fifteen minutes, Black Blade sliced Tiger in half, Griffin choked Shadow, Spear impaled Hawk, Dragon burned Bear with fire, Specter vanished and reappeared behind Hammer to break his neck, Lightning was too fast for Wall, Phoenix set Snake on fire, result, ten survivors, Raider, Rambo, Mito, and seven other monsters, the wounded were treated in a hurry, the general climbed onto the platform “CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 10 WINNERS, TOMORROW, 5 DUELS, THE 5 WINNERS WILL BE GUARDS, AND I, THE PRINCESS, WILL CHOOSE 1 OF THE 5 LOSERS TO BE THE 6TH.”, a murmur ran through the arena, a second chance, by the Princess herself, at thirteen years old, she already had that power, “REST, HEAL, TOMORROW, BLOOD WILL DECIDE WHO DESERVES TO PROTECT ME.”
End of chapter 6
“Raider and Rambo survived the first duels, Mito defeated his opponent in one second, but tomorrow, the 10 remaining candidates will fight for the 6 guard spots, who will be chosen, and who will be eliminated?
The answer in the next chapter!”
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