The day had come, and the crowd gathered before the fighters could even leave their cells, or, in some cases, even wake up after heavy training from yesterday. Their shouts and excitement were audible throughout the whole dungeon. “Godan! Lioness! Godan! Lioness!” The people shouted excitedly as if an important match was coming, except it could turn into a bloodbath.
Even without the shouts, the place seemed loud with the amount of people in the stands, squeezing in to find a place to sit. Barely leaving any space for people who couldn’t afford a seat, forced to stand between them.
Godan was the first to enter the pit, lifting the excitement for the crowd above by walking around with his long sword up in the air. He shouted to them as well, his excitement also high as he could finally fight someone strong, eagerly looking around for Navia.
The same man who had bet on Grizzly was in the stands above. The old man in a brown coat sat beside him, he seemed less excited about the fight than the last time he saw Navia in the arena.
“Hey! Old man!” The man moved closer to the elder and tossed his bet paper in his face. “This time I put money on the Lioness. If she surprises Grizzly, then I have a chance of winning thousands in this fight if I bet on her.”
“This time I am not betting. It could go either way… So I simply came to watch.” The old man answered, his gaze focused on Godan, barely acknowledging the presence of the young man.
“Oh… Okay…” The young man’s excitement faded as he stressed a bit, not sure if he would earn any money today. In truth he was more stressed by the mood the old man was in.
The crowd slowly got impatient; five minutes had passed since Godan had entered the arena, and his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Godan listened to their chatter and stood up. “She won’t run away. We are waiting for her because she is preparing! There might be a big surprise, an ace up her sleeve!” He shouted to calm the nerves of those who thought the fight wouldn’t happen. He did it for his own peace of mind. “It better be a good ace…”
Navia suddenly entered the arena without any announcement. Her presence barely visible. People realized she was there only when Godan turned toward her and took a fighting stance with his long sword stretched to the side. Navia picked up a kitchen knife buried in the sand, and with it, she cut the palm of her hand. The blood flew out of her hand, turning into two black daggers.
“I heard this will be your test… Don’t disappoint us…” Godan shouted loudly enough for Navia to hear and to exclude the crowd from this conversation.
“It’s not like I am only trying to prove my worth to you…” Navia bent her knees down and her torso forward, one hand on the ground, her muscles tensing as she was preparing herself for a fight.
“Show me what you got!” Godan took a long step forward and swung his long sword at Navia’s head, leaving himself open on purpose. He thought he got her once Navia dashed forward, avoiding his sword and getting close to him. He released the grip of his sword and grabbed it upside down, quickly bringing it down. The sword hit the ground under his legs, with Navia nowhere to be seen.
“I already know his biggest strength. Even up close, his longsword can reach me with his swift movement and ability to instantly switch the trajectory of his attack. I have to be faster than his eyes can follow.”
“I won’t make the same mistake twice.” Navia appeared behind him with only one dagger in hand, swinging it at Godan’s back. The man was quick to react, as he turned away, the blade only scratched his side, only a drop of blood being drawn.
“That’s more like it!” Shouted excitedly, Godan as he made a swift move with his long sword, making it seem like a swing and turning it into a thrust attack. The blood wrapped around Navia’s forearm and hardened, letting the blade slide across its surface, as it was getting close to Godan’s hand, blades began to extend from the blood armor’s surface.
Godan quickly turned his sword around, stopping Navia’s hand with the sword guard. At the same second, a blade was near his cheek. With a swift move, he bent his neck to the side and watched closely as the blade moved barely an inch away from his face.
It seemed like Navia had the upper hand, using her speed and versatility of her Blood Manipulation Gate to corner Godan. Her advantage quickly faded as Godan grabbed her hand and turned his sword guard around, forcing Navia down and sending a knee to her stomach.
A burst of dark blood fell onto his feet as Navia flew away, hit the ground, and rolled through it. Leaving a trail of dark blood on the red sand. Between the blood, there was vomit, making the taste in her mouth more nauseating.
“Get up.” Commanded Godan, standing in the same place where he had attacked Navia. “We’re not finished.” He informed with a grin, turning his wrist, making his joint snap with a satisfying crunch. Then he did the same with his neck. “I already feel refreshed. That was a good warm-up. Time for the real thing.”
Navia slowly got back to her feet, spitting out everything she had in her mouth. “I can’t stop. Even a second without movement gives him space for an attack…” Her blood dagger and forearm armor turned into two gauntlets and knives. Placing her feet in the blood she coughed out, she turned them into armored shoes.
“Ready when you are!” Excitedly shouted Godan, walking around Navia but keeping his distance. Each of his steps heavily planted into the ground, his posture solid and unshakable.
“That’s kind of you…” Navia answered, playing as if she were truly touched by his words. She kneeled as if she was attempting another dash toward the man, but she melted her daggers to make the gauntlets thicker and grabbed the closest knife she saw to her. With one swift move, the kitchen knife flew toward Godan, which he easily repelled with a jerk of his longsword. In that split second, he blocked his vision from the upcoming flying axe. This time, he had to strain his muscles to block the weapon that would go deep into his shoulder.
“Where?” Godan grunted, a bit stressed by the missing opponent. Godan turned around to his left, but the only thing he saw was flying sand.
Navia’s eyes were focused only on Godan; everything else was a blur. She tried to force herself to enter a flow she had while fighting Sive, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t achieve that. It was a mere imitation of those feelings.
Godan thought that Navia was behind her, but he was wrong. Turning around yet again, he only saw dust left by her quick steps. No matter where he looked, she was nowhere to be seen, as if she had vanished from the arena.
With a sudden realization, he brought his longsword up in time to block the attack from above. His eyes shone with awe as he felt the strength of the attack and the weapon Navia held in her hands, the exact same copy of his longsword made out of dark blood. “You got me there for a second!” The cold chill went away as he got fired up by Navia’s new approach.
“That’s not all.” Answered Navia with prideful confidence. Her longsword turned back into a liquid form of blood, splashing down on Godan’s face. He closed his eyes as the blood splattered around his face, neck, and torso. Barely opening his right eye, he felt the blood hardening again on his own body. With one eye, he was able to spot a spinning pickaxe in the air. He couldn’t move his neck or turn his head, and he could barely move his right arm. Quickly throwing the longsword to his left hand, he raised it and parried the falling pickaxe. At the same time, he felt burning pain in his right thigh, far away from his blade.
Before his blade could reach that spot, Navia had been missing for a long time. “I have to attack him while his blade is far away from me. That’s the only chance I’ll get of injuring him.” Navia was sure of her tactic, but she felt shivers as the man’s smile widened, as well as his eyes. He felt pure ecstasy as the fight continued, Navia proving up to be a worthy opponent.
“Yes. Yes! YES!!!” Godan shouted as if losing his sanity, his giggle turning into maniacal laughter as he suddenly jumped toward Naiva with speed he hadn’t shown before. The tip of his blade turned from left to right, from top to bottom, and in reverse. Slashing in each direction possible and impossible. Navia barely followed his attacks, but her main concern was keeping the distance from the reach of his longsword. He became even faster once he broke the hardened blood that was attached to his upper body.
Missing out a beat, Navia was forced to create a dagger out of the drops of blood still attached to her body. She only used it to block the blade from cutting her skin, but she didn’t try to stop the force of the attack, letting it bounce her away. There was even more strength put into this swing than his previous attacks, sending Navia flying at the iron bars of the arena. As she hit them, the two bars she first touched bent under the pressure.
“Now… The real test begins.” The old man in the crowd whispered, keeping a close eye on Navia since the fight had begun. His true personality slipped out a bit. The man beside him only noticed his focused demeanor.