Azriel stayed in the stands and watched Solvane's fight.
About halfway through the fight, she changed her tactics; she looked more like a fighter with fierce determination than the friend she'd known since childhood.
'Where did Solvane learn to fight like that?'
Solvane stepped out of the arena with a smile on her lips.
"I did it, did you see me?" said Solvane, a beaming smile lighting up her face
"Yes, I saw," replied Azriel simply, letting out a small smile. Then, the beautiful demon princess narrowed her eyes slightly and asked in a more serious tone: "Tell me, where did you learn to fight like that?
"Ehhhh, I spent a week training under my sister's guidance, and practising pure combat with my brother; his fighting techniques are just different," said Solvane, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
'Elisabeth training her brother and sister personally is rather surprising,' thought Azriel
The fights followed one after another.
At first, Solvane commented on every match, every technique, every mistake, every moment when a fighter could have won but hadn't. Azriel listened in silence, nodding occasionally and correcting Solvane when she made an error of judgment.
"He could have won if he'd aimed for the legs," said Solvane during the tenth bout.
"He would have lost anyway," replied Azriel, without taking her eyes off the arena. "His opponent had read him from the start."
By the thirtieth bout, the excitement in the stands had died down. The applause had grown less lively. The audience wasn't clapping out of enthusiasm, but merely out of politeness. Solvane had stopped commenting on every exchange and now reacted only to moments that stood out from the ordinary.
By the fiftieth, she was yawning.
"How do you manage to stay so focused?" asked Solvane, rubbing her eyes.
Azriel didn't reply. Her eyes continued to scan every fighter entering the arena: their posture, their breathing, the way they held their weapon.
In the sixty-eighth match, a voice announced an unfamiliar name.
"Leon Vesper versus Kaelgar."
A few polite claps. Nothing more.
Solvane didn't even look up.
Azriel did.
His gait and his aura were different from those of the other participants.
'Leon Vesper Show me who you really are'
The fight began, and at first, there was nothing impressive about it. Kaelgar dominated the match; his blows were heavier, better placed, more precise. Leon was retreating, struggling to withstand his opponent's attacks.
"He's going to lose miserably," said Solvane, already beginning to lose interest in the fight.
Azriel didn't reply.
For she had noticed something: with every blow Kaelgar landed, Leon improved. Every blow he took made him more alert.
He was learning in real time, in the heat of battle.
Kaelgar realised this in time and changed his technique, unleashing a barrage of attacks. He advanced calmly, dropped his weapon to catch him off guard, and snatched the weapon from his hands whilst pointing his own weapon at his throat.
Kaelgar lowered his weapon. He looked at Leon for a second, then nodded once, briefly, without comment. That was enough.
'He lost… but what he showed places him above the other candidates; his only sin is having arrived so late and being unknown,' thought Azriel.
***
Long minutes passed without much fanfare.
Solvane was practically falling asleep when a name caught her attention.
"His Highness Prince Lucien will face Valerius Thorne."
The stands, which had previously been quiet, began to come alive again; whispers turned into conversation; the applause, which had been nothing but hollow murmurs, became deafening; the human prince's name was on everyone's lips, chanted as if he were a hero.
Solvane sat up straight in her seat.
"Finally, something interesting," she remarked, rubbing her eyes.
Azriel didn't utter a sound and observed the opponent facing the human prince.
He was tall; his gait suggested military training and discipline, not the sort to be intimidated by anyone.
'What on earth do they teach at this academy? The students aren't intimidated by titles of nobility, and they're more experienced than almost everyone their age.'
Lucien appeared on the other side of the arena.
He smiled politely at the crowd, with unfailing naturalness. It seemed more like a cold habit for manipulating public opinion than a genuine smile. Yet people were applauding, girls were blushing, and others were cheering him on.
'He's playing a game, but who is the target of his petty trick?' thought Azriel.
The fight began; there was no time to waste
Valerius attacked first with a simple sword thrust to test his opponent; Lucien dodged it with disconcerting ease, silencing the stands that had been so lively until then, then countered with that slight, superior smile that never left his face.
For several minutes, the two opponents traded blow for blow—one attacking, the other countering immediately. Valerius was solid and experienced, difficult to unsettle; Lucien was fast, unpredictable, and cunning, clearly in his element.
"He's really strong," whispered Solvane, blown away by the epic battle unfolding below in the centre of the Colosseum.
Azriel nodded slightly.
But something changed midway through the fight: Valerius began to find Lucien's rhythm, and once he had found it, he wouldn't let Lucien go: every attack, every dodge, every counter-attack was now turned against him.
Lucien stepped back for the first time.
Then a second time
And the third time, he couldn't get back to his feet quickly enough. Valerius's blade stopped a few centimetres from his throat.
Silence in the stands, not even the sound of a pin dropping
Lucien stared into space for a few seconds, taking the time to process everything that had just happened, then he burst out laughing—a happy laugh, not a desperate one, as if he were someone who had just had the time of his life.
"Well done," he said simply before getting to his feet, straightening his clothes, waving to the crowd and walking off as if nothing had happened.
"He lost, but he's laughing like a happy man," said Solvane, her eyes wide and one eyebrow raised.
"Who knows, perhaps he's found something we don't know about," replied Azriel to Solvane without looking at her.
Azriel stood up.
"Azriel von Crimson will face Caelum."
Alice's voice echoed throughout the coliseum; her name rang out across the stands. Some froze in fear, some looked on in admiration, and some chanted her name.
She took her umbrella. Closed it. Placed it on her seat.
Solvane opened her mouth.
Azriel looked at her for a split second – not long. But long enough.
"I'll be back," she said to Solvane.
She walked down towards the arena without looking back.
'I hope Kaen can get back in time' thought Azriel, letting the thought linger for a moment before focusing on the match ahead.