By the time Anita returned to the Wolf Knights' changing room — fully healed and wearing her usual mischievous grin — the place was already buzzing with noise.
Ironclaw immediately snarled at her.
"You're weak, Anita! Hahaha!"
"Shut up!" Anita snapped back. "I fought the Hero and broke her nose!"
Andras leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching them.
"If it had been a real life‑and‑death fight, you would've won the moment you cut the Hero's face."
Anita's eyes lit up.
"If my knife had been coated with a strong poison?"
"A strong poison would've paralyzed even the Hero," Andras nodded. "Even if only for a few seconds. And in that moment, even a weak demon could've killed her."
Noelle was in the corner, putting away her healing tools.
"I thought the Hero would be much stronger than this."
Anita whipped her head toward her.
"Oh, thanks a lot. So I'm the weak one?"
Ironclaw burst into loud laughter.
"I'd tear that Hero apart even without poison!"
That was when Andrea entered — calm, confident steps, like always.
"I'll defeat her in the finals."
Anita raised an eyebrow.
"Well, unless she's hiding some secret trump card, I don't think Eris Scarlett is stronger than you either."
Andras stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe because she hasn't fought demons yet, her full power hasn't awakened. Or maybe she needs real life‑and‑death battles to grow. Interesting."
"The Hero is weak!" Ironclaw declared with absolute conviction.
"That's not it," Andras corrected her. "She's simply not strong enough yet for demon‑level threats. At her current level, she can be defeated."
"She'd piss herself after three jolts of your Lightning Claw!" Ironclaw barked.
Andras laughed.
"Good thing I skipped this tournament. If she'd wet herself in front of this many spectators, people's faith in the Hero would've shattered."
Andrea cracked her knuckles.
"Now it's my turn. Two fights left — two excellent opponents."
Anita snorted.
"You haven't even beaten Christina yet, and you're already talking about fighting the Hero?"
"I'll gladly fight Christina too," Andrea replied calmly.
Anita puffed out her chest proudly.
"Well, thanks to me, you saw that the Hero can be messed with. Oh, right, Young Wolf! Our deal! You said if I lasted ten minutes against the Hero, you'd grant me one request!"
Noelle looked up and sighed sympathetically.
"What a shame, Anita. You were only half a minute short."
Anita stared at them in disbelief.
"You're messing with me, right?"
Andras pointed at the hourglass.
"No. You collapsed and started screaming at nine minutes and thirty seconds. We measured it. Everyone saw it."
Ironclaw nodded vigorously.
"I saw it too! There was still sand left! Hahaha!"
Anita dropped to her knees, arms raised dramatically toward the heavens.
"Nooo… my smoochy kiss!"
The others burst into loud laughter.
The tension, the pain, the memory of the battle — all of it evaporated.
In the Wolf Knights' changing room, the usual wild, chaotic, family‑like atmosphere returned once more.
The spectators were still buzzing about the first semifinal. The roar of the crowd rolled through the Arena like the crashing of a vast ocean. The royal box was no different — small groups had formed, each dissecting Anita and Eris's duel from their own perspective.
Carla, Christina, and Floralys
Christina Silverwood was still shaken by what she had seen.
"That was an incredible duel," she said. "When Anita head‑butted Eris and almost got her with the knife… I thought she had her."
Floralys nodded, a bit pale.
"I truly thought she suffered a fatal injury."
Carla Wolfwood simply waved a hand.
"Oh, please. The moment I saw Noelle was there, I knew she'd be fine."
Christina glanced toward the Wolf Knights' changing room, thoughtful.
"Is it possible that Noelle is the best healer in the entire Kingdom?"
Floralys laughed.
"Elven blood doesn't turn to water. Hahaha!"
Carla leaned in, lowering her voice.
"But keep that to yourselves, all right? The last thing we want is for them to take her into the Hero's party. Neither Noelle, nor I, nor my son would want that."
Floralys nodded seriously.
"No one will hear it from me."
Master Albert and Master Florian
At the other end of the box, two elderly mages were arguing — or rather, cackling — like mischievous children.
Florian slapped his knee loudly.
"That masked thief stole the Princess's panties right under your nose, you old fool! Hahaha!"
Albert shrugged.
"Who cares about a few panties? Let's talk about the duel. That female Wolf Knight wasn't bad. I've never seen Eris bleed before… and now she was bleeding from two places at once."
Florian winked.
"But not from the place you'd like to see, eh?"
Albert burst out laughing.
"From her honey‑cup? Hahaha!"
Florian piled on:
"So no one has ever inserted their holy sword into that sacred place? Hahaha!"
Albert stroked his beard.
"If anyone had tried, Captain John would've chopped that holy sword into pieces. Hahaha!"
Princess Anabella's Thoughts
Up in the upper section of the box, Princess Anabella wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Ugh, filthy old men. Good to know all elderly mages are perverts, not just Master Albert."
Her gaze drifted toward Eris's changing room.
"Poor Eris… When I saw she got hurt, I wanted to run after her. But when I saw Captain John's terrifying face, I decided it was safer not to."
The Princess blushed as her thoughts continued.
"She promised we'd watch the second duel together from the box. Well… knowing Eris, she'll be perfectly fine by tomorrow. But tonight… I could take care of her. And she could sleep in my bed, like when we were little. Hehehe!"
A satisfied smile spread across her face as the crowd's roar washed over her.
The Wolf Knights' changing room was still echoing with laughter about Anita's lost "smoochy kiss" when someone knocked on the door.
Anita's head snapped up.
"Who is it? Carla coming to check on me? Or Christina?"
Ironclaw sniffed the air like a wild beast.
"I smell the Hero."
Anita groaned with an exaggerated grimace.
"The Hero? Oh, come on…"
Andras stepped to the door.
"Come in, Eris. We don't bite."
Ironclaw grinned.
"Not too hard."
The door opened slowly, and Eris Scarlett stepped inside. Her freshly healed face still showed a faint pink line where the cut had been.
"Hi," she said quietly. "I just came to see how Anita is doing."
Anita sat up on the bench with a wide grin.
"Huh? You thought I'd croak? Not until I've had a good round with Young Wolf."
Noelle covered her face with her hand.
"As you can see, she's delirious. Severe brain damage."
Andras shrugged.
"Or maybe the flaming sword got her so fired up she's still burning."
Noelle and Andrea burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
Anita pointed at Andras with sparkling eyes.
"Then you can start putting out the flames with your magic staff!"
Noelle shot back instantly:
"I've got a magic staff too, and I'll smack you with it in a second."
Anita leaned back, arms spread.
"Both of you can come at me with your magic staffs. We can put both of them in the proper place."
Eris's eyes widened.
"By magic staff… you don't mean…?"