Chapter 7

It was finally the day of the summit clash with the Kimaris House. Shiro, Alice and I were all already in the centre field of the Asmodeus Arena and the people of Hell were beginning to fill the spectator seats. Seir and Baako’s household were nowhere to be seen though. However, despite the absence of the individuals that everyone was talking about, there was one other thing that caused a huge stir amongst those that had already made it to their seats.

“H-hey isn’t that Earl Paimon?”

“Yeah! Lady Mei-Lien is also with him.”

“And that’s Baroness Belith too. What are they doing with Prince Seir’s Household!? And where is Prince Seir?”

In addition to Alice and Shiro, the geezer, Mei-Lien and Alessia were all in attendance today. As to why they were on the battlefield and not in the spectators stands, I had no idea.

“H-how the hell did you guys even get access to the centre field!?”

“Hyahahahaha, it wasn’t too difficult young one, I know the owner of the arena after all. Also, my little Mei was upset when you didn’t turn up for dinner, so I...”

“F-father! T-that’s not the case, I-I mean…”

“I just wanted to see what your lord could do with my own eyes. When Mei invited me, I agreed.”

“W-what!? You and Mei-Lien know each other Alessia?”

“We are cousins.”

“T-that’s right, we are cousins on my grandmother’s side.”

“W-wow!”

“Hyahahaha, we Paimon get around. Where is that young prince of yours? Will he be participating today? Rumour has it that he will.”

“...My lord is on his way over here as we speak.”

“Hyahahaha, Alice was it? My offer is still open if…”

“...I refuse.”

“He’ll be here, Seir is one for theatrics, he probably won’t turn up till the last second.”

“His highness, requested I contact grandmother for something, he is presumably awaiting its arrival.”

“Huh?”

Before I could question Shiro further in relation to her revelation, Sitri came out and began proceedings for this contest. She glanced over in my direction and then averted her gaze as soon as our eyes met. She seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason, although I had no idea why, because we hadn’t had much contact recently.

“Welcome folks to the final summit clash before the semi finals! Today, history will be made. Will we see a first time semi finalist in the Seir House? Or will Baako Kimaris make good on his predictions?”

“Kuro! Kuro! Kuro!”

“We want Baako! We want Baako!”

“It looks like we’re all fired up as always!”

Sitri was warming up the crowd. They no longer mispronounced my name, but it felt really embarrassing when they cheered for me.

A few moments passed and the ground began to shake, was it an earthquake? The crowd wasn’t panicking though, so it must be part of today’s summit match. I looked around to try and figure out what was going on and then began to hear the sound of hooves crashing across the ground. I looked toward the other side of the battlefield and spotted Baako Kimaris emerging from the unusually wide tunnel on horseback. He was riding 10 man deep, each of his rider’s had a unique steed, but they all looked intimidating and ferociously strong.

The crowd went dead silent and Baako circled his side of the arena atop a huge muscular horse. His obsidian akrafena was hanging from his belt and his vassals had a similar set up. Although, each of them had a different yet equally regal looking akrafena.

Their armour was very light and flexible. Having watched Baako’s highlights, I knew that he valued agility and flexibility above all else, so it was a given that he would make maneuverability a top priority.

Similar to Alessia vassals, Baako’s vassals were wearing masks. However, the bloodlust and intensity that they were releasing was no joke, Seir was going to have his work cut out for him.

“Well, where is your lord? Has he...”

“It’s kinda hard to talk to you when you’re up on that horse, you look really silly up there!”

“Get used to it commoner, when this is over, you’ll never be able to do anything but look up at me. I’ll give your lord 5 minutes to show up, after that, I’ll…”

Before Baako could finish whatever threat he was going to make. The entire arena was bathed in a radiant light. It was coming from above. I squinted my eyes and looked up.

I spotted a beast that I had never seen before. It was as big as a horse but had two overlapping antlers on its head, was it a stag? No, although it’s presence was regal and majestic, it wasn’t a stag. I looked closer, it was pure white and had a aurora coloured hue emanating from it. Just when the light was beginning to diminish, I noticed something, or should I say, someone.

“*gasp*”

“I-is that.”

“It is!”

“L-ladies and gentlemen, it appears that Prince Seir has finally made an appearance! He is riding atop a noble steed who’s origin and nature is unbeknownst at this present moment.”

Seir was sitting atop the creature, wearing his patented grin. He drew the attention of everyone in the arena and galloped toward the centre field with all eyes on him.

The creature finally landed on the ground and the entire arena went silent. At the sight of the creature, the horses that Baako’s vassals were on knelt, the whole situation was surreal. However, Baako’s steed, did not mirror the same action as its fellow kin.

“Hyahahahahaha, a Qilin? I suppose you would refer to it as a Kirin, take a good look at it little Mei, you may never be able to see one again in your lifetime.”

“I-it is, beautiful…”

Mei-Lien was right, everything about the Kirin was a cut above the rest. It oozed majesty and its presence was serene. The most surprising thing was how natural Sier looked sitting on top of one. Seir caught Baako’s eye and gave him a nod, followed by a confident smile.

“Ahahaha, well then, shall we begin?”