The time wasn't short, and the sudden announcement of the tournament's start happened very quickly. The participating students had already arrived and were just waiting to be called, while the others were merely observing.
The first fights were entirely normal; in fact, the first to fight were the weaker classes, and nothing really noteworthy happened. On the contrary, it was boring.
Some people even fell asleep watching some fights. The reality? Not everyone is a fighter; on the contrary, the first-year classes are mostly made up of people who came to study and didn't learn to fight thoroughly.
Dante, for example, came for knowledge, but he already wanted to become stronger. However, some people, like children of noble families focusing on agriculture, economics, and alchemy, don't have real battle potential. Therefore, these first battles were, in summary, detailed.
Boring.
At this moment, a girl was getting ready to fight. The girl in question was wearing light armor and wielding a basic iron greatsword provided by the academy for this duel.
"You sure about this?" Akiko's voice echoed throughout the room where the girl was getting ready. "Yeah, I'm going to crush her," Sara replied as she finished fastening the armor onto her body.
"That's not what I asked, Sara," Akiko said, but Sara ignored her. "Ignoring me won't make me stop asking, Sara."
"You got your answer weeks ago, and he's completely distanced himself from me," she replied. "Since you and my mother are alike, be her daughter and don't come bothering me with unnecessary things."
Sara was bitter about knowing about the promise Akiko made to her mother not to let her fall in love or get close to anyone.
She found out about it one day when she broke into Akiko's room and caught her using communication magic with the Empress.
[Sara Vortex] She heard the call and stood up, unfortunately unable to use Durandal.
"I hope he's okay," she thought, ignoring Akiko and heading towards the arena.
Then she finally began to hear.
"On the right side, the Princess of the Eastern Empire, holding the title of Queen of the Clear Waters, the number one of the first year... SARA VORTEX!"
With the introduction from the Astute Fox, the audience went wild. It was almost funny to think that they were now admiring her, but Sara was actually completely determined to simply obliterate her opponent.
"On the left side, the Princess of the Vampires, holding the title of Queen of Bloodshed, second in rank of the First Year... ELIZABETH TAPES."
Again, the audience went wild, as in a grand spectacle, but Sara looked at Elizabeth with just one thought: to erase Elizabeth from existence, especially with her constant comments about her and Dante.
Sara wanted blood.
The great uproar didn't last long. The fox disappeared as soon as it shouted "BEGIN!!!"
The sigh echoed, and time seemed to stop, nobody said a word, but with a single movement...
BOOM!
Sara disappeared and reappeared with her blade pointed directly at Elizabeth's head.
"You're going to pay."
She surrendered to the immense hatred she had been holding onto for days. She didn't want to be like this, but she was going to crush Elizabeth with everything she had. Her body began to glow in golden light, and her features started to change.
"I'm sorry, God, but I won't be humble with someone like her," Sara said in a prayer, and soon everything changed.
Elizabeth managed to defend herself, but was sent flying.
"Ah!" She screamed, spitting blood. "Bitch," she thought, but didn't say aloud. Her body regenerated.
"Hey, aren't you going to say anything?" Sara asked, as her hair began to glow golden with energy.
[Ascension: First Stage of Virtue Ascension]
The body was completely strengthened with a completely irrational sacred aura, the pressure in the area began to descend, causing the entire arena to tremble.
"Aren't you going to say anything else? Cat got your tongue?" Sara asked again, advancing.
The greatsword became a sacred weapon in possession of the holy magic of Virtue, while Elizabeth's rapier became completely useless.
"Why, Lord, are you granting power to her? She has broken your virtue," Joanna asked, intertwining her fingers and looking up at the sky.
But she received no response from her God.
Boom.
She heard it and looked to the arena. Yes, it was Elizabeth retaliating.
She reinforced her entire body with her own blood, using it as armor, and her weapon was also imbued with blood.
[Bloody Queen's Armor] was the name of the skill.
Both were evenly matched, but there was a difference between them. One fought with the will to crush her opponent, while the other was taking it lightly.
A fatal mistake that would lead to her defeat.
Meanwhile, the rulers convened in the Tower of Nightmares as they watched the tournament.
"My daughter... What has become of you?" Lyriana commented aloud, but couldn't conclude anything, as Akiko hadn't sent any updates about the girl.
"Your daughter is furious," said the Werewolf King.
"I wish to know the reason," Adam Smith remarked, observing Lyriana shaking her head in denial.
"Interesting," Vlad commented, watching his daughter being literally crushed, clearly losing. "She's distracted by something," Liza added, and Vlad agreed.
"A grave mistake," said the Beast King.
Sara was on the brink of killing Elizabeth; any slip-up and Elizabeth could truly lose her life.
Sara was fed up with everything those arrogant fools conspired to harm Dante. She didn't know the circumstances affecting Dante, but she knew he was suffering, which made her feel guilty. Especially because he had protected her, and now she couldn't even help him with a simple problem like bullying.
"You will pay for your arrogance," she repeated incessantly in her head. "Show some humility to people!"
She exploded with energy, causing Elizabeth to sacrifice one of her arms to defend herself.
"Ahh!"
Elizabeth placed her hand over her severed arm, feeling the intense pain. She couldn't regenerate a whole limb like her father, so she felt the pain deeply.
"AAAAARGH!"
"Damn it," she said, trying to get up.
"I gi-" She was about to give up when Sara cut off her other arm before she could even finish the sentence.
"I didn't hear... What did you say?" Sara said with a wicked smile on her face, resembling a demon.
"I w-"
"STOP HER!" One of the teachers shouted, but it was too late. Sara's sword was about to strike Elizabeth's head.
The sword came at a surreal speed, and Elizabeth closed her eyes, resigning herself to her imminent death.
But nothing happened. She was confused, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a boy with black hair holding Sara's sword with just his bare hands. Dante was there, staring at her.
"That's enough, Sara," Dante said as he looked at the girl, who began to slowly regain consciousness. "D-Dante," she stuttered, her eyes welling up with tears, and she let go of the sword, embracing him with all the strength she could muster.
"I missed you too," Dante murmured softly, stroking Sara's hair as she cried. He had no choice but to embrace her slowly, comforting her in her moment of vulnerability.
As Dante held her, he saw Nagasawa approaching. He nodded to her, and the woman disappeared and reappeared behind him, picking up the unconscious girl from the ground.
"Take care of her," Dante said, and Nagasawa disappeared again.
'Somehow, you already knew about him, Lord? You could have warned me, couldn't you?' Joana D'Arc questioned herself, looking up at the sky. 'Old man, stop pretending you're not listening.'
[Be quiet, daughter], came the response in her thoughts.