Caesar's bad mood was apparent to all of those present. He normally had a sly smile playing on his lips, however, he was currently frowning, which was rare. Not to mention his radiating killing intent, which made the clan heads' sweat profusely.
"A lovers quarrel?" Ebisu teased with a wide grin, he hadn't planned on speaking to Caesar, alas, he couldn't help but want to anger the man who appeared to be in a fragile state.
After his words entered into Caesar's ear, the temperature dropped by a few degrees and a few icy crystals formed at Caesar's feet. A blue mist started seeping out of the scythe in Caesar's hand.
"I wonder, is that rude lass that I knocked unconscious, your sister? What was her name again? Ah, right, Akari" Caesar replied back with an amused smile whilst entering into a strange fighting stance… he put his right leg forward and rested his weapon atop his shoulders.
Caesar's reply which was intended to enrage Ebisu, seemed to work, as the man didn't respond back, but instead, took out his blade. It was not the same wooden sword he was using previously, it was a katana-esque sword with a sky-blue edge and black hilt. There appeared to engravings of clouds on the grip.
Seeing the Ebisu got into position, the other clan heads' followed suit and took out their weapons. Faust wielded two small tantos and the rest were equipped with the standard sword, it appeared that the western style sword was the most popular weapon of choice.
"I'll be on the front line and engage him in close combat. As for the rest of you, be careful of his ice magic and support me with flame magic" Faust suggested and took a step forward, to which the others nodded their heads except Ebisu.
"I'll attack with you, there's no point in our superior numbers if we attack one at a time" Ebisu stated with a serious expression, standing shoulder to shoulder with Faust.
"Very well, I hope you don't disappoint" Faust replied whilst dashing towards Caesar, his orange flames coiled around his tantos and he seemingly moved quicker than he did when he and Caesar last sparred.
Ebisu followed right after and an almost indiscernible wind flowed around his katana. His eyes were still closed, however, they didn't appear to be tightly shut like they were in his prior matches.
Seeing the two approaching figures, Caesar dashed forward with a velocity even quicker than both Faust and Ebisu. In his previous fights, he had conserved most of his power for his battle with Musashi, but now, he was willing to utilize all of his energy.
He soon reached the two of them and slashed at them, the scythe was so large that it was capable of attacking two people at once. Ebisu responded first and blocked Caesar's wide swing with ease, he used the wind on his blade to assist in pushing back the scythe.
While Ebisu blocked Caesar, Faust moved forward and stabbed with both of his dagger-like weapons. He aimed for Caesar's chest and abdomen at the same time, while the flames, as if alive, started encroaching upon Caesar's clothes.
In response, a relatively large pillar of ice formed next to Caesar's feet, it had a sharp point and shot up towards Faust, forcing him to cross his blades and block the assaulting Ice.
Caesar didn't stop there, his muscles went taut as he started pushing downward with his scythe. It was foolish of Ebisu to think that he could beat Caesar, a vampire, in a contest of brute strength. Even with the assistance of wind magic, it didn't matter. Caesar weapon, which was momentarily repelled, was once again, moving forward.
Ebisu gnashed his teeth and started pushing back with all of his might. As he was a fighter that focused on speed, his strength was lacking. But he couldn't just abandon Faust, this dilemma put Ebisu between a rock and a hard place.
This was, of course, none of Caesar's concern, in fact, he was pleased that his opponents essentially crippled themselves with their formation. However, his smile soon disappeared as a few balls of fire streaked across the air towards him.
Caesar clicked his tongue and backed away, just a few seconds before the fireballs hit him… he distanced himself about two meters away from Faust and Ebisu. He didn't think the other clan heads would've been capable of responding so fast, it seemed as though his judgment was incorrect.
"Don't underestimate us!" one of the clan heads roared angrily, he hated the fact that they weren't even put in Caesar's eyes.
"Don't worry, I see you" Caesar replied whilst forming a few dozen arrows made out of ice, they spun at a rapid pace and had an extremely sharp edge. It was the same technique he had used on that strange old man.
Without waiting for both Faust and Ebisu to recover, Caesar shot the arrows in the direction of the other clan heads' while once again, charging Faust. Although it took a lot of effort to control his element while also attacking with his scythe, he was great at multitasking.
He launched off the ground and appeared in front of Faust within a split second, he heaved downward with his scythe and aimed for Faust's right shoulder. His speed was incredible and Faust found it hard to even react to the attack, he raised his hands and barely blocked with both of his tantos.
A loud crash echoed throughout the training grounds, however, Caesar didn't stop pushing down. Under Caesar's sheer physical strength, Faust's blades were starting to slowly concave and Caesar's weapon was just a few inches away from serrating skin.
Seeing this, Ebisu rushed over to assist, however, he was a bit too late, as Caesar's scythe finally broke through Faust's guard. Although Faust pushed back at the last second, avoiding a fatal blow, a large amount of blood escaped from his shoulder.
Caesar didn't let Faust escape very far before quick stepping in his direction, and appearing from behind him, this time, however, he struck with the blunt side of the scythe. He could see that the other clan heads' had easily blocked his ice arrows, and Ebisu was only a few feet away from him, but he didn't stop his motion. He knew that Faust was the current leader, and without him, the others would be like a headless chicken.
A loud thudding sound suddenly invaded the spectators' ears as they saw Faust's body streak across the arena ground… a large bump was on the back of his head where Caesar had struck him. This was, however, not the only thing that had transpired.
Caesar, who had focused on finishing off Faust, was stabbed in the shoulder by Ebisu, thankfully Caesar was quick enough to slightly shift his body before being stabbed in a fatal location. This result made Caesar look towards the referee, but seeing that he had no intention of stopping the match, Casar clicked his tongue.
Large drops of blood fell to the ground as Caesar stood there. He was a fair distance away from Ebisu, who was smiling and the other clan heads' who had just finished defending themselves against Caesar's ice magic.
"So, you bleed too?" Ebisu whispered strangely whilst raising his sword, the other clan heads' seemingly tired of supporting, also drew their weapons and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ebisu.
Now that Faust, who was unconscious and out of the arena, was no longer present. None of them felt like continuing what Faust had suggested, and instead, they all rushed forward with their flames
Luckily, this change of events helped Caesar. When multiple enemies fought together against 1 person, they were bound to get in each other's way. With this in mind, Caesar squinted his eyes and rushed forward… he momentarily put the pain of being stabbed in the shoulder at the back of his mind and focused on attacking.
Ebisu and the other clan heads charged at Caesars in retaliation, they were somewhat spaced out as to not accidentally hit each other with their swords.
Soon, both sides collided and a large number of clashes occurred. Caesar used his superior speed and senses to stand on par with the huge amount of enemies, his energy, however, was depleting at a fast pace, but he wasn't alone.
Nearly all of the clan heads were panting and out of breath, the only difference being that Caesar had an assortment of small cuts all over his body. Even though Caesar was very strong, defending against 9 strong soldiers at the same time, was no easy task.
The wound on Caesar's left shoulder stung more than ever, and the blood flowed out more profusely as time went on. Even with his bodies superb regeneration capabilities, with him constantly overworking himself, the wound was just not capable of healing.
Noticing this, Ebisu smiled smugly, "yield, or you're going to bleed out" he said tauntingly, to which Caesar furrowed his brows.
'If only I could use my authority…' Caesar thought inwardly whilst gnashing his teeth.
"Not yet… I deny defeat" Caesar said through clenched teeth and once again lifted his scythe. He was tired, but he didn't care. As long as he won this match, he could get what he wanted. Thinking to here, Caesar scanned the surroundings and could see the many pedestrians praying with closed eyes.
They looked at Caesar worriedly and even started cheering for him, their loud chants entering into his ears, reminding him of his knights back in Rahvin kingdom. A smile suddenly formed on his lips as he realized his first step was complete.
"Why don't you give up already? You're not even apart of our clan, and you just had a fight with your lover, JUST GIVE UP!" Ebisu roared angrily and charged forward, albeit, he was much slower than he was at the start of the fight.
The other exhausted clan heads followed after and the final clash soon began, they were all moving sluggish and Caesar picked them off one by one.
Caesar's previous anger had dissipated and was replaced by the desire to prevail, he could feel his vision slowly starting to black, however, he just simply bit his tongue and continued slashing. He made sure not to fatally injure anyone, though, his attacks did indeed draw blood.
He attacked again, and again, and again until finally, only he and Ebisu stood in the arena, both were tired beyond belief. Caesar's outfit was dyed red and even his gorgeous white hair was stained with drops of blood.
He looked more deadly than ever before…
"You asked me to give up earlier, was that because you were scared?" Caesar asked while approaching Ebisu. Even though his muscles were extremely sore, he could still grit his teeth and walk.
Ebisu didn't reply, but instead, merely waited until Caesar got closer to attack, this way he could conserve energy and use all of it in one final blow. Caesar watched as Ebisu's blade got closer and closer to his body before squatting down at the last second.
After dodging the blow by the width of a single strand of hair, he didn't even bother using his scythe. He punched Ebisu in the abdomen with his right fist and pushed him back a few feet.
Immediately afterword, Ebisu fell to the ground and Caesar stood there, alone, surrounded by 9 unconscious bodies.
"The S-S-Strategist is v-victorious!!!" The Referee shouted in shock and excitement, and following right after, a reverberating cheer echoed throughout the training grounds, even shaking the arena ground.
"Sigh, that was much harder than I had expected…" Caesar sighed and collapsed on his buttocks, he could vaguely hear a familiar set of footsteps rushing towards him at a quick pace. Caesar didn't even need to look before smiling and calling her name.
"I told you that I'd win, Ahri"