Sael stopped to hover high enough that the arena looked like a tiny ring down below. His breath was little clouds and he felt like he was gasping. "Stubborn asshole. If my Stone Breaker can't beat you try my Mountain Breaker!" Dropping into a divebomb he snapped his wings for more force. He still wasn't the best at flying but when it came to just a straight line he felt more than confident. With a boom of force a ring like cloud erupted around him, then further down as he continued to speed up another, finally after that a third formed as the ground flashed towards him. He furled his wings and activated his Stone Breaker skill when he was nearly upon Granite. In truth he had no new skill but simply planned to add the momentum of a massive dive to his drop kick. Crude but effective.
He saw Granite Fist with his arms raised up and crossed to block the blow. Sael was shocked he could see it coming not realizing Granite had taken that pose before he even started the dive out of instinct. Sael watched as if the world slowed down when his leg collided with Granite's stone looking arms. He saw the stone like skin crack and fracture before they were blown away. His heel snapped into the man's shoulder once his arms were knocked away, forcing him down to crash into the sand. Fissures and cracks spread all across his body as the sand was blown away. The earth gave way forming an ever growing crater as debris billowed out from the shockwave of the blow. To the crowd eagerly watching, they saw a streak come back down before the arena erupted. Sand billowed up to crash violently against the unseen barrier that protected the stands. It forced the raging sandstorm upwards until it passed the limits of the barrier and spread out like a huge mushroom cloud of dust.
Just as the dust started to clear out inside the arena the silent crowd was startled by three consecutive booms from above drawing their attention to the three strange cloud rings still expanding above. Someone yelled out "Look!" drawing the crowd's attention back to the arena. There through the haze they could see someone standing far below. The entire arena had sunken down into a massive crater making it look like a giant bowl now. Standing at the deepest point was a man, as the dust cleared they saw the green and silver armor of the Twilight King. On the ground face down was Granite Fist unmoving. Just as the crowd started to go wild the prone figure stirred.
Sael looked down both impressed and horrified. "What the hell man. That last attack shattered my entire leg."
Granite Fist's entire body had taken on the appearance of the polished stone of his name sake. But now it was covered in deep cracks and fissures that bleed freely to mix with the sand dust that had settled on them. Slowly he pushed himself up, one arm bent at an odd angle and the other Sael could hear what sounded like cracking when he put weight on it. Still, inch by inch he stood up. Sael was fine, his leg had healed before it even touched the ground. He had no doubt he could defeat this stubborn man if he used the Fairy King's Spear. But he was so impressed with the man's resolve he was debating on throwing in the towel out of respect. "Sorry, If I didn't have money on this fight…."
Sael was getting ready to call in his spear when Granite Fist stood up impressively straight for someone wobbling so much. "What...Is...Your…. Name."
His opponent was panting and each word was forced out with great effort. Sael figured he meant his real name since he'd been announced as the Twilight King. Of Course he wouldn't give his earth name but he figured he owed this stubborn warrior at least his Isekai name. "Sael."
Sael waited to see what would happen, would the stubborn berserker attack now? He got his answer in the form of a hideous smile. Granite's mouth was a mess most of his teeth were shattered and blood was drooling out. When he smiled the cracks in his stone like face oozed out more blood that soaked the sand coating him. "Thank… You."
With that the giant fell back to crash on the ground like a fallen stone pillar. Above him from one of the side tunnels the moderator yelled out that the match was over and half a dozen white robed people started sliding down into the crater. Looking down Sael muttered "Damn, I didn't get his name." Promising himself he would find out when the man recovered he turned and looked up out of his crater before throwing up his hands in victory. As if that was what the arena had been waiting for, their trance like silence broke as they erupted in excitement. He winked at the girls before starting his climb out of the arena.
**********
Sele sat stiff backed in her chair watching the terrifying thing leave the arena after doing what should have been impossible. Though she kept her eyes on the green and silver clad beast she addressed Dinn next to her. "Still looking forward to the exhibition match?"
"Absolutely! But I think we are going to have to make it a two on one for it to matter. I can't believe my own eyes. I don't know if I should be more shocked that a level five had such affinity with Mountain's Blessing or that a different level five managed to beat them through raw force. What has this world become. Makes me wish I was still young." Dinn's eyes burned with the passion of a true adventurer.
"I wish I could share your optimism. What I've just witnessed leaves me more afraid than excited." Sele watched as the man disappeared into one of the tunnels before a short while later coming up a set of stairs to join his companions.
"Bah you worry too much." Dinn hoped he was right.
**********
"What the hell was that man?!" Dego was the first to greet him.
"Money! Profits! Bets!" Peter apparently had joined them and was hopping with a level of excitement normally reserved for a smut novel.
Beth hopped up to drag him down into a kiss. "So did you like the armor? How did it work? Ugh you got blood all over it. Damn it one second. Lets see if this works." As her eyes went slightly unfocused and started moving her hands in the air before her. While she did her thing Sael leaned down to scoop up Ara who had the cutest pout going to give her a kiss.
Her face flushed and she looked around at all the people near them, everyone was watching them. "What, that's not what you wanted? I can go back to avoiding you if you want…"
"What! No… Just… maybe not while everyone is watching." She practically whispered while her ears turned as red as her hair.
"I don't mind mine in public." Nee pursed her lips while stretching on her tiptoes towards him. Leaning down he gave her a kiss but started to agree with Ara as he caught more than one comment from the crowd around them. 'Maybe PDA isn't such a good idea when in a harem.'
"Done!" Beth exclaimed and he realized his armor was now perfectly clean. "I can use the repair and maintenance features on your armor through your inventory interface." her eyes sparkled. "Go on tell me how amazing I am!"
"You are amazing!" Her face erupted into a satisfied grin.
"Talking about amazing! Forget the magic dry cleaning! What was that? I thought the plan was to lay low until the later rounds?" Dego seemed to flip between awe struck and annoyed.
"Eh, I figured there was no point being awesome if I didn't get to flaunt it some right? It isn't like our bets aren't already in place. Gree isn't letting any new bets be placed so I decided to have some fun." Dego looked like he wanted to complain but just sorta deflated.
Sael chuckled and put down the still blushing Ara when she complained about all the people staring at her before nodding to Peter. "I see you decided to join us. Did you get your bets in?"
"Yep! Good investment! Definitely quite the show you put on. Amazing! Can't wait to see the rest of the matches. Would never have missed this." Peter hopped around finishing off his already almost ruined shoes.
"Yeah he says that now but was complaining about all the card games being canceled due to the ball happening." Beth decided to rat out the pervy Pan.
"Baaaaa! Lies! Slander!" Sael laughed and turned to watch as Granite Fist was taken out of the crater by the white robed mages before others entered and started filling the pit with fresh sand that appeared out of the staffs they wielded. Glancing to the sky to check the sun's position he realized his fight hadn't lasted long, no more than maybe ten minutes.
"Mister Mister?" Two small children rushed up to him. One a small boy with shaggy brown hair grabbed his pinky in one hand and his pointer finger in the other before yanking on his hand. "That was amazing! Did you fly? How strong are you? This is the low level bracket? What was that skill called? I want to get it when I'm an adventurer!"
Next to him a girl that looked very similar if only a bit smaller stared up at him with eyes so wide and blue they were creepy when compared to how tiny her face was. "Are you a real king?" she asked in an awed voice.
Sael's body went stiff and his face twisted up as he tried to smile while panicking. 'Kids, ugh… I understand them even less than I do girls.'
"Um… Stone Breaker… No Mountain Breaker." He tried to gently pry the kids hands off his finger before just lifting his hand leaving the kid dangling from it. The boy let out a squeal of laughter enjoying the game as he frowned looking at the girls for help. All he got were giggly looks and awwws back while the little girl tugged on his sleeve to ask her question again.
"Um...yes."
Her eye somehow managed to get wider before she pointed at the girls and whispered out like it was some secret. "Are they your queens?"
Nodding awkwardly while jiggling his hand hoping the boy would let go but only getting another squeal of laughter the girl gasped. "Then can I be your princess?"
"What? No. That isn't how it works…" He wiggled a bit harder and just got a louder squeal of laughter.
Suddenly the girl lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his leg in a hug. "Pweaase I'll be the best princess ever!"
He turned to approach the girls walking awkwardly with one kid hugging his stiff leg and the other squealing with joy as they dangled from his hand. His gave them such a sincere look of desperation and un-comfort that they were almost ready to help when a woman rushed up yelling. "Ian! Grettle! Oh my gods I am so sorry. Please forgive them. I'm so sorry. Please I hope they didn't bother you. I looked away for just a moment. I'm so sorry." The kids mother bobbed constantly apologizing while she pried the children off him much to everyone's amusement.
"No worries… Kids will just be kids right!" He gave her a smile while mentally thinking. 'Ugh now I bet I'm all sticky. Kids are always sticky right? I wonder if Beth will do the dry cleaning thing again.' He subconsciously wiped his hand on his pants even though it wasn't sticky at all.
After the little event with the kids, other's in the crowd approached wanting to meet him. It seemed his reaction to the children had alleviated their fears of what kind of person someone capable of destroying the arena was. People congratulated him. Recommended places to eat. Even offered to buy him drinks. They asked about his skills, where he came from, who he was. A few of the women thought to flirt with him but were quickly put down by the "not happening sister" squad as he was starting to think of them. He would never admit it to them but he found their unity while fending off any woman that looked his way flattering in a way, he just hoped they didn't get carried away.
Min eventually found his way to him also, his massive mustache was wiggling in excitement and he apologized for ever doubting him. "I should have known someone with such fine taste in moustaches would never lie! I look forward to fighting you in the finals. Now I just know I don't have to go easy on you!" He laughed but looked just a little bit nervous.
The whole arena was in a frenzy after the last fight. No one had expected such a display from so early in the bracket especially in the low bracket. Many thanked the gods above that such an amazing fighter was at the end of a bracket so they could see more of their fights. In the VIP section Dinn sneezed more than ones muttering about someone talking about him. There was just one person in the entire arena not happy or excited. Alan stared from his own VIP seat at the man that seemed to be basking in the attention from having commoner's fawn over them.
"Who the hell is he? What the hell is he? He has to be cheating. There is no way someone like that belongs in the lower bracket. How could they have done something like that. Was it some fairy magic? Is that why he keeps such childish whores? No, none of this matters. He still isn't my match." He stated the last as if he was convincing himself. "When I crush him it will only make me look that much better." He resumed his pacing waiting on them to finish repairing the arena so he could have his own match.
**********
Duke Kindle watched the arena through his scrying mirror. As much as he wanted to be there in person his presence would have complicated his son's participation. He too was watching the unknown adventurer named Twilight King with a worried expression. Duke Kindle loved his son more than anything, he'd pampered him, given him everything he wanted, enabled his vices and covered up his mistakes. That was why he also kept him out of his dealings and had arranged a safe marriage to a perfect trophy wife. Nindel's Duke's daughter was plain as could be but smart enough to know her role. She would be the perfect wife for his son, one that would let him do as he pleased while acting her role. Duke Kindle had done everything to make sure his son's life would be one of safety and pleasure. Now, he looked on afraid his son might have stumbled into real danger for the first time.
"Alan will never back down. And if this Twilight King is half as strong as he appears my baby boy might not survive." Sighing, he rang a bell summoning his aid. "Please make arrangements for this Twilight King to have dinner with us should he make it to the finals." His aid nodded and left to make arrangements. "Luckily all one needs to control someone in this world is to know what they desire." He watched as his scrying mirror moved to encompass the three girls with him.