Inter-Kingdom Tournament (8) Finals

ONE DAY BEFORE THE FINALS

INSIDE THE KING'S STUDY ROOM

"My Liege, your daughter did fantastic in the match, but what do you think of the kid? He can wield THREE elements and use the sword style of the Morningstar family! If we can utilize him right, he can be a very formidable powerhouse for us in the future." A man said while on one knee.

"Crystal Duke, I am well aware of how important he is, he's a talent that comes by once every thousand years, but things are more complicated than that. For one, we do not know where he came from or what his relation to our kingdom is. But with those powers he has shown, we can agree on the fact that he has a very powerful backer or master, so we must tread carefully."

"Of course Your Majesty, but he's just a kid, and his opinions can be easily swayed. If we can coax him in with good persuasion, he could be our greatest military asset! Our military's strength would increase tremendously."

"That is true, I have a lot to think about, you are dismissed." With a wave of his hand, the crystal duke disappeared from the room.

'A kid huh, I'm not so sure about that...' King Manik wondered, remembering that look in his eyes.

---

The day of the finals have arrived, and the colosseum became nosier than ever. Betting stations were set up and as per the usual, Eric placed all the money that he won from the school event on himself.

As the match was about to start, the announcer made one final announcement, introducing the finalists.

"LORDS AND LADIES! THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE CLASH BETWEEN THE TITANS! ONE WHO HAS WON 5 CONSECUTIVE TOURNAMENTS IN A ROW, AND THE OTHER WHO HAD MADE HIS SPECTACULAR DEBUT AND DOMINATED IN ALL HIS MATCHES.

FIRST LET'S WELCOME, THE SCARLET BEAST, EVAGORAS NOX TEPES, WILL HE ONCE AGAIN DEFEND HIS POSITION AS THE UNDEAFEATED CHAMPION? OR WILL THE TIDES TURN THIS YEAR!

AND THE OTHER FINALIST, ERIC PENDRAGON, THE MYSTERIOUS GENIUS, WITH HIS ASTOUNDING ABILITY TO USE THREE ELEMENTS, WHAT MORE SURPISES WILL HE THROW AT US?"

As the bell rang and the spectators took their seat, the match started off expected in the least expected manner. It did not start off with a bang, but a tense stare-off. The spectators were confused, but Eric knew full well why Evagoras has not made a move yet.

Wariness.

After watching all his battles, an imposing image of Eric had formed in Evagoras' mind. Due to his past experience fighting with Aerin, he knew full well of how powerful her 'Explosion Zero' was. Seeing Eric leave the explosion without as much as a scratch on him came as a shock. The same move was used on him the previous year and he had suffered serious burns from it.

'A mere human walking away from a blast that severely injured me? Impossible.' He was in denial.

This made him extremely wary of Eric, and for the first time in a long while, he was going to go all out. This was not an opponent he could take lightly. There was one thing bugging his mind ever since the tournament started.

"Where did you learn that swordsmanship, that style looks very familiar." Evagoras scratched his head, rummaging through his memories.

"You don't remember the guy you killed?" Eric replied.

"Oh 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 guy, he's the first person I've ever killed. Who are you, his brother? Have you come to take revenge for him?"

"No. I don't really care about that, just here to fulfil a promise." Eric replied in an uninterested tone. "Enough chitchat, come."

Lifting his great axe from his shoulders, Evagoras started off with a heavy attack with his axe crackling with lightning magic.

Dodging his swing with ease, Eric step-sided the attack and returned it with a light slap.

It was such an unexpected move that Evagoras froze on the spot. The disrespect that he has just received shook his entire being.

WHAAAM!

Bending his body, Eric sent out a side kick that connected fully on his chest, sending Evagoras stumbling back a few feet.

There were a few important rules of battle. One of them was to keep a clear mind. Unfortunately, Evagoras just failed that.

"ERIC!!! You sonavubitch! How dare you!" This time even without intaking blood into his axe, he already became mad. "I'll show you what it means to fight a true vampire!"

While he was cussing away, Eric was in thought.

'Hmmm, high-grade armor and weapon. With my mid-grade sword and low-grade armor, this will be troublesome. But it is what it is.'

Looking down at his armor, Eric found multiple cracks and dents in it from previous fights. It did not look like it will last through one more battle.

"THUNDER BLAZE!" Evagoras spit out.

"Morningstar Style: Moonlight Dance."

As lightning came crashing down on Eric, he took a graceful stance and started a sword dance. Like a conductor conducting an orchestra, the sword elegantly deflected the lighting bolts. Sometimes he would even parry Evagoras' own bolts back at him.

Fed up with his spell not doing any damage, Evagoras went to attack. Using his telekinesis, he threw the axe and directed it to Eric's blind spot. When Eric spotted Evagoras approaching him, he immediately noticed that his axe was missing. By the time he reacted to it, Evagoras was already upon him. In that short moment of time, Eric had deduced the location of the axe from the sound it made as it travelled through the air.

Now he had little time and was given two choices, either turn around and block the flying axe, or face the more imminent threat that was fast approaching him. Deciding to trust his armor to tank a hit, Eric faced Evagoras.

Discarding his sword, Eric clashed with him head on with both hand. A moment later, the axe slammed into Eric's back like a sledgehammer. The force of the impact shattered the back plate of his armor but did not make Eric loose his footing. Knowing where the axe was coming from, he had already braced himself for the impact. Clasping both of Evagoras' hand, Eric prevented him from taking back his axe.

"Lightning Scorpion."

Lightning extended from Eric's back and turned into a scorpion's tail. With an extra 'hand' to help him, Eric struck him on his neck, causing him to scream in pain. Evagoras instinctively used his leg to kick the tail away, dispersing the spell. Right now their strengths were equal and none of them budged an inch.

"Fire Breath."

Eric opened his mouth wide and a ball of intense flame started to build up.

Evagoras stared in horror at the extremely condensed fireball inside Eric's mouth that was about to be unleashed. In attempt to escape, he aimed a series of desperate kicks at Eric's leg, hoping to snap it. Despite feeling his shinbones screaming in pain, Eric held on and finished his super compressed fire breath.

Flashing him a deep smirk, Eric unleashed the full brunt of the flames right at his face. Feeling the excruciating flames burning his head, Evagoras let out an ungodly shrieked, which caused the spectators to cover their ears in pain.

The screams soon turned mute as all the liquid in his throat evaporated. As the fire breath came to an end, Evagoras' head had been barbequed to perfection. His eyeballs had melted away and what remained were nothing but empty sockets.

Releasing his hands, Eric turned around and staggered away. He looked for Evagoras' fallen axe and picked it up. If his sword and hands alone cannot break Evagoras' armor, then he will just have to use the a weapon of the same grade to break it.

When he returned, Evagoras' face was already regenerating visibly. His eyes had formed but his eyelids has not, making him look like a dead corpse staring into nothingness. Wasting no time, Eric raised the great axe and smashed the armor into pieces. When he raised the axe and brought it down again to end the fight, Evagoras suddenly disappeared from his spot.

He reappeared a distance away, but his body was trembling. A syringe could be seen stuck into his left arm with its content empty. And a deep guttural sound came from his throat.