(Sky-God Arena – Finals Match 1: Yu Shen vs. Captain Ramos)
The crowd's excitement hit a fever pitch when the two captains stood across from one another— neither of them speaking, nor moving, as they just glared each other down in absolute silence.
Most fighters, when looking into the eyes of Gu Ramos, trembled in their boots.
However, Yu Shen wasn't one of them.
The Rodova captain didn't seem fazed in the slightest that he was standing across from Geneva's finest, as there was no visible tension in his shoulders, nor any sign of hesitation, as though this was exactly where he'd always intended to be.
Then—slowly, almost ceremonially—he unsheathed both his swords and pointed them forward at Ramos, blades crossed like a hunter lining up his first strike.
Ramos didn't flinch.
He responded by drawing both his curved sabers with a swift snap of the wrists, spinning each in a tight circle before resting them back against his forearms—a gesture of both readiness and defiance as his crimson armor caught the light reflected from his blades.
"This… this is the fight of the tournament," Derek breathed through the mic, voice dropping into awe.
"Two captains. Two warriors at the peak of their academies. If this doesn't get you on your feet, nothing will," Lee added.
As from the stands, the roar only grew.
Chants overlapped. Fans screamed themselves hoarse, as Rodova's black and gold drowned in Geneva's silver and blue across the arena stands.
*BZZZZZ*
The camera drones zoomed in on both fighters' faces.
Neither of them blinking
As—
"Begin!" The referee's voice cracked through the comms, and just like that, both men exploded forward.
Yu Shen was the first to strike—his approach tactical, as he closed the distance with high-speed footwork.
His aim wasn't to overwhelm Ramos immediately, but to apply pressure early and test Geneva's captain's defensive tempo.
He had studied the tapes, and he believed he had the edge in speed, and if that proved true, then engaging fast would give him control of the center.
*CLANG—!*
The first collision came clean—Yu Shen's dual swords crashing against Ramos's curved sabers in a crossing parry, as sparks shot out from the impact.
Ramos held firm, blocking the incoming blow with crossed sabers, his boots grinding into the sand-grip floor beneath them.
But instead of pushing back, Ramos pivoted on his heel, letting Yu Shen's momentum overextend just enough before he slid under his arm and struck—
*CLANG—!*
*SHNK—!*
A cut opened on Yu Shen's right shoulder. Just a graze. But it was blood.
The first mark of the match.
"OHHHHHH!" the crowd erupted.
"Ramos with the first hit!" Lee shouted. "That looked like a calculated misdirection—Yu Shen thought he had the edge in that clash, but Ramos baited him perfectly!"
Yu Shen leapt back, eyes narrowed—not in pain, but in acknowledgment. A good hit. A clean read. Ramos had waited for the opening, and took it precisely when the opportunity presented itself.
'He's more reactive than I thought… can't take him on with just superior speed,' Yu Shen assessed mentally, shifting his stance.
Instead, he snapped his wrist forward and called his first technique.
[Snowpiercer]
A shimmering arc of ice surged forward in a narrow crescent, sharp as razors, gliding across the air like a slice of frozen death.
Ramos responded with a defensive spin, his sabers whipping through the air in wide curves as he activated [Stormguard Cut], a deflection technique designed to disperse elemental projectiles while maintaining rotational balance.
*CRACK—!*
The two abilities collided mid-air, the force of the clash sending an icy wind spraying out in all directions, peppering the front rows with fine frost.
"Whooooa—!" Derek said, laughing nervously. "If you're sitting ringside, you're basically in the splash zone!"
The moment the frost cleared, Yu Shen charged again—not to repeat the earlier mistake, but to follow up while Ramos's guard was still in mid-recovery.
A feint slash high—
A low strike sweeping from the left—
And a spinning cut from the right.
Each movement was calculated, meant to test Ramos's timing and reaction limits under compound pressure.
*CLANG—!*
*CLANG—!*
*CLANG—!*
Ramos blocked all three, but the last strike forced him off balance for just a second—long enough for Yu Shen to twist his blade downward and land a clean elbow to his ribs.
*THUD—!*
Ramos staggered—but didn't fall.
Instead, he retaliated immediately with a double saber uppercut, the curved edges scraping Yu Shen's chest armor and ripping through the outer layer.
Both men stepped back simultaneously now—each bleeding, as while Yu Shen bled through his chest. Ramos spat a mouthful of blood, the elbow to the chest seeming to have caused some internal damage.
'So this is the strength of the Geneva Captain—'
'So that's Yu Shen, the Rodova Captain—'
Both thought simultaneously, as they realized that the two of them were pretty much evenly matched, and that this was sure to be a dog-fight.
"Come on now, don't be scared, daddy won't hurt you if you approach nice—" Ramos taunted at this moment, as Yu Shen responded with a dry smirk, his blades lowering just slightly—not in surrender, but in preparation.
"I wasn't worried about you," Yu Shen replied coolly. "I was worried you'd be over too soon."
And then he lunged again—this time not with speed, but with cold control.
His right sword led the charge, sweeping horizontally while the left stabbed upward in a diagonal feint.
*Parry*
Ramos parried the horizontal strike—but the feint became real as Yu Shen twisted his wrist mid-motion, bringing the left blade down into a sudden arc aimed for Ramos's thigh.
*CLANG!*
*SCRAPE—!*
Ramos blocked it, but not in time to stop the edge from biting just shallowly into the meat of his leg.
"Yu Shen carves back!" Derek shouted. "That's one apiece now—these captains are bleeding and they're just getting started!"
Ramos grimaced, but didn't slow. He took the pain as fuel and pushed forward, cutting high with his right saber before looping the second in a reverse slash—aiming to force Yu Shen into retreat.
Yu Shen retreated two steps—but that had always been his intention.
He raised his foot and slammed it down with controlled force, activating—
[Frigid Bloom]
Frozen lotus petals bloomed out from his position, covering a small radius in sleek frost. A trap, meant to reduce foot traction, and Ramos—charging forward to capitalize—found himself slipping just slightly.
It was enough.
Yu Shen spun low, blades laced with shimmering cold, and slashed upward in a rising arc.
But Ramos was no fool—he let himself fall into the slip, rolling forward beneath the blow, and as Yu Shen's momentum left him exposed for a heartbeat—
*THWACK—!*
A heavy boot connected with Yu Shen's ribs, launching him back five feet into a rough skid.
"OOOOHHH!" the crowd wailed.
"He's using the terrain against him!" Lee said. "That Frigid Bloom backfired—Yu Shen lost footing after the follow-through!"
Both men were slower now, they were bloodied and breathing harder.
Yu Shen's ribs throbbed where the kick landed.
While Ramos's leg was stiff, and his lungs injured from where Yu Shen had landed his elbow.
And yet—
Neither looked away.
They dashed in again, colliding like titans in the center, blade against blade, teeth clenched, sweat dripping from their brows as every movement became heavier.
[Blizzard Fang]—
Yu Shen released a mid-range strike, sending jagged spears of ice outward in a starburst, forcing Ramos into evasive spins—but the Geneva Captain ducked under, absorbing a few shallow cuts along his shoulders and arm before closing the distance with a brutal shoulder tackle.
They slammed together, grappling briefly, weapons grinding between them, ice mixing with blood as Ramos hissed—
[Red Bloom Edge]—
With a flash, Ramos's sabers ignited with crimson energy as he performed a dual upward slash, the impact sending Yu Shen staggering again as the blades lacerated across his right bicep and collarbone.
But Yu Shen's response was immediate—
[Glacier Spikes]—
From the ground beneath Ramos's feet, jagged icicles erupted, forcing him to leap backward—but not before one of the spikes tore through the side of his calf.
*CRACK!*
*SLICE!*
*GASP!*
The crowd was screaming now, not in excitement, but in awe and horror as this was the exact bloody fight they'd come here to witness.
Both men were limping now—
Both bleeding.
Both exhausted.
But still—still—they circled each other, blades held high.
Yu Shen made one last dash, trying to end it with a final burst of energy, twin blades swirling in a final assault—
But Ramos saw through it.
He waited.
Waited.
And then—struck.
[Phantom Bloom]—a rare movement skill whereby it looked like his afterimage was dashing left, while he was actually moving right.
And unfortunately Yu Shen went for the wrong one, giving Ramos the opening he needed to circle to his back and slice his back open with a deep cut that stopped just short of his spine.
*THUD—*
Yu Shen fell forward, collapsing to one knee, as he desperately tried to push himself back up—but his body simply didn't respond.
The pain… the fatigue… it had caught up, and although his mind wasn't done with this fight, unfortunately his body betrayed him, as he couldn't get up before the five count.
"STOP!" the referee shouted, stepping in immediately once the five count was over, as he gave his verdict.
"Captain Yu Shen is unable to continue!"
"WINNER—GENEVA ACADEMY! Captain Ramos claims the opening bout!"
*ROAAAAAAAAR—!*
The Geneva side of the crowd detonated into cheers, their banners shaking the rafters as Ramos lifted a single saber in acknowledgment—bloody, staggering, but victorious.
"That was… insane," Derek said, stunned. "What a battle. That was the kind of fight you remember for the rest of your life."
"Both captains bleeding, both nearly collapsing—but Ramos finds the final edge. Geneva goes 1-0 up," Lee murmured, as at that point the medics rushed in, trying to save Yu Shen's life and stop the intense blood loss.
"I— I LEAVE THE REST TO YOU—" Yu Shen yelled towards the sky before passing out, as although he knew he had been defeated, he put his faith in his teammates, hoping that they would finish the job where he failed.