Chapter 70: Tournament Day 2 (Part 2)

[You came.] - Melodias

Lao Shi was tired, his journey had been a long one with many flies buzzing in his path. His destination, the beginning of everything as well as possibly the end. And the figure waiting for his arrival was a familiar one. Melodias, looking exactly as he had the last time they had met, even for a God 10,000 years was a long time. The old man knew that his old friend had known of his coming for quite some time but upon seeing him he still let a smirk appear on his face as if he had only just noticed him. This, as well as the lack of any back-up, irked the Martial God to no end. It was if his old friend was looking down upon him but that couldn't be true, he, more than anyone, knew just how powerful Lao Shi was. Now the question was, why?

[You didn't give me many other options. Was it truly necessary to send so many young God's to their deaths?] - Master Lao Shi

[...] - Melodias

[Answer me Melodias! What are you planning?!?] - Master Lao Shi

[Hmm... Have you ever seen what lies beyond the Boundary? The Empty?] - Melodias

Lao Shi was incensed, Melodias had not only sent many bright young Gods to their death he even had the audacity to act as if the loss of so many divinities meant nothing. Even though he had spared as many as possible in deference to their age and possible future it looked like his old friend cared nothing for their loss.

Scowling at his silent companion he lost his temper but what came from Melodias in response was baffling and more than anything, disturbing. The Abyss, The Empty, The Boundary, The Outside. There were many names for the endless darkness outside the Universe but all of them captured it's essence. It was something that no being should lay eyes on, mortal or otherwise. That he brought it up in this context could only mean...

[...don't tell me. You went there?!?] - Master Lao Shi

[I did. And what I saw Old Friend... it was wonderous!] - Melodias

[Are you insane?!? No one has ever been able to gaze into that Abyss and return whole!] - Master Lao Shi

He couldn't believe his ears, it was madness. Pure and utter insanity. His old friend, one of the first beings to come into focus in the Universe, had crossed a taboo that had existed since the beginning. All Gods were born with a set of rules instinctively known, a guide of sorts. From who they came no one knew but the first and oldest rule was to never venture outside of the Universe. To do so was to invite things better left unknown in. And he was saying that not only had he entered such a place he was in awe over it?!?

[Insane? INSANE?!? What's insane is the limitations of this Universe! What's insane is that we God's have to play politics and negotiate with Dragons, Demons and the like! We were the beginning what right do lesser creatures have to question our plans?!? So... I decided to change it, change everything.] - Melodias

[Melodias, what have you done?] - Master Lao Shi

[I'm sorry my old friend but that won't be your problem for much longer.] - Melodias

Lao Shi instinctively took a step back at the look in Melodias' eyes, his entire being rejecting what he saw in front of him. His once friend was now a stain upon the fabric of reality. A blemish that it only suffered in it's inability to cleanse it. Unfortunately it seemed that his friend had decided to end this farce too and he now wasn't sure if he would be able to survive. Cursing under his breath he quickly apologized to his missing disciple's, they may have to find their way on their own from now on.

[That was... unexpected.] - ???

[Yeah I nearly pissed myself in surprise!] - ???

[...] - ???

[By the way we seem to be missing one of our number.] - ???

[Ah yes I gave our missing compatriot permission to eliminate one of our targets.] - Shadowy Leader

[Oh? And will he be returning to participate in the main event? You know how he is with his playthings afterall.] - ???

[True but he is the weakest among us. His loss will not effect the plan in the slightest.] - Shadowy Leader

[Her's will.] - ???

[...] - ???

[Don't worry, while we did not expect that much power it isn't enough to tip the scales. The Prince will succeed in following through. We need only continue our current actions for a few days more.] - Shadowy Leader

[And our reward? You told us that the Church would heal us.] - ???

[Do not worry dear lady, we will all receive everything deserved to us. Just have patience for a little longer.] - Shadowy Leader

[Tch! Fine.] - ???

[Well since she's left us I guess I'll get going to.] - ???

[Hey wait for me!] - ???

[...] - ???

Hidden in the darkness of Academy City 5 shadows watched the event before them. Despite not having a clear line of sight with each other and even having no way of speaking the group still conversed in some unknown way, each of the five only showing the slightest hint that they were anything other than shadows from the surrounding buildings. Each of their number was, by themselves, nearly invisible, but the combined power of the group pushed that latent imperceptibility even further to the point that even the most powerful individual on the continent would have had difficulty separating their forms from the surrounding darkness.

In contrast to the silence between them however they actually were quite the talkative bunch, with each of them expressing their personalities in ways that those trained in such things would have spotted. Only they could say however which of them spoke as visually their was no difference and in the alley's of Academy City they vanished after mere moments together, not a soul witnessing what had transpired.

[Come on then!] - Lance

[Guh! Wot happen'd ta aving a godsdam sheld!?!] - CuCuthain

[Hahahaha! I don't know what you just said but I'm guessing it's about my lack of a shield? Take this!] - Lance

[Ya mekin fun o'me mate!?! Ya erd ery godsdam word!] - CuCuthain

It had been nearly 15 minutes since Rose's fight and contrary to the speed at which that fight had ended the current one was heating up more and more. The strange thing was, and it was something that both the crowd and CuCuthain himself had noticed. His opponent, Lance "the Shield", didn't actually have a Shield of any kind. Instead the lanky young man opted to use what looked like a counterstaff. Now normally this would have meant that of the two CuCuthain would have had the advantage. He did afterall use a lance, which was similar in function to a staff except with a pointy bit at the end. You would think this would inevitably lead to his win in a somewhat prompt manner. And you would have been in good company as most bets had nearly immediately leaned in that direction when their weapons of choice were revealed.

Unfortunately for both you and those that were gripping their betting slips it wasn't as clear-cut as it seemed, with their battle proving to be much more equal than would have been immediately apparent.

[You know why they call me "the Shield"?] - Lance

[Dat's wot I've been askin ya right wanka!] - CuCuthain

[Hahaha! It's because I am untouchable with a staff in my hands! HA!] - Lance

[Ya ave got ta be fookin wit me mate!] - CuCuthain

He was being pushed back, each of his attacks seeming to only draw the slippery bastard even closer to him. It seemed he would have to use his trump card far earlier than expected at this rate.

[Damn! I'd been oping ta not ave ta use this till tha second match ya bloody knob.] - CuCuthain

[Dragoon Lance: Gáe Bulg] - CuCuthain

Still smiling Lance took a defensive stance as his opponent leapt high above the Arena floor, his spear glowing as he did so. He certainly hadn't expected him to be simple to defeat so while he was unsure as to what was about to happen he felt it better to prepare for what was almost certainly his opponents killing move. What he didn't expect though was just how effective that attack would be. And with the ending of this fight we also had the first death, his quarterstaff not up to the task of halting such a pinpoint attack.

[Holy Shit! Did you see that?!? He jumped up like "Fwum!" and threw his spear like a god damn javelin!] - Karen

Rose smiled as she watched her slime girl ecstatically jump around in excitement, the sight bringing both a smile and a light blush to her face as if she was watching the cutest thing ever seen before her. Which if you had asked her about at that moment might have been something she was able to legitimately argue. Ever since she'd been kissed by the adorable slime girl it was like years of repressed feelings had barreled to the surface. Years of holding herself back for fear of driving off her one and only remaining close friend had been summarily released and those feelings were filling her mind without end. In her previous life she'd dated other women of course, many of them even for a long while at a time, but when she thought back to those times she'd always compared them to the one that stole her heart away. The one that she'd known was out of reach for her past self. And here she was finally within her grasp, yet she was too embarrassed and afraid to reach out and take that chance.

Quickly bringing herself out of her thoughts she realized that Annabelle had answered the purple girl's question, albeit more stiffly than when she responded to her.

[I believe that was a lance Miss Karen. You can tell by looking at the head of the weapon as well as how it is used.] - Annabelle

[Wow! So what kinda move was that last thing he did?!?] - Karen

[I must admit I am curious as well.] - Rose

[Of course Young Miss. Now what I will say is I am only guessing based off of what I know of this "Divine Lance" character but if I had to guess I'd say he's a Dragoon. Specifically more than likely a rider of the Lesser Dragon, Wyvern. A primarily aerial combat style.] - Annabelle

[Wait you can ride dragon's?!?] - Rose

Rose was shocked, her only experience with Dragon's face-to-face being her family she couldn't understand how it could be possible to ride such creatures. Although now that she thought of it Dragon's were mentioned several times in History class as well as her tutoring as a child, although at the time she hadn't really understood the significance of those appearances and had just assumed that Dragons on the whole were a more reasonable size. They couldn't all be like her Grampa afterall. Malaise, looking smug, decided to take over explaining since Annabelle was unlikely to be very verbose without Rose herself prodding her responses.

[Ahem! I can answer this one. So what we generally refer to as Dragons can be split into 3 basic types, each one being less common than the last.] - Malaise

[Right.] - Rose

[First up is what most people would think of when it comes to Dragons and is also the most common one, that is Lesser Dragons. These include Wyverns, Ground Dragons and Wyrm's of the desert. Now most of the time these are not only the most numerous but also the weakest with only a few exceptions being known, such as enormous Sand Wyrm's that could swallow Greater Dragon's whole. Next of course is Greater Dragon's. Visually this type looks to be like what is commonly referred to when you imagine foes that could demolish armies. These Dragons are split between 2 types, Eastern and Western Types, with no real power difference between them to speak of. And last, the least numerous type and one that, except for a few known individuals, only appears in myths and legends, the Primordial Dragons.] - Malaise

[Grandfather Mors...] - Rose

[Exactly, you might not think of it this way but you are effectively a myth made real. Honestly before I got to know you I'd only heard stories of when your Uncle, Queen Laura's husband, roamed the land. Honestly I used to think that the stories of Royal families being related to Dragons was more propaganda than anything else. I never imagined I'd not only meet someone like you but become friends, even now it's amazing to me.] - Malaise

[Malaise...] - Rose

[Me too! Me too! I'm happy to have met you as well!] - Veronica

[...friend.] - Shade

[You guys?!?] - Rose

[M-Moving on from all that gushy stuff do you think that Lance guy is okay? He was rushed out of the Arena pretty qu-] - Karen

Ending her explanation on just how crazy her family tree was Malaise illustrated to her how most people viewed such mythical beasts. Her family was literally considered Legends by most people she'd meet. Even her own identity as a granddaughter of one of those Dragon's was most likely not believed by the majority of people out there, taken as posturing and overexaggerations to puff up their fame in other countries. She might even come across people in the future that would scoff at her lineage, thinking she was lying.

Of course hearing Malaise extol her virtues was embarrassing but what was even worse is that her other friends took that as permission to chirp in about their feelings as well, causing her face to heat up from embarrassment. Karen, seeming like she wanted to join in, just blushed before changing the subject to the previous fight once more only to be interrupted by an announcement that the previous combatant, Lance, had unfortunately succumbed to his wounds prompting a short moment of silence out of respect over the Arena at the behest of the Announcer.