Lancaster City. Alma City. Jewel City and more were being attacked at the same time around Riarath.
Although they had prepared countermeasures for such an invasion the 5 leaders of the Continent were indecisive at which cities to protect.
Thousands of soldiers were deployed around the continent. Some of the ones in the frontlines were even called back for this exact thing. But even then, they did not have enough cavalry and men to protect each and every city. Furthermore, the great distance between each city made cooperation between each one of them difficult.
Riarath was after all a massive continent.
Were they going to prioritise important locations over the life of their citizens or was it going to be the other way round?
If it was looked through a military point of view then prioritising locations that provided them with resources to continue the battle against the Dark Frontier was essential.
Either way, loss of life was inevitable at this point.
- Violet. What's the plan? - asked Rose.
The others listened with attention at Violet's next words.
She might not have been the strongest one out of all of them, but she was certainly the most intelligent.
They were all currently in their respective regions, communicating with the help of a special room created by the people of the Yondra region. The room allowed for communication over great distances without the use of wind elementals.
- .... I know some of you will be against this idea. But I think it's our best bet on confronting this situation. We have to...... we have to prioritise the important outposts.
- ...And abandon our citizens?! - shouted Sun with an outraged voice.
- Calm down Sun. Let her finish first - interjected Rose.
- Tchh!
- I know what you are thinking. What kind of leader would I be? But our citizens our not that weak. There is a monster hunter guild in every city. Apart from that, every city has guards that protect it. I've taken that into account too.
- So what's the plan? - asked Gustav this time.
- This is a battle against time. We're to defend the important locations. But we're to kill all monsters on sight as fast as possible. Once that's done, go to the nearest city and do the same. We and the higher ranked monster hunters are the only ones that can move fast enough to provide support. Is that clear?
- Yes!!! - shouted the other 4 in unison.
- That's everything. Good luck and I hope for great news. May the Gods be with you.
There was a flash of light and Emil and Gustav were not there anymore.
- ....
But not all of them disconnected. Rose, Violet and Emil remained behind.
- Anything else to add Emil?
-.... - Emil had his eyes closed throughout the entire report. If it wasn't because of some subtle movements, you'd think he was sleeping.
- Well, if that's everything, allow me to...
But the moment Rose was about to go, he opened them.
- I know you two know what they are looking for - said Emil with a condescending voice
-- Who might you be talking about? - asked Rose as if this had nothing to do with her.
- You might be able to fool the other 2 but you know that you'll never fool me.
-...
Violet remained silent.
- We're all bound to the original sin. Doing the same as our ancestors will end up being our demise.
After he left those words behind, Emil's figure dissapeared.
**********
Let's rewind a bit back in time.
*Bam* *Bam* *Bam*
Logan was currently fighting his way towards the finals. The tournament was in its quarters.
His present opponent was someone from the same school as Diones. Fist of the tyrant.
There were different types of martial arts in Duskae. Different orphanages and different schools taught different kinds.
*Bam* *Bam *Bam*
Fist after fist was sent to Logan. But he masterfully deflected them all.
After fighting Diones, his understanding of power and his own body had arrived to new heights. Compared to Diones, the person in front of him was an ant.
*Slam* *Slam* *Slam*
- What is this!? What is this!? That is arrogance at its peak ladies and gentlemen! - shouted the commentator using all the air inside his lungs.
This was because Logan was only using one hand to defend from the opponent in front of him.
The majority of people who saw this, thought that he was just looking at his opponent with superiority.
This caused Logan's opponent to attack him with more intensity as he felt that he was being mocked.
And then more and then more again.
Even so, no matter how many techniques he used or how much power he applied, it was as if he was punching into a void. It sucked his power and the next thing he knew was that he was wide open.
*Bam*
This time, Logan delivered a punch at his opponent's side. This same thing had occurred a lot of times already.
His opponent was clearly struggling at maintaining his balance. The pain was clearly pretty much unbearable for him at this stage.
So Logan vowed to finish it with the next confrontation.
By the time his opponent realised it, Logan was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, he felt a hand holding his left ear and then everything started to spin around him.
When he came to be, he was out of the arena. He'd been disqualified for stepping down.
- Winner. Jester!!!
*********
- How's my hand doing Loc?
- Ahhmm... It might be fully healed by the time you get to the finals.
- Roger that.
Logan looked at the screen on top of the waiting room.
In it you could see the battle of Bucky against Alice.
Logan did not care about Bucky at this stage. He was just like a rock on the side of a street for him.
What he cared about though was Alicia's fighting style.
He observed her intently. Different from the Rogue Arts Logan used, Alicia used an art by the name of Wessex Arts. It seemed it was an art that was passed generation after generation in the Wessex family.
It was a strange martial arts not to say the least.
Bucky went for a right hook.
Seeing this, Alicia stepped back and used her flexibility to kick at Bucky's chin as she fell back.
Bucky did not see this coming and the kick connected. He felt dizzy but did not fall down. He rapidly urged his hand to defend him in case she came for to deliver another attack.
And indeed she did. She rapidly removed Bucky left arm that was defending his torso at the same time that she carried her punch forward.
It was then that Bucky saw an opportunity. Alicia needed to pull her arm backward to gain momentum so that her punch did any damage.
He had enough time to see the trajectory of the fist. As it was just about to strike him, Bucky bent his neck sideways, avoiding a sure knockout.
Then he used his free hand to send an uppercut at Alicia's chin.
Bucky smiled. He was about to turn the tables around.
However, it was at this moment that he suddenly felt his left leg bending backwards. Alicia had hit with her right foot.
It wasn't much but it was just enough to destabilise him. With his centre of gravity shifted, Bucky fell back.
And with this, his uppercut did so too. Narrowly missing Alicia's chin.
*Swish*
Nevertheless, Alicia wasn't finished. Her fist that had previously missed returned like a sparrow and grabbed Bucky's scalp.
With Bucky falling backwards he could do nothing but observe as Alicia brought his face towards her left elbow.
*Bash*
Just as everyone thought that this time Alicia was finish, she jumped into the air and kicked Bucky in the face.
Before Bucky could hit the floor, the referee caught him. He interfered because he knew how dangerous it would be if he crashed against the floor at that state.
With that, Bucky was deemed unconscious and Alicia was declared as the winner.
*******
As soon as she was declared so, everyone started clapping and cheering. It was a wonderful performance after all.
As he relieved the fight that had just occurred in the arena in his mind, Logan reconfirmed Locus's comment.
- The Wessex system is truly weird.
- It indeed is - answered Locus - I don't think I've seen anything of the like. If what she's shown us here is the essence of it then..... Gahhhh!!!
Locus shouted. Logan was startled by such a sudden action.
- It shouldn't work..... but it works! It's bizarre. How can you disregard the defence like that?
Locus was right. Different from the Rogue system, the Wessex system focused entirely on offence and counterattack. Alicia had not defended herself even once in the duration of her match against Bucky.
Alicia just waited for Bucky to attack and leave himself open. If he did not attack, she forced him by attacking herself.
However, some of Bucky's punches did pass through. But when they did, she just avoided them by moving her own body using her unnatural flexibility or by moving Bucky's body like she did when she finished him.
- She is gonna be a troublesome opponent - announced Logan.
- Indeed. But if there weren't, you'd never get better. Remember. You're not here to win but that doesn't mean you should not try your best. The purpose of you participating here is to get some combat experience.
- That is true.
- And you never know. You might learn a thing or two to implement into your style. Rogue Arts allow for a lot of flexibility and that is what allows us to get better.
*********
After the fight with the other Fist of the Tyrant wielder, the successive fights were not difficult.
Logan climbed the ranks with ease.
Even though this was the 10 - 12 year old's competition, it still made no difference to him.
Their way of using their martial arts were alright but still needed a lot more polishing. They also left themselves very open.
If Logan wanted to point out errors this chapter would never be out until next year.
*Tap* Tap* *Tap*
The atmosphere was crisp and tense. After all the battles he took part in, Logan still had goosebumps as he stepped towards the arena.
He glanced around him. Everyone observed him. Expectant. Cheering. At him.
If only they knew what was below the mask..... Logan was having such thoughts.
Logan stepped into the arena in midst of the cheers.
When he looked at Alicia, he noticed she was looking dazedly at him. But strangely, when their eyes met, Alicia flinched and rapidly looked towards her side.
Nevertheless, she was still sending furtive glances at him.
- What a strange girl..... - Logan thought.
Whilst they were having such thoughts, the referee stepped in.
He had a different aura than the other referees Logan had so far. It was a strange feeling. But if someone were to describe it they would say powerful. The person in front of them was more powerful than the other referees so far.
This had to be expected though. This was the finals after all. Both of them had enough power to penetrate Diones's defence so it had to be expected.
- Ready? - announced the referee.
- Ready - responded both at the same time that they assumed their stances.
- Then..... may the best win. Start!!!
As soon as the referee shouted that, Logan ran towards Alicia. It was the same move he'd used against Diones. From an outsiders perspective, he seemed like he vanished and appeared at a spot metres away from where he was.
When he was upon her side, Logan brought his right leg high up into the air into Alice's head. Something called a roundhouse kick.
Nonetheless, as soon as Logan was upon Alicia's side, he felt something strange. His body was telling him not to attack her. That it was too dangerous. As such, he used his left leg to impulse his body backwards
And his fears were answered. Suddenly, when Logan's roundhouse was almost about to hit Alicia her eyes moved to the side. They looked at him. No one at this age group should have been able to react at this speed without the help of wind spirits. But she did.
Just as she did with Bucky, Alicia advanced forward whilst trying to grab Logan's right leg to maintain him in place. She was planning to hit his other leg to throw him out of balance and pin him on the ground.
But her plan failed. Logan's roundhouse did not connect with her raised arm. So she could not grab it. She was a beat to late.
Not only did she not hit or grab any of Logan's extremities, he also managed to open up a considerable distance between them by back flipping backwards.
At first, Logan was planning to use his speed to surprise her and then hit her with one of the strongest muscles in his body in the chin to knock her out.
He had been naive. Of course it wouldn't be this easy.
- Of course - Locus muttered - - This is the secret. This is how that bizarre system works.
- What do you mean Loc?