Chapter 60: Tournament Day 1 (Part 2)

[What do you think Logic? Can we control her until the tournament is over?] - Rose

[Honestly? Probably not, while I'm loath to admit it you should think about dropping from the Tournament to get control of her first. Otherwise there's a possibility that she'll dominate the entirety of Subconscia.] - Logic

[Ugh... Unfortunately that's not really an option any more, not with my family involved this much...] - Rose

[...] - Logic

[Well just do what you can, let me know before she breaks free though. I'll need a little warning to prepare myself.] - Rose

[As you say Goddess of Mercy, Rose.] - Logic

[Tch! You think that's funny don't you?] - Rose

[I would never think such a thing of our beloved Goddess.] - Logic

[Fine whatever, how's everything else working out?] - Rose

[Well our numbers are...] - Logic

My inner world, a Mind Palace based off my thoughts, desires, experiences and just random stuff outside of that. A place where a fragment of my old self has taken up my appearance while representing the more logical part of my mind. I found out when we first met however that even my most logical side is a bit... impulsive. Makes me wonder what exactly my mind looked like over there.

One thing had bothered me ever since I found my old likeness inside my mind however, well a lot of things honestly speaking but one thing in particular. It was that every time I looked at my old male body a feeling of pain would shoot through my body, it was like looking at something extremely unpleasant to the point that you want it eradicated utterly. This visceral reaction to what was effectively myself confused me to no end but over the several months that I'd interacted with him it had never entirely vanished. Even as I got comfortable speaking with him it was still there, like an itch, in the back of my brain.

Shaking my head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts I focused on the issue. Her. She'd appeared in my inner world early on, at first fairly inconsequential but quickly growing into a massive problem. To the point that keeping Her from outright taking control was taking a massive amount of my, and Logic's, concentration as well as a far larger part of my fast growing power. It seemed like my training wasn't sufficient to grow fast enough to keep Her under control and after consulting with both Logic and Master Gil we'd decided to head back to civilization on time so that he could research the problem for possible solutions. I wasn't holding out hope, I knew somehow that I had to get Her under control with my own power. Why else wouldn't my grandfather have already intervened?

Unfortunately Logic's answer to the question of containment was a resounding "not a chance", even suggesting that I step back from the Tournament. Such a thing was not possible anymore. Not with my parents, grandparents and even Auntie involved like this. I couldn't leave them to face something so dangerous alone. On top of that was that Prince Julias! My blood boiled whenever I pictured his face, my fist, tightened beyond belief, trembled with the desire to beat him into a pulp. This wasn't only Her influence though, my own feelings on the matter mirrored Her's. Honestly that was one of the reasons that keeping Her pacified was becoming so difficult. Logic had determined that syncing too much with Her before she was fully brought to heel would be a dangerous move, one that could leave Her in control.

My response to Logic's call to pull out made him lapse into silence as I moved on, and he, as the "dutiful" servant, bowed slightly while addressing me by my so-called "proper" title. It had taken the residents of my Mind Palace almost no time at all to come up with a way to address the one they viewed as a Supreme Being, at which point they had taken to referring to me like that every time I came, much to my embarrassment. Logic, well aware of this fact, had a history of using it sarcastically to poke fun. Don't think I don't see your smirk you bastard!

Well whatever. Deciding to let his attempt at getting a rise out of me go we moved on to other important things, I had many MANY responsibilities to deal with before my first actual battle. Well most of them were Logic's job... that self-righteous snob. Glancing up at him one more time before we really got into the discussion I felt a wave of disgust for an instant before I pushed it down once more, I didn't have time to deal with... whatever the hell that was.

[Welcome! WELCOME! WEEEELLLCOME!!! After a hair raising Preliminary Tournament we are finally to the main event!!! Now some of you may have noticed a slight change in the structure of our arena as well as the absence of the ring from the first half of this exciting event! Well wonder no further! This second half will be a elimination bracket-style event with no ring-out condition! The only way to leave this time is to either surrender, go unconscious, or, in the worst case, die. The ban on purposely trying to kill your opponent, fortunately, is still in place but given the much higher skill level of those present limited them to non-lethal attacks only is a handicap we aren't willing to have! All of you out there be sure to pray for the safety of your favorite's you hear?!?] - Judico

The excitement had reached it's peak, the fights the day before having put the crowd in the mood for even more exciting and dangerous fights. We'd started the day before with the favorite of the Tournament becoming some giant slime "thing" only for an exciting game of cat and mouse to unfold and, surprising everyone, the mouse was the "Lightning Flash" Karen instead of the much smaller human. After that had been a series of absolute massacre's as the 3 other secret powerhouses of the Preliminaries had shown a bit of their hidden might, almost as if they were competing against the Slime Girl's show of power.

The stage was set, and the 4 contestants that qualified were able to move on. Leading to today.

Judico, an experienced announcer that had participated in uncountable Tournament's, still somehow felt like this one was special in some way. The Original 10 Seeds and the 4 Preliminary Seeds. All of them were unquestionably powerful, the best in their respective field's. At least as far as the younger generation went. The announcer could remember some of the big names that had come through this battlefield over the years, many of them were untouchable today, fortunately, for the participants at least, anyone over a certain age was banned from participating. It wouldn't do for the monsters of the older generation to snip the talents of the younger generation before they blossomed afterall.

[Now let me explain how this Tournament is gonna work for all you newbie's out there! What we have here is a field of 14 contestants, 10 sponsored and 4 that fought their way into this Battle of the Titans! These 14 will be randomly matched up with their opponents for the first match. At which point the winner will be allowed to move on while the loser will be relegated to shamefully dropping out! Each winner will then fight another winner and will continue doing so until only one person is left!!! Your Champion!!!!] - Judico

The crowd surged, nearly bursting at the seams, as the cheering of the mobs reached a high point. Judico smiled at the sight, the excitement in the air affecting even him with it's infectious bite. He'd seen many a Tournament in his life, many of which mirrored the one of today, yet never had he seen a crowd this excited. It was a sobering thought that it was most likely being used as an escape from the miserable lives they all were living in and he noted that a large amount of the fans were Demi's, most likely hoping that their kin would win it for them. Possibly hoping that maybe that would elevate them as well. Sadly he knew that wasn't the case, especially with their Prince being... him.

[Now without further ado let's get a look at our lineup!!!] - Judico

[Lord Kars de la Forde? So I'm facing a lord right off the bat huh...?] - Rose

[R-Right... And mine's a Lady. Lady Arbor de la Lis? S-Sounds like a florist shop. H-Hehehehe...] - Karen

[Karen, it'll be okay, I believe in you. But hmmm, Kars de la Forde...? That sounds so familiar for some reason... oh well!] - Rose

Rose and her friends had spent the time after "Auntie" Laura had finally allowed Rose to escape from her clutches at the school. Apparently each of the classes had made up an exhibit of their specialties, showcasing their abilities to adults that they may work with at some point in the future. Many a lower noble would spend the entire Tournament ingratiating themselves with their superiors, and that number included many students in the past. The school, noticing the problem, instead elected to allowing their students to showcase their worth on campus with various shows and competitions. Most classes, focusing on the martial side of advancement, would lazily make up a excuse for public dueling then showcase their ability directly through combat. Others, the more technically or magically inclined, would come up with inventive and interesting ways to show off outside of combat. This "school festival" would actually last almost a week after the Tournament itself and according to Malaise and them they had spent a large amount of the week before the Tournament setting up S-Class's exhibit which apparently wouldn't be ready until the day after the last fights of the Tournament. So I guess no visiting?

Not letting that inconvenience get me down I'd decided to just enjoy a few hours with my friends. Malaise, Veronica, Karen, Shade and Annabelle didn't seem to mind my aimlessness and just enjoyed our time goofing off until the first matches.

Teasing Karen about her fear of crowds and her nervous reactions to once more going into that situation I tried calming her down with some joking but only succeeded in garnering a half-hearted smile in response. The sight of what she was afraid of though shocked even me. An endless sea of bodies, all excitedly cheering, surrounded a massive fighting pit in the center. Isn't this like 5 times bigger than it was yesterday? There had to be at least 100,000 people here!

It was at this point that a loud voice blasted over the... speakers? loud stones? Anyway a loud voice echoed over the Arena, explaining the rules of the tournament as well as what to expect from the new style. The voice also displayed the bracket in midair, a massive screen floating in the middle of the Arena that somehow maintained it's straight on look no matter what angle you viewed it from. Maybe illusion magic? Well whatever it seemed that both Karen and my opponent were members of nobility, of which country I didn't know but convention said that it was mostly only those nearby that acquired recommendations so it was likely from Abelis or one of the surrounding provinces.

[Hmm so it looks like that bastard Prince got an advantage. Randomly selected my ass.] - Malaise

[Yeah what the hell!?! I thought those Judge guys were on your side?] - Veronica

[Only... 3, present...] - Shade

[Your... friends... are correct Young Miss, I believe that only 3 of the Tournament Judges are involved in the plan. It was decided that pulling in any more than necessary constituted a unnecessary risk so only the bare minimum were involved from the Loyalist Faction.] - Annabelle

[Ah that makes sense, so it's likely that a large amount of the other Judges are part of the Prince's Faction?] - Malaise

[Yes, that's correct.] - Annabelle

[...] - Rose

The Ice Queen is back! I hadn't noticed before due to a lack of interacting with people other than family members while Annabelle was around but I'd definitely noticed it in the last few days. My personal maid, Annabelle, was decidedly unfriendly with anyone other than myself or my family. It wasn't like she was antagonistic, more like she immediately became colder than Antarctica during the winter when forced to converse with anyone she wasn't familiar with. I hope she eventually becomes more used to my friends at least, I don't plan on leaving them behind afterall.

Regardless the thought that the Prince had enough leverage to influence the order of the fights was a bit disconcerting. I did note however that I wouldn't have to fight Karen until the Finale though. Silver linings and all that.

[Do you think the Prince set it up so that we'd have a better chance at fighting?] - Rose

[Ufufufu. Don't you worry about that one Young Miss! That was the doing of our side actually, we wanted to give you the best chance at taking down the Prince by setting you up with a pull nearer to the Prince.] - Annabelle

[Why not have her fight him immediately then? I mean if we're-] - Veronica

[Timing...] - Shade

[Your... eloquent friend is correct little succubi, the plan needs Rose to fight the Prince while the operation is in progress. Too early and it's over before we can act, too late and it's not an effective distraction.] - Annabelle

[Well let's get down there, I think the first fight's about to start.] - Karen

[Young Miss?] - Annabelle

[You heard her, let's watch to see what kind of competition I'll be up against. Although these matches will be more for Karen than me now that I think of it...] - Rose

[And moving right along we have the match between "Master" Edgar and Aerin "the Long-Lived"!!!] - Judico