"That was quite something," Kris says, watching the battle of Kiiara, Sienna and Serena. "Well, guess mine is next," he adds and walks out of the watching room with his hands in his pocket, having two swords strapped to his waist (one on each side).
"An astounding victory and display from the little genius, Serena Falcon!!!" the commentators declare. "And for our next match, we have Group B: Kris Vs Artemis Vs Buffy. What sort of thrills awaits us in this battle, we shall see," they add.
As Serena walks back into the participants' waiting room, her path and Kris's cross, along the long passage leading to the fighting arena.
"You don't look so happy," Kris calmly says, with his unbothered face, while Serena is still some distance away.
"Humph!!" Serena sighs and remains silent as she reaches him.
When they cross each other, they exchange high-fives and continue to walk in opposite directions.
"Well done," Kris says, exchanging the high-five.
Serena smiles, remains silent and some distance after passing Kris, she stops and says, "Kris, you're quite smart and strong, this should be an easy victory for you if you're really serious."
"Of course, even if it's a hassle, I don't intend to lose," Kris says, smiles a little and continues walking to the fighting arena.
"Ho Ho, seems it's my win this time," Diana laughs at Phoenix, covering her mouth with her left palm.
"Tch!! Well, I propose another contestant for this bet. Let us both choose another person but this time, the bet will be on who wins the tournament itself. Our previous choices still stand which means you have a higher chance at victory seeing as one of your choices, Serena, is still in the tournament and one of mine, Kiiara, is out," Phoenix proposes.
"Hmm, interesting. Alright I accept," Diana replies. "I go with Kris," She quickly proclaims.
"There you go again, making such quick decisions. Well, this time, I'll go with…Dayve," Phoenix says.
"Ho ho, this should be quite intriguing," Diana comments, smiling.
"By the way, we should go see Kiiara after this match. She should have recovered by then," Diana suggests.
"Sure," Phoenix replies.
Marcus and Lilian sit there, looking at Phoenix and Diana in a weird way, wondering how they could easily and playfully bet on their daughters and other Lightville participants.
"My my, don't forget Gerrar is still there. I bet he'll shock you both and come out victorious," Lilian speaks up.
"Ah, big sis, so you want to join the bet eh?" Diana replies, looking at Lilian. "Fine then, let's do this," she adds. Marcus lets out a tired sigh and Phoenix chuckles.
Back at the fighting platform…
"Good! Now that you are all here, shall we begin?" Echelone says, addressing Kris, Artemis and Buffy, who are gathered at the centre of the platform. "Alright then, let the battle begin!!!" he shouts, taps his sword with the tip on the ground and jumps backwards to his tall chair just outside the fighting platform.
The three are dressed in the long sleeve navy blue jacket and pair of trousers, given to all participants except that Buffy's jacket is sleeveless while Kris folded the sleeves of his.
Without wasting time, Artemis jumps backwards, drawing out her bow and three arrows, launching them against Kris and Buffy simultaneously. Kris easily dodges two of the arrows while Buffy moves with speed to attack Kris, ignoring the arrow sent against her.
"I'm not going to let this drag on, Manifest: Beast style: Wolf transformation," she says. Her hair becomes fuller, her legs and hands transform to that of a big grey wolf.
"Awooo!!!" Buffy lets out a loud howl with a burst of aura flowing from her. With her sharp claws and increased speed, she initiates her attack on Kris with a kick. Kris is forced to draw out one of his swords to quickly block the attack. The kick has so much force, it lifts Kris off the ground and sends him flying a bit.
Artemis places her hand on the ground and says, "Two dangerous people, however, from what I saw at the island, Kris is way more dangerous despite his handsome calm appearance. This stage is empty and big enough, so I guess I'll try my wood release here."
"Manifest: Wood style: Miniature forest," she utters and immediately, trees, shrubs and grasses begin emerging from the ground, covering half of the fighting platform.
"What? Give me a break," Kris says as he lands with his feet on the ground.
"Tch!! I see, she intends to hunt this way," Buffy says. "However, I'll find her with my heightened sense of smell and sight," she says to herself.
Artemis climbs up to the top of a tree and says, "Now let the hunt begin. With my hawk eyes, I should be able to easily locate them." "There you are," she says, immediately locating Kris and quickly fires an arrow at him. Kris senses the arrow and dodges it but it is followed by ten other arrows. Kris goes round to the other side of the tree behind him to evade the attack.
"Nice but that won't work for my hawk eye," Artemis says, shooting an arrow some distance to the left of the tree that Kris is behind. She follows up the attack by shooting another arrow which grazes the tail end of the first arrow shot, causing that first arrow to turn towards Kris. He notices and swiftly bends down, evading the arrow.
"My energy release: amplification, consumes a lot of energy not to talk of the strain it puts on my body, so for now I think I'll be taking it easy," Kris says within himself.
Meanwhile, Buffy makes a huge leap, heading to attack Artemis, with her hand claws. Artemis sees this and jumps off the tree she is on, turns and shoots some arrows at Buffy who breaks the branch of that tree with her hand claws. Buffy, with her feet placed on the tree, jumps backwards in the air and avoids the arrows. On getting to the ground, Artemis turns to her back and sees Kris, gliding with water, heading for her. Once he gets close to her, he spins in the air and swings one of his swords vertically to cut Artemis. Artemis quickly steps back, dodging the attack and retaliates, releasing two arrows against Kris. Kris quickly plunges his sword into the ground and using the hilt as support, bounces off to his left to a nearby tree, evading the arrows.
Artemis tries to move but finds out her feet are stuck. She looks down and sees her feet have been frozen. "Damn!!" she complains and turns her face to see Buffy heading for her from behind.
"Did I forget to mention that I could also use ice manifestation?" Buffy says, as she dashes to strike Artemis, with her claws.
"Humph!! I guess I'll use that then," Artemis says within herself and bends backwards such that she is seeing Buffy in an inverted position.
"Manifest: Hunter's beam!!!" Artemis screams, aiming at Buffy and releasing an arrow with a powerful outburst.
The arrow transmutes to a red laser beam and moving at high speed, heads straight for Buffy. Buffy quickly realizes it and moves to her right to avoid the beam but the speed is so fast, it brushes her side and sends her flying to her right, with a boom.
"I didn't have time to chant so the power output was low compared to what it should have been," Artemis complains. She stands straight and fires some arrows at her feet, shattering the ice from her feet. Without looking, she points her arrows to her right and shoots them in that direction. Kris quickly dodges the arrows, conjures a ball of water and directs them against Artemis who runs forward, evading them.
Buffy, after panting a bit, lying on the ground, stands up as her wounded area heals up.
"Tch!! that damn Artemis," Buffy complains, holding her stomach. "I should end this soon," she says and stomps her feet on the ground.
"Manifest: Ice style: Frozen grounds," Buffy utters. Instantly the ground, the trees, shrubs and grasses all start getting covered in ice. Kris notices as the ice approaches him. He swiftly runs, grabs his other sword and using some trees as leverage, jumps high into the air. Artemis waits until the ice is just inches away from her and then makes her jump, evading the ice from making contact with her. In a minute, the entire miniature forest is frozen and Kris and Artemis land on the ground.
"Let me keep Kris busy," Artemis says and aims an arrow at Kris, who is opposite her, some distance away. "The arrow is me and I am the arrow. What I see, is where it goes and how I will, is how it goes. Let this, pierce all in its path," she chants.
"Manifest: Hunter's beam!!!" Artemis screams, releasing the arrow at Kris. The arrow changes to a red laser beam as it approaches Kris.
"Humph!! I've seen this before," Kris says and makes a run to his right to avoid the beam but it bends and follows him.
"What?!" Kris is surprised that the beam is following him everywhere.
"Hehe, that's how it's supposed to be, it'll keep hunting you till it gets you. Because I was knocked out too fast by Mr. Hachi, the attack could not complete its purpose," Artemis giggles. "Now I can concentrate on Buffy," she adds.
Buffy is fast and quickly catches up to Artemis, releasing spikes of ice at Artemis. Artemis uses her arrows to counter, breaking the ice spikes. Swiftly, she shoots some arrows up into the air.
"Manifest: Laser style: Red shower," Artemis says and immediately, the arrows bend towards Buffy and transmute to multiple thin red beams, shooting against Buffy. Buffy quickly moves back to evade the attacks which create a bit of dust as they crack the iced ground.
Kris suddenly appears some distance behind Artemis, gliding on water. "Alright, fun time is over," he says calmly, facing the red beam heading for him and takes a deep breath.
"Energy release: Bilateral strip," Kris says and swings his sword vertically, releasing a huge amount of raw energy, blue in a color and shaped like a crescent, sending it against the beam.
The attack divides the beam in half and causes it to explode on both halves, shattering a lot of the frozen trees, shrubs, grasses and even the ground, with the ice fragments flying around and sparkling with the dazzling sunlight.
Artemis turns to shoot at Kris but he quickly tosses his sword which hits her bow, knocking it off her hand. With a dashing speed, Kris instantly appears at her front and lands a kick on her neck. Quickly, he lands another kick at the other side of her neck, proceeds to grab her with water enveloping his hands and throws her up into the air.
"Manifest: Water style: Water prison," Kris says, directing the water from his hands at her. The water encapsulates Artemis, forming a globe round her. The globe of water is connected by a thin line of water to Kris's hand and using this, he tosses Artemis out of the fighting platform. Echelone begins his countdown since Artemis is outside the platform.
"That'll keep you for ten seconds. Using your guided beam, I'm sure your energy should be depleted and the kicks to the neck should disorient you for a bit while you struggle to breathe in the water prison. That should be enough to take you out," Kris comments.
Artemis is unable to break free from the water prison and Echelone ends his countdown. The water globe evaporates and she falls to the ground, it is over for her.
Buffy immediately rushes to attack Kris with her hand claws but Kris flips over her and draws out his other sword. Buffy tries to turn to continue her attack but she steps on water left from Kris's water glide, which comes up until it totally enshrouds her just like it did Artemis.
"Humph!! You think this'll work on me," Buffy boasts, freezing the globe of water and then breaks free.
"Nah, that wasn't the plan. I just wanted it to slow you down while I prepared this, Manifest: Energy style: Bilateral strip," Kris replies and swipes his sword vertically, conjuring a huge amount of blue energy beam, shaped like a crescent and sends it against the Buffy. Buffy tries to block but the force of the attack keeps pushing Buffy taking her all the way to the edge of the platform.
"What?! I…won't…go down…so easily," Buffy stutters as the attack pushes her.
Once the attack pushes her to the edge, Kris calmly says, "Bye now, it's been a bit fun."
Instantly, the crescent shaped amount of energy which Buffy is trying to block, blows up, blasting her out of the platform. Before Buffy can even manage to stand, not to talk of getting back into the stage, Echelone's countdown for her is over.
"Wow!!! Seems we have our second winner for the day, hailing from Lightville, the calm and unbothered Kris Falcon, elegantly ending the battle!!!" the commentators shout with excitement as the viewers give out a loud cheer.
"A nice, smart and elegant display indeed," Campione, one of the judges, says to Hachi. She has full afro hair and is sitting with her legs crossed as she views the matches. "Say, Hachi, you mentioned to me once about that boy saying that he doesn't intend on becoming a Commander or whatsoever, right? So what exactly are his dreams?" she asks him.
"That's right. One of the dreams he stated was about finding the person responsible for the loss of his parents and that his participation in this tournament was to find out how strong he is at the moment," Hachi answers.
"I see. Quite an interesting fellow if you ask me. I think he has piqued my interest," Campione replies, staring at Kris as he walks out of the fighting arena.
"Hoo, so you also are enticed by his charming looks, eh?" Hachi teases.
"What?! He's way younger than I am, fool!!" Campione replies and hisses.
"When has that ever stopped you?" Hachi teases again and laughs.
"I'll kill you, old man," Campione replies, glaring at Hachi.
"Old man?! Hey! The difference in years isn't that much," Hachi states.
"Yes it is. It's more than a twelve years gap, old man," Campione argues, turning her face away and Hachi sighs. Dinah, Deva and Saphix just laugh at the entire thing.
"By the way, Hachi, Kiiara is your student, right? Won't you go and see her at the infirmary?" Dinah inquires.
"Not yet. I'll go after the tournament is over," Hachi answers.
Meanwhile…
"Oraaa, seems like my second contestant isn't out yet," Diana gloats, turning to Phoenix.
"Haha, enjoy. Well, my second one is yet to have his match," Phoenix replies.
"By the way, let's go see how Kiiara is faring," Diana suggests. She and Phoenix, stand up and exit the viewing space.
"Now for the next match, Group C: Teru Vs Aurium Vs Jin," the commentators announce.
On getting to Kiiara's room at the infirmary, Diana and Phoenix meet Serena, Kris, Sali and Rei.
"AH! Your majesties," Sali says, greeting Phoenix and Diana, with a bow.
"Yo! King of Lightville and the beautiful Queen Diana, my pleasure," Rei says, taking hold of Diana's hand and kissing it. Phoenix laughs a bit and glares at Rei.
"Haha, my bad, that was a bit much, eh?" Rei chuckles and lets go of Diana's hand.
"Sure it was," Kris says, tapping Rei at the back of his head.
"Welcome, your majesties," Kris greets. Phoenix lets out a sigh of exhaustion in relation to Rei.
"Good to see you, Kris, Sali, Rei," Phoenix says, rubbing Kris's head and proceeds to open the door of Kiiara's room at the infirmary. "Serena, nice win," he adds, complimenting her and smiling.
"Thank you, dad, mom," Serena replies with a smile.
As they enter the room, Kiiara is seen, sitting up, viewing the tournament through a large screen in front of her bed.
"Oh!! Teru just removed his chains and they're super heavy!!!" the commentators announce.
"Wow!! Amazing!!! He was wearing such heavy chains all along," Kiiara comments.
She turns and sees her family and friends. "You guys," she says, smiling.
Serena, Sali, Kris and Rei quickly turn to the screen, to see the ongoing match. They are surprised at the weight of chains Teru removed. The chains are so heavy that when Teru tosses them to the ground outside the platform, they crack it and sink deep into it, causing large vibrations in the fighting area. The chains were wrapped separately around his hands and legs. The moment he removes the chains, he becomes faster and his punches and kicks carry far more force than before such that when he punches Aurium, even with her gold armor, she feels the hit. Jin, who can read attacks due to sensing the movement of bones in the body, finds it difficult to keep up with Teru's speed in hand to hand combat.
"Kiiara dear, how are you feeling?" Diana asks, lightly touching Kiiara's face.
"Feeling better, mom, thank you," Kiiara answers.
"You did well too," Phoenix says, comforting Kiiara.
"Thanks dad," Kiiara replies.
Sali runs to her side and says, "No need to be sad now Kiiara, I'm sure you'll do better next time."
"There's still time, we'll definitely reach that top," Kris adds pointing his fist at Kiiara who smiles back.
"Or you can just marry me and relax," Rei says, smiling.
"Ugh!! You're helpless," Sali replies, putting her palm on her face and shaking her head.
"Haha," Rei laughs. "Don't mind me but I'm sure you can surpass them all, Kiiara," he says, with a serious face and a smile this time.
"Don't worry, sis, I'll make sure to win for both our sakes," Serena says and she and Kiiara gaze at each other. They both nod at each other and Serena turns to leave.
"Wow!! Our third winner for the day!!!" the commentators announce and they all turn to the screen to see who it is.
"None other than Teru!!!" they shout.
"Hoo, interesting, so he too has been hiding his true strength," Serena comments and exits the room alongside Kris, Sali and Rei.
"Till we meet again, my fair princess and Queen," Rei says, takes a bow and leaves.
Phoenix, once again, lets out a sigh.
"Anyway, Kiiara, don't beat yourself too much, you did great. Heck, even I didn't win the tournament in my time but here I am now," Phoenix says.
"What?" Kiiara is surprised as this is her first time hearing this.
"Yes, of course you'd be surprised. Hehe," Diana giggles. "Everyone starts from somewhere, not even your father was the greatest from birth. He has also had his ups and downs," she adds.
"Always remember Kiiara, it's not fully a function of where you start but how you continue and where you eventually finish. No matter what, never give up and you'll achieve what you desire," Phoenix says.
"But I've been trying for quite some time now," Kiiara sobs.
"Then, keep trying. Until your last breath, don't stop trying, Kiiara," Phoenix says looking into Kiiara's eyes, holding her head. "You have incredible abilities you know not of, but with time you shall become aware of them. Once we get back to Lightville after this event, I'll tell you a bit of your power and the reason it has been kept a secret," he adds.
"You mean the stuff I displayed at the tournament wasn't just my imagination?" Kiiara inquires.
"No, it wasn't. Like your father stated, you have incredible abilities, so rest and when you're done, come join us where we are seated if you want," Diana says touching Kiiara's cheeks.
Kiiara remembers the words of Suiryu when they bumped into each other.
"Eyes so sinister just like his, the eyes of destruction, no, the flame of destruction."
"Do these powers have anything to do with the flame of destruction?" Kiiara asks.
"Huh? Who told you that?" Phoenix and Diana, surprised, inquire of it from Kiiara.
"Lucky guess?" Kiiara replies.
"I see. A bit too lucky, aren't you?" Phoenix replies. "Anyway when we get to Lightville, we'll talk about it," he adds.
"Alright dear, bye now. Remember to come join us if you're interested," Diana says. She and Phoenix kiss Kiiara on her forehead and they hug afterwards.
"Say, Dad, mom, something tells me you both placed a bet on Serena and me," Kiiara says, looking inquisitively at both of them.
"I…have…no idea of such," Phoenix stutters with a laugh.
"Oh my!!! Time is far spent, what kind of parents do you think we are?" Diana says.
"Come dear, let's go so we don't miss any other match," Diana adds, swiftly dragging Phoenix out of the room.
"Hmmmm," Kiiara pouts, frowning as she watches them leave, squinting her eyes.
"Shish!! That was close," Diana says as they both walk out of the infirmary.
"Haha, you know. By the way, let's pay Sienna a visit also," Phoenix suggests.
Kiiara sits on her bed, staring at the palm of her hand. "That voice within that said awaken, who was it? That burning sensation and dominating desire I felt also, what was that? What exactly is this flame of destruction? And who is this 'he' that Lady Suiryu referred to?" she ponders, staring at her palm.
Shortly, the commentators shout, "Wow, Arsey has been knocked out of the platform by Damian and Echelone has completed the countdown, she is OUT!!! Now the battle remains between Damian and Dia."
"Huh? That was quick, as expected of the prodigy," Kiiara says, turning to the screen in front of her bed.