"Now, c'mon, show me."
Ignis had just called both Marcus and Ren inferior to him. Mongrels even.
However, much to Ignis' surprise, neither Ren nor Marcus had acted out during or after his rant, making his taunt overall useless.
"No matter..." Ignis thought to himself.
Ignis didn't have a single doubt that he would be the victor of this fight at the end of the day; it was pre-destined.
Ren and Marcus were both focused on Ignis, looking for any sign of an opening in his stance.
"Have to give him credit...he's good, and he knows it" Ren thought to himself.
"I'll distract him; you find a way to take advantage of it." Marcus said trying to strategize.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Ren asked.
"Just trust me." Marcus said with a smile.
Ren couldn't understand what Marcus was thinking or planning, but he nodded in agreement with his plan.
Marcus then charged at Ignis with all of his might, slashing at him with his sword, only for his attacks to be deflected or dodged entirely.
"Pathetic." Ignis said, taunting Marcus.
Ignis, then, bored with Marcus, quickly stabbed him in the leg, making Marcus fall to one knee.
"Aaaagh!" Marcus yelled out in pain.
"Look at you right where you belong—on your knees, looking up at a superior being." Ignis said with a cocky smile.
It was then that Ignis realized something that he somehow missed.
"Where's that other Mongrel?" He asked, turning his head around.
It was then that Marcus, with all the strength he had left, punched Ignis right in his weakest spot, right in between the legs.
Ignis bowed downward in pain, grunting as his eyes got so big that it was almost as if they popped out of his head. The crowd was all gasping, seeing the pain he was in, and every man in attendance sympathized with Ignis at this current moment.
"Now Ren!" Marcus yelled out desperately.
Ren attacked Ignis from behind, with the glaive catching Ignis off guard, only allowing him to barely dodge the attack, resulting in his chest being cut open and bleeding; he, however, was still standing."
"YOU FUCKING BOTTOM FEEDING MONGREL!" Ignis yelled out in anger.
He couldn't believe Ren, of all people, actually caught him off guard and even wounded him. It was an insult to his pride that someone like him even got touched by Ren. Who he considered nothing more than an insect.
Marcus was still immobile, so the fight turned into a one-on-one, Ignis vs. Ren.
Ren stared at Ignis, and once he had covered most of his opening in his guard, but what was different this time was that Ignis was now hobbled, his chest obviously causing him pain.
Ren had to think of a way to take advantage of his wounds. If he is favoring the side his wound is on, would it make sense to attack that side? At worst, it will cause him to strain his body in order to dodge any attacks, and since Ignis is hurt, he won't be able to block and deflect Ren's attacks as often as he was earlier.
Ren saw the weakness that Ignis now had and charged with his attacks, all of which aimed directly at Ignis weak side, causing him to contort his body awkwardly to try and block the attack. He managed not to let the glaive hit him, but he stumbled backwards after the strike, which Ren took advantage of and kept attacking with all of his strength.
Ignis was being pushed back, much to the surprise of the audience, who were cheering in support of Ignis.
Aurelia, Lucilia, and Octavia, however, were cheering for Ren. The fact that Octavia was showing so much support for Ren made Lucilia angry, but she ignored it as it wasn't the main problem...for now.
Ignis kept stumbling further and further backwards as Ren pressed on his attacks, each of which caused Ignis to strain himself more and more with every attempt to block or dodge.
Ignis knew what was happening, but he refused to accept the situation "Do you think you can actually win? DONT MAKE ME LAUGH!"
In one final attempt, Ignis tried to swing his sword at Ren; however, he was heavily fatigued, and it showed in his attack as Ren easily blocked the attack and countered it by cutting off Ignis' arm, the same one that was holding onto his sword.
"AHHHHH!" Ignis yelled out in pain, falling to the ground and holding onto the stub that now replaced where his arm was.
Marcus, seeing this, smiled, knowing that in the end, his plan worked.
The crowd gasped in shock, but a very audible voice came in from the area where the royal children were sitting.
"KILL HIM, REN!" Lucilia yelled at the top of her lungs, getting mixed reactions from her siblings.
The Emperor rolled his eyes, seeing the reaction from his daughter.
"What? I can have a favorite too." Lucilia said.
Ignis crawled backwards, trying to get away from Ren, but Ren was getting closer and closer.
"Please...don't." Ignis pleaded.
Everything Ignis thought was going to happen was now disappearing from his view. He thought this was going to be an easy win for him, but he was wrong.
Ignis was now on the ground, holding a stub from where his arm was, while tears ran down his face. For the first time in Ignis' life...he was scared.
"Please...stop...don't do this....I surrender!" Ignis pleaded in one last attempt to convince Ren to stop.
"I don't accept." Ren replied.
Ignis' eyes widened in fear, finally coming to the realization that this was the end.
Ren swung the glaive at Ignis' neck, killing him instantly.
As Ignis' head rolled on the ground, the crowd started to yell at Ren from the stands, throwing trash at him.
The boos and screams from the crowd became deafening for Ren, but not just him; even the Emperor himself became annoyed by the screams of the crowd.
Ren then turned to Marcus, who was smiling.
"I knew you could do it, but now it's time to live up to your side of our deal. I officially announce my surrender." Marcus said.
Ren smiled "I accept your surrender."
The Emperor finally had enough as he stood up and yelled into a microphone "SILENCE!!!!"
The crowd, which was once deafening, became so silent you could hear a cricket chirp.
"You know the rules of this arena; to the victor go the spoils. You may not like the victor, but he deserves the respect of one. So I will announce your victor, Ren, from the planet Earth!"
Ren could see the disdain the Emperor had uttering those words, but he also respected the fact that he did say them.
The Emperor then walked out of the area where he and the royal children were sitting, and Lucilia and Aurelia ran down to the arena, soon followed by the girls who were sitting in the VIP section.
Lucilia jumped up into Ren's arms as he lifted her up.
"My husband~" Lucilia said before kissing Ren.
"I've always been your husband, Lucilia, just as you have always been my wife." Ren said it with a smile.
Lucilia didn't say a word before kissing Ren again, much to the crowd's shock.
Soon, Scarlet and Ashastha also kissed Ren, Scarlet with noticeably dry tears on her cheek.
Ren put his finger on the spot where the tear was and told her "Don't worry, I told you I would be fine."
Scarlet buried her head into Ren's chest and said "I love you, Ren..."
"I love you too, Scarlet." Ren said with a smile.
"Where's my love?" Ashastha asked.
"You know I love you too." Ren said, wrapping his arm around Ashastha.
"Oh no, I need more than just that." Ashastha said before picking Ren up into her arms and kissing her.
Marcus then walked up to Ren, who was still in Ashastha's arms, and let out a little bit of a laugh before Ren noticed and asked Ashastha to let him down.
"Okay...but you're going to have to make it up to me." Ashastha said with a seductive smile."
Marcus walked up to Ren and reached out his hand with a noticeable grimace on his face from the pain he had from the wound Ignis gave him. "Congratulations Ren."
Ren grabbed his hand and shook it. "Thank you, man. Truthfully, thank you. I don't know if I could've done this without you here."
Marcus smiled "No, thank you for keeping your word, Ren; you could've killed me easily in my current state."
"I wouldn't kill an ally. Especially someone who risked his life for me." Ren said.
Marcus laughed a little upon hearing, "You're a good guy. Ren, maybe one day you and Lucilia could come meet me and my fiance Vel. We'd love to have you two over for dinner or something one day.
Ren looked over at Lucilia, who nodded before saying "We'd love to."
"I look forward to it." Marcus said before leaving Ren to celebrate.
"Ren..." Lucilia said, tugging on Ren's sleeve. "There is someone we will need to talk to soon."
"Who?" Ren asked.
"Call her a family friend."
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