'I guess they all expected him to win,' Sydra thinks, making his way off the arena. As he goes, several healers rush past him to check on Percy, who is still passed out on the ground. After confirming he is alright, the healers carry him off the arena and place him in front of Dean Crue before healing him.
"Why won't he wake up?" Dean Crue asks, looking at his son still laying there, "You did heal him properly, didn't you?"
"His body is fine, but he may still be in shock from losing the battle in such a way. All that damage happening within the span of a few seconds will do that to a person," A healer responds, "He should be fine in a few hours at most,"
"I see..." Dean Crue says, before turning around and walking away, "When he wakes up let him know that I wish to talk to him,"
"Understood," The healer responds, watching as Dean Crue turns a corner, 'Can't even wait for his own son to wake up, what an asshole,'
As Dean Crue walks down a hallway, he hears someone walking behind him. Turning around, he finds Pro. Curtis standing there, smirking as he points back to the arena, "Looks like your son lost, so you know what that means, don't you?"
"Are you still talking about the deal?" Dean Crue asks as his face becomes red, "I only made that deal because I thought that boy out there was a part of our academy, but it turns out that not only is he not, he didn't even grow up in this Kingdom!"
By the end of his rant, Dean Crue was panting, and there was a light blue hue coming from his eyes. It was obvious that his son's loss had hit him harder than he was letting on, and Dean Crue was on the verge of losing it.
Seeing this, the smile on Prof. Curtis's face grew even wider, "Haha, is that a problem? You made the deal, so you should stick to it. You know the council won't appreciate it if you don't,"
Hearing Prof. Curtis mention the council, all of the blood drains out of Dean Crue's face, "The council...? So you've been working for the council this entire time?"
"That's right," Prof. Curtis says, "So... how about you hand over the Storm Monarch's heart now?"
"What does the council wish to achieve with this?" Dean Crue asks, his fingers trembling as he pulls out a spatial pouch and retrieves a black stone from it. The stone has multiple gold lines running over it, and they all head to the center where a golden circle is.
As Dean Crue tosses the stone through the air to Prof. Curtis, a fierce electrical current forms around it, but Prof. Curtis quickly covers it up when he catches it. Glaring at Dean Crue, Prof. Curtis turns around and heads towards a door at the end of the hallway.
"Do not concern yourself with the actions of the council," Prof. Curtis says as he opens the door, "But since we were friends at one point, I will tell you this, there is a war coming soon, and your son is not strong enough to survive it,"
With those words said, Prof. Curtis quickly leaves to return to the council, and Dean Crue is left there wondering what he meant by saying there was a war coming.
...
Back outside, the King is talking to Rachel about what the two of them just witnessed. Being situated in a special room above the arena, they had a better view of the arena than others, but they were still at a loss.
"I know he isn't part of this kingdom, but maybe we could get him to be," The King says, glancing at his niece, "Are you interested in marriage?"
"Uncle!" Rachel says. slightly blushing, "I wouldn't be against it, but I would want to get to know him better first,"
Pondering for a few seconds, King Oriole shook his head, "No, I don't want you to marry him, but maybe we could offer him something, like gold and powerful items,"
While the two of them discussed more possible ways to get Sydra to work for their kingdom, the next few battles passed by. Unlike the past two battles that had been full of explosions and action, the remaining few battles were a lot duller.
Of course, Sydra and Jason also had a few more battles, but they were over quickly, as their opponents would either surrender right away or be taken out in one hit. This kept happening until it was time for the final battle of the tournament, and it was between Jason and Sydra.
Seeing the two of them walk out onto the arena, the crowd became excited again, and everyone's attention was completely focused on them. Feeling everyone's focus on him, Jason smiled towards Sydra, knowing that this would be the most difficult battle of the day.
"I guess this is it, huh?" Jason asks, "I promise that I'll be going all out from the very beginning, so don't hold back on me,"
"Don't worry, I'll give it my all," Sydra responds, glancing towards Vict who was busy trying to decide the perfect terrain for the final battle. Finally deciding on one, Vict sends out his aura into a rune that resembles a blank circle. As his aura fills the rune, the ground inside the arena disappears, and Sydra is left floating in the air above a swirling black void.
Within the black void were countless tentacles that wiped through the air, grabbing onto whatever debris they could. The debris they were grabbing was a mix between sharp crystals, heavy stones, and metal spears, which the tentacles would then throw back out of the void, trying to hit either Jason or Sydra.
'A Despatex?' Sydra wonders, dodging between two metal spears thrown at him. A Despatex was a type of creature found just before the edge, and they were known to go around devouring whatever life forms they could. The swirling vortex acted as a vacuum to suck things into it, and if they weren't able to suck something in, then the tentacles would appear.
"The battle shall now begin!" Vict shouts, causing the crowd to go wild as Sydra and Jason flash towards one another. Weaving his way through the debris, Sydra activates his magnetism aura to maneuver several of the metal spears thrown at him back towards Jason.
'Wait, he has another power?!' Jason thinks, spinning the wind around his body faster to grab the metal spikes and toss them to the side. Holding out his hand, Jason creates a green portal in front of him and flies through it, only this time another portal appears above Sydra, and Jason flies out of that one.
'Spatial movement? How is that possible?' Sydra thinks as Jason slams his foot down into Sydra's back. The force causes Sydra to get pushed towards the tentacles, and one of them manages to grab onto him, dragging him towards the black vortex.
Gritting his teeth, Sydra grabs a crystal shard that is flying past him and cuts off the tentacle with it. Kicking off the cut tentacle, Sydra covers his body with a layer of bone armor as he flies back to Jason.
'Another ability? This is getting ridiculous,' Jason thinks, creating a gust of wind to sweep him out of Sydra's path. Condensing the wind, Jason creates a circular platform beneath his feet, the edge of which is covered with spinning blades.
"That's cool, but I think this might be cooler," Sydra says, manipulating the aura of the surrounding elements to form a dragon beneath his feet. The dragon is made from water and lightning, giving it a blue and amber look, and Sydra is standing on top of its head, a metal trident in his hand.
Pointing the trident towards Jason, Sydra commands the dragon to move forward. Flapping its massive wings, the dragon shoots towards Jason, who is smiling widely as he also flies forward.
At the last moment, both Jason and Sydra jump into the air, allowing the wind platform and the dragon to explode against each other beneath them. The explosion causes the surrounding elements to go wild, disintegrating all of the debris.
Above the explosion, Sydra and Jason fight against each other in the air, sending different attacks towards one another, and adding to the chaotic surroundings. As wind blades and metal spears shoot through the air, Sydra and Jason pull back from one another, their aura cores becoming dry.
'One last attack, that's all I need,' Sydra thinks, summoning the remaining aura he had left for one last attack. On the other side, Jason is doing the same thing and the wind particles around him are condensing into the shape of a lion's skull.
However, the second both Sydra and Jason are about to release their attacks, a shadow falls over the entire arena. Glancing up, Sydra finds himself staring at a massive grey stomach, sticking out of the bottom of dark rumbling storm clouds.
'What is that?' Sydra wonders, but before he can do anything a column of lightning descends from the clouds and slams into the arena's barrier, shattering it completly.