I think Leon struck something vital in me. Something debilitating to the senses.

Somewhere in the head, somewhere in the chest… somewhere in his thrusts, somewhere in his slices… whether deliberate or unintentional… one of them must have done it, to have everything seem so faint.

The victory fanfare that erupted was unlike any other before it. I thought I heard before to the fullest extent the very definition and demonstration as to how loud something could be, but as it turns out… I've heard nothing yet.

Felt as if the very ground I stood upon rumbled before the deafening shockwave of sound, or the glass in the many gleaming spotlights shining down on the ring splintered into many sporadic cracks, it was certainly loud enough that it certainly seems the entire arena had suddenly collapsed all around me.

It was that loud.

It was also that painful.

And Tyler certainly wasn't helping matters.

"One Punch Man! One Punch Man!" He rallied the crowd, thumping a hard fist to his chest. "That's the Big Man! Was there ever any doubt?! Did any of you even believe he'd lose this one?! Victory was already his the moment his name came up in the runnings! Ain't nobody standing a chance against my One Punch Big Man! Whoooooo!"

I could wholeheartedly empathize with Adalia's condition right then. A sledgehammer to the skull, a rusty knife scraping within my ears - it was unbearable.

"Let's get an instant replay on that on the silver screens! Come on, you camera folks must have caught that shit in 4k, show us the goods! Oh, there we go, there we go! See here, look at that, Leon's swords bashing at him left, right, and center - shit, I think one even hit his eye! Head too, yeesh!

"But Big Man fucking tanks it all anyway, can't give two shits, baby strikes, and watch here closely now, here, here, look at this - fucking WHAM! One punch straight to his mug! Slow-mo here, slow the footage! Did ya see how far he flew from that? That's a Muhammad Ali swing right there! One jab and he's out cold! Helmet even went flying, see that?! Now if y'all ain't making any GIFs of this after today, I'mma be real upset for real. Get on it!"

It was a perpetual cycle of commemoration and awe, and there were no indications of it ending anytime soon… and how could it? History has just been made at this moment.

The Big Man had triumphed at last.

Or so it would seem, at least.

"Big Man give us a cheer!" shouted Tyler to a further bolstered ovation. "Smile for us! You did it! Give your newfound fans your love! Show them haters what you're all about! C'mon, man! Celebrate!"

Celebrate…

Celebrating was actually the furthest thing from my mind right then. At that moment, I felt that there was still nothing yet to cheer about. It didn't feel real. It all felt too good to be true.

That I was the one still standing tall, albeit, just barely… whereas Leon was that hunk of lifeless metal laid sprawled in the dirt before me. To me it still wasn't over… it couldn't have been a hard enough blow, he could have still gotten up, rise again, strike again - I stood there, knees buckling - I was just waiting for it to happen.

But it never happened. A minute later, two, it still didn't happen. His blades remained limp in his loose clutches, and his head remained skewed in that odd angle, motionless.

"Relax Big Man," Tyler said, his words no longer amplified through the speakers, proclaiming out to me directly, personally, and to no one else. "Breathe easy now. You won."

That sounded better, much better. For some reason, without the mic, without the boom of a thousand decibels, Tyler's words were much easier to hear… and much easier to believe.

I finally allowed my legs to fall, splashing to the dirt - and when it did, everything else gave away. The tension in my muscles, the pounding in my head, coursing through my entire body like a river torrent of agony.

If I was in a lot of pain… I'm gonna be wishing I was dead waking up tomorrow… and I just got done with my physical therapy regime too after my last brush with death.

Why the hell do I keep doing this to myself?

"Can we get that smile now, Big Man?" Tyler asked, a polite inquiry once again back through the blare of speakers. "Raise your hand, shout to the skies! Do something! For the cameras, for the fans, everyone's waiting for it!"

I looked up, one eye searing with pain, and the other just completely dazed, to find that what he said was no mere exaggeration, if anything it was more of an understatement.

There was not a single gaze wandering astray - everywhere I looked, they were there staring right back. Even half-blind, I could see the admiration in their eyes, the astonishment in their gaping smiles as a symphony of reverence filled my still ringing ears.

It wasn't long before my gaze found who I sought out most - a quick shift left - and there they were. The princesses, no longer bound to their gold-enamored seats, their gazes, both hazel and green, stared just as awestruck, just as euphoric…

I never knew Ash smiling so wide before, and if I had… then clearly it was never as breathtaking as it was right then. Her eyes, the glimmer, the shimmer… tears?

Maybe I'm just imagining.

Amanda was of equal sentiments. But there lingered a little splotch, a small hint of apprehension to tarnish what was a moment, a beautiful expression of happiness… and I knew why.

"Still don't see no smile in sight," Tyler said, a long disappointed frown on his face. "Wonder why that is, face aches too much, Big Man?"

Of course not. Face was just fine, stinging… probably swelling, but overall fine. Can't smile yet… there wasn't any reason to.

I won the fight, but I didn't win the war just yet.

Y'know what I didn't see in the stands? From all those people up there, all those faces looking down upon me - the biggest, burliest one of them all was nowhere to be seen.

No use looking for him. I knew already… if it was him, then I'll hear him long before I'll ever see him.

And I did. Sounding in the form of the loudest rattle of metal plates I've ever heard… and not long after, I finally got to see him again… walking slowly towards me.

Speak of the devil…

His imprints left in the sand were larger than any other. The sword and shield in his grip were like kid toys in hands like his.

"Oh, fuck…" Tyler heaved a heavy breath. "I fucking forgot about fucking Nick."

Apparently so did everyone else. Don't worry, folks… you'll all get used to him popping up out of nowhere unexpectedly after the first few dozen times, and by then… good luck trying to forget him.

They said it was a back-to-back match, that I'll be fighting my fights one after the other, but I didn't think it'll be immediately right after - didn't even have time to remove Leon from the battlegrounds - I didn't think he'll be standing here before me now… looming over me now.

Oh, how he towered, how he glowered… like he has so many other times before. But no more.

Logically, I shouldn't fight. Physically, I knew I couldn't. Mentally, I couldn't give less of a shit to the former two.

Slowly, I got back up to my feet… taking hold in swaying feeble hands whatever the hell I could scrounger from the dirt. A dirty shield, a crooked sword.

So be it.

I steadied my sways, leveled my single-eyed gaze - I didn't have time to hear any more of grand speeches from fancy scrolls, at this point upholding tradition was the least of my concerns - so when the abrupt silence eventually came, when tense somberness began to permeate through the atmosphere, I took that chance to at least say what I say before we inevitably clash…

My words. My reasons.

"You're a pain in the ass, Nick. That's why I'm fighting," I said wearily to his solemn stare. "Since you got here all you've done was demean me and insult me. I used to think it's 'cause you're just bitter about an unrequited crush… and maybe it was that at first, but over time it evolved into something else, didn't it? Looking back at it now, you sincerely hated my guts didn't you?"

His helmet clunked loosely with a nod, contrasting starkly with how tight and rigid his words were as he spoke simply, "Yes, I did."

"Keeping an eye on me like some stalker, and after a while of that - what's your conclusion? You think I'm pathetic, spineless, no will of my own unless push comes to shove. In your eyes, certainly someone seriously undeserving of the luck, of the love he's been receiving. And the fact that I've been taking it for granted too? I don't know how you restrained yourself from snapping me like a twig."

"It wasn't easy…"

I faintly smiled at that, feeling a sharp twinge in my cheeks as I did. "Amanda's an amazing girl. She's beautiful, kind, funny, seriously talented, and despite some glaring… gripes… in her character, she's pretty much everything a man could ask for and so much more."

Somewhere left, I could faintly see a pair of fair cheeks blazing brightly red. Guess the Princess of Astra does not take compliments well.

I continued. "Naturally, for a girl as wonderful as her, she deserves someone who would be just as wonderful - and according to you, I'm obviously certainly most definitely not that someone to her. According to you, she deserves someone better… perhaps someone… even taller… maybe."

Another nod. "Yes, that's tru - "

"Well, you're wrong," I said at once. "Now you're wrong, so wrong. I don't care what you say now. I will be - I am everything she could ever want and much more. Now, I don't have her fine qualities… I'm not as talented, not as pretty-looking… and I have flaws in the dozens. I'm more of a pain than she ever was.

"But passion is what I have. Determination is what I'm good at. You give me the right reasons, you're never going to break me. When you say she's in the wrong for loving me - that's when I'm going to fight tooth and nail to prove you wrong. That you're wrong about her, that you're wrong about me, that I care about her perhaps even more than she does me."

The pounding in my head started again, the throbbing, aching pain from all over pulsating through my body. I forced them down, stamp them away - spread both my arms on either side.

"Look what I've done, look at what I've been going through. Can you still say I don't care? Can you still say I'm spineless, worthless? Have I proven myself to you enough yet? Look at who I'm about to face now… can you still say to my face that I don't deserve just a teensy bit of that love?"

Nick's continued glare did not come with an answer. Not that he needed to, not when he had tightened both hands to his armaments.

"If it's still not enough, if you still don't think I deserve her…" I retracted both arms, slowly rose them forward, through numbing fingers, I braced tight. "Then I'll just prove it to you again. As long as it takes, as many as it takes. And make no mistake Nick… doesn't matter how it happens, but I'm going to beat you… just like I did the Hero over here. No matter what, I'll find a way."

"And I don't doubt it," He said stiffly.

I raised a brow. "You're not going to say your piece?"

"Not necessary."

Then he tensed his stare - instantly he thrust both arms forward - I raised my shield, raised my sword - a clatter rang out.

Nick dropped his sword.

Nick dropped his shield.

"I forfeit the tournament."

Words that echoed in the quiet. Words I didn't even realize I was hearing… until I heard the clatter of metal plates once more, and not long after - I was seeing him again.

Walking away from me.

Disappearing, never to be seen, gone, with a corner turn.

As always, it was Tyler first to break the ice, sounding out all our disbelief far better than we ever could.

"Did… did that just happen?!" He looked to the puzzled crowd, he searched the clueless members of staff, then finally he focused his gaze on the bemused judges up above. "So… that's - that's it, right? He quit, so... that's a win?"

It only took a single gesture, a single nod barely given - before the smile, the fervor in Tyler, reemerged in full force.

"HE WON! HE DID IT! BIG MAN WON! THE TRUE OF CHAMPION OF THE TOURNAMENT! BIG MAN OF HOUSE PLAYBOY HAS DONE IT! HE'S THE LAST ONE STANDING! THE ONLY ONE STANDING! HE DID IT!"

It was more than a buzz, more than an explosion, more than a shockwave - there was nothing to compare it to - the unprecedented level of cheers that rang out right then, in that one moment, in that singular second would have been enough to shake the heavens.

That's not to mention the blur of motions in the millions - everyone had left their seat, preferring to stand, to jump, to dance - so many shoving elbows, so bashed heads… so many smiling faces.

Amanda was teetering the edge of her side of the stand, a single fidgeting hand clutch to the fence the only thing still keeping her in place. She joined the revelry, shouting herself hoarse, straining her lips the widest they could go.

Right beside her, Ash was a little in control of her emotions - the claps of her hands rang loud, and if I tried I could also pick them apart from everyone else's. Her ears were like the flaps of a hummingbird's wings. And that pretty much was the thing that did it.

Just one of the many, many countless reasons right then…

That the stupidest, ugliest, most painful smile was all over my face.