"Gaia, stop her! No one needs to die here!"
As Athena strained her voice shouting at Gaia, Misao's blade only drew closer to ending the Fairy Queen's life, already sliced past her layer of skin and nearing the muscles.
The fairies in the crowd all joined in with Athena's plea, begging the child-like Diety to spare their Queen's life.
But Gaia showed no reaction whatsoever, not even a grin. No one could tell if he was just teasing, or letting the agony play out longer just to torture them.
"Winner, Misao! One point to the Chariot of Darkness!"
As if those words were directly interpreted by Misao's brain, her scythe disappeared, along with the looming aura of death she had cast over Shiva. Gaia chuckled in satisfaction as Misao returned to his side like a well trained dog.
Everyone else on the other hand, felt as if death itself had just released their throats from it's grasp, this being especially true for the fairies in the crowd. For them, the thought of losing their beloved queen in such a manner was absolutely harrowing.
"My Queen! Are you alright!?"
"Oh dear, that wench sliced her neck! How dare she!?"
As Shiva was teleported off the battleground, now placed in the crowd since she had been disqualified, she was bombarded with questions of concern from her subjects.
While the Fairy Queen was trying to get her subjects under control, Gaia was already about to start the next bout. As usual, he snapped his fingers, teleporting the next two contenders to the ring before starting his dramatic introduction.
"With strength directly proportional to his size, able to reshape very mountains with just his fingers! Fighting for the Chariot of Darkness! Giant King Yama!"
The white light that covered the giant's massive body dissipated to reveal him. Known for having no magical power whatsoever, this race made up for that in intense training, taking full advantage of their stature to bring forth terrifying physical strength. Whoever Gaia had chosen to be his opponent, would surely not have an easy fight.
Gaia waited for cheers, sarcastically but none came, only grunts of anger coming from the three giants that managed to fit into the crowd.
With a chuckle, Gaia announced the next fighter.
"Queen of a rather noble race, monarch of the mysterious energy they call Mana!... Eves, welcome your Queen, Ume!"
Unlike before, the cheers that went up were a lot tamer for this match. The Elves were the only ones cheering, probably because the vibrant mood was killed by their method of rousing their queen, clapping.
"Sheesh, talk about stuck up..."
Almost everyone present shared this sentiment, something about the Elves, the way they carried themselves, was as if they were some higher breed. Maybe the fact that they had 'special' reproductive capabilities had gotten to their heads over the years?
As the subtle applause stopped, Gaia started off the match.
For a while, both fighters did nothing, if it weren't for Gaia being in complete control of Yama's mind, one would think they were thoroughly analyzing each other from afar.
As expected, this didn't last long, as Gaia soon commanded Yama to attack. A giant fist, blotting out a part of the sun came crashing down on Ume like a meteor.
*Bang!~*
The attack seemed to have connected, and while everyone else in the crowd gasped in shock, the other Elves simply giggled.
Gaia too was smiling as the Giant raised his fist out of the massive dust cloud. But what was pulled out shocked everyone, especially Gaia, to their core.
Yama's fist was completely destroyed, his massive fingers bent and twisted in unnatural ways. Thick streams of blood flowed from cuts all over his hand, where pieces of bone could be seen poking out.
"How!" Gaia couldn't believe his eyes, he quickly summoned a gale of wind to blow away the cloud of dust still surrounding Ume, for he had to see what she used to both defend against Yama's mountain-splitting attack, and deal damage to him.
What was revealed absolutely blew everyone's minds. A dome of pink energy, sparkling like the stars above creating a shield around the elf queen, beneath her was a magic circle, giving off the same energy.
Gaia was seething with anger at the elf's attitude, giving off one more arrogant than his. Ume didn't even feel a need to open her eyes as she stood there, with arms folded and a mocking grin.
"Kah! I'll show you!"
Gaia's thoughts were in disarray as he took control over Yama once more, tendrils of dark energy slithered out of the broken fingers, twisting them painfully back into place, balling them into another fist which was thrown at Ume again.
The terrifying pressure coming off the giant's fist didn't affect Ume in the slightest as the elf held her ground, keeping her magic shield standing strong.
*Bang!~* *Bang!~* *Bang~*
One wouldn't believe a figure so colossal could release such a quick barrage of punches. Gaia's screams of rage were so loud that they were able to keep up the the thunderous sound of the giant's pounding.
But, this approach seemed to be proving futile. As a fist connected with the magic dome, a pulse of energy came from it, leaving Yama's knuckles bleeding, but Gaia wouldn't stop. He continued launching attacks, his pride clouding his judgment as both the giant's fists were reduced to twisted masses of broken flesh.
"How's she doing that!?" Luna, who had been the loudest person in the crowd, was dumbfounded.
Shi, who hadn't spoken since this whole thing began, cleared her throat.
"She knows how to beat a giant," Shi said, her head held down with folded arms as if she was taking a nap, "Attack the extremities."
Ume's shield showed no sign of breaking even under the assault of fists more than five times it's size. The damage to Yama's fingers soon began to accumulate, giving Gaia no choice but to stop the attack.
The crowd couldn't help but gag at the brutality before them. Yama's fingers were completely obliterated, joints dislocated, hanging on by singe membranes as the now purple skin was coated in a layer of blood. Yama's fists were now rendered useless.
"That elf has already won." Shi stated.
Shi's prediction seemed to be closer closer becoming a reality as the battle progressed. Gaia, still not learning his lesson, prompted the Giant King to stomp down to the elf's shield.
This too, also ended in another limb being destroyed. Before the foot was even brought down, it was assaulted by countless ethereal arrows launched from a magic circle summoned above the battleground, boring countless holes in his leg, rendering it unusable.
With three limbs put out of commission, the Giant lost all his balance, toppling over with a loud crash, digging a crater with the back of his head.
As the Giant was felled, Ume took her shield down before swirling her hands around. A trail of sparkles followed her fingers as she formed three magic circles around her, unknown symbols connecting them.
A soothing force emanated from the Elf Queen as faint magic circles began to form both below and above the floored Giant.
"Get up, you imbecile! Your creator demands it!" Gaia, sensing incoming defeat, tried his best to get Yama to his feet, but it proves futile as not even Gaia's domain over darkness could give him a fighting chance.
As Gaia screamed in agony, Ume had finished casting her spell. She threw her hands to the ground, summoning thunder from below and above.
*BOOM!~*
As if she called down judgment from the heavens itself, Ume absolutely fried Yama's body. The attack was so powerful, the giant's eyes showed life once more, as if Gaia's control over him had been severed.
Gaia couldn't believe his eyes. Ume had completely dominated this battle, coming out victorious without a single scratch, the elf queen threw the hem of her dress back, briefly revealing the somewhat phallic entity between her legs before walking back over to Athena.
"Winner! Ume! Point to the Wings of Athena!"