While Astaroth and Morticia both verbally tore a new asshole on Anton, the fights continued in the arena. Although they were fascinating to most onlookers, they didn't reach the culmination the previous ones had.
The groups grew thinner, and thinner, as matches progressed. By the time the second round was done, only one hundred twenty-five players were left.
Since they needed that number down to one hundred before going to phase three, everyone knew there would be five more fights.
As the board changed to show the five next combats, almost everyone in the colosseum exhaled in relief at the same time. Of the ten teams chosen to fight each other, none were from the last bracket.
This eased the minds of the competitors, who thought they at least now had a chance of going to the next phase. Of course, the ten teams were the ones that had the most trouble fighting in their previous two rounds.
