As Waallian stood stunned at the circumstances of his victory, not a word coming out of Astoria's mouth registered into his head. Staring at the boy being healed by Kanna–the priestess, he felt for once compassion for another person ever since coming out of that damned mine.
He thought that everyone on the outside was hideous. Hiding behind a mask of niceness, they were wolves in sheep's clothes. The same wolves who'd trapped him and his family in that mine to work until they'd all died. Then why does he feel sorry for the youngster that he'd hurt so badly? Shouldn't he be relieved for getting to hurt at least one person who'd caused him suffering?
"Why–AHHH!" Before he could reach any conclusion, Astoria's sceptre came flying towards him. The audience gasped as it pierced through his chest, and blood gushed out of his body like a broken faucet. Falling to his knees, his teeth gritted shut from the pain, Waallian glared at the woman standing in the grand window. "I-AGHH!! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BITCHHH!"
His body zapped with lightning; however, Waallian fell face-first to the ground and continued to bleed. Kanna was just a few steps away from the man, and yet, ignoring him and his screams, she continued to heal Runner. While doing so, she couldn't help but look up at the radiant queen.
Scorn written all over her face, Astoria was obviously pissed about Waallian striking Runner before the event even began. And had it not been for the boy defending himself, there was a very real chance that Runner would've died.
"You may have won, but since you've defiled the rules, you'll be an example for the fools who try the same!" Her voice thundered across the ground, and although it was directed at one man, everyone but Waallian heard it, for he was already dead and gone.
Two participants had been disqualified in the very first match, leaving only a total of five. The most promising of those five were both watching what had transpired from different sections of the coliseum. Wolf by one of the wide basement entrances and William from the exact opposite direction. And yet, too captivated by everything that had happened, the brothers failed to notice each other's presence.
Standing by Renee and Sola, Wolf had gone out to bring Kanna just a moment ago. The priestess had been busy with prayers again, but upon hearing what had happened, she came rushing to heal Runner.
"Things are getting needlessly tense," looking to his side at Renee and the maid, Wolf heaved a sigh. "But honestly, I'm glad it's Waallian who died and not Runner. The boy may be a simpleton, but he put up more of a fight than that cheating bastard."
"I barely saw what happened…" Sola murmured, being in the same boat as many civilians who've never been in a serious battle.
None of them saw a thing, Runner's boosted agility was far too much for them. And even Waallian, who was prepared for a fight, only noticed the injury after the blood had begun pouring down his face.
"Well, at least he's out of the competition now, I don't think Runner would've stood a chance against anyone else," staring at the priestess still, Renee could sense great power in that woman. For as she healed Runner, her magic was bleeding into the air and unlike Hestia, her mana was consciously gentle–leaving the faunan to wonder…
'I wonder what else she's capable of?' Just as that thought crossed her mind, Astoria made another announcement.
"Kukei Rumblethunder and William De' Didact! In a few moments, once the mess in the arena has been cleaned, the two will begin their battle!" An eerie stillness pervaded the air to her declaration. Kukei against William? The crazed woman who wanted the prince dead being given a chance to fulfil her dream? What was the queen thinking? Such questions were abundant, but as Astoria had already retreated from the window, nobody but her knew her intentions.
'What is mother doing? Is she that confident that William can defeat her without getting hurt himself?' Wolf questioned within himself, but since standing around wondering wasn't going to help. He decided to rush to Kukei's room and check on what was going on with her instead.
As his group grew closer, they heard a great commotion coming from the other end of the hallway. As they arrived by the door, it flung open with Kukei standing on the other end–seemingly ready for the battle with her trident clutched in hand. Noticing Wolf in front of her, she stared at him for a spell.
"You're not gonna stand in my way, remember?" She said, catching Wolf off guard.
The deal had been made, and although they had barely made use of their alliance. Wolf couldn't stop her even if he wanted to, that is. But as she began to pass, he grabbed her by the shoulder and made her turn around to look at him.
"His dark magic can be tricky. Conjuring weapons out of thin air, disappearing into the shadows, and tricking you with things that aren't really there, you need to be careful, or else he can easily stab you in the back," holding his gaze, Kukei took the information to heart and nodded with same stern expression riding on her face. "And about the king's equipment, I have no clue what it can do. But since the king was a dark mage too, I'm assuming pretty much the same stuff, just slightly more advanced since he was a rank higher than William and I."
"Got it, now leave the rest to me…" Shrugging his hand off her shoulder, Kukei began walking towards the arena.
Standing in the background while her whole clan accompanied her, Wolf wondered if he should meet up with Astoria. In case William was to die in this battle, he wanted to ask her exactly why she would set up this encounter.
'Unless she knows he'll win for sure. But that means…' Watching Kukei walking off, Wolf grew uncertain as to whether this was the last time he would see her alive. 'I don't think either of them would forfeit, making this battle a fight to death.'
With a heavy gulp, he turned to the girls.
"I need to talk to Mother about something, you guys keep an eye on the fight and tell me what kind of skills William uses, alright?" Getting a quick nod back from Renee and Sola, Wolf wasted no time in heading for the queen.
He wanted answers as to what was happening. First, the impossible task of making Waallian eliminate himself and then killing him when he won against Runner, only to cause further chaos by pitting a mortal enemy against her son? Just what exactly was going on in Astoria's head? He had to know, or at least try and make her talk.