"That's it everyone, our most skilled among the defeated semi-finalists has been determined. Purrseus, please come to the stage and meet your opponent. Facing him will be a mighty Demonic warrior from the Central Continent, a Blood Dancer known to us as Vala, the personal guard of the Ancient Duke Cain of Skyview."
The announcer's announcement causes a wave of questions through the crowd. Did he say an actual Ancient? The Elves have a lot of stories about them, but not a single one is a positive story. Where is this Ancient? What sort of disguise is he wearing to have infiltrated the Southern Continent? But when Vala leaps into the air from beside Cain all their questions are answered.
The referee looks concerned though, sharing a confused look with the organizers, as no flying species are supposed to be competing, which could be an issue should the Demon win the fight. They also neglected to notice the fact that she has wings when they proposed this battle, but hope that she understands that flying during the fight is off-limits.
Many of the spectators think that she is actually one of Cain's children, given the rumored Ancient species bloodline in the Blood Dancers, but if she wants to claim a position as his bodyguard, who are they to argue?
Vala is rather tall by human standards, over 190cm, but Purrseus is a head taller than her and much more heavily built. The look on his face is pure confidence, despite losing a battle to the heavy favorite to win this tournament, he has no doubts that he can beat this slender female demon in unarmed combat. In fact, despite her quality showing as Mythic when he scanned her with his [Deep Knowledge] skill, he couldn't pick up a previous class, so there is a good chance she is simply riding along on her birthright and has never even advanced.
"You both know the rules?" The referee asks as they take positions across from each other, being given the entire arena for their battle.
"Of course." Purrseus sneers.
"Discipline the misbehaving kitten. No problem." Vala replies with a smile and her opponent's enraged roar echoes through the arena.
"Oh, it is on now. Nobody calls him a kitten and lives to brag about it." Someone a few rows behind Cain laughs, causing the spectators around them to chuckle before looking over at Cain to see if he is worried.
Cain is relaxed in his seat, flagging down a vendor selling fried octopus in preparation for the fights.
"Keep it on the ground." The referee reminds Vala who nods her agreement, causing him to jump back and blow the whistle to start the fight.
Vala wasted no time going on the offense, ducking low under Purrseus's first strike and aiming her left fist directly at his family jewels, making her much larger opponent jump back and roll away. He snarls at the underhanded tactic and Vala just shrugs, leveling a kick at his head as he flips to his feet. The big feline is much faster than he looks and even faster than he was during his last battle, sending cheers through the crowd as he avoids the hit again.
He charges in with his claws out, but Vala makes no attempt to avoid him, deciding to trade blows instead of avoiding taking damage. His claws cut deep gouges into Vala's left wing, hastily raised to protect her face, and her return strike hits Purrseus squarely in the chest sending him flying backwards to skid across the ring.
The roar of the crowd is incredible, deafening Cain, who has finally gotten his food. He takes that as a good sign; if they are going to cheer that enthusiastically when Vala lands a blow they aren't holding a grudge against her working for an ancient. But the fight is still on, and Laura is stealing his fried octopus, so Cain brings his focus back to the world around him.
With a wing-assisted leap, Vala is on Purrseus before he even hits the ground, kicking him in the same spot she hit with the punch and driving him hard into the ground. A cloud of sand and dust raises from the ground with the impact as Purrseus makes a two-meter crater in the sand of the arena floor, but avoids taking any serious damage by using a Lightning type skill to knock Vala away so she can't crush him.
He is slower to get up this time, looking fine but damaged internally from the two hard strikes. Then he begins to look a bit ill and the crowd gasps.
"That's Mythic rank Pestilence! Look at his debuffs. No wonder she was certain she would win, Purrseus was doomed the moment she laid hands on him." Aoi cheers, fully enraptured with the fight between Mythic Demon and Beastkin.
The claw marks on Vala's wing are already healing, but so is her opponent. The debuff only lasts a few seconds before he manages to resist it and his healing starts again. But Vala isn't totally helpless to stop that, thanks to her speed. She rushes forward again, throwing a flurry of attacks at her opponent, driving him backward as he burns mana blocking using skills, to avoid the effects of [Pestilence].
The crowd loves it. Purrseus's main element is lightning, so every block throws off sparks and arcs of electricity where they meet the agile Demon's strikes. Once he learns the basics of Vala's attack patterns, he manages to get back on the offensive, pushing Vala back towards the crater that was created where he landed earlier. Such damage to the arena is totally normal and intended to soften the impact on the ground. A mage with Earth Magic can level the sand back out and paint new ring lines in only a few seconds after a fight.
He roars in victory when Vala trips, tumbling backward into the crater, then leaps after her, going for the pin to lock her down and beat her unconscious. But Vala has other ideas, spreading her wings to break her fall and throwing a kick up towards his groin.
The experienced fighter isn't falling for that though, leaping past her kick, but the strike was a feint, and Vala grabs his arms, using him as leverage to get up off the ground and headbutt him, refreshing the [Pestilence] Debuff. The blow dazed her opponent, and Vala followed up with a double strike to either side of his head and a kick to the chest, sending him across the arena to crash against the wall, unconscious.
But the referee isn't ending the fight, and the crowd finally notices why. Pestilence is an area effect ability, and the referee couldn't resist it. He is too sick to move and very nearly dead. His bosses are certainly going to get an earful about the fact nobody even noticed he was down because they were so into the fight, at least they will if someone does something about his condition soon. Dying due to proximity might be an occupational hazard, but it is not a pleasant experience.
Another referee, a healer, enters the ring in order to rescue his coworker and is about to call the fight when Vala speaks up.
"I concede. Victory to Purrseus. As the rules dictate, wings are an unfair advantage." she calls loud enough for everyone to hear, shocking the crowd.
That upsets a lot of gamblers and cheers up just as many, but what comes after her announcement has the entire stadium laughing.
Vala walks over to her fallen opponent, removing the Pestilence debuff, and gently pets his head.
"Good boy. There, there, enjoy your nap. I know how the Cat species love to nap." she says softly, but the words carry in the shocked silence of the arena.
