Chapter 61: The End of the Duel and the Big Mistake
Once those words were out of their mouths, the arena was silent for a few seconds and then the two were on the move.
They were almost 40 metres away from each other and were running at average speeds. All the power of both of them was in their attacks and the auras surrounding them.
After only a few seconds, they were incredibly close to each other and finally, the event that everyone was waiting for happened.
"CHING!!!!!!!!!"
An incredibly ear-splitting sound echoed through the arena, and the inside of the arena became so dusty that it could not even be seen through the screens.
The arena was so thick with dust that some of the spectators had to close their eyes and even the referee himself could not see. Only 10 metres separated the referee from the arena.
"What's going on?" shouted one of the spectators.
"WHO WON!!!" screamed another spectator.
When the dust started to clear, all eyes were focused on the arena. All of Olympus was watching together, none of them could have known what was going to happen, for the woman James had fought was indeed one of the most promising to ever climb the tiers.
Dust slowly descended to the floor and then the image of flames reappeared, one lying on the floor of the arena and one standing.
No one could tell who was who, as the figures of the two were only slightly similar, and even their heights were almost identical.
After only a few seconds, the dust cleared and everyone took a deep breath and looked around the arena.
Ariel was lying on the arena floor, her eyes blurred and looking like her nervous system had collapsed, there was a gash in her chest, she wasn't going to die, but the wound was enormous.
James was no different. Looking at him, it was possible to see that his whole body was full of aura cuts. He wanted a fair fight and that's why everything turned out the way it did, or rather, using his strongest ability would make it unfair and that's why he didn't want to be untouchable.
He clenched his hand into a fist and clutched it to his chest, Clarent in the other hand, pointing to the air, to the stars of the darkening evening.
"NYX IS WITH US!!!" he suddenly shouted, and at those words all of Olympus paused, and then the outcome of the match was decided:
"The winner of the 9173rd Duel of the Day is Umbra of Chaos, his 26th win of the day!"
With the referee's shout, the entire arena, the 10th floor, and every single person watching from the upper floors went wild. No one had ever seen a battle this binding.
Amidst all the cheering, amidst all the words of love and admiration shouted at him, James began to step forward, even if slowly and painfully, and approached and knelt beside Ariel.
"I'll win next time, Umbra..." Ariel said, smiling, blood pouring from her mouth.
James respected her again, he could only imagine how much pain she was in right now, but Ariel's smile never left her face. He realised at that moment that he had earned the respect of a woman who trusted no one.
He lifted Clarent into his inventory and then pulled out one of the medium health potions, gently lifted Ariel's head and said, "Please drink, madam."
His chivalry and honour made everyone admire him once again.
Ariel smiled and then drank every last drop of the health potion, the huge gash in her chest closed and the blood stopped leaking out of her mouth.
James gasped for breath and then stood up, looking at the referee and saying, "I demand a time-out." He smiled as he saw the referee shake his head and then collapsed to the ground.
Every single person in the arena was amazed at what had happened, the referee suddenly jumped from his side and entered the arena, everyone thought something had happened to James, but as soon as the referee checked James' pulse, he smiled.
"Hohh.....He's just fainted, the silly boy scared the life out of me, how will I answer to Master Ronald or Lady Leyla if you die?" the referee said in a very small voice, indicating that even inside the arena James was protected.
With that James was finished in the arena, even for the day.
With that, the only thing that could be done was taking James to the Arena Hospital.
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Elian walked through the door of the room where James had been laid to rest and saw James sleeping soundly, if not peacefully.
He was scared and it was obvious, if he didn't finish his work quickly he would die and he couldn't afford that, yet he didn't dare to refuse his god when he asked him for something, he had to get it done.
"Don't blame me for this, you stupid boy! You've attracted too much attention, you have to die."
James was lying in the hospital section of the arena, still unconscious, the fact that he had somehow used both aura and magic, and used them at the same time continuously, had crushed his body like crazy.
He may have cut Ariel deeply in the chest, but he had suffered many deep cuts from Ariel's attack, and aura cuts would not heal with potions so he really needed to rest.
He needed to heal.
The gods could not watch when the users were knocked out, incapacitated and blocked by the tower itself, and that was what was happening in the horrible event that was happening now.
Elian stood in front of the unconscious James with the medallion in his hand. He placed the medallion on James' chest and then raised the knife in his hand. Suddenly the knife went through the locket and plunged into James' chest.
However, Elian wanted to flee the scene and tried to leave, and when he opened the door to the room where James was staying, he saw someone he had never wished to see.
"You did something very wrong, young man."