Chapter 61: The Emperor’s Decree

Toro and "Star" were about to fight as their aura's clashed.

"Do you really need a reminder of our last bout?" "Star" asked.

"You shouldn't expect things to go the same way. That was two years ago, I'm completely different now." Toro said as he prepared for battle. The two rushed towards each other and a massive shockwave formed at their clash. As they were struggling a voice sounded out of the speakers around the palace and the voice could be heard around the entire capital.

The voice was from the Emperor and caused the fighting all around to stop. "Toro! It took you long enough! I've been waiting for this for quite some time!" The Emperor said.

"My apologies for the wait. I've come just as you requested." Toro said with a graceful salute.

"Well it was quite the task I had pushed onto you this time around, my most loyal subject." The Emperor said.

"Most loyal subject? What is the meaning of this your majesty?" "Star" asked bewildered.

"You know all these centuries of easy victories had gotten really boring. I was hoping that a powerful opponent would appear that could give the Empire a beat down, and I think Toro was just the man for the job." The Emperor replied.

"What? You can't be serious!" "Star" said at a loss for words as he was losing his composure.

"That's enough "Star", I have more important things to announce." The Emperor said dismissively. "I accept your challenge for a War Festival Toro, but I think a regular War Festival is too tame. This will be a Grand War Festival! I will go over the details with you later. For now, this battle is over! Everyone stop fighting! We don't want to ruin our appetites before the main course. Hahahaha!!!!"

The soldiers fighting in the streets had stopped after the Emperor's message, and were standing awkwardly unsure of whether they should start fighting again or not. Eventually the Coalition forces pulled back and returned to their siege camps. The Ministers returned with the entire Imperial Army but it was too late the Emperor had already called a ceasefire.

Toro met with the Emperor afterwards to go over the details of the Grand War Festival that would be held. The tournament would take place in a month, the rules would be the same as a regular War Festival except there would be 15 matches instead of the usual 7. At stake was the freedom of all of the Coalition nations, if the Coalition won they'd secure their freedom from Imperial rule. If they lost, then they would be relentlessly crushed instead.

"So we need 15 members for our team? Who are the other 8 guys going to be then?" Erik Fritz (formerly known as "Fire") asked.

"Well that's a good question. Part of the reason why there's a month delay until the tournament starts is that we need time to fill out our roster." Toro replied. "We can add my little brother Coyote, but that still leaves us 7 spots to fill. That being said I do have an idea of where we can find at least two more fighters."

"Really? Where? Who are you talking about?" Erik asked.

"You'll see. Trust me they're some good ones too." Toro said enthusiastically. "We're going back to Earth."

Meanwhile back at Imperial High Command the Ministers were grumbling about the current state of affairs.

"Ah! I can't believe we let that bumpkin outmaneuver us like that! What are we going to do now? Our entire army is here now shouldn't we just disregard the Emperor's orders and crush the rebels regardless?" The Minister of the Right said as he angrily slammed his fist into the wall.

"You should know that we can't just openly disregard the Emperor's orders. I'll admit that this was a misstep on our part, but there is still no reason to worry. Victory will undoubtedly still be ours." The Minister of the Left confidently and calmly replied.

"How so?"

"Brother do you forget the power that we have at our disposal. We have the might of the 9 Royal Guard Squad Captains, we have even brought the 4 War Powers with us as well. That lineup is enough to lay waste to the entire universe. These rebels stand no chance against them."

"Ah, of course. How foolish of me. With those men fighting for us our victory is assured. But Brother who will the final two members of our team be?"

"The two of us of course."

"What? Brother, you can't be serious! You honestly expect me to fight?" The Minister of the Right asked in a panic.

"Of course not Brother, don't be ridiculous. The battle will be decided long before we have to take stage. We can just forfeit our matches, I just want to show them that we're so confident in our victory that we can even afford to put in two non-combatants like ourselves." The Minister of the Left said with a confident smile.

"Yes, of course a fine strategy as always." The Minister of the Right said with a clear sense of relief.