Just as everyone expected, the Amazon Princess, Lilith, won her match with relative ease. It was not because she had it easy, but things happened during the fight that nobody was able to explain.
Whenever her opponent, Luther, was about to deliver a deadly blow, the weapon in his hand would be pried loose from his grip, breaking the momentum of his strike.
Every time this happened, Luna would deliver a deadly strike of her own which rendered the challenger from the Gunnar Federation unable to make a comeback. In the end, Lilith kicked her opponent off the stage, ending the match in her favor.
With her victory, the Final Four were now headed to the Semifinal Matches.
– Jason Hal Kraetor (Kraetor Empire)
– Kenneth Xin Ashleigh (Silvermoon Continent)
– Ephemera Fortuna – Gunnar Federation (Edelweiss)
– Lilith Lynn – Ares Empire (Amazon)
Princess Sidonie sighed when she saw the final outcome of the match. Two of the people she disliked had made it to the Semifinals.
One of them was a Prince that wanted to make her his bride.
The other was someone who wanted to break her engagement with William.
Both of them wanted different things, and yet, the end goal was still the same. Their goal was to separate the beautiful Princess from the person she loved.
Ian, who understood what Sidonie was thinking, shook her head helplessly. It had been a few days since they had lost contact with William and Chiffon. Both of them were getting worried, but there was nothing they could do about it.
They even asked the residents of the Thousand Beast Domain if they heard any news from the two. Unfortunately, none of them knew what the Shepherd’s current circumstances were.
“The Semifinals will be held tomorrow,” Ian said in a low voice. “Perhaps Prince Jason and Kenneth will face each other. If that happens, one of your worries will disappear.”
They were currently inside the VIP box for the Kraetor Royal Family, so she didn’t dare let the other Princes and Princesses hear her words. That might cause complications in the future, so she decided to play it safe.
Princess Sidonie sighed for the second time before nodding her head.
“Ephemera is quite strong. Princess Lilith, on the other hand, is a crafty and opportunistic fighter. I’m sure that they will prove troublesome to their opponents,” Ian added.
“I wish that Ephemera and Lilith will fight against those two annoying people in separate matches and eliminate them,” Princess Sidonie replied. “That way, the representative of the Gunner Federation and the Amazon Princess will be the ones competing in the Finals.”
Ian chuckled as she looked at the beautiful girl beside her. Princess Sidonie didn’t mince her words and said what was on her mind. Not to mention, she didn’t bother to lower her voice, which made the people in the Kraetor Empire VIP Box look at her with complicated expressions on their faces.
Although Prince Maximilian was at odds with Prince Jason, he was someone that could look at the bigger picture. This was the grandest tournament that had happened in the past decade, and it would be a great honor if a representative of their Empire had won the championship.
Princess Vanessa was also troubled because of this outcome as well. She loved Prince Jason, so naturally she wished for him to win. This was what every woman wished for their beloved. However, she also knew the reason why the Prince joined the Tournament.
If Prince Jason won the tournament, he would ask for the Emperor to make Princess Sidonie his bride, which was something Princess Vanessa didn’t want to see.
As for the other Princes’ and Princesses’ they wished for their cousin to win the tournament. That way their pride as the members of the Royal Family would be remembered by all the powerful factions that vied for supremacy in the Central Continent.
The next day, the Grand Coliseum was jam packed with people. All the seats were occupied, and several flying artifacts were used to accommodate those who wished to watch the show, above the arena grounds.
Several viewing crystals were also arranged outside of the Grand Coliseum to allow those who weren’t able to get inside, to watch the matches in real time.
Emperor Leonidas stood on a raised platform and addressed the audience with a smile.
“Today, four of the powerhouses of the current generation will fight for the honor of their homeland,” Emperor Leonidas said. “Among them, only two will remain and they will advance to the finals. Great rewards await the final victor of this tournament. So without further delays, I present to you the Final Four of the Tournament of Champions!!”
As if waiting for the Emperor to finish his words, a powerful roar was heard from the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw a white blur descending from the heavens.
It was none other than a White Tiger, and seated on its back was a handsome young man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a confident smile on his face, which made the ladies look at him fondly.
The Kraetorians cheered for their Prince who looked so imposing in his full battle regalia. Prince Jason landed in the center of the arena and raised his fist as if proclaiming his victory in the tournament.
Amidst the cheers, and whistling, an arrogant shriek spread across the Grand Coliseum. The audience wasn’t able to stop themselves from gasping in shock when they saw a giant bird swoop down from the sky.
A giant bird with a wing span of twenty meters circled the grand coliseum twice. It was a Roc that served as the flying beast of the Amazon Royal Family. Lilith giggled and jumped off its back when the bird flew down the arena.
She raised her head arrogantly because she was able to shut everyone up with her entrance.
Empress Andraste had a smirk on her face when she saw the antics of her daughter. Clearly, she was very happy with her performance, and decided to forgive her for taking the Empress’ Roc without permission.
While the audience were trying to recover their bearings, two more creatures appeared and circled the Grand Coliseum from the West and the East.
One was black, the other white.
Ephemera grinned as her Alicorn flew above the audience’s heads, creating gusts of winds in its wake, as it flew clockwise on the arena.
(A/N: Alicorns are Winged Unicorns, or Pegasus with horns. They are born from the union of Pegasus and Unicorns.)
Opposite her, a black fox with four tails, and a silver crescent moon on its head flew in a counter-clockwise direction. Kenneth sat on its back with a calm expression on his face.
When the Alicorn and the Black Fox finished their circuit, the two magical beasts dove down into the arena. Their two passengers jumped at the same time and landed perfectly on the ground.
A thunderous applause broke out, which put a smile on Emperor Leonidas’ face. This was the first time that his Empire had hosted such a grand event, and he was quite satisfied with the preparations that his subordinates had made for the Semifinals.
Kasogonaga, who was seated on top of a Golden Dragon’s head, snorted. They were perched on one of the pillars of the Grand Coliseum and were watching the festivities from their own VIP Seat.
“Let’s go Garganta!” Kasogonaga ordered. “We won’t lose to those puny mortals. Let us show them something truly memorable!”
Garganta didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he heard the rainbow-colored Anteater’s orders. Even if he had recognized Kasogonaga as its boss, it didn’t dare to follow its command blindly.
It knew that if they were to steal the limelight of the contestants, they would be immediately kicked out of the Grand Coliseum. Not only that, there was a possibility that both of them would be locked up in the Bestiary until the competition ended.
“Let’s go!” Kasogonaga repeated its orders with its cute voice. “Don’t worry. I’ll take full responsibility!”
The rainbow colored Anteater stomped its adorable foot on the Golden Dragon’s head to urge it to go.
‘Responsibility? What responsibility?’ Garganta thought. ‘When trouble arrives, you will just hole yourself up in that domain of yours, and leave me to clean up your mess!’
In order to preserve World Peace, Garganta pretended that it didn’t hear its boss orders. It would rather get scolded by the Rainbow Anteater than be beaten up to a pulp by the Elite Warriors of the Kraetor Empire!
