Finals: Morituri te Salutant v. Cipher Nex 1 v 1

[Max Dirks]

The battle will end in two weeks. Good luck!

[Bloodrose]

It was not so long ago that Veteran and Beast had fought side by side, brothers in arms united against a common foe. Imperial's meager opposition in the War hadn't amounted to much, a handful of defenders outclassed and outmatched by their adversaries, but even so, there was that camaraderie that any fight can instill in men. Teric, of course, would still be the first to admit that he and the Beast weren't exactly social on a personal level, but the mercenary did feel a little odd taking the field against his former ally...

Dan Lagh'ratham... The veteran thought dismally. The man got hit by a rockslide and still managed to fight on.

The mental image that memory conjured up was both grizzly and impressive; a bloodied and torn Dan rising from the debris like a demon to tear apart and devour the traitor, Woshington. It wasn't exactly the image of their opponent one wanted front and foremost in their mind when preparing for a battle, but there was no avoiding it. Whether he liked it or not, Cipher Nex's money had bought Teric into a duel with the most vicious and terrible monster he'd ever had the personal misfortune to meet.

Standing alone in the tournament arena conjured up the obliging Citadel monks, the mercenary lit a cigarette and started drawing the hazy grey smoke into his lungs. He hoped the vice would steady his nerves - nerves the likes of which Teric hadn't been bothered by in some time. Not even when he had fought Godhand to defend his title as Pagoda Grandmaster had the veteran felt like this.

Of course, Teric reflected briefly as he smoked, Godhand is just a man, like myself. Lagh'ratham, though, he's something else entirely... A monster...

The arena was a simple affair, although larger than Teric was accustomed to. Flat, grassy, and box shaped like the pitches that children played football on, and roughly the same size to boot. At the edges there was a definite demarcation line, although you couldn't really see it. It was more like a shimmering, invisible wall that simply prevented you from wandering outside their specific area of a field that seemed to stretch on forever over the horizon. The only thing interrupting the wide, endless view of grass was the door at the opposite end of the field from where Teric stood idly smoking. It was the door he'd come in through, and considering the lack of any other entrance way, it was the door that Dan Lagh'ratham would enter through at any given moment...

[Max Dirks]

Cipher Nex wins!