“Hm!”
Even so, Fran had no intention of backing down. Maybe she would’ve made a different choice before she heard about Kiara, but as a fellow Black Cat, there was no way she could tuck her tail and run.
Well, if we end up crossing blades with the Beast King, let’s give him all we’ve got. If we end up with a bounty on our heads, we’ll use our Dimension Magic to get away. We’ll get on a boat and flee to another continent if we have to. You just leave that part to me.
“Thanks.”
For now, we had the second round to worry about. If we lost here, we wouldn’t have to worry about the Beast King for a while.
That’s all I have to say. Go get ’em!
“Hm!”
Fran stepped out into an arena many times larger than the one we fought in for the first round. The stone ring at the center of the gigantic colosseum was surrounded by stands that held over a thousand spectators. The place looked sold out, and the chorus of cheers was so loud it reverberated in my blade.
As always, Fran remained cool and composed. Three other combatants were already in the ring. We recognized one of their faces.
“Fran! Is that you?”
“Judith?” Judith was one of Lydia’s friends and the leader of the Crimson Maidens.
“Just my luck. I’m done for!”
She dropped to her knees as soon as she saw us. I knew how she felt. Beating Fran would be very difficult for her. The other combatants looked equally worried. They all knew Fran’s reputation.
“The Swordceress… She really is a little girl.”
“Don’t let that fool you. She’s still C-Rank. Stronger than us.”
Ewan and Yosh looked warily at Fran. They were definitely in the know. With the sheer number of adventurers participating, avoiding the limelight would be more difficult.
“You know,” said Yuan. “I’m getting married at the end of the year.”
“Really? Congrats! You better give your lady a good show today.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!”
You shouldn’t say those things before a fight, Yuan. Not that anything would give him a better chance of beating Fran.
At least no one was underestimating her yet—until the last combatant entered the ring with a sneer.
“Ha ha ha ha! What’s a kid doing at a fighting tournament?”
Fran squinted in anger. As if the mockery wasn’t bad enough, it had to come from a Blue Cat.
“So how’d you pass the first round? Did you pay ’em off? The judges have a thing for little kids?”
“I beat everyone else.”
“Hah! You think I’ll believe that a Black Cat can fight? Know your place, runt! Oh, I get it. You asked that old White Dog for a favor!” This guy was one of the members of Blue Pride. In fact, he was one of its supposed leaders. “You think I’m scared of you just because of that little stunt you pulled outside Aurel’s manor? You might have maxed out your Intimidate, but that’s all you have!”
Was he saying that he was much stronger in combat? Then again, his pride probably wouldn’t allow any sort of insult from a Black Cat.
“That disgusting monster interrupted us last time, but now you have nowhere to run. I’m going to smash your jaw, runt. I’ll knock you out and strip you for the whole town to see!” The Blue Cat spat at her, his face contorted and ugly. I felt like annihilating their entire mercenary band, but Fran was quiet. Wasn’t she going to say something?
As if reading my thoughts, Fran drew a breath. “Blue Pride…hmph. That’s cute.”
“What did you say?”
“You’re some no-name mercenary band that claims to be famous on a whole other continent. I did Aurel a favor by putting you in your place. Get away from me, Blue Cat. You smell like hot garbage.”
Was Fran pissed off? It’d been ages since her last diatribe.
“You little…!”
Before the Blue Cat could finish, a roar erupted from the crowd. There were giant screens set up at the corners of the arena—huge pieces of manatech that functioned as monitors to give the crowd a close-up view. They had caught every bit of that exchange. Which, of course, included the awful things the Blue Cat had said. The crowd was booing. When Fran snapped her comeback, they rallied behind her.
The Blue Cat was furious. “That’s it! You’re finished!”
“Hmph.” Fran ignored him and turned away, infuriating the man even further. I could hear the crowd egging them on. With everyone properly warmed up, the fight commenced.
“Begin!”
As soon as the judge made the announcement, the Blue Cat leapt into action. His anger blinded him. Fran was his only target.
“Diiiiiiiiie!”
He took a great leap upwards and brought his greatsword down on Fran’s head. The Blue Cat had pretty good form, for what it was worth, but he was out to kill her—which I thought was immature, considering Fran was only entertaining the crowd with her trash talk.
Surprisingly, the other three followed the Blue Cat’s lead and swarmed towards us. They had identified her as the strongest, and called a truce. Even Judith was set on using the others as meat shields. They weren’t about to back down just because Fran was obviously stronger than all of them combined. You had to admire their boldness.
Fran smiled and readied me, making the Blue Cat her first target.
“Raaaaargh!”
“Hmph.”
“Gaaah!”
I was still in my sheath, but she swung me with all her might. The blow connected with the man’s jaw and I felt it shatter from the impact. The Blue Cat’s body spun through the air. The crowd and the other combatants were shocked by the amount of force that erupted from her small body, but she wasn’t done yet. She used the momentum to launch a horizontal swing, knocking the Blue Cat towards the other combatants.
“Heavy Slash.”
“What?!”
“Urgh!”
“Hiyaaah!”
The swordsman Yuan and the lancer Yosh took the main brunt of the hit. Even Judith was caught up behind her meat shields. They yelled as all three of them were knocked right out of the ring. Heavy Slash
