My opponent tensed when he saw the class and rank flare up above the arena as soon as I stepped onto it.


    — I hope for a fair fight! — I told him.


    — I also stand for a fair fight!


    — Attention, opponents! — the judge raised his hand. — Does everyone know the rules? Does anyone want to forfeit the match?


    We shook our heads in preparation for the fight.


    — The match begins! — the judge lowered his hand, and a barrier sealed us in.


    It turned out that the barrier didn’t let even sound through from the outside. My opponent drew his sword and attacked. Slowly. I stepped to the left, pivoting on my left heel and letting him pass by me. Heh, he said he wanted a fair fight, yet he attacked before I even drew my weapon. Well then, I’ll do this without a spear—he’s too slow for me anyway, like a snail.


    For several minutes, he attacked, and I dodged, not even using my footwork technique.


    — If this is all you’re capable of, then it’s my turn now. — I told him with a smile.


    My opponent tried to speed up his attacks, but it only led to mistakes. Playing with him for a few more minutes, I caught the blade of his sword near the hilt with my left hand and simply crushed it. Stunned by such strength, my opponent jumped to the other side of the arena.


    — I surrender!


    — That was a good fight! — I lied to him.


    — The winner is Aney! — the judge announced, raising his hand. — Battle Master, Middle Rank!


    My dejected opponent left the arena, while I stayed, waiting for my next challenger.


    Time passed, and I stood alone, which allowed me to observe Tot’s and Sui’s battles. Tot suffered his first loss in the sixth match against an opponent one rank higher than him. His sister was still holding on. Seventh match. She passed. Eighth match. I could already see she was struggling—mana isn’t infinite, and recovery is necessary.


    I understood her strategy—the further the matches go, the stronger the remaining opponents. But fighting while exhausted, no matter how strong you are, is sheer folly. Yet, she still won.


    I tried to shout for her to surrender in the next match before it started, but the noise around was too loud, and her arena was too far from mine.


    Ninth match. A girl, a Battle Master of the First Rank, stepped onto Sui’s arena.


    Damn it, Sui, now is the time to surrender.


    But in a blink, the barrier was raised.


    That wasn’t a fight. I hadn’t expected such brutality from a Master-level girl. She fought with two shamshalars, and quite skillfully. Sui didn’t have the strength to hold her opponent back with shields, and her butterflies barely managed to scratch the opponent’s skin and clothing through her aura.


    Meanwhile, Sui took heavy blows—I saw her beautiful black wings shatter into dust, dark bloodstains appearing on her light blue dress…


    Suddenly, the tip of a shamshalar pierced Sui’s neck, and she fell to the ground, raising her hand as a sign of surrender—she couldn’t speak anymore.


    Yet, the blows only intensified!


    The judge!?


    The judge just watched.


    I clenched my fists in helpless rage.


    I’ll kill her. I’ll kill that monster!


    Damn bitch, if not in this round, then in the next—you will die!


    I was almost screaming as I watched Sui try to crawl away from that crazed beast, choking on blood.


    The judge stopped the fight only after Sui’s body stopped moving.


    I was beside her the moment the barrier fell, but the medics pushed me away, quickly taking her away.


    — Mira wins the match! This is her ninth victory, and with one loss, she advances to the next round!


    Alright, beast, you get to live for one more day!


    On the outside, I tried to show nothing, but inside, I was burning with fury.


    I stepped onto the adjacent arena. At that moment, I had one win and one loss, since I had left my own arena without fighting.


    — I surrender! — my opponent said immediately.


    I stood alone, just like sixteen other Battle Masters in different arenas. We silently waited for the warriors to finish their fights in the remaining thirteen arenas.


    A few hours later, it was all over, and the chamberlain of the royal court soared into the sky once more.


    — Congratulations to the hundred winners of the qualifying round! All Battle Masters who remain in the arenas but haven’t completed ten matches will automatically receive enough victories to reach the required number! You can check your results and rankings on the boards set up around the stadium! Thank you to all participants! People! — he turned to the crowd in the stands. — Express your emotions and congratulate the winners louder!


    After his words, the stands roared, and fireworks once again soared into the sky from the stadium roof. I stepped down from the arena and went to the corner where the medics were, but Sui was no longer there—she had been taken home. Wasting no time, I pushed through the crowd toward the exit and approached the rankings board.


    Tot’s name wasn’t there—he had most likely left the stadium with Sui. She, on the other hand, was in the twenty-sixth position, with two losses and eight victories. That bitch Mira was in seventeenth place, while I was in eighteenth. I hope tomorrow she won’t refuse to participate in the top-ten fights, where I will definitely kill her! With that thought, I quickly ran to Tot’s estate.


    At the estate, Tot met me and said that his sister was fine but needed a few days for a full recovery. I informed him about Sui’s ranking and went home.


    Entering, I silently sat on the porch next to the chair where Kruk was drinking.


    — So? — he asked.


    — Eighteenth.


    — Don’t tell me they kicked your ass?


    — No, I left the arena myself because I had to.


    We fell silent again.


    — Teacher, — I asked after a few minutes, — is there a legal way to kill an opponent in the tournament?


    — Do you really need it?


    — Yeah.


    — There is one. You have to do it in a single strike. Then you can appeal to the opponent’s weakness and claim you couldn’t have imagined that someone so frail would enter the competition. Most likely, you won’t be punished—only disqualified.


    — Thanks.


    — But I warn you, don’t use the aura strike technique I taught you in front of people, or there will be consequences.


    — No need, my hands alone will be enough.


    I wished him good night and went to my house, where I worked on weaving chainmail for my right hand.


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    In the morning, Tot came for me.


    — You’re not staying with your sister?


    — She told me to go, so I can tell her everything later.


    — Alright.


    Suddenly, our teacher appeared beside us.


    — Why are you standing in the gates? Move it, you fools!


    — Teacher, are you coming with us?


    — What, an old man isn’t allowed to watch?


    The teacher pulled his old straw hat down over his eyes and walked ahead alone. Tot and I exchanged glances and silently followed him.


    It seemed that today there were even more people in the stadium than yesterday. The teacher and Tot immediately went to the stands, while I headed for the arenas.


    — Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! — Willis once again hovered in the sky above the stadium. — I have a question for the warriors who made it into the top hundred. Does anyone wish to fight for a place in the top ten? No? Well then, your rankings will remain as they are. Now, a question for the Battle Masters. Is there anyone who does not want to fight for first place? Excellent! We have eighteen Battle Masters, each of whom will have seventeen matches to determine their exact and indisputable ranking! Please prepare nine arenas! Now, all odd-numbered contestants, take your places in the arenas! Your opponents will be the even-numbered contestants ranked just below you. Let’s begin!


    Perfect! I get to fight that rabid bitch in the first round already!


    I approached the ninth arena and pressed the red button, then climbed up without hesitation.


    — Are both opponents ready for battle? — the judge raised his hand. — Begin!


    He lowered his hand, and the barrier sealed us in.


    — Oh, you’re that snot-nosed idiot who was crying over a butterfly yesterday, aren’t you? — Mira laughed, drawing her shamshalars. — Yeah, it’s you, I recognize you!


    — Yeah. First Sequential Step!


    In an instant, I was beside her. With my left hand, I grabbed her face—her lower jaw and throat—while with my right, I struck her chest, shattering her insides and piercing her thin body through. The force of the blow tore her face apart in my left hand, leaving her lower jaw, long tongue, and trachea in my fingers.


    In her final moment, she realized she was already dead. Her eyes widened in horror, but all she could do was twitch a couple of times, impaled and hanging limp on my right hand.


    — What garbage! — I flicked my hand, shaking off Mira’s body and tossing her crushed heart onto the ground. — How do they even allow such weaklings into the competition?


    — You killed your opponent! — the judge yelled.


    The barrier began to lower.


    — Yeah, — I confirmed. — She couldn’t even withstand a single hit. Who’s to blame if someone with such pathetic abilities decided to fight for first place?


    A few doctors rushed into the arena and approached the body.


    — Unfortunately, she’s dead, — said one of them to the judge. — We are powerless here.


    — You did this on purpose! — the judge still refused to calm down.


    — Judge, I didn’t even draw my weapon, unlike her, so how can you make such accusations? Maybe it’s the organizers who deliberately allow such useless people into the competition, just to accuse the strong participants and rig the victory for those favorable to them? Are these competitions truly fair, or is everything bought here? — I deliberately said this very loudly, so that it could be heard in the stands.


    — Wait here!


    Shouting this, the judge ran to Willis to consult. I stood on the arena and watched as they took the body of that dead bitch and cleaned up her blood from the floor. I was satisfied with myself. I had done the right thing, just as I wanted. Mira’s blood on my hands began to congeal, sticking my fingers together.


    — You! You stay in this arena and continue competing under my strict supervision!


    — Thank you, judge, for the fair decision!


    I was almost openly mocking him. Although I suspected that all this was not as simple as it seemed and nothing was truly over. Then began the blatantly boring fights, where I easily broke my opponents’ weapons and sometimes their bones. Most of them had seen how I dealt with Mira, so although they weren’t scared, they preferred defense over a good fight. Like an arrow, I rose in the rankings until the final, where the first and second places of the tournament were to be decided.


    A Battle Master of the highest rank entered the arena, and the judge silently raised the barrier.


    — Oh, so this is what you’ve decided! — I grinned maliciously.


    — You bastard, you killed my sister! — my opponent screamed, drawing two black daggers.


    — Be careful! — I heard my teacher’s voice in my ears. — He has seventh-rank weapons with poison attributes; that’s against the competition rules! Kill him now, even if you have to use my technique, or you’ll die!


    What’s this? Sound transmission technique? Don’t worry, teacher, I’ll manage without your technique. Anyone who attacks me will die in agony!


    — Well, I killed her, so what? — I said, drawing the spear gifted by my teacher and preparing the dagger coated with the fourth-class monster core. — That stupid bitch would have died sooner or later anyway, why are you so mad?


    — You’ll die now! — he lunged at me, aiming for my eyes and right side at the same time.


    Quite fast, this guy! But compared to my teacher, he’s nothing. I leaped over him, striking him with the spear’s point in his back. I hit well, and it cracked.


    — You’re just as worthless as your dead bitch sister! — I kept provoking him.


    — You made me do it!


    Suddenly, thick black smoke erupted from the hilts of his daggers, engulfing the entire arena. I immediately lost my sight. No, my vision was fine; it’s just that with all this smoke, I couldn’t see anything. What a cheap trick, but this is even better for my plan. I focused my senses and clearly felt the aura of the judge and my opponent approaching me from the side.


    I took the spear in my right hand, and with my left, I pulled out the dagger from its hidden sheath. I deliberately pretended that I couldn’t see anything, swinging the spear’s tip back and forth, waiting for that fool to walk right into his trap.


    My opponent was still being cautious; probably, the blow I delivered to his back showed him that he shouldn’t be careless. Finally, without making a sound, he jumped from behind and raised both hands above his head. Well, I said he’s just as much of an idiot as his sister.


    I positioned the spear’s shaft with my right hand under his wrists, stopping his attack, and without giving him time to recover, I thrust the dagger under his throat and broke the hilt, after which I created magical circles with runes. The guy screamed terribly and dropped his daggers to the ground.


    He fell to the ground, writhing, trying to tear his stomach open with his hands to pull out the dagger’s blade. I, on the other hand, pressed him to the ground, not letting him do that. The judge was walking in circles; he couldn’t see anything, but was certain that I was screaming in poison.


    This will be a nice gift for him, that scum, soon. I absorbed the last remnants of the monster’s mana that had erupted from my opponent’s body in bloody geysers. This continued for a few minutes until his body began convulsing in death throes, and the screams faded.


    I drew the last drops of mana from him and stepped aside, hiding the burned dagger blade and its hilt in its sheath. When everything finally calmed down, the satisfied judge lowered the barrier, and the smoke began to dissipate from the arena. The judge still had a smile on his face when he saw me unharmed. I too grinned back at him.


    — How… You…


    — Yeah, — I said — I won. You can make the announcement, Judge.


    — You killed both my students! — a loud voice rang through the stadium.


    Damn it! That’s definitely the aura of the Battle Ancestor. A gray shadow rushed toward me, aiming for my throat. I began to move sideways, but I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the strike, critically slow. Another gray shadow in a straw hat appeared in front of me and grabbed the arm of the Battle Ancestor who was attacking me. At that moment, the attacking Battle Ancestor cut off his own arm, the one my teacher had grabbed.


    — Eeee… — the eyes of the Battle Ancestor showed unmistakable horror.


    — You tried to kill my student? — my teacher said indifferently. — Die!


    He only waved his hand, and the Battle Ancestor’s head flew off his neck into the air, spinning a few times before falling to the ground.


    — Every job must be completed!


    My teacher moved his finger from top to bottom, and the head on the ground cracked, spraying brains for several meters around.


    — Judge, if my old eyes aren’t failing me, someone tried to kill my student in front of you with seventh-rank daggers, yet the maximum allowed rank in the competition is fourth. Do you have anything to say?


    It seemed that Kruk was giving the judge a chance to justify himself, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his head exploded as well.


    My teacher looked up, where Willis stood silently.


    — Chamberlain, do you know who I am? — he asked him.


    — Yes, Your Excellency, you are the God of War Kruk, Your Excellency!


    — It’s good that I’m still remembered. Tell me, Chamberlain, do you have any evidence that the royal court was not involved in the attempted murder of my student?


    — Your Excellency! — Willis’s voice trembled with fear. — But the pact forbids you from taking students…


    — Chamberlain, I am forbidden to teach only my techniques; I am teaching this boy alchemy. Does anyone want to say they saw my student using my technique in battle? Or that this fool, — the teacher pointed at my opponent — was killed by my technique?! Chamberlain, what exactly is stopping me from destroying the royal court now?


    — Your Excellency! I don’t think such actions will be well received by the Church of the White Twins, and other Gods of War won’t be happy either. Moreover, your powers are sealed, so please, think again, Your Excellency!


    — Ha-ha-ha-ha! True, those little creeps won’t like it. Also true, my powers are sealed. But do you really think that the saints or other Gods of War will manage to save you? Do you think two dozen of your useless Battle Ancestors can stop me, or at least delay me for long?!


    — No, Your Excellency! Please, forgive me for my disrespect!


    Kruk scratched his gray beard.


    — Heh, fine, I’m in a good mood today because my student won the tournament. I’m right, aren’t I, Chamberlain?


    — Yes, Your Excellency, your student really turned out to be the strongest this year. This will be announced immediately!


    — Quiet, don’t rush, don’t shout about it. I think my student can take these seventh-rank daggers, which were used to try to kill him, as a prize for first place and as compensation for the attempted murder on him, right?


    — Yes, Your Excellency, I have nothing against it, that’s even too little, let me…


    — Enough, Chamberlain, it’s time for us to leave. Officially declare someone from those incompetents the winner and reward him with your worthless stuff.


    I hid the daggers, and Kruk, grabbing me, jumped into the sky.