Chapter 85: the round of death

After a week of treatment, Emily was finally discharged. She came to meet her friends, looking energetic as usual. During this week she was in the medical bay, Henry fought his second battle. It was not as dramatic as her battle though.

He won after a drawn-out battle of attrition. Forget about his lack of confidence, he was still one of the best in the ship. His lack of confidence, is because of the steep requirement of only 5 survivors.

…

It was already 3 months since the tournament began, today is Clark’s 2nd battle fixture. His opponent this time is Excalibur, the fight was without suspense as he completely crushed his opponent.

After some time, Emily and Henry also had their 3rd tournament battle, they both fought against weaker opponents and won after putting in some effort.

The main highlight of these recent battles was The Emperor’s 3rd battle, he fought against Jian Wushaung. “Jian Wushaung,” the name sounds ridiculous, but this guy is also one of the best fighters in this ship.

He came from a Chinese lineage, so he just used this as his ring name. Both him and The Emperor were ranked with 4 others in the same category, as the pinnacle gladiators in the whole ship.

They both gave their all, as they fought a bloody battle with each other. Clark felt reluctant to admit it, but he was on the edge during the majority of the battle. The Emperor advanced forward aggressively like always with his spear, stabbing, slashing and hacking forcefully.

He has always been an aggressive fighter, but his opponent was even more aggressive, as he clashed with him with his great sword. The battle continued in a fast pace for over 30 minutes, as they both started feeling exhaustion.

He had a slight advantage of being stronger in terms of brute strength, but his opponent’s wild but versatile fighting style suppressed his advantage.

This battle displayed the pinnacle of ferociousness, the metal floor of the cage cracked from the force coming from their attacks. The 2 gladiators finally kneeled in exhaustion, after 2 hours of battling, they completely drained themselves without getting a clear winner.

This result was surprising, as no one thought that someone could match The Emperor in a battle. Jian Wushaung was probably, the most unexpected dark horse of the tournament.

This battle was enough to urge the organizers of the tournament to force a change, as they declared the battle as a draw. The Emperor was unwilling, as medical practitioners came to carry the both of them away.

This 3rd round was clearly a round of death, as of the 6 pinnacle, widely acknowledged best gladiators in the ship. 2 already fought, ending with a draw. Of the remaining 4, Clark had to fight The Trickster, this round. The remaining 2 are to also fight themselves this round.

The spectators were completely hyped up for this round, and today is the battle between The Eagle Queen and The Golden Lion. These 2 are among the pinnacle 6, in the ship.

Some spectators joked that they met this early, because of the animal names, they added to their ring names.

Well, this didn’t affect them as the battle quickly began. The Eagle Queen is the widely acknowledged strongest female gladiator on the ship. Some people tend to underestimate girls, but she silenced them with her tyrannical battle and training records. The ones who still dared, are already lost in this tournament’s long history.

She further cemented her position, as she killed her opponent after 50 minutes of fighting. Being pinnacle gladiators does not guarantee a win, she proved her strength today, that her qualifying was not by luck.

The spectators were pretty shocked, and extremely excited, as they didn’t expect such a clean victory. She finished the battle riddled with injuries, but winning was all that matters. As she would receive free treatment, she didn’t see any reason to stress her brain tissues by calculating and fighting cautiously.

…

After another 2 weeks of battles, Clark’s time finally came as his 2 friends both encouraged him.

“Clark, be confident. You can do it, you can crush this guy,” Emily said with a smile.

He secretly rolled his eyes at her, for saying her words of encouragement in such an emotional tone. He smiled back at them, as he quickly stood up, picked up his shield and sword and started walking straight to the cage.

The Trickster was always seen as one of the pinnacle fighters, but due to his last battle with The Elephant’s gaze. His strength evaluation rose up again exponentially, he now held the record for the fastest battle in the ship.

Clang!! The gates of the cage slammed shut, as Clark entered, keenly observing his opponent. The trickster is a very skinny, middle-aged warrior. Looking at him, he looked more like a thief, than a gladiator. The expression on his face portrayed him as an experienced veteran, his face was devoid of emotions.

Unlike him, his opponent wielded a pair of daggers. His dagger are not the conventional ones, as they are longer than normal.

Before today, they already studied themselves in detail. Clark made sure to watch and understand all his opponent’s past battles, so he had a good grasp of his opponent’s battle style.

As he observed, his opponent was already rushing forward to meet him. He ignored his opponent’s seemingly impatient charge, as he advanced slowly at his own pace. At this stage of the elimination round, only experienced fighters were left. No impatient gladiators were still alive.

Whoosh!! He stabbed forward swiftly with his sword, aiming at his opponent’s head as soon as he came within his attacking range. The trickster was very decisive, on seeing this, he started executing his battle art immediately, “The drunkard’s dance”.

Whoosh!! He quickly turned his head to the side, as Clark’s sword streaked past his face. Instead of counterattacking, he did his trademark move, the drunkard steps. This move was a technique that he created himself, his last battle was the first time he used this technique. And through it, he instantly killed his opponent.

Woah!! The spectators exclaimed in surprise at the move, “was this guy planning to instar-kill such a strong opponent? So bold.” As they soliloquized excitedly, he didn’t wait for them as he moved forward with speed.

Clark already knew of this technique, but he was still left astonished at the speed his opponent moved at. He could only saw a blur, as his opponent moved left, then right before attacking. You will only understand something best, when you experience it.

Clang!! Ptui!! His opponent moved like an Olympic gymnast, as he struck once hitting his shield. Not even half a second passed, as his opponent appeared behind him again, stabbing at his neck. This time, he felt goosebumps all over his body, as he hurriedly rolled forward while trying to block again with his shield.

Awwn!! He groaned in pain, as despite his fast reaction, his opponent still stabbed at his hand, drawing blood.

Clang!! Clang!! Clang!! He was not given the time to re-adjust himself, as his opponent unleashed a wave of fast stabs. Despite not re-adjusting, he reflexively blocked with his shield as he jumped backwards while slashing forward with his sword.

His opponent advanced forward, like he didn’t see the sword slashing at him. He was confused, as his opponent’s decision distracted him a bit. “Did he not see it?” he could not help but question himself inwardly, in doubt.

Whoosh!! The trickster moved like he was dance fighting, as he quickly bent down dodging the strike at the last second.

“Not good,” Clark thought, as he pulled back in a hurry. Ptui!! Blood flowed as his opponent’s dagger cut him again, this time on his chest.

He counterattacked with his sword, but his opponent predicted it, as he dodged smoothly. The fight continued for another 10 minutes, as he slowly began to get bloody from injuries.

He already received 6 cuts from his opponent, but he failed to land a single blow on him in retaliation. He was not stupid; he already grasped the crux of the problem, as his brain went into overdrive searching for a solution.

It seems like he had an advantage, as he had not started using his battle art. But he knew that using his battle art will only accelerate his death, at this point. The frenzied maneuver can increase his strength and speed, but he will expose more openings for his opponent to exploit.

He already figured his opponent out; this guy was a bonafide opportunist. If he engaged in a competition of skill, pace or technique with him. He’ll definitely pay for it dearly, probably with death.

The trickster had a perfect grasp of skill, any opening, and he will always exploit it slowly increasing his injuries. He fought like a war veteran.

Boom!! He suddenly advanced forward with speed, trying to bash his opponent with his shield. His opponent dodged, but it was already within his calculations as his sword struck forward with speed. His opponent could not dodge this one, he could only parry with his sword.

After their swords collided, he immediately started executing his battle art, as he dropped his sword and shield. He slapped at his opponent’s chest with his palm. Their distance was too close, and his opponent was caught off-guard, his palms slammed at his chest with force.

The force disoriented his opponent a bit, as he staggered backwards. He took hold of this opportunity, as he grabbed his opponent’s wrists with force.

The trickster was still the trickster Afterall. He knew that he couldn’t compete with Clark with force, so he released his daggers as his wrists slipped from his opponent’s palms, while he retreated.

Clark slightly grinned, as everything went according to his calculations, he beat him at his own game. His opponent’s basics were too solid, which he took advantage of. With the help of his implant, he calculated and predicted all of these instinct reactions.

Boom!! He launched himself forward unrestrainedly with speed, as he caught up to his opponent in an instant. The trickster’s eyes widened in surprise at this speed. He tried dodging and striking at his rapidly approaching opponent, but his opponent was faster. Clark gripped his hand, and pulled down with force.

Bam!! The trickster slammed down at the metal floor, due to the force his opponent applied. This guy was just too skinny and light for him to struggle to bring him down. Bam!! Bam!! Bam!! The fall disoriented him, so he couldn’t react as Clark released a flurry of blows at his face.

The frenzied maneuver is a very straightforward battle art, but don’t dare underestimate it’s strength. This series of calculations by him, was all it took to kill this troublesome fellow. His flurry of blows blew his opponent’s head off, as his brain matters scattered on the floor.

The spectators were slow to react, but as soon as they understood, cheers erupted everywhere. Magician! Magician! Magician! He didn’t know who started it, he didn’t care though as this chant soon filled the whole arena.

All the spectators yelled in excitement, at the top of their lungs. He finally stood up with his bloodied hands. He walked out of the cage amidst the cheers, applause and screams of the spectators.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it.]