Jenn was laughing at Jason, as she had more aether and could use it better. “I thought your arm was broken.”
“The clan provides.”
“Yeah, long heated nights in a clanmate’s arms, or did Nick burn you because you started seeing Parks behind his back?”
Jason spat at her and his whole body blazed with aether. “Time to break you!”
Jenn didn’t do more than she already was, but she did give ground to him, using his aggression to lead him away from his allies. She even put a look of surprise and fear on her face, trying to bait him a little more.
Nick and Parks turned around to find Gregory. Both spun magic— Parks put up a wall in front of him, and Nick threw a barrage of fire at him. Gregory laughed as he came to a stop, then spun around and went under the six balls of fire.
Both were so focused on Gregory that they failed to see Yukiko appear behind them. Arm blurring, her wakizashi slammed into Nick’s neck, making his eyes cross as he collapsed to his knees. She dropped to the ground and let the shadows take her away.
Yunlo teleported Nick from where he was to Klim’s feet, as he could see the apprentice struggling to breathe. He looked back just in time to see Gregory rushing Parks, who was staring at the ever-shifting magi, and wondered how Gregory could keep his foresight up as long as he did.
Gregory knew he’d have to drop foresight or aether sight, as his ring was rapidly running empty. With Nick out of the fight, he let aether sight drop and could feel the drain on the ring diminish.
Parks grimaced and looked past Gregory, then gave an evil smirk. Gregory looked back to see what was going to happen. “Jenn, Vemril rush!” he yelled over the crowd.
Jenn stopped retreating and blitzed at Jason. That caught Parks— who had just placed a barrier behind her— and Jason by surprise. She switched her wakizashi to her left hand and snagged Jason’s kimono with her right. A hard stop and pivot had Jason flying back the way she had come, slamming him into Parks’ barrier before hitting the ground.
“No!” Parks hissed. His focus was locked onto Gregory and Jenn in front of him. Seeing Gregory turn and dart toward Jason, he snarled and started to form another wall, only to drop to the ground when Yukiko slammed her weapon into the back of his neck.
Jason got to his feet and saw that Nick and Parks were down, and all three of his opponents were still up. “Damned assholes!” Jason spat. “You can’t beat me one-on-one and you know it!”
“We don’t need to. This is a clan battle, and yours failed,” Jenn snickered. “You should be used to it by now.”
Jason screamed and rushed her. He made it two steps before the shadows grabbed his legs all the way to his thighs, pitching him forward. Aether blazing along his legs, he yanked one free, but that was as far as he got before Jenn caught Gregory’s thrown naginata and slammed it down onto Jason’s head.
“Break!” Yunlo called before Jason was suddenly at Klim’s feet.
Jenn shouted and ran to join Gregory and Yukiko. She tore her helmet off and threw it behind her. The crowd was cheering and the ground shook slightly from the rambunctious celebration. Her two lovers ditched their helmets, too, and they all hugged before turning to the crowd to accept the cheers, redoubling the noise.
“If it had been more than them, we would have had serious trouble,” Yukiko said, “but you shouting ‘now’ made them flinch so hard.”
“It was in the back of their minds the entire time,” Jenn laughed. “They knew you’d pop up, but never knew where or when.”
“My ring is nearly empty,” Gregory said. “I had to drop aether sight because of it.”
Yunlo announced the winners, and the three of them bowed to the boxes, then to Yunlo, before turning to the losers. Klim and Mindie were both working on them, but Nick and Parks were glaring at them while Jason was being seen to. With a long, slow turn, they waved to the crowd, retrieved their helmets, and left the arena floor.
“We will be taking a small break as the arena is put in order for the awards presentation,” Yunlo announced. “It shouldn’t take long.”
Chapter Seventy-eight
“Do we go back up to the seats?” Jenn asked as they started putting their gear away.
“I’m not positive. We had boxes last tournament,” Gregory said. “I’m sure someone will tell us.”
Mindie came into the room behind them. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Mindie,” Gregory grinned.
“You were a bit more savage than I thought you’d be. Shun’s throat was badly bruised according to Magus Klim. Parks had a stressed neck, but that was easy. Argon was a mess, his skull was cracked and there was swelling in his brain.”
“I checked my swing a little,” Jenn said grimly. “I almost didn’t. If I hadn’t, he’d have been worse.”
Mindie bowed her head. “Considering how they were to the others, I won’t speak against it. You showed them greater mercy than they gave.”
“We need to stop being merciful,” Gregory said softly, “though if Grandmaster Yunlo had been worried about Jason, he would have teleported him away like he had others.”
Mindie nodded slowly. “That’s a good point. You went through the entire tournament causing as little lasting harm as you could... Your clan has shown that strength isn’t about harming others.”
All three of them smiled, and Gregory replied, “Thanks, Mindie. We feel that things could change if people tried.”
“The guards for you will be here shortly,” Mindie said.
“I hear
