The feeling in the air was that of great tension, spreading amongst those who had gathered to watch the bout. A few of the black-winged villagers came once they heard that this next fight was the last of the little tourney, and Liri could sense the curiosity on their faces.
She guessed that although most of them believed Arisa would lose, they were still wondering if, perhaps, she would surprise them somehow.
On Liri's end, however, her feeling was more of cautious optimism. Arisa had seemed receptive to the tips she'd been given. Hopefully, win or lose, she would put on a good performance.
At the end of the day, this did not mean much for Liri personally. Still, she found herself wishing Arisa would pull off a miracle victory.
The two combatants stood opposite each other, at the center of the ring.
Their tails slithered from side to side on the ground as they sized each other up. Arisa kept her hands balled up at her sides while the woman she was facing just smirked at her, her hands kept lazily on her hips.
"I'll let you throw the first punch," she told Arisa. "If I don't, I fear this will be too boring."
"Don't be so sure," Arisa muttered.
"Yeah, yeah. Go ahead already," her opponent replied. "I'm getting horny just thinking about what I'm gonna do to that human of yours after-"
Arisa interrupted her. Not to counter the fact that she'd just called Liri a human, but to punch her in the face.
The hit staggered the woman. Sure, she was somewhat stronger, judging by her Soul Rating, but that did not mean that Arisa didn't pack a punch.
Stumbling back, the woman stopped and glared at her opponent.
"Got your attention, did I not?" Arisa asked with a smirk of her own.
"You sure did."
Just like that, she ran forward. The two winged warriors clashed at the center of the ring. The crowd began cheering, and the fight began in earnest.
They traded punches for a couple of seconds, but as Arisa's opponent struck just a little bit harder, Arisa quickly went on the back foot.
The agility the other fighter put on display then was certainly impressive. She went for a punch aimed at Arisa's head that just barely missed, and then went for a spinning kick at Arisa's abdomen that pushed the drasen back.
Following up almost immediately, she lunged forward and reached for Arisa's front left leg with her tail. Wrapping around Arisa's overextended limb, she pulled on it harshly and the woman fell to the ground.
With the other woman standing over her, fist raised, ready to start pounding her face in, Arisa quickly reacted by sweeping her legs with her own tail. Her opponent crashed into the dirt, letting out a grunt as Arisa scrambled to get back to her feet.
With the other woman recovering, Arisa saw this as an opportunity to attack.
Whether she had been baited or whether her opponent simply had good reflexes, the outcome was the same. She caught Arisa's fist and pulled her back, flipping her over her shoulder and slamming her into the ground.
Liri had to admit it. The woman certainly did have the instincts of a fighter. More so than Arisa did. However, there was more to this sort of thing than just instincts.
Behind her, however, a few drasen appeared to disagree with that notion.
"She's outmatched, isn't she?" One of them asked another spectator.
"Yes. Tyra's been fighting since she was a young girl, you know? Whether it was hunting, fighting with her friends, or training to be a warrior. It's only natural that things would play out this way."
The rest of the audience seemed to agree with these points, as they cheered Tyra on. Arisa slowly got back to her feet while Tyra took a moment to glance over at Liri and blow a kiss her way.
[Come on,] Liri thought, crossing her arms as she watched the battle. [Remember what I told you!]
As Tyra turned back toward Arisa, the two of them locked eyes and raised their fists once more, about to engage again. Suddenly, however, Arisa switched her stance, lowering her head and arms.
[Yes! It's worth a shot. You may as well try.]
"Hm? Where did that stance come from?" Tyra asked, arching a brow. "Have you given up on proper hand-to-hand techniques? It's fine by me, I suppose. Makes this faster, and all."
Arisa did not respond. Instead, she sent a slightly nervous look over at Liri, almost as if asking for confirmation. Liri nodded and she watched as Arisa gave a subtle sigh of relief.
Tyra lunged at her. Arisa braced herself and then did exactly as Liri had instructed when they'd discussed her options. She ran in, ducked under a punch, wrapped her arms around Tyra's midsection, and brought her down to the ground.
Liri nearly threw a punch up out of celebration.
Taking on an experienced hand-to-hand fighter, one who was objectively stronger no less, was not something Arisa had much of a chance of winning at. So, it had been Liri's suggestion that she should try wrestling.
Now, unfortunately, if Tyra had any experience with this, it would end the same way, but if she didn't, the techniques that Liri went over with Arisa would help close the skill gap between them.
There was only so much Liri could show Arisa in a couple of hours, but she did her best. It was something she was thankful for because, soon, Arisa put one of those techniques to use.
Mounting Tyra, as the other drasen swung and bucked, Arisa took her right arm and began trying to put the woman in an armbar.
It looked awkward, mainly due to the wings on Arisa's back and her tail both lifting her body as she got on her back, but with her legs trapping the woman's arm, she began to pull the technique off.
"W-What the- AGH!?" Tyra let out a cry as Arisa yanked back. The crowd was stunned to see this development.
Liri's cheers were the only ones that could be heard, all of a sudden.
"Surrender," Liri heard Arisa say. "Or I will break your arm."
Of course, this was something that Liri had instructed the drasen to say. She figured that if, somehow, she could get her opponent to submit, it would be more meaningful of a victory than even knocking her out would be, given how drasen value strength.
Liri couldn't prepare Arisa for everything, however. And, unfortunately, one lesson that was usually learned from experience and not from a conversation taking place before a fight was that one should not celebrate too early.
Arisa learned that the hard way now, though, as her opponent shifted her position, picked Arisa's body up, and slammed her into the ground.
The back of Arisa's head bounced off the dirt and Liri's heart sank as she saw that the woman was knocked out on the spot.
The crowd cheered. It was done.
Just like that, the fight ended. Or, it should have ended, but, perhaps feeling embarrassed at having been put in such a precarious position by an inferior fighter, Tyra kept going.
She mounted Arisa and began raining down punches on her, despite the fact that Arisa was already unconscious. Each punch sounded off in unison with the rising intensity of the crowd's cheers.
Liri, however, couldn't take it.
She ran forward and pushed Tyra off her opponent.
The crowd gasped. Tyra, almost looking like a wild animal, rolled to a halt and bared her teeth at Liri, before she realized who it was that had stopped her.
"What?" She asked, confused.
Liri gritted her teeth and balled her hands up into fists as she looked back at her.
She said the first thing she could think of.
A statement that only made Tyra's confusion increase.
"What kind of fighter attacks an opponent incapable of defending themselves? Don't you see she's done? No... I can't accept this."
In part, Liri said the next part as an attempt to help Arisa. And, also, because she just didn't like Tyra at all. Especially not after doing something like that.
"If you want to be my lover then you will have to prove yourself to me. Face me! If you win, I'll be your partner."