Chapter 112

Chapter 112

Seeing the brash young man standing on stage, unconcerned as he boldly challenged the Society, Du Min Gyu struggled to hold back his elated laughter, not wanting to ruin Rain's moment in the sun. A little inaccurate to say on this overcast and dismal morning, the bleak atmosphere underscored the grave situation unfolding before him, a young man fighting for not only his own life, but for the lives of all his companions. This must have been the Rain that had driven Kai to folly, a flippant smile and insolent attitude, mercilessly stomping over his opponent's pride. It seemed like a completely different person from the meek youngster who had greeted him politely only two months ago, offering his mount to an aged stranger.

Excellent.

Rain played his part perfectly as the vanguard, drawing the ire of his enemies with his brutality, igniting their fury, preying upon their fear, and disrupting their Balance. Displaying outstanding judgment, he raised the morale of his faction with his spectacular performance, stepping bravely into the charging leap and slipping beneath the blow with minimal motion, a decision most accomplished warriors would hesitate to make. A skillful counterattack using the opponent's momentum allowed him to end the match in a single strike, and what followed was a ruthless performance, returning the disrespect given to him word for word and granting a dog's death to his opponent. Top marks with no criticism to offer other than he should have waited a moment longer, so his enemies could listen to their chosen champion plead for mercy.Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

A round of applause broke the tranquility, shocking the audience out of their mute disbelief, Adujan's rabbit-eared friend enthusiastically clapping by her lonesome as she stood next to his student. Yay Rainy! Her sweet, childish tone gave rise to scattering of praise that escalated into cheering as the Bekhai enthusiastically celebrated their first victory. Rain turned towards the rabbit-girl and grinned boyishly, appearing like any other young man his age for a brief moment. Soon after, Rain returned to glaring fiendishly at Jia Yang, whose ugly expression was mirrored by almost every face on his side. A shame, Min Gyu had hoped to be the source of Jia Yang's distress, while quashing all rumours of his frail health spread by that puffed up Society degenerate. Unfortunately, the Justicars meddling prevented him from taking direct action, but Rain was doing a phenomenal job on stage.

As the cheers died down and the Society deliberated on their choice of champion, Du Min Gyu absently stroked his beard while thinking things through. The entire affair with the Justicars left a bad taste in his mouth, overstepping their bounds in a time-honoured tradition of combat, but he could see how they had arrived at their decision. With Healer Taduk and the Senior Captain Alsantset standing between them, he would not risk being overheard, so he silently Sent a compliment to Akanai. A magnificent performance and a superb choice of vanguard. How many matches do you plan on having him fight? His own student would need to take the stage at some point to raise her own reputation.

The insufferable woman had the gall to ignore him, her stony gaze affixed to the stage. Unwilling to throw away face to ask again, he spoke aloud to his student, reprimanding her friend and by extension, Akanai. When your turn arrives, do not take foolish and unnecessary risks like he does. If his judgment was even slightly off, he would be dead and we would be fighting our way out of this mess at this very moment. The rash bravery of the young and brainless. To expect Du Min Gyu to simply hand over this talented and treasured student to be executed was sheer lunacy. If needed, there were favours he could call upon to spare her the noose once he returned to the Central Province, and if not, then he would teach her while living in the wilds if need be.

You're assuming I'll get a turn to act, Teacher Du. Her voice was full of pride as she looked fondly at the stage, unable to tear her eyes away as she cuddled Rain's pet wildcat. How was Akanai able to secure wild animals so easily? There were rumours abound of the Bekhai and their ability to control creatures, perhaps his student would enlighten him sometime. You heard him, he intends to kill them all.

That would be arrogant, unless this second fight ends as quickly as the first, it would be best to choose another champion for the third match. Rain can't possibly be the only competent fighter available to her. There was his student of course, and she had spoken at great lengths of Akanai's daughter's strength. The strapping young wolf-boy also seemed competent, walking about with confidence and grace despite the too-large weapon strapped to his back.

Looking up at him with a charming smile, his student shrugged easily, worried despite her confident words as she gently leaned back against him, taking comfort in the physical contact. Only recently had he learned the grief and misery that came with being a father figure to a beautiful 'daughter', having warned all of his guards and soldiers to steer clear of the flirtatious young woman. How she had wormed her way into his heart was a mystery, with the simple gesture of reliance enough to put a smile on his face. He felt the hand of the Mother in their meeting, the loss of a Disciple driving him to do something he would never have considered, accepting a half-beast girl as a student. He considered himself fortunate to have met her, as without her, he would still be puffing away at that damnable pipe, complaining of aches and pains with a fogged mind. Instead, he was healthy and spry as ever, feeling strong enough to take on the world.

After a slight delay to remove the first corpse, a massive warrior stomped his way onto the stage, covered head to toe in plated armor, dark grey and foreboding. A formidable half-beast, and after a cursory check with his chi, Min Gyu laughed aloud and clapped slowly, drawing the eye of everyone present. Wonderful, wonderful, it turns out the Society is nothing but dog farts and empty boasting. Where are the 'heroes of tomorrow' for us to 'bear witness' to? I expected this to be a match of young talents but instead you fight with purse strings, sending slaves to wear away at your competitors. Truthfully, there was nothing wrong with the tactic but a little shame went a long way. Even in a hard-fought match, there was little glory to be gained in defeating a slave, no matter how talented.

Ignoring the laughs and derision, Jia Yang spoke over them, his voice thunderous and commanding. A slave is more than enough to deal with these savages you've grown so fond of. A contemptuous sneer crossed his face, his tone disparaging. It pains me to see a former Hero of the Empire bought so cheaply, brought low by his base desires and flaunting his dalliances in public. Disgraceful.

Well no more. After this matter with the Society was settled, she would bring him home and have him take a leave of absence from the Sentinels, perhaps even permanently. His talents in healing were astounding, let him focus there and leave the fighting for those better suited to it. He was happy at home, spending his days with the twins and quin pups, diligently training on his own, and she should have let him be. Instead she had forced him out into the world to display his skills in warfare, ignoring his temperament and wishes, too wrapped up in her own desires to listen.

A deafening clash startled her from her thoughts and she focused on the fight at hand. To bring him home, he would first need to survive the day, not only defeating his opponent's, but avoiding Akanai's ire as well. The Chief Provost had shared her plan with them all, to have Rain face off against the Society's most dangerous youngster Zian, but that plan was no longer viable after Rain stepped onto the stage, too eager to balance the scales against their foe. Perhaps it would have been best to share the plan with Rain as well, but she could not fault Akanai for keeping silent. Rain had a tendency to dwell on his worries.

Frowning at the sight, worry began to gnaw at her stomach, the fight playing out poorly. Rain was too brash, throwing himself at the bristleboar with reckless abandon while his opponent focused on nothing but defense, the greatsword moving ever so slightly to block each one of Rain's furious attacks. Bombarding his opponent with attacks, Rain was tiring himself out needlessly, anger blinding him to reason with no sign of the calm young man who had sparred masterfully with Gerel only a few hours ago. Each swing was chaotic and without purpose other than to inflict pain, his inability to connect giving rise to more fury. Every few strikes, the greatsword would dart out, forcing Rain to leap back from the longer weapon, incapable of breaking past the bristleboar's formidable guard.

After ten minutes of reckless flailing, the bristleboar stood firm, although not unharmed, a gash to the arm where Rain's sword found purchase and favouring his left foot, her little brother cleverly feinting high to strike low with his shield's edge. Unfortunately, Rain's efforts were in vain as he stood back, his chest heaving with exertion and his weapons barely held up, the smile replaced with a grim subjection. Exhausted by his foolhardy expenditure of energy, his opponent was still fresh while Rain was nearly spent. Upon seeing Rain's slumped shoulders and despairing visage, the bristleboar finally moved to attack, his massive weapon swinging in a downward arc to crush Rain into a pulp. Alsantset's breath caught in her throat, her heart hammering away in her chest as she prayed for his survival.

The heavy blade parted through the stone as if it were mere water, the shrill shriek of metal and stone paining her sensitive ears. How the weapon had missed escaped her, Rain's thin and overworked arms seeming like wet noodles in comparison to the bristleboar's bulging biceps. He wound up for another two-handed strike, carving a channel through the stage as he swung it about in a figure eight, building momentum in a deadly whirlwind of steel and power. Focusing intently, she watched as Rain's shield raised to meet it, expecting him to crumble under the power behind the strike. The heavy greatsword slid off the curved surface of his new weapon, embedding itself into the stage once again, the stone chips flying about, one piercing through his leather trousers and into his meaty calf.

Seeing that his cleaving blows were ineffective, the bristleboar brought his weapon back, holding the hilt high above his shoulder with his right hand, the blade balanced on his left, before driving it forward in a powerful thrust. Rain's shield was once again in place to meet it, stepping sideways to avoid the force behind it, parrying the weapon beautifully. Finally, it seemed Rain had regained his focus, perhaps able to turn this around.

Good! She started at the sound of Papa's voice, excitement and pride instilled in the single word, and she scolded herself yet again. Rain needed her support now more than ever, his life on the line. Raising her voice, she shouted wordlessly, cheering him on from the sidelines, Lin, Yan, and Mila joining in. She could see the effect almost instantly, his posture straightening up from their encouragement, but he was immediately struck again, the deflected thrust turning into a sideways slash, crashing directly into his shield. Staggering him to one side, Rain fought to keep his footing while the greatsword looped around for another blow.

Her eyes locked onto the weapon as it was raised high into the air, scything downwards towards her little brother, Rain's shield raising once more to meet it. The blade swung low, avoiding the shield entirely, a diagonal slash cutting clean through his right calf and into the stone stage, severing foot from leg. The shock and pain were plain to see on his youthful face as he crashed into the stage, his weapons still clutched in both hands, blood streaming from the stump. A scream sounded, echoing through the field for an eternity, a keening wail of disbelief and despair. It was some time before she realized the scream was hers, as if she could reject the scene before her, change reality to suit her purpose. She charged forward to rescue him, moving barely a single centimeter before crashing into a solid barrier, her legs flying forward from under her as she was lifted backwards. Fighting ferociously, a second arm wrapped around her as she flailed about, desperate to save her little brother from his impending death.

Let it be child, let it be. Her Papa trembled as he hugged her close, his voice dripping with hatred and grief, his chest quivering. We cannot help him, but we will avenge him if need be. The Society will fall in death and fire, drowning in pain and blood, this I swear.

Her anguish overwhelming her, her strength fled as she collapsed into her Papa's arms, seeking comfort which could not be found. She tried to force herself to watch Rain's dying moments, the hateful bristleboar raising his weapon once more for a powerful thrust, keeping his distance from the prone Rain, leaving nothing to chance. Tears streamed down her face, obscuring her vision, and she closed her eyes, unable to bear the pain any longer.

Die well little brother. May you find peace within the arms of the Mother.

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