Dueling Banjos... oops I meant blades

[Daggertail]

Eris stirred under her sheets; it was time to make her move. The demon looked around the room to see her clothing strewn about at random mixed with the clothing and armor of a man’s battle outfit. The owner of the other clothing belonged to Natalio, a handsome and strong fighter. In fact he was so good to be given an invitation to a special match at the Citadel for a magic sword. Luckily for Eris the invitation was not one to a particular person, it had no name and no one cared as long as the person had the piece of paper.

And the Demon girl always wanted a magic sword and so she easily charmed her way into Natalio’s bed for a night of sex, which was a plus to Eris since the fighter wasn’t half bad in bed. Still she silently snickered; he would be the loser since his carnal weakness had given the succubus imp an opening.

The demon girl slowly moved, her lover’s warm body was still touching and a hand seemed to be gently holding her. He’ll not think well of me after this… Eris had a little doubt as she slithered out of the sheets while being careful of her tail, one prick with that and he would be awake before she could get her underwear on.

…but who cares what an idiot thinks. The succubus kin smiled as her feet touched the cold floor and she started to creep around and get dressed slowly as she had to find some of her clothing but soon she was dressed and moved to his dresser to get the parchment, too easy. Once Eris got the parchment she smiled at the sleeping warrior and blew him a kiss of thanks.

“Eris!” The warrior cried out and froze the demoness who closed her eyes in embarrassment, caught red handed. “please one more kiss…” he mumbled as he groped the pillow.

maybe next time but sleeping is sort of a turn off. The demon girl chuckled before closing the door.

How nice to have a room right in the Citadel, I wonder if the monks’ll kick out ol’ Nat for not having his papers.

Eris had no time to think, she needed to get in the fight before ol’ Nat woke up. Her tail wagged as she waved at one of the Citadel Monks. Placid face and she could see that he had a muscular form that was hidden in plain brown robe. Too bad they had a vow of chastity, for they looked more fun than the warrior of last night.

“Hey mister monk! I have an invitation and need directions to the arena.”

The monk moved and took a look at Eris’ paper and nodded leading the way to a stone doorway that looked like it belonged to a jungle temple, the color of stones clashed as sandy color on the dark gray of the citadel walls.

The monk didn’t follow Eris through but closed the door behind her.

“Well looks like I’m early. Is this the sword” Eris picked up a dark curved blade that looked as if something was crawling over it but then the surface had clouds moving across it that looked like screaming faces, it truly was a magic sword. Eris then looked at the area she was in, the place seemed to be an ancient stone building of the sandstone door she had entered. Plants were growing all over the place and vines draped from the roof were quite common as were statues of various naked men and women.

“Well maybe I can just leave since my opponent hasn’t shown up.” Eris moved to the doorway and tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge. “Guess not. Whoever it is better hurry up.”

[Zerith]

Why was it that it always seemed like some of life’s simplest things always dragged people in more that what they expected?

In Zerith’s case, it was a simple piece of parchment that he received during his stay at The Silver Pub. He had heard stories about the place, how although it was located on the outskirts of Radasanth it was still one of the most visited inn’s in the city. Also it seemed to have a talent of being given the honor of being the gathering place of the most serious adventurers Althanas had to offer. So the halberdier thought he’d stay at that inn the next time he was at Radasanth. Besides, in his eyes he considered himself a serious adventurer.

Sure enough, the inn didn’t disappoint. The wood paneled, interior was packed with a mix of various types of people. Sitting at the bar were those that belonged to the scum of Radasanth, each one of them currently occupied by searching for a means to get back on their feet at the bottom of every glass they downed. Seated at the tables were the more successful people of Corone. Their morning would be spent talking to their peers, discussing who had the best life and who had the most money. Yet a few of these prestigious people that were busy talking to the third and final group of people. The adventurers, the category that Zerith himself was part of. This handful of people probably came to see what both Radasanth and The Silver Pub had to offer them. Some weren’t disappointed, as they were lucky enough to catch the attention of one of the more wealthy visitors. From there the two would discuss the details of a possible job offer.

This is what greeted the halberdier as he descended the stairs. That and the Drakan woman who was standing behind the bar, waving to him and yelling, “Halberdier!”.

Tshael Nito, the woman who ran the Silver Pub. She was the one who took Zerith’s gold the night before and showed him to his room. Is was during the trip up the stairs that she officially labeled him as ‘Halberdier’ due to the fact that he was the only one there that night that carried such a weapon. It was just a simple nickname, so Zerith didn’t mind it. Yet the fact that she called out to him as he was coming down the stairs caught his curiosity. So when he immediately approached the bar he smiled and went straight to the point. “Did you want something?” he asked.

“Yeah” the innkeeper answered as she reached underneath the counter. When her hand reappeared it held a folded piece of parchment, topped off with a wax seal. “Some guy came in last night while you were sleeping. Told me to give this to a halberdier that was staying here. So since you’re the only one here, you’re the lucky winner of this…”

***

As Zerith entered the ziggurat building known as the Citadel, he stopped to unfold the letter to read it for the tenth time. It said the same thing, he was invited to compete in a special match at the Citadel where the winner would receive and enchanted sword. At the bottom there was no signature, no name to identify the person who wrote the letter. Instead there was only another wax seal that looked identical to the one that the halberdier broke earlier when he read the invitation for the first time. The elegant letter ‘R’ stared at him and all Zerith could do was stare back, unable to place a name behind the letter. There was just something about this that seemed suspicious, why was he invited to fight for an enchanted sword?

Still, the idea of being able to obtain such a weapon was tempting. Most of the legends of Althanas carried enchanted weapons. With those items, those people became famous and were the people that most other looked up to. In spite of being clouding in mystery, this invitation gave Zerith the opportunity to have a shot of someday being added to the list. Obtaining this enchanted sword was merely the first step.

Thankfully, Zerith spotted one of the brown robed monks of the Citadel standing in the lobby. The follower of The Brone seemed to be available, so the halberdier approached the disciple and showed him the letter. The monk read the letter once, looked up and Zerith and read it once more before he finally nodded in approval. That devoted follower then turned around and led the way down one of the many hallways of the Citadel, stopped every so often look behind him to make sure the halberdier was keeping up with him.

As the two continued down the corridor, Zerith couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing the right thing. So he asked the monk, “I hope you don’t mind me asking a question, but I want to get someone else’s opinion. If you were in my shoes, would you accept the match?”

“No,” the robed monk immediately answered. “All that happens here is to help others understand The Brone. I wouldn’t fight for any other reason. A fighter can learn anything from an enchanted sword, but by experiencing The Brone one can understand so much more.”

Eventually the monk came to a stop and opened the door to the room that would serve at Zerith’s battle ground. Yet before the halberdier enterer, he stopped to look at the doorway. The sand colored stones were covered with vines, as of an ancient building was taken over by time at wildlife. The green looked so full of life when compared to the sand or dark grey stones of the walls and doorway. As the halberdier crossed the threshold, he couldn’t help but wonder what the rest of his battlefield would look like.

Suddenly Zerith found himself standing in a long forgotten temple. Vines had grown over centuries and covered not only the sandstone walls, but the statues as well. In the ceiling a large portion was missing, leaving a giant hole that revealed the clear blue sky and allowed sunlight to fill the ancient structure. Part of one wall was missing as well, through that gap Zerith could see what appeared to be a garden of some kind.

Suddenly something dawned upon him, he didn’t have his halberd with him. His hands moved for his sword and dagger, but his eyes widened with surprise when he discovered they were missing as well. How was that possible? He had all of his weapons with him when he entered, he was sure of it! Perhaps they were just somewhere else, and part of the challenge was finding a weapon to fight with, regardless of it being enchanted or not. If that was the case, then Zerith knew he would have to find one eventually, otherwise this fight would be over much sooner than expected. Then to his relief, he realized he still wore his spiked bracers. He’d probably have to rely on them until if found something to fight back with.

His eyes moved from his bracers to the figure standing at the other end of the temple, his opponent. The lucky succubus was fortunate enough to already have a weapon in her hands, a cutlass. “Maybe that’s it. There is only one sword and part of the battle is fighting for possession of it,” Zerith thought.

With his blues eyes fixed on the red-haired demon, Zerith raised his arms as he prepared himself to start this fight unarmed. If worse came to worse he knew either he could try to take the only sword he saw from his opponent, or he could try to take her out with his bracers. Then again, there was always the option of avoiding here until he found a sword.

If there even was another one.

[Daggertail]

“Finally!” Eris squealed with joy as she saw her opponent emerge from the stone door across from her. It wasn’t a long wait for the demoness but it felt long since the temple while created to look like a real ancient temple with overgrowth was a bit dull and boring and oh so quiet. She could stare at the hypnotizing figure that drifted over her new blade but that was it and it got old fast.

But now she could look at her opponent and then the fight would commence and there would be no more boredom. The fighter across from the demon girl was a rather striking man and Eris wish she had taken him to bed to steal the invitation than from Natalio who while was handsome in his own right was not this stranger with eyes that could pass for gemstones and the physique that Eris would carve if she wanted to model a hero. But while he was the kind of guy that the sight of would catch the eye of any girl, Eris was here to fight and had her lovemaking done with.

There was something odd about the man though, something that was just not right for a duel of this kind: he had no weapons. “Wow this is really unfair.” Eris couldn’t help but giggle at the misfortune of the fighter. “I know there was a hint of a sword to be provided but you could have brought your own anyways.” It really was a problem that while the demon girl practically tripped over her own sword right as she walked in that this man’s blade was hidden away somewhere in this mess of vines and stone. It was like they wanted Eris to win or hoped she would be nice and let Mr. Hero look for a sword to slay the villain girl.

Maybe she could have some fun with this and find the sword before the fighter; it would be worth it to see his face when the girl would have both swords in her hands. That was the kind of victory that would beat the bloody kind, which would be easy and also very tempting. Why gamble if you have a win right before you? He seemed easy prey to Eris and she never minded an easy win if the prize was the same. Was seeing his opponent’s face in utter shock worth risking him even up the odds. The demon girl fidgeted with a hanging vine with her claw as she pondered the possibilities. No time to think, get on with it, he could have found his sword while you were playing with that sad excuse for a plant. Eris chided herself as she decided to play it safe. “Well your loss.” Eris smiled as she looked to the fighter with a dark intent in her eyes.

The ex-pirate went in an offensive run to close the distance. She was going to hit this fighter with everything she got to make sure it would be quick. The tone building was fairly large so there was plenty of room to swing her new cutlass and so she did, aiming a diagonal slash at his midsection but then she also used her natural weapon to increase the utter unfairness of the fight. Her claw went to rake at the man’s head while the tail to the thigh.

Too bad he had to fight against Eris, she didn’t mind having the upper hand even if it was ridiculous.

[Zerith]

This was his opponent? This thin, fragile demoness who squealed in delight as if she was meeting her favorite celebrity? Surely, there just had to be some sort of mistake. Whatever the explanation was, whoever organized this match picked her for a reason that Zerith couldn’t understand. Unless it was because of the fact that there was something about her that was appealing. Although the halberdier couldn’t put his identify the exact quality, he knew it existed.

Now wasn’t the time to stand and gawk at the woman, especially when the only sword was held in her right hand. His blue eyes watched her, as she talked on and on, giggling at the fact that he wasn’t lucky enough to be holding onto a sword. “We’ll see how much you giggle when it the fight turns in my favor, or at least so that we’re on equal footing,” Zerith thought as he smiled. Perhaps he should have taken this opportunity, while the red-haired woman played with a vine, to search for the sword promised to him. Was it worth the risk?

No. He couldn’t take his attention off her to look for the blade. That would just be an invitation, a way of saying, “Hey, come kill me now.” There was no way she wouldn’t take that opportunity, especially when he knew he wouldn’t if she did the same. He had to keep his eyes on her and be ready to move in case she did.

And in the end, he was right. She moved first, charged towards him with eyes that reflected intentions that were definitely not beneficial to Zerith. Her small frame came at him quickly, making the start of the duel seem sudden and spontaneous. When she was close enough, her right arm swung the cutlass forward and horizontally. Apparently, this was her desire, to watch as the blade slice across his gut and end the match quickly. She took the offensive another step further, bringing the blade on her tail towards her leg and her claw to his face. This assault forced Zerith to act in order to defend himself from two threatening attacks. As for the third, he was quite certain he could avoid that.

As the cutlass drew closer to the halberdier’s midsection, the blade was unfortunately denied the joy of slicing through flesh. Instead, Zerith’s left bracer collided with it, forcing the sword to a sudden halt. As that happened the halberdier moved his head backward a watched as Eris’ claw flew by harmlessly, lacking the reach the cutlass held. Zerith’s right hand grabbed just below the dagger on Eris’ tail just before the small blade could taste human blood.

“Just because you’re lucky enough to find a sword before I got here…” Zerith said as he pulled the demoness forward and past him. “Doesn’t mean that this fight is automatically over. There is a big difference between being able to swing a sword around and being able to actually wield one properly.”

Once those words left his mouth, the halberder ran. He didn’t care about keeping an eye on the attractive, red-haired woman anymore. Now that he realized what was really important, he focused on it. It didn’t matter how closely he watched the demoness, he needed to level the playing field. However, the only way he could do that was if he found a weapon regardless of if it was his or if it was an enchanted one. He was also sure that Eris must have found the only weapon in the temple, simply because there wasn’t another one. Hopefully, there was one still in the garden.

But that all depended on if he could find it.

[Daggertail]

Eris was rather shocked to find that her assault was halted so easily. The bracer had stopped her cutlass with no problem and Zerith’s lightning hand was able to catch her viper tail. The demon girl’s red eyes narrowed while they held position but then widened when the fighter spoke.

“Shut Up!” Eris yelled but the tight grip on her tail pulled and sent the girl to a spin as the unarmed fighter ran off. “You Lie! If I was that bad you wouldn’t run away.” Eris’ heart was already pounding when she took up chase. “Come back here so I can show you how to wield a sword!” Eris yelled again, of coarse he wouldn’t but the pain in her ego fogged the mind.

But As the demon girl ran after her prey, her mind cleared up to know that she was slightly faster than the human, he had enough of a head start to make it out of the bleak temple before she could reach him. The hybrid needed a way to slow the human down and so she tore at a vine as she ran along. The weed was pretty dense and had some weight to it, if she spun it a little she might throw it strait enough to tangle the human’s legs and give her a chance to pay him back for the insult.

She gave the vine a whirl before launching it at Zerith in hopes of tangling his legs and stopping his flight. Though he was practically out of the temple and into the garden. Eris hardly could believe that the other side of that wall was a beautiful garden of wild roses with several other wildflowers while the inside had nothing but Weeds. Damn it if his sword’s there I might not win this. Eris thought for a moment as she kept pushing her legs to follow and hopefully kill the fighter before he could arm his self. Eris wanted this fight to be easy as possible.

[Zerith]

Whatever Eris yelled at Zerith fell on deaf ears. Chances were it wasn’t important, probably just some comment regarding what he said. He didn’t need to waste his time to try to come up with a comeback. What the halberdier really needed was a sword. So unless the demoness was willing to give him the cutlass, he had to look elsewhere.

Just as he exited the temple through the missing portion of the wall, he felt something catch his leg causing him to trip and fall forward. The ground came up fast and sudden, so much that Zerith was unable to brace himself before he hit the dirt. He couldn’t afford to waste time, especially considering the circumstances. The rolled onto his back as fast as he could and immediately sat up to see what the hell he caused him to trip. The cause was obvious when he looked down at saw the green vine that was tangled around his left leg.

“Damnit! I don’t have time for this!” Zerith’s mind shouted as he grabbed hold of the vine and pulled. It took quite a bit of strength, but sound of the vine snapping had never sounded better to the halberdier. He unwrapped the remain piece of vine from his leg and picked up the other section as well. That irritating demoness, she must have been desperate to slow him down. It was a clever idea way of improvising with what they were given though. As he climbed to his feet in a hurry, Zerith saw that Eris was just about to reach him. “Let’s see how much you like it.” He told himself with a smile.

Just as the demoness was about to close the gap between them, Zerith threw the two pieces of vine that he held in both hands. He threw the small piece in his left hand went at Eris’ face, hoping that he would prove to be a suitable distraction for her. The longer, more important length of vine was used the exact same way the pirate used it. It went for the red-haired woman’s feet in order to slow her down as give Zerith the chance to make up for lost time.

The fighter wouldn’t take the chance to see if it worked. Instead, he turned and continued running the moment the two lengths of vine left his hands. His feet carried him into the garden, a truly beautiful place. The vast amounts of color were incredible, the variety between the different types of wild roses and other flowers made the garden look as if it should have been painted by an artist. The different arrangements would have made many people want to stop and admire them, Zerith probably would have too, if he didn’t have his life relying on finding a weapon. Still, he couldn’t deny the fact that the garden was so much different from the temple. This place was rich with color and looked like it had been receiving care everyday while the temple was dull and long forgotten by everyone.

As he ran through the garden, Zerith’s eyes looked everywhere for any sign of a sword. His eyes looked around the flowers, in the trees and even on the ground. He didn’t dare to stop moving as he wanted to keep Eris as far away from him as possible at this moment. He even jumped over a bush, just so that he could place another object between the two of them. But with every place he looked that didn’t have a weapon, his list of options was getting smaller. Slowly, he was beginning to lose hope and thought that perhaps there really was only the one sword. But Eris had beaten him to it before he had even arrived.

As his heart was pounding in his chest and lungs were desperately trying to keep up, he finally found it. At the far end of the garden stood a thirty-foot high and sixty-foot wide wall of sandstone that appeared to be a lovely fountain. It really was an amazing sight as down the entire length of the wall was a waterfall, starting from the top and covering the entire surface until it feel into the base that was made for it. In the middle of the wall surrounding by flower arrangements, stood a single statue. It wasn’t the statue alone that set it apart from the others in the garden and temple. Instead, it was the surprising fact that for some reason it was covered in ice. Even as he came closer to the statue, Zerith still couldn’t see what the figure behind the layer of ice was supposed to look like. But judging by the way it stood and the noticeable arms, it was definitely supposed to be a person or individual.

As Zerith’s eyes examined the statue, he soon found something that the statue had for him. Held in the figure’s right hand, rested a katana that was still in its sheath. The sheath itself was a deep blue, matching the color of the hilt that appeared to be covered in silk. The guard was pure black and made of a metal that the fight couldn’t identify on his own. At the end of the hilt rested a black demon’s head bearing sapphire eyes that matched Zerith’s. The swordsman wasted no time and immediately pulled the sword, sheath and all, out from the statues hand.

The moment the katana left the figure’s grasp the ice that covered it began to crack. First along the arm that held the sword, but then eventually over the entire body. Once the entire statue was covered, the ice began to break off and fall in the water of the fountain. The end result revealed the lovely statue of a mermaid, its face expressing some feeling of peace or tranquility. Yet it held one more gift for Zerith. Lodged between it’s breasts rested the halberdier’s serrated dagger. The fight was more than happy to retrieve it as his left had quickly pulled it out of the mermaid and placed it back in its sheath.

The halberdier smiled as he turned around to face Eris whenever she caught up him. With one fluid montion, Zerith drew the katana so that it was held tightly with his right hand while his left held onto the sheath. He’d try fighting with both for now and see that that would take him. If that didn’t work out then the would just resort to using the katana with both hands. It made no difference either way.

Now that he had a sword, this fight wasn’t in Eris’ favor anymore.

[Daggertail]

Eris yelped as the two vines collided with face and feet, although they couldn’t slow her much, they still did. The demoness ripped the strange plants away, they seemed to have been naturally good at tangling things since normal vines would slow her this much. Still her tail blade quickly cut the loose binds and she followed.

The demon girl was too late, Zerith had the sword in his hand and the cracking ice was very audible. Someone decided that the drawing of the eastern sword should have some flash with ice breaking and melting and getting a view of a statue that was clearly a well-endowed female with a dagger stuck in a way as a suggestion on what to do with Eris. “Why the hell does your sword get a whole Shrine?” Eris asked with her tail whipping from annoyance, her sword was just littered on the ground as if that’s all the effort that she deserved.

She probably should have made her move while he drew the dagger out of its lewd position and the sight made Eris wonder if the men that made this place hated women. She felt gypped and angry letting out a deep growl as she held her blade out and ready. “Well it doesn’t matter whether your blade got a better intro. I will still be able to take you down.” Eris grinned wickedly as she looked at her opponent and formed a plan. He seemed happy to stay on the defensive but Eris wanted to win to show the cocky fighter that he would pay for the insult.

The hybrid made sure that the mermaid statue would be to his back, if Eris could press Zerith hard enough then she could force his back into the stone woman and the fountain that gave him his sword would give him his doom. So what if the makers of the arena gave her opponent the flashy shrine while giving her a dump. Eris was sure that she could win.

“Ok sword, I know your magic so do some magic stuff now.” Eris said under her breath as she prepared to attack, she needed every little advantage she could get and some magic would be nice. The demon beauty went forward on her attack, the sword seemed to have developed a darkening aura but Eris just couldn’t tell the difference if how it felt or anything, so she considered it to be useless flash since this day was getting full of it.

The cutlass went strait towards Zerith’s eastern blade, Eris wanted to knock the weapon away as she pushed her foe back, also her tail went strait towards his lower regions to threaten his man parts. Men tended to have an instinct that protected the area as much as they would their hearts and the pirates hoped it would have her foe overreacting and putting forcing his self into a disadvantage.

[Zerith]

Apparently Eris wasn’t too pleased with how thing were developing. Her tail whipped around like it had a mind of it’s and was trying to decide if it wanted to lash out at the swordsman or not. Even with the hint, Eris made her frustration obvious with an audible deep growl as she held onto her cutlass tightly. She made a threat to the fighter and grinned wickedly, as if she was going to take pleasure in causing pain.

“Those are big words coming out of your mouth,” Zerith replied. “But the fact that you couldn’t even deal a blow to me when I was unarmed only makes it seem more unrealistic.” He was playing with her now, taunting her. He smirked, “Why don’t you stop trying to hit me and just hit me already?”

The pretty imp apparently decided to take the bait and moved in to attack. However, what was really surprising was that it looked like her sword decided to act as well. The enchanted cutlass covered itself with a black aura, hiding the blade behind its darkness. For some unknown reason, Zerith suddenly felt fear settle in. He needed to be on his guard and defend himself not only from the sword the demoness held, but also from Eris herself.

As the cutlass threated to harm the swordsman with each passing heartbeat. Zerith reacted and moved his left arm, clashing the katana’s scabbard against the Eris’ sword. Meanwhile, Zerith wasn’t that only thing affected by the power of Phobos. The cold, blue blade of Eyukin also seemed to feel the threat both the cutlass and its wielder held for it. Acting on it’s own, the katana defended itself. Beginning at where the blade met the guard and working it’s way up to the tip, the eastern sword covered itself with a layer of ice. It was almost as if the sword felt the need to protect itself.

Unfortunately, it was Eris’ tail that caught Zerith’s attention instead. While the clang of metal on metal rang out as Phobos collided with the scabbard. The swordsman’s Sapphire eyes caught movement from the demoness’ tail. Apparently, it finally decided it was a good time to let go of some of it’s frustration on Zerith’s sensitive area. It was such a dirty tactic, trying to deal such a low blow to a man. However, as usual, Zerith’s male instinct reacted the way any male’s would. When it came to that part of the body, protecting ones manhood was absolutely vital. Otherwise, most men would begin to question if there was any point in living anymore.

So before making a list of possible countermeasures. Zerith swung his katana in an attempt to cut one of Eris’ weapons out of her arsenal.

***

“So how’s my little struggle between the halberdier and swordsman going?” Dario Renato asked this apprentice. The wizard lord had sent his protégé to check up on his first attempt at creating a means for gambling. Lord Renato hadn’t checked on the progress of the his two guinea pigs since made sure both men receive the invitations to his match. However, if everything was on schedule, then both men should have been fighting at this current moment and his apprentice was about to tell him how it was progressing and how the first round of betting went. Now that his student had returned to his study, he was eagerly looking forward to hearing the details

“Well sir, it seems we may have a slight problem. Natalio isn’t fighting, apparently he claims some attractive female demon seduce him and took his invitation to the match. After looking into it, it seems he didn’t lie. While the halberdier made it to the match, he really is going up against a demon woman.”

“What!” Dario yelled as he jumped to his feet. “How could Natalio go and lose that invitation, my invitation!” The wizard lord took a moment to calm down, his face relaxing when he realized that this unexpected combatant only made things more interesting for the gamblers. “Perhaps the arrival of this demoness isn’t all bad. What does the first round of bets look like?” Dario asked as he sat back down at his desk.

“Well so far, the fact that the demon has been wielding the cutlass since the beginning of the fight has led about seventy percent of the bets placed in her favor. However, the halberdier has managed to hold his own even though he was unarmed until recently and that has led to thirty percent of people betting that he will win. I stopped watching the match just as he obtained the other sword. Now that they both have weapons, things should get rather interesting.”

“Excellent. You can go back to watching the match, just keep me informed on how it continues. After it’s all over I’ll make a final decision on who I think should be should deserve to win, even if it’s the one that dies. Hopefully, they put on a good show for everyone that is watching. Otherwise I don’t benefit from all the work I’ve put into it.”