Releasing our feelings

Alice’s POV:

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“The normal competition has come to its end, but fear not because now it’s time for the challenges! I’m sure that this year as well, there are going to be many challenges. Let’s see how daring the most powerful cultivators are!” Shouted the referee, and even I’ve got excited.

I squeezed Hiro’s hands strongly because of my excitement. He didn’t say a single word, but I soon noticed that I’ve really got out of control… My scales covered my palms, and the strength in my hand was much more than what Hiro could take without any pain if his hands aren’t covered in his scales. “AH! What have I done! I cause a little pain for you!” I said, with a worried face, but Hiro simply laughed at me and gave me a little kiss on my lips. I raised his hand to my bosom and gave a kiss on it.

The people looked weirdly at us, but I don’t care. They can go to hell! Pat came up to us with a happy face. “Hehe~ I’ve gained a lot this time! Thanks for not participating in the three versus three battles.” She thanked us, then asked - “Do you want to participate in the challenging round?” I answered her question as I threw my hair over my shoulders - “Yes, we are going to participate, and you?”

After a bit of thinking, she decided. “I- I’ll also participate! I don’t believe that I have such a bad luck, that I’d get you in the random rounds!” In the challenging rounds, everyone has to fight alone. Those who participate will be randomly selected in every round to fight against another participant, then in the next round, they can challenge a cultivator they want to. You can’t lose or else you are going to be unqualified to continue. The better place you get, the better the rewards are going to be.

I don’t want to fight without Hiro at my side, but we can’t help it. These are the rules. One random, one challenge… I hope that I won’t get Hiro as my enemy in a random round. One of us would have to surrender because there is no way that we would try hitting each other. I’d rather cut off my arms than to try hitting Hiro. [You are such a lovely girl that I’m melting.] Hiro said with a loving voice as he looked at me. “Stop it!” Pat shouted upon seeing our loving eyes.

“Let’s go and apply.” Hiro said as he held onto my waist and pulled me towards the receptionist room. There is going to be a day break, so everyone is going to have enough time to recover their energies and apply for the challenging rounds. When we arrived in the receptionist room, it was already filled with quite a lot of people so we quickly got in line. Everyone here was at the eighth or ninth stage. Only us three were at the seventh stage. Weak cultivators don’t want to participate in this because if they were to do so, they would lose or die from taking a single move.

When we got our turns, the same receptionist woman who put it on, now took off our badges, and gave us another. This time I’ve got the number 54, Hiro 55 and Pat 56. We quickly left the place and searched for Radcliff. Originally we wanted to find Tanya Chong, but she disappeared like a ghost so we were left with Radcliff. I had mixed feelings about meeting him. Knowing his feelings made it so weird… Using our mind powers, we were able to find him quickly.

He was standing in the hall of the Arena, and he was chatting with some people we didn’t know. “Could you answer a question?” Hiro sent his message to Radcliff. He stopped talking and looked towards us. He looked straight into my eyes, then turned away. Ugh… I don’t like this. I don’t know how can girls be happy if someone they don’t like loves them… I mean it’s so tragic in my opinion. Though Hiro didn’t have such a problem in his past life, but he didn’t like it either. [Such a problem you say… I would have been happy if I could have felt something like love. I liked my family, I liked my family, I liked my friends, but something like love somehow always slipped past me.] He said.

[But that isn’t bad, is it? Like this, I was able to be your first time in all of your lives~]

[You know that I’m glad about it, but somehow this sounded like a ridiculing…] Hiro thought with a suspicious look on his face. [You are just imagining things~ You can read my mind you know?] He was really just imagining things! While we were joking around, Radcliff has also finished his chatting and said goodbye to his -friends? Or comrades? I don’t know- and ran up to us. I- I can’t help it, but I want to hear his thoughts, I hope that he didn’t change his mind about plotting against Hiro… I have to check it because if he did-

She is as beautiful as ever. I really shouldn’t meet with them. It’s only making it worse… Sorry guys! And I’m really sorry for evading you, but it’s really hard to me. I hope that they won’t hate me for it. Ah, she has such a nice fragrance, just like Hiro said before!

Okay… that’s enough. “So? What did you want to ask me?” Said Radcliff at a quick pace. He didn’t even look at me, he was looking only at Hiro. All he did was some sneaking peeks towards me. Using his domain and wind magic, Hiro quickly covered our surroundings then said: “We’ve seen that you have gained an egg. You know, we have a similar egg, so what I wanted to know is that what is that egg? We have really no idea.” Hearing him say that, his eyes opened widely.

“Y- You have a treasure from the fifth realm!?” He shouted out of surprise. It was good that no sound has escaped from our surroundings. “Is it from the fifth realm? Do you know what it is?” Hiro repeated his question with an eager face. I was no different. I was really curious about what this egg might be, but to our dismay, Radcliff turned his head sideways. “Sorry, but Director Tanya didn’t tell me either. She only said that this egg is going to come useful in the future and that it was from the fifth realm. I quote: ‘Although it’s not really uncommon, but it’s really powerful. Once it hatches, it’s going to be your company for all your life. Just don’t forget to drop a drop of your blood on it!’. That was all she said.”

“Hmm- We too had to drop our blood on it, so I’m sure that we have the same thing. She said company? I wonder what kind of company…” Hiro said with a curious, and worried face at the same time. What if it’s something not so funny? We had to think of every possibility. Who knows what did that dungeon think at the end of its life? “Okay… Sorry for keeping you up, we too have matters to take care of so we are leaving if you don’t mind. Thank you for your help!” Hiro said a good reason to end this conversation and leave. But I saw happiness on Radcliff’s face too.

I can understand him. We flew back to our tree house on the island and ‘meditated’ the whole day. ‘Meditation’ surely feels great! The next day we went back hurriedly because we overslept a bit. Although we don’t really need to sleep, and of our minds can always be active to survey our surroundings, we disabled all of them and slept deeply. We were still on time, but we didn’t have to wait for long before the championship continued. It was all good in the end!

“Hello everyone once again! We have this box filled with the participants of the challenge rounds! But first, they have to win at least one match to challenge someone! So let’s not waste our times and pick the first two opponents!” The referee said loudly, then she put her hands into the box which was next to her. There was a platform which was higher than the normal seats. It was a little pavilion, and the directors were also there. She pulled out her hands and two clone badges were in her hands.

“Our first pair is number eight, and number fifty-three!” She shouted. ARGH! Even though I’m fifty-four! Only a single number and I could have gone up! This is so terrible! [Don’t worry my love, you’ll get your round too.] Hiro soothed me as he started caressing my hair. The first two were two guys, and both of them were in the middle of the ninth stage. After a few moves, one of them started being pushed back and then blah blah blah… they are so boring! Why did they even come here with their meager strengths?

Soon came the next round of selection, and the next, the next… and then!! I was finally picked out! “The next pair of opponents is number fifty-four and fifty-six!” Hearing her say that I jumped forward only to realize what she said. Fifty-six? That was PAT!! I started hearing murmurs like: “Oh, her opponent is Pat Cooley! She should surrender before she loses her life.” - “Are you stupid? She was the one with her lover who beat up everyone at the seventh stage!” -- “Yes, but they have never fought Pat before! She is from my school, and I know her strength the best! She can easily beat up cultivators at the early ninth stage!”

I looked back only to see her raise her arms and shout those two words, which I didn’t want to hear. “I Surrender!” - “What!?” - “Pat has surrendered upon hearing her enemy?” - the crowd started clamoring loudly. I started gritting my teeth in my rage and went back to sit on Hiro’s lap. His caressing hands were the only thing soothing me and stopping me from murdering everyone! I was enraged! My dragon instincts were flaring up for a long while, and here I am struggling to find a good opponent!

Hiro embraced me from behind and started kissing the back of my head, which instantly cleared my mind, and made me calm down. I embraced his arms and closed my eyes. Of course, we have gained some onlookers, but who cares about them? Soon Hiro was also picked out, so my peaceful resting has come to an end, though I was still half asleep thanks to him so I wasn’t dangerous to my surroundings. His enemy had a very similar body type to Hiro’s. He also had a strong and muscular body, but my Hiro’s was so much better~

The guy took out his two handed huge axe and immediately charged towards Hiro. Hiro activated his battle form and took out his spear. The guy swung his axe from above, which made his defense wide opened. These people really need those martial arts… Hiro pinned his spear into the ground, to use as a pivot and jumped into the guy’s defense. Since he was outside of his reach thanks to Hiro being too close to him, he had to stop his swing, but it was too late. Hiro quickly smashed his right fist, which was covered in his scales into the stomach of the guy. He also used a ball of Hydra Qi.

It was quite unique. My Dragon Qi smashed the targets from the outside with great power or crushed them, while Hiro’s Hydra Qi had the ability to go into its opponent's body and devour it from the inside. Of course, the guy hasn't done anything which would make him deserve death. Hiro controlled his Hydra Qi to go towards the guy’s consciousness, and he also coupled it with a Hydro Mind. Hiro’s opponent was only at the early ninth stage, which wasn’t much. While he was trying to suppress Hiro’s Hydra Qi, which was very hard as it is stronger than World Energy, Hiro moved behind him, in one swift move and knocked him unconscious.

He came back and sat down under me. He was once again at the right place~ A few rounds later our numbers have halved and it was time for us, winners, to challenge anyone we want to. I was the thirtieth. Of course, if someone is going to be picked before me, then I can get my turn before, but if someone were to pick me as his or her opponent, then I can’t challenge anyone. If I can pick, then I’ll be sure to pick Fu Xiao who was also here, along with Radcliff.

But fate played its prank on me because a beastmen cultivator picked me as his opponent. He had ninety-four percent converted so he was in the middle stages. “Haha, come you cutie! I’ve seen your battles up till now, and I have to tell you, that you are really lucky for winning so easily all those battles. Did you offer your body for them to lose so badly? If so then maybe I too would make use of that service!” He blurted out his death sentence. I looked back and saw Hiro’s eyes wide opened and bloodshot.

He had a dreadful aura around him and his bloodlust was suffocating these weaklings. “I don’t have such service. I’m being used privately by my dear husband. Since you dared to dirty our clear and pure love with your filthy mouth, you shall pay the price for it with your life.” I said in a cold voice as I also released my bloodlust. Feeling the cold air, and the smell of blood, he realized that he might not be in such a good position as he thought.

“Fight!” The referee shouted and I quickly pulled out my bow. He had a shield and a sword as his weapon. Initially, he took up a defensive position, but upon seeing the bow in my hands, he quickly charged towards me. Letting someone with a bow shooting ranged attack at you was like asking for death. I quickly used our little curse and Hydro Mind to make him delay. He stopped for a moment, just as I thought, which was enough for me.

I released my arrow which smashed into his shield. Since he wasn’t prepared for it, his shield flew out of his hand and landed on the ground. I flew towards him, and he came to, only to see my knee smash into his face. My tough scales on my knees at such a high speed were equal to a weapon like a bludgeon. But we were still at much lower stages, so only his nose broke. He fell on his back with a bloody face, from the sudden force. I used my tail to cut off his fingers while he was falling. It quickly went through his defensive layer of World Energy, and cut it off.

Feeling his missing fingers, he screamed out in pain. I- I don’t know what’s up with me, but upon seeing his suffering, and his blood flowing, I felt great! I can’t help it, I’m a damned predator and a top one at that. I licked my lips happily, and I’m quite sure that my face looked really weird. [You look like a sadistic pervert, who is enjoying to kill others. But I know that it’s only because what he said, so go ahead and enjoy killing him in my place too.] Hiro remarked on my actions with a satisfied tone. He was satisfied with my actions~!

The guy who badmouthed my purity had a terrified face on. You little bastard… saying such things, when I’d clearly never touch a man other than Hiro? I took out my sword for close quarter. He quickly jumped back with a great effort to escape from me, but there was no way out for this dead man~ I flew after him, and cut off his left arm. He tried to swing his two handed battle axe towards me, but it was for naught. His accuracy and speed have greatly lessened, thanks to him missing an arm.

It was more like a cornered prey struggling to live. A warmness flooded my heart, but it wasn’t the feeling of love, but the feeling of hate. I hated this guy! I dodged his swing and pierced my sword into his right shoulder. “P- Please! I- I was mistaken about you, okay? I swear that I didn’t intend to do anything to you! I- I was just joking, right?” He started blabbering his excuses to escape the pain and his death, but… “Do you take me for an idiot or what? You bastard.” I said as I pushed my sword deeply into his shoulder, separating his right arm in the process.

“ARGH!” He screamed out from the pain. I saw a truncated man kneeling before me, with missing arms. I shot a Dragon’s Head towards his two separated arms to destroy them, taking away his hope of attaching them back. It would take months if not years for him to recover. I didn’t feel any mercy in my heart for him. Hiro’s feelings were also affecting me, he too wanted to destroy this guy. I kicked him in the chest and he fell on the ground. I used my tail to cut off his left leg, and I put my sword on his right leg.

He shook his head sideways to indicate me to stop, but I didn’t do so. I separated his right leg too, with a slow move, and then destroyed both of his legs. “So? Do you still think that I ‘bought’ my victory?” I asked him, with my bloodlust covering his whole body. He was shaking in fear, and his mind was unclear. He could have fought back much better if not for that reason. “N- No! I’ll be your servant for life! Just please let me live!” He shouted back. Like always… he would serve me only to keep his pathetic life. I’d never serve someone.

That’s against my beliefs! You have to be your own lord! “*Sigh* I’m bored of you. Let’s finish this.” I said with a small sigh. He was a broken toy. He didn’t even move anymore, and I’m really into torturing. “Goodbye!” I said as I quickly thrust my sword towards his heart and my tail towards his head. In my battle form, my tail was much harder and sharper than usually. It easily cut through his skull and pierced his brain. He died instantly.

I looked back as his blood was dripping down on my sword and on my tail. I’ve seen many terrified looks among the cultivators, and I’m quite sure that they aren’t going to challenge me anymore. “T- The winner is Alice with the number fifty-four!” Shouted the referee stiffly, the crowd was silent, but they soon started cheering happily nonetheless. I guess it didn’t matter to them as long as they were able to see a bloody battle. “Anyone else on the same opinion? Please step forward if you are.” I said with a cold smile on my face.

The other cultivators were silent, and I’ve heard only a single person clapping loudly. It was Hiro. I put my hands on my face… Everyone looked at him, and all he said was: “What? But my wife was so beautiful! She deserves my clap!” What can I say? He too is really stupid sometimes, but I liked his little stupidity. It’s not like he didn’t know that he looked like an idiot, but he didn’t care. Seeing his stupid actions, I couldn't help but smile. He always knew how to make me happy and how to make me laugh.

I giggled at his actions and went back to his side, and gave him a kiss on his face. [You really like showing me off, don’t you?] I said happily, with a small laugh. Wherever we went, he always liked voicing that I’m his wife. But I was the same. Poor Pat hoped that we won’t be matched up against each other, yet she was the first to become my opponent… Soon it was Hiro’s time to pick an opponent. [You don’t mind, do you?] He questioned me, and I answered positively.

[I feel satisfied for now, and I don’t want to take away your fun either, so you can have him.] I sent my thoughts back. I would feel bad if I were to take away all of our opponents. Hiro went to the center of the arena and shouted a name we both knew. “Fu Xiao, with the number seventy-three!” It was time for him to die. We don’t like leaving seamless threads behind us. “Hmph! I’ll gladly take your lives. You finally dared to face me! You were like rabbits, escaping all the time from my hands!” Shouted Fu Xiao with clear annoyance in his voice.

In my opinion, we were similar to rabbits, but not because of how we escaped, but because how we… Fu Xiao flew to the center of the arena and stood opposite of Hiro. “Fight!” Came the shout, and both of them took out their weapons and jumped towards each other. Fu Xiao swung his katana from above, wanting to cut Hiro in two. Fu Xiao was at the peak of ninth stage, and he was a powerful cultivator so this battle isn’t going to be as easy as mine.

Hiro shot six Hydra’s Head towards the incoming strike, and swung his tail towards Fu Xiao’s feet, as his spear was ready to pierce Xiao’s stomach. Fu Xiao covered his feet in a thick layer of World Energy, which was enough for him to stop Hiro’s tail. His katana was also stopped, thanks to Hiro’s energy attacks, so Xiao also used an energy attack, which had the shape of an eagle to stop Hiro’s spear strike. But our weapons were more powerful than that. Hiro activated the pierce and penetrate runes on his spear, which helped in destroying Fu Xiao’s attack. He was surprised to see Hiro’s spear advancing towards his stomach.

He wanted to jump back, but suddenly, his mind was attacked by Hiro’s Hydro Mind. Since Hiro had six minds, controlling more of his body parts wasn’t hard. As his spear was moving towards Fu Xiao, he also used his right leg to kick at the same time. This would be impossible for normal intelligent beings. Fu Xiao was able to disperse the mind attack quickly enough to evade Hiro’s kick, but Hiro’s spear had a longer reach than his legs, so Xiao wasn’t able to evade his spear strike too.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to pierce him completely, only to wound him. The Hydra heads coiling around Hiro’s body quickly rushed into Fu Xiao’s body and started rampaging inside it. Fu Xiao’s complexion turned pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood, while he jumped backward. He soon suppressed Hiro’s Hydra Qi, but it still caused him a lot of damage. Once you are wounded by Hiro… you are literally screwed up.

Hiro flew towards the retreating Fu Xiao, who took out a Recovering Pill and put it inside his mouth. His complexion quickly turned for the better. Hiro also reached him and thrust his spear towards Fu Xiao’s head. Fu Xiao snapped his head to the side, so Hiro’s strike missed. Fu Xiao used his fist to hit Hiro, but his fist strike backfired on him. Upon hitting Hiro’s scales on his stomach, he quickly pulled back his fist, with pain visible on his face. Our scales are really hard! Hiro smirked upon seeing this and used his fist to make him eat his own medicine.

Hiro’s fist struck Xiao’s face and his nose broke in the process. Xiao stepped back two. Hiro quickly thrust his spear towards his bloodied face. At this time Fu Xiao shouted: “Eagle’s Cry!” But nothing has happened. I felt that his mind power moved, which meant that it was a mind attack, but the poor guy didn’t know that we are immune to mind attacks, thanks to the white pill we took in Vertshadow. Not to mention that he would have to stun six of his minds not only one… Seeing his attack fail, he quickly snapped his head to the side once again, but this time he wasn’t able to escape without any damage.

The right side of his face at his mouth’s height was wounded in a long line. A large, thick line appeared on his face as blood started flowing from his wound. Hiro jumped into the air with a spinning kick and kicked Xiao’s head. Fu Xiao flew through the air and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Hiro used Hydra’s Wings, trying to cut him in half. “*Cough* Why the hell is your attacks are so powerful!?” Shouted Xiao as he rolled on the ground to evade the incoming strike.

He backflipped from his lying position only to take on Hiro’s Hydra’s tail. His left arm was hit with it, and I heard a snapping sound. I’m sure that his left broke. He quickly ate another Recovering Pill. Hiro charged at him, but Fu Xiao unexpectedly ran towards him and slipped past Hiro’s defense. He used his palm to strike this time, learning from his mistake before. As his palm struck Hiro’s chest, Hiro’s jelly layer dispersed the ‘damage’, but he still started falling backward. Using the force behind Xiao’s palm strike, Hiro made a backflip and kicked up Fu Xiao’s chin in the process.

Fu Xiao flew into the air, but stopped, thanks to his ability to fly. His whole mouth was flowing with blood. I think that he bit his tongue because this was too much blood for a simple kick. “Ylou blastard!” He shouted with pain visible on his face. He indeed bit his tongue… He quickly flew backward in the air and started mumbling something in himself. Seeing this, Hiro quickly charged at him, and I felt worried for his safety. Before he was able to reach him, Fu Xiao shouted loudly. “CURSE OF DEATH GRIP!”

I saw a quick and thin black line fly into Hiro’s body. Before it struck, Hiro quickly made a clone of himself, just in case, though if this curse is attacking his soul, then it doesn’t matter. I focused on our bond to feel what Hiro felt. His new original body was moving perfectly, but the body he used before was standing in place. Hiro continued to battle with Fu Xiao, while he used one of his minds to test out the waters about these curses. Seeing that he was alright, I felt happy, but since I too was curious about this, I helped him through our bond.

I placed one of my minds into his body. I felt a bit fuzzy in the head, and I felt that something creepy was trying to reach my or more like Hiro’s heart and brain. It was struggling to go past a line. Hiro started using his will to try suppressing it as a test. Unexpectedly, as he forced his will towards the curse, it slowly started being pushed back. I joined him in clearing out the curse. Curses are indeed dangerous. If not for him having a clone, then he could have been killed numerous times!

The body, Hiro used before had its eyes burning in green flames from Hiro’s will. Its eyes soon cleared out, and his clone regained its consciousness. Another Hiro appearing was a great surprise in itself for the crowd, but upon seeing that he was even able to clear out a deadly curse, surprised them even more! Most of the people likely didn’t know how to defend against curses. Coming here was already worth it for getting to know about this piece of information!

Now Fu Xiao’s opponents were two. His face became dark upon seeing this. “How did you suppress my curse!? So you indeed have a way to suppress curses! I’m sure that everyone would be happy if you would share your knowledge about it!” Fu Xiao shouted upon seeing Hiro and his clone, standing opposite of him. He tried to use the crowd to save his puny life. It indeed worked slightly because even the directors had curious faces… Grrr… This guy really has to die.

Not wanting to play around anymore, and to scare the crowd, Hiro quickly used the binding clock to stop Xiao from moving, then he used Space Breath on him. The attack struck the space right where Xiao was flying in the air. The matter beyond the space gushed out and consumed his body. Xiao wasn’t even able to scream. Only his terrified and despaired face was visible before his body was consumed in that ever swirling black and white mass.

He lost his life. Seeing that we had such skills, the crowd stayed silent and terrified. No one said a word anymore about us, telling them how to fight back curses. The referee shouted loudly - “The winner is Hiro, with the number fifty-five!” He flew to my side silently and coiled his tail around my waist. I started caressing the tip of his tail unconsciously because it was exactly under my hands. The crowd delayed a bit once again, but they started cheering nonetheless. [H- Hey, Alice! What are you doing? You are making me hard!] He shouted at me through our bond.

[H- Huh? What are you talking- Ah! Sorry! I mean I didn’t intend to do it at such a place!] I shouted back as I realized what I was doing. But I’ve done the deed anyway… His tail was an erogenous zone of his, and I felt his hard rod pressing against my butt. [I- I’m really sorry.] I apologized once again. [*Sigh* Don’t worry, I’ll bear with it. I’m sure that I’m going to calm down soon enough.] Hiro said with a sigh. It was poking my butt, which in turn made me excited. This is such a weird moment. Normally I’d take care of his thing in such a case, but we aren’t in the position and place to do so…

The battles were going on, and the numbers were halving all the time. Our numbers were decreasing every time. The round was finished. Soon came the next round, then the next till there were only sixteen people left. We were of course among them, along with Radcliff. Thanks to our weapons, he was faring really well, and since he has reached the peak of ninth stage, and his cultivation was getting more and more pure and stable thanks to our guiding, he didn’t have many opponents. It has happened at a random round, that the referee shouted something, which was quite unexpected to me.

Seems like my luck isn’t infinite either… “Please, Alice with the number fifty-five, and Radcliff with the number ten, come forward!” Yes… I was matched up against Radcliff. I wasn’t afraid of him, and I’m quite sure that I can beat him, but I had mixed emotions about this whole thing. He flew to the center of the arena and I stood opposite of him. His eyes were darting all over the place, but he didn’t look me in the eyes. This is no fun… “FIGHT!” Shouted the referee once again, but Radcliff didn’t move.

I took out my bow slowly, while he finally looked at me. He saw me taking aim with a serious look on my face. If he moves, I’m going to shoot. But the move never came. He sighed loudly then as his shoulders fell, and he raised his arms, he said: “*Sigh* I surrender!” Somehow I wasn’t surprised to hear him say that. I said a small - “Thanks.” - as I turned around and sat down on Hiro’s lap. Radcliff flew right next to us and indicated for us to go with him. Both of us stood up and flew after him, towards a random waiting room.

He turned towards us, looked at Hiro with a sorry look, and then at me, seriously. He started speaking. “I asked both of you to come because I don’t want to hide it from you. Although you are a bit of an idiot, but you are a good guy, and I don’t want to stab you in your back.” - He said as he was looking at Hiro, then turned towards me to continue with a serious face. - “I’ve asked you to come here to tell you m- my feelings. I- I can’t hold it in any longer, I have to say it out. I L- Love Alice!”

He kept stuttering at the end. I can imagine his nervousness. Telling such a thing to someone you love, knowing that you are going to be refused, surely feels crucifying. Hiro put his hand on his shoulder and told Radcliff with a straight face. “You are praiseworthy for telling this to us, and not conspiring behind our backs! You are worth my respect!” Now it was my turn to answer. “I’m sorry, but you know my answer… I have eyes only for Hiro. No man other than Hiro has a place in my heart, and I’ll be honest. You are no different at that.”

“*Chuckle* Eh- yes, I knew about that. But I felt like I have to tell this to you, though to be honest, I expected Hiro to try killing me. Now that I told you, I feel much freer! I hope that this won’t damage our relationship.” He said with a slightly sad face, but as he neared the end of his sentence, I saw something on his face, which indicated that he started feeling better.

It seems like, that after telling me, what was pressing his heart, he felt more free and unbounded. Hiro started refuting his words - “Listen, I’m not happy about you, loving my wife, but I’m not going to kill you only because you love her. I just don’t like it, and I straight hate if someone is lusting over her!” Hiro wanted to continue, but he was soon interrupted by Radcliff, whose face I saw light up for a moment! “I- I’m sorry, but I think that I have gained enlightenment! If that’s so then I can break through to the next level! We can meet later, now I have to go! I’m really sorry!”

He shouted as he was already leaving through the door, and was flying out of the arena. Oookaaay- that was weird… Whatever. If he can let go of his feelings and even gain something from it, then it was worth it, I think. We went back to the arena. The battles were going on, but nothing worthy to mention has happened. There was another guy, who had a death wish, but he quickly lost his life to Hiro’s spear. The final two were obviously us…

“Let’s see who is the stronger between the two dark horses of this championship! They weren’t known by any of us, yet they beat everyone on their way and reached the top two. They showed great potential, so now let’s see. WHO.IS.THE.STRONGER!!” The referee shouted to fire up the spectators. Everyone started cheering, wanting to see our battle, while upon seeing Rose, we saw here laughing in her seat. She knew what is going to come. As the referee shouted “fight”, both of us raised our hands, and shouted: “I surrender!”

The loudly cheering crowd suddenly quieted down and went silent. We heard the chirping of the cicadas. “I- I don’t know who was the quicker to surrender, so I’d like to ask the directors for some help?” The referee said, and also asked. “They were equally quick…” All three of them said. After a short murmuring, Tanya stood up and declared. “Although this is an unprecedented case, but we decided to make both of them into the champions! *mumble- they love each other so much anyway… stupid couple -mumble*” She even started mumbling something like that, which was heard by everyone. We had good hearings…

The crowd started clapping awkwardly, out of custom. I think that they weren’t expecting such a final battle between us… But they can think whatever they want to. I’m not going to hit Hiro, nor he is going to hit me! After the awarding ceremony was finished once again, where Tanya handed us over another ring, with an unwilling face, the championship has come to an end. It was time to look at what we have gained!