"We failed, Brother." Soren sighed and kneeled down to Daika.
Daika sighed and rested his arms on the arms of his throne. "It was to be expected. Union Force, The Tyrant, The War General escaping. Our last hope is the tournament. We lost our forces...So we have to resort in a Country Wide tournament. The tournament is going to be delayed a bit so other kingdoms can join."
"No." Moroto said. "We can not drag anyone else into this. We already lost Mom and Dad because of this. It ends with Cecilia dead."
Daika closed his eyes. "Right...So it's just going to be us four?"
"Yeah." Klaus nodded and crossed his arms.
Daika smirked and opened his eyes. "That's fine by me. Let us commence our tournament."
------
The days go by as we trained. Cecilia and Eirine managed to awaken their Super Royal Form and mastered their Lightspeed Form, but knowing that I was still concerned because the entire Endellion Family knows and utilizes the Lightspeed Form.
Cecilia sat under a tree and looked at the sky. "It's almost time."
I laid against Nebula and looked at the sky as well. I closed my eyes and sat up. "We will end it all. I will clear your name."
"Yeah! We have a winning chance! We were trained by THE Ryoma! Think about it, we've learned more with him than we could've with anyone else! I trust my abilities!" Eirine smiled at Cecilia.
Cecilia frowned a bit and closed her eyes. "I trust my abilities as well...but Daika has been training as well. He's smart for not actually showing up and letting us escape. He's conserving his energy. I won't let him win twice."
Eirine understood how important this was for Cecilia. She understood how important it was for her to reclaim Selum. "No matter what...even if we die, we go down together. If worse comes to worse...I'll use it."
"No. I can't allow you to use your Maximum Overdrive! You'll die!" Cecilia said and looked at Eirine quickly. "Not only will you lose all of your abilities, but your Crest will also disappear! There's a reason why no one has awakened their Crest beyond the limit!"
Eirine smiled and looked at the grass. "I know, but...if I can't win using normal means, I will have no choice. I care about your life more than my own. I will do whatever it takes for you to win."
I listened then smiled. "I won't let it come to that."
Cecilia and Eirine watched me stand and I placed my hands on the belt of my kimono. I stared off into the distance and the Crest of Henosis shined on my hand.
"I won't let anyone take your lives away, even if I have to destroy this Kingdom to the ground and rebuild it from the ground up. No one will ever take you two away." I said.
Cecilia blushed a bit and smiled then stood up. "You promise?"
"I promise." I said and looked back at Cecilia seeing her smile.
"Since you promised, we will hold you to your word!~" Eirine smiled at me and stood up.
I chuckled softly and smiled at Eirine. "I am a man of my word..~ Let's go get ready for the tournament."
"Okay!" They both said and followed me back to our village house.
-----
"Alright ladies and gentlemen! The Official Selum Tournament has started! This tournament will be broadcasted all throughout Uthea! Everyone buckle up because this tournament will be a one on one match between two teams of four! Are you all ready because I am! Let's introduce our big four! Daika, Moroto, Klaus, and Soren!" The announcer said excited for the battles.
The crowd cheered as the four walked out. I looked at Daika from the magic screen and crossed my arms. He had black hair that stopped at his shoulders, black eyes with white pupils, and a smirk on his face. He wore red and black royal clothing and the Crest of Ares also shined on his hand.
"Now introducing our ragtag competitors!" The announcer started.
"Ragtag?! Why I oughta..." Cecilia growled.
I placed a hand on Cecilia's shoulder and she looked at me. I smiled at her and she calmed down.
"The four meat shields, Emperor Ryoma, Princess Cecilia, Princess Eirine, and some guy named Atlas!" The announcer said.
We walked out into the the battlefield and the crowd boo'd us. I smirked and chuckled. I stepped forward and snapped my fingers then a shockwave was generated then high winds blew.
Eirine and Cecilia grunted and slid backwards a bit. Soren, Klaus, and Moroto also slid backwards a bit and grunted. The crowd was silent.
"People of Selum. I will make this known. In this tournament...I will kill your king." I said then pointed at Daika. "You don't deserve to live after what you've done to Selum!"
"Like you're the one to talk, Emperor?! You ran your own country to the ground! Like you know anything about Order!" Daika laughed.
"Ahh, and you believed killing your father would bring more Order? You were power hungry. You are no Tyrant. There can only be one TRUE Tyrant. Me." I said and my eyes shined. "Anyone else claiming to be the Prophecy is a fraud."
"What's this?! Emperor Ryoma is accusing Daika of being the killer of King Eridus?!" The announcer said in shock.
Daika laughed even more then stared at me with a smirk. "We should have rules against this so I'm making a new one! Ryoma! You're banned from partaking in this tournament!"
"What?!" Cecilia asked in shock.
"You can't just do that!" Eirine yelled.
"It's fine, My Queens. If he thinks I'm too strong for him then it's fine. That's alright, King Daika, but my team needs a fourth and I have just the one!" I said then the Crest of Oblivion shined on my hand. "Nebula."
Nebula shapeshifted into her human form and appeared in front of me. "R...ea..dy.."
"What? She can't even speak! What kind of joke is this?!" Daika laughed. "You are too funny, maybe this is why they also call you The Fo-"
I fired an energy beam at the stands and everyone looked surprised. I grinned and my eyes shined. "Keep stalling and more bodies start dropping. All of you peasants disgust me. Weak and pathetic, just like your King! All of the lies you spew from your dirty, disgraceful mouths! I should rip every beings' limbs from their bodies piece by piece, but I'm not. So are we going to fight...or are we going to keep chatting."
Lily seemed surprised that I just killed multiple people on live television. "Ryoma.."
"He has it under control. He is no longer playing their games. They are playing by his rules now." Roy said.
I walked away and pat Cecilia and Eirine on their back then the Crest of Conquest shined on their backs. "I will be boosting your power bit by bit. Win. Once he's dead...it is all over. Selum is yours."
Cecilia watched me walk away. She looked at Nebula. "What is he planning?"
Nebula looked at Cecilia then looked ahead. "T..y..ra..n..t."
"What our mare is trying to say, is Ryoma is planning to turn this entire kingdom upside down. We mustn't let Daika catch on. Ryoma is finding the resting place of Asura." Atlas said.
"Wh-What..? Alone?" Eirine asked.
"No. He has Tsuhori." Atlas said.
"Alright the drawings are in! Our first battle, Eirine against Daika!" The announcer said.
The crowd cheered for Daika and boo'd Eirine. Eirine grew extremely nervous but Nebula gently pat her back. She looked at Nebula and Nebula nodded at her. She nodded back then calmed down and hurried forward. The rest went to the sidelines.
"Well, for your death to come so soon. You know I actually liked you. If only you minded your own business." Daika said then got into his battle stance.
"I know the truth! Cecilia didn't kill Father! You did! And I'm going to take revenge!" Eirine bellowed and transformed into her Super Royal Form.
"Begin!" A referee said.
Eirine dashed toward Daika without hesitation and went for a kick, but Daika dodged it and struck her stomach. Eirine groaned then launched a force of wind from her palm then propelled herself backwards.
Daika just stood there, waiting for Eirine to make her move. Eirine grunted then vanished. Daika noticed her moving around him quickly then countered her attack with a strike of his own. Eirine used her knee to block the attack then vanished once again.
Daika chuckled and moved at lightspeeds then elbowed Eirine's back then launched her to the wall. Eirine flipped and placed her feet on the wall then used a burst of flames from her feet to launch herself toward Daika. She spun around then earth energy surrounded her foot. She went for a crescent kick but Daika dodged it and dodged the rock spike that followed.
"Come on Eirine!" Lily roared at her TV.
Daika continued to dodge each of her attacks then grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground. He picked her back up then suplexed her with no mercy. Eirine cried out in pain then was flung upwards. He fired a beam of light at Eirine and hit her then an explosion happened.
"Eirine!" Cecilia screamed.
The crowd roared and chanted Daika's name. Eirine began to slowly descend to the ground. Daika charged up the finishing blow. He went for the strike and Eirine dodged it with her eyes closed. Daika looked surprised and groaned as he was blown away from a powerful gust of wind.
Eirine gracefully landed on the ground and her pink hair flashed a rose gold. She opened her eyes and they shined a bright silver. She grunted then bellowed and her aura surged powerfully. Her hair turned into rose gold and her Crest shined brightly.
Cecilia looked surprised and watched. "Eirine."
Eirine dashed toward Daika at lightspeeds then vanished and a barrage of attacks struck Daika. Daika groaned then was knocked away. He landed on the ground and hurled two balls of energy at Eirine. Eirine dodged them both effortlessly as if her body moved on its own.
"Wait, that's Auto-Reflexes! When did she learn this?!" Cecilia asked.
"She's cleared her mind completely. She's focused only on Daika, she can't even hear anything other than Daika. This is a lesser version of Ryoma's Perfect Senses. Eirine is more determined to win than ever." Atlas said.
"This is it! The Lady of War has appeared!" The announcer yelled.
Eirine dodged every attack Daika threw out then parried his next attack and got into the Dagrax Stance and vanished then a barrage of attacks struck Daika then a delayed barrage of strikes hit Daika, blowing him away.
Daika slid and stumbled backwards then chuckled. "It's time to end this!" He bellowed and transformed into his Royal Form.
Eirine watched Daika rush around her at invisible speeds. She thought about my lessons then roared and began to breath fire at the ground, creating a layer of smoke to blind Daika.
Daika looked around and tried to find Eirine. Eirine closed her eyes and sensed Daika's aura then dashed toward him and struck his cheek then vanished. Daika through a punch, missing Eirine completely. He roared and blew away the smoke with a powerful gust of wind.
"Where is she..?"
"Yeah she's just gone.."
Daika noticed magic circles appearing on the ground and looked up and his eyes widened. Eirine began to cause beams of energy rain down at the magic circles. Daika dodged the beams then ran forward, evading more beams then grunted as one appeared under him. He dove forward and dodged the beam of energy.
Eirine appeared in front of Daika then kicked him into a wood wall then appeared in front of him again. She began to rush Daika with straight jabs at his face then kicked him through the wall into another. She fired off her Sacred Gleam at Daika and an explosion happened upon contact.
Daika appeared behind her and his eyes shined. He hit her neck with a powerful swiping chop. Eirine's eyes widened then she was kicked away.
"Razor Swipe." He said then swiped his hand down sendin razor winds at Eirine.
Eirine used her aura to block the razor winds then Daika appeared behind her and impaled her with his sword through her stomach. Eirine groaned and grunted as she felt the blade going through her stomach.
"You've fought well, but this is the end for you." Daika said then ripped his sword out of her body.
Eirine fell onto her knees and held her stomach and grunted. She felt Daika's sword at her neck and looked surprised. He prepared to deal the final blow, but Eirine managed to dodge it and began to stand up and hurry away from Daika.
"Running now aren't we, dear sister?! There is no running away now!" Daika laughed and chased after Eirine.
She tried to use her abilities but coughed blood in the process and fell to her knees once more. She was losing too much blood.
Cecilia began to grow enraged. She roared and rushed out onto the battlefield.
"Cecilia!" Atlas said and tried to go after her but Nebula stopped him. "What are you doing?! They will be killed!"
Daika caught up with Eirine and smirked. "Say your final prayers."
The Crest of Union shined on her hand and Cecilia's. Cecilia reached Eirine and merged together with her. Daika grunted as the powerful winds blew and slid backwards.
Eirlia dashed toward Daika and kicked him away then she transformed into her Super Royal Form. Her hair shined a lighter shade of red and pink. She bellowed and her aura cracked the ground.
"What?! They can't do that!" Soren bellowed.
Eirlia smirked and crossed her arms. "I really don't give a shit what you think, Soren! I'm reclaiming Selum not matter what! Now get ready, Daika! We're going to kick your ass!"
Daika wiped his mouth and glared at Eirlia. "Find if you want to cheat then two can play that game!"
Daika's Crest of Ares shined brightly then a Dark Cresr formed on his chest. He roared and awakened his Dark King Form. He summoned a long sword made from dark energy and his ominous aura loomed across the entire stadium.
"A Dark Crest..? No way...King Daika..."
"He did kill the late King.."
"Prepare to sacrifice your lives to me, Fusion. There is nothing more you can do." Daika said and pointed his sword at Eirlia.
Eirlia smirked and the Crest of Conquest shined brightly on her back. "Bring it on, Brother."
------
I wandered around the Castle and soon stumbled upon a temple and walked toward the door. There was a stone sign on the door.
"To open the door, you need the Crest of Ares, Crest of Athena, Crest of Tyr, Crest of Indra, Crest of Mars, Crest of Hachiman and finally the Crest of Union. Only then can you awaken Asura." I read.
"What so even Daika doesn't meet these requirements..? We only have the Crest of Ares..." Tsuhori said.
"The Crest of Athena resides in Arthirus and Mars resides in Pyroc. Indra resides in Yakashi, Hachiman resides in Aurora, and Tyr resides in Oris. We will have to come back here later." I said then placed my hand on the door and the Crest of Ares was revealed on one of the hands of the door.
"We have an excuse to backtrack now to other kingdoms...but what will you do with Asura?" Tsuhori asked.
"Acquire his Crest. I need all 20 Legendary Crests of Uthea to enter the City of Xezar. That's what the legend reads." I said then turned around. "Let's head back."
Tsuhori and I began to make our way back to the City. I noticed there were two Crest of Ares and had me thinking that one is a fake. It clicked to me that Daika's was a fake.
"Tsuhori...we need to hurry back." I said.
Tsuhori nodded and shapeshifted into her Fox Form and I mounted her then she ran off at high speeds.
To Be Continued...