As Leo walked back toward the contender stands, the roaring applause still echoing behind him, Captain Yu Shen passed him on the way to the arena, their gazes meeting briefly in passing.
Yu Shen gave him a subtle, approving nod, mouthing the words, "Good work, Skyshard", as"Thanks," Leo muttered back, his voice low and flat as he continued without slowing, his steps unhurried as he returned to the Rodova bench.
He sat down with a quiet exhale, the adrenaline finally beginning to drain from his limbs.
That had been close.
Too close.
Had he been one moment slower, Jahong's blade might have pierced his chest instead of flying backward.
But before he could sink too deep into reflection—
*WHAP!*
A sharp slap landed between his shoulder blades.
"Nice flip, assassin boy," Su Yang said with a smug grin, stretching his arms like a man clocking out for the day. "You made that elf do cartwheels."
Leo didn't respond, only exhaled through his nose.
But Su Yang wasn't done.
Sliding behind him without warning, Su Yang gripped Leo's shoulders and started what could generously be called a massage—though it felt more like an interrogation technique.
Leo flinched. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Shut up and let me build my highlight reel," Su Yang replied coolly, his thumbs digging in harder than necessary.
"Yu Shen's about to finish this fight alone, so this is probably my only shot of getting any screen time today." He said, as the jumbotron suddenly cut to the Rodova bench, as if on cue.
"Look at that camaraderie! You love to see it—" Derek said over the speakers, as Su Yang purposefully held back from looking towards the cameras, as he tried to look as candid as possible while kneading Leo's shoulders with the enthusiasm of a gym bro.
Meanwhile, Leo sat stiffly, squinting like he was bracing for impact, as–
*SNAP*
Camera flashes fired. The media houses got their feel good article and the crowd chuckled, their cheers mixing with warm laughter as the scene played out.
It was a rare moment of levity between two warriors.
And even Leo, despite the pain, let the ghost of a smirk pull at the edge of his lips, as he couldn't help but feel amused at the lengths Su Yang went just for some silly footage.
However, this attention did not last long, as soon the cameras cut back to Yu Shen, who wielded his dual swords with lethal intent, as his opponent quaked before him.
—--------
"Begin—"
The referee announced, as the audience expected an entertaining fight.
However, to their absolute shock, there wasn't even a moment's struggle, as Yu Shen started and ended the match within nine seconds.
His bloodline trait, [Suppression], activated the moment the bout began, freezing his opponent in place—locking his muscles tight and rendering him unable to move.
All the poor fighter could do was stand there, paralyzed, watching in horror as Yu Shen strolled toward him at a leisurely pace and rested his blade against his neck to end the match before it ever truly began.
"Sorry, little mutt… you might be a good tank, but you're not cut out for the big leagues," Yu Shen said coldly, ending the match with a final, cutting insult—as the crowd grabbed their hair in disbelief.
"Whoa— that was short!" Derek exclaimed.
"Seems like Nature's turtle strategy is backfiring hard," Lee added. "If their tanks can't buy them time, then what are they even here for?"
"No matter how weak their regulars were compared to Yu Shen, they'd have lasted longer than nine seconds, that much I can guarantee you!" Derek said in disbelief.
"'Sorry, mutt, you're not built for the big leagues'—sums it up just right, it's a brutal comment to make to a warrior, but in this case it's unequivocally true."
—---------
After Yu Shen took out the first, the next shield paladin entered the arena.
This time it was Joni, the bulkiest of the Shield Paladins, covered head-to-toe in silver-blue armor, his tower shield crackling with defensive runes.
The referee didn't waste time.
"Begin!" He announced, as Yu Shen dashed in again, his movements impossibly fast for a master warrior to follow, as Joni simply activated the skill—[Iron Fortress]—and reinforced his stance with mana, hunkering down like a wall of steel.
His strategy was to weather as much punishment as he could and buy his team some time, however, he had clearly not expected just how hard Yu Shen was about to hit him.
*BOOM–*
With a flick of the wrist, Yu Shen's blade glowed with force and slashed clean through the shield's center, cracking both the weapon and the will behind it.
Joni staggered, stunned—before Yu Shen's follow-up strike landed on his chestplate, knocking the wind out of him and ending the fight, as Yu Shen stepped on his defeated chest while pointing a sword to his throat.
"Winner Yu Shen! Rodova gets the point—" The referee announced, as Joni was immediately carried out of the arena, while Maher made his way in.
—----------
"Begin!"
The referee announced, once Maher the last filler Shield Paladin took his starting spot, as interestingly, instead of staying rooted to his spot and defending, Maher roared and charged like a raging bull.
"Aghhh—-" He yelled, as he swung down his massive shield with a [Mana Slam], as Yu Shen ducked under it with ease and slid in with a diagonal arc—his blade cutting through Maher's shoulder guard and spinning him to the ground like a rag doll.
"Fight over— Yu Shen wins!" The referee announced once again, as Yu Shen stunned the crowd by how effortlessly he defeated his opponents.
As the three filler tanks did not even last two minutes against him total.
"Three fights. Three knockouts," Lee said, shaking his head.
"Yu Shen is unstoppable!"
"It all comes down to Orion now… can he pull off what Leo Skyshard did against Button Academy and clutch a win for his team?" Derek asked, as Orion returned to the field—his expression tense, his breathing still uneven, and his mana reserves clearly not yet recovered.
"This is bad," Lee muttered. "Orion's walking back out there with potentially less than half his peak mana reserve… and Yu Shen looks like he's just getting warmed up—"
"Yeah, Lee, it doesn't look good for Orion at all—" Derek concurred as Orion took his starting spot and muttered the brave words–
"Let's do this!"
—---------
As soon as their fight began, Orion summoned [Flaming Orbs] again, but they sputtered—smaller, weaker than before, as Yu Shen didn't give him time to set the field.
He charged in low, striking from the side as Orion raised a partial [Stone Wall]—but it cracked on impact.
The Elf slid back, already drenched in sweat, pulling up a gust with [Wind Pulse] to buy room.
However, Yu Shen tore through it with brute strength.
[Water Wall]
Orion pulled up a last-ditch water wall to slow down Yu Shen's charge, before doubling down with a [Water Snare] to trip Yu Shen if he made his way through.
However, Yu Shen jumped over the water wall entirely with a weird mobility technique and landed right before Orion, having bypassed his trap.
"Oh shit—" Orion cursed, as he tried to run away by flying off.
However, Yu Shen stepped forward again, not giving Orion a breath of space, and this time swept low, feinted high, and then slammed his blade into the elf's exposed midsection with a thunderous [Breaker Slash].
THUMP—
Orion hit the ground hard, groaning, as his passive mana protection barrier that protected his body at all times started to flicker and show signs of weakening.
'This is bad–' He thought, as he turned and tried to summon yet another [Elemental Spiral] to hopefully attack Yu Shen and change the momentum of this fight.
However, before his move could materialize, Yu Shen broke his nose through the blunt end of his blade, and followed it up by pointing a sword to his neck to end the fight.
"Winner—Yu Shen of Rodova!"
The referee declared, pushing him off Orion, as the crowd roared in approval.
*ROAR*
The crowd erupted with wild cheers as the Jumbotron displayed the final result in massive gold letters:
RODOVA WINS — 5:1
"Unbelievable. Yu Shen just wiped out four fighters in a row," Derek shouted.
"Nature gambled—and lost," Lee added. "Their turtle strategy didn't just fail—it cost them the match."