Marcuse walked into the arena with a magic spear already at hand.
He didn't want to take his time with this fight because, from what Danny told him, the winner of this fight would be one of the first two to fight in the semi-finals.
His opponent was a third-year who was chosen to work as a garbage worker. He wasn't pleased with this, and when he heard that if he were to sign up and participate in this tournament, he could change jobs from garbage worker to demon king, he couldn't have signed up quicker.
"The participants in the fourth match of the second stage are the prince of Hell, Marucse Bloodborne! And Amon the fifth, of the Baal Clan!"
The announcer declared.
As the announcer talked, Marcuse analyzed his opponent. His snake-like tale and his wolf-like head.
"Are you ready?"
The announcer asked the two opponents, who didn't bother answering before they launched at each other.
Marcuse thrust his spear forward, but Amon evaded the spearhead and took a huge gasp of air.
Quickly, his lungs glowed through his shirt, and as he opened his mouth, flames erupted with great force.
"Magnus Scutum!"
Marcuse called loudly, and a thin layer of air tightened in front of him and formed an invisible wall that blocked the flames.
Amon's fire breathing had one major disadvantage, and that was that to keep himself from getting damaged by his hell flames, he needed to spew them all out before he could continue fighting.
So, while he kept trying to hit Marcuse through the invisible barrier, Marcuse crouched from under the barrier and punched him in the stomach.
In a single moment, all the fire resting in his wolf-headed senior's body came out and collided against the invisible wall.
The senior gasped for air, but before he could breathe anything in, Marcuse did an uppercut punch to his jaw and closed his mouth.
The blond prince then proceeded to punch the Baal demon directly in the stomach until he had so little air in him that the spectators could see the foam coming out of his mouth.
Amon fell to the side, and this was a decisive victory for Marcuse.
"The winner of the match is Marcuse Bloodborne, the prince of Hell!"
The announcer called, and the screams of many girls in the audience were heard.
Marcuse was about to head back to the preparation room, but before he could, the announcer stopped him and told him to return in twenty minutes for his next fight.
It seemed like Danny was right.
********
Marcuse returned to the preparation room, where the three girls always following him fawned over him.
Danny finished his book and decided to go and buy himself a drink.
He went out of the preparation room and through the stairs he went up and then to the cafeteria.
Once in the cafeteria, he headed straight to the vending machine and looked at the prices.
One gold coin for half a liter of water?!
What was this water made of? Damn school for rich kids!
Danny couldn't help but let thoughts of resentment get to him.
If his signature weapon was a sword of blue flames, he would have probably needed Marcuse to prevent him from rampaging.
He decided to buy the secret option in the machine.
This school is in Hell. As such, while they can't directly give alcohol to the students, they could find imaginative ways to do so.
In this vending machine, there was the option to enter the not-so-secret code, "one two three four A," and receive a bottle of beer for the price of one silver coin.
This price was less expensive than the price on the market. If he could, Danny would have bought Black Non-Sugar Coffee. But that brand is just so expansive in these vending machines...
Danny couldn't wait until he could go home and drink some.
He drank his beer for a while and then looked at the clock on the wall. Marcuse's fight was supposed to begin in only two more minutes. Danny chugged the beer quickly and then ran to the preparation room.
As he went in, he looked at the monitor and saw that Marcuse was already at the arena.
The fight was about to begin.
********
In the arena stood two first-year students.
A blond, red-eyed boy with a confident smile that made the hearts of girls flutter.
And a girl, red-eyed and dark-skinned, with two cow-like horns sprouting from her head of black hair. A girl who, like the boy, could make the blood of many boil with excitement.
The announcer looked at them with awe. He could only wonder how he earned such an opportunity to see such marvelous people from so close by.
"In the first fight of the semi-finals, we have Ishtar of the Baal Clan!"
So many cheers could be heard that the announcer couldn't hear his own thoughts, let alone continue.
"She will be fighting the prince of Hell, Marucse Bloodborne!"
The announcer called, and a second round of deafening cheers was heard.
As the cheers quieted, the announcer asked the two opponents whether they were ready.
"Well, of course I am."
Marcuse answered, and the crowd's cheers increased.
Ishtar simply nodded with a cold aura surrounding her, and her fans cheered happily.
The fight has begun.
Marcuse used the same incantations to summon spears of pure magic as before, but as soon as he did, Ishtar used her vine spells to grab them from his hands.
"Majal Almawt."
ishtar chanted.
Magical energy covered the field with such a high density that Marcuse could feel his dying breath.
What was this? Did she have an instant kill spell?!
Marcuse was stupefied. He could never imagine Ishtar would use such a strong spell against him.
As he felt like his death was near, the spell was suddenly no more.
In the audience, even though he was a little drunk, Danny recognized the spell used by Ishtar and decided to give his brother a little help.
He quietly chanted and snapped his fingers, and the spell disintegrated as if it didn't exist to begin with.
Both Marcuse and the audience were confused, but Ishtar knew who it was that ruined her spell and looked in Danny's direction.
Maybe if she hadn't rejected his proposal so harshly back then, he would have at least let her render Marcuse unconscious...
But now was not the time to rethink past regrets. She needed to win to further her brother's faction.
"Sayf Al'awraq."
She chanted.
Vines sprouted from the earth and into her hands and formed the shape of a sickle sword.
Ishtar dashed at Marcuse with the sword in hand.
To be completely honest, Ishtar was certain that her previous spell would have failed, and not because of Danny. But because the spell consumed magical energy before it consumed life force. After thirty seconds of struggling, Marcuse, with his abundant magical energy, would have become used to the magic done by her spell and could have won.
This was the main reason why she couldn't resent Danny for interfering in her spell. It would have never worked, to begin with.
Her sickle sword was mere millimeters from his neck before Marcuse created another stave of pure magical energy and blocked it.
He then used the stave that was caught in the round side of the sword to push it down while lifting the opposite side of the stave and hitting Ishtar on the chin.
Ishtar was flung backward from the hit, and Marcuse stood above her with the newly morphed spear that he made out of that stave pointed at her neck.
"Do you give up?"
He asked her.
Ishtar was in disarray. She assumed that she'd lose, but what about her brother, and that damn Daniel was watching their fight and probably laughing at her, and what would her parents say...
"I will ask again. Do you surrender?"
Marcuse asked with a tougher tone than before.
"Yes."
Ishtar answered with a quiet and soft tone.
"The winner of the first round of the semi-finals is the prince of Hell, Marucse Bloodborne!"
The announcer called, and girls' cheers were heard from the audience.