The heat flooded my body.
My muscles tensed. I could feel the ether rushing through my numb body.
I lunged forward and struck.
Isaac parried.
This time, however, my blow made him stagger slightly.
Just one step, but it was already something.
He smiled before charging at me again.
"I knew you had an ace up your sleeve last time."
I couldn't help but smile as my sword easily parried his attack.
Each exchange was more violent than the last.
I parried.
I dodged.
I struck.
But despite my skill, I was still always one step behind him.
I was losing.
Little by little.
My breathing was becoming heavier and heavier.
My legs were trembling.
The heat inside my body was fading.
This time, Isaac avoided my sword by stepping to the side, and his body pressed against mine as he whispered into my ear.
"I've always had a gift for reading my opponents, and right now I can see that you're finished!"
His foot violently slammed into my stomach, instantly knocking the breath out of me.
The pain was unimaginable. I began coughing up blood, collapsing into a crouch on the ground.
The crowd had fallen silent.
Isaac leaned over me once again to speak.
"It's over, Kael. Forfeit."
He placed the tip of his sword against my stomach, exactly where he had just struck me.
"You're going to crawl back into your hole in the middle of nowhere and explain to them why you made the mistake of coming here to participate, only to humiliate your family."
"Arrrgh!"
The tip of his sword had just pierced several centimeters into my abdomen.
The pain became too much, and I collapsed onto the ground.
I could feel Isaac crouching down as well.
I raised my eyes to face him.
He looked at me mockingly, his head tilted to the side.
"Do you want to know what my first decree as Emperor of Uruk will be? Huh? It will be to reduce your pathetic nation to the status of a vassal region and condemn you and your people to exile, so I never have to see you on my lands again."
I barely had time to see his fist flying toward my face before everything went completely black.
"KAEL..."
A distant voice reached me.
I could no longer feel my limbs, and why was I lying face down?
Oh right, the tournament.
I'd lost.
No, Isaac had knocked me out.
"Kael!"
What? How long had I been unconscious?
"Get up!"
My eyes slowly opened.
Isaac was still looking at me.
It must have only been a few seconds since I lost consciousness.
A little boy...
They were shouting my name.
Among the silent crowd, a man's voice rang out, echoing the little boy's cry.
"Get up!"
A few seconds of silence followed.
Then another person joined in.
"Kael!"
Then another.
"Kael!"
And another.
"Get up!"
Strangers.
"Get up! Get up! Get up!"
Thousands of strangers.
They believed in me.
I felt something change deep inside me.
[A great number of people believe in you.]
[Your Monarch's Authority increases.]
[Condition fulfilled!]
The heat suddenly returned, as if it had always been there.
I felt my muscles tighten as if I had just awakened from a long night's sleep.
All my fatigue had vanished.
I could feel my heart beating at full speed like a war drum.
Once.
Twice.
BOOM.
A wave of heat surged through my body.
The cracks appeared across my arms, more prominent than ever.
They burned, but they didn't hurt.
It was as if something had awakened inside me.
Isaac stopped.
His smile disappeared.
"What the..."
I pushed with all my strength against the ground, launching myself into the air.
Not being used to it, I may have put too much force into it.
I landed heavily on both feet, staggering slightly.
I raised my sword toward Isaac.
My legs felt light.
My body felt different.
Faster.
Stronger.
I could hear the crowd.
Every voice.
Every scream.
Every clap.
They had become one and the same.
One immense will.
I was no longer alone.
I took one step after another, drawing closer to Isaac.
He attacked.
I parried.
I pushed his blade aside.
Then struck.
Isaac narrowly dodged.
I pivoted.
My blade passed within a few centimeters of his face.
He stepped back.
One step.
Two.
Three.
The crowd roared.
"KAEL!"
I wasn't thinking anymore.
I wasn't calculating anymore.
My body was moving on its own.
As if driven by an innate talent.
Thousands of people were shouting my name.
Isaac charged at me once again.
I could almost feel his exhaustion.
I raised my sword.
Our blades collided, and Isaac's sword shattered into a thousand pieces with a crystalline clang.
Silence suddenly fell over the stadium.
I remained motionless.
A piece of his blade fell to the ground.
Clang.
Isaac looked at his broken sword.
Then he raised his eyes toward my sword, which was now only a few centimeters from his neck.
He gave an awkward smile.
"...Y-You won."
The referee remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he slowly raised his arm.
"VICTORY FOR KAEL!"
The stadium exploded.
I could no longer hear anything.
I could only see the thousands of people standing in the stands.
They were shouting.
They were applauding.
They were chanting my name.
"KAEL!"
"KAEL!"
"KAEL!"
Suddenly, I felt my legs trembling.
For the first time in a long time...
I had won something.
I had wanted to win.
It was at that exact moment, the moment I let my guard down, that the landscape turned black and white and time seemed to stop.
An immense aura had appeared out of nowhere.
When I turned around to face it, a shiver ran down my spine.
There, in a corner of the arena...
A stag with enormous antlers was silently staring at me.
[An 'Incubus' is paying attention to you.]