Hazeel trembled while sitting upon a ceremonial throne the rest of the goblins had built her, covering her mouth. She hadn’t meant to let that laugh leave her throat, however the scene of her second in command becoming stunned by the viscous onslaught of the young boy across from him had been too much for her.

It wasn’t only because of how absurd it was, but because of how Zeek had treated her for all these years she had been chieftain. He didn’t hide his animosity at playing second fiddle to Hazeel, and seeing him get beat down by someone other than herself, who had to hold back so as not to break the laws of the village, had left a smile on her face.

“Ehm… my lady, are you alright?” One of her close aides, Zara, asked her. Simply keeping the smile on her face, Hazeel nodded and settled herself further in her seat. Her laugher must’ve shocked those around her, but Zara and her other attendants who had served on the battlefield with her knew her personality well enough to gloss over a breach in etiquette.

On the other hand, Zeek himself was dumbfounded by her laughter, and she could practically see his temper exploding. Hazeel always knew he had a short fuse, and that’s how she prevented him from winning in their spars so often. Even Hazeel was impressed with how Zeek had hidden his blessing from her, and how, even with that blessing, he had still managed to fail at subduing his opponent.

By this time, Zeek was foaming at the mouth with anger and hatred as he turned back towards Leon, who only looked at his opponent with uncaring eyes. Despite her own position and age, she looked with unhidden affection at the boy across from her soldier. She was curious about how he talked like he knew so much about pain with that gloomy gaze of his.

She wanted to talk to him, wanted to share his experiences and understand the reason for that darkness of his. “Hah… Zeek’s an idiot.” The Conqueror sighed and leaned forward in her seat as she realized that all noises had stopped and her people had heard her errant thought out loud.

Covering her face in embarrassment, she heard a mutter from her side. “So the Conqueror is an airhead, huh?” Hazeel’s form twitched, and she slowly raised her head, causing those around her to avert their gaze due to the palpable nature of her anger.

When she looked, all she saw was the figure of Brago Shields, who had apparently gained an air of confidence after seeing how well his companion was faring against the former chief’s champion.

“Oh… am I now?” Brago stiffened at her tone and began to tremble nervously before falling to the ground a prostrating himself before her. “Forgive my rudeness Hazeel, I was honestly just saying whatever came to mind! Damn it, why didn’t I just stay at the Clairborne mansion today!?”

Hazeel’s eyes opened wide at a name she didn’t expect to hear. “Wait what did you just-”

“Eek!” Hazeel tried to get answers out of the knight but he only buried his head farther into the ground, causing the Conqueror to sigh mournfully. If this man and Leon were associated with that Demoness then she needed to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible.

However, breaking up a fight during the festival would be unceremonious and unbecoming of herself. So, with her elbows resting on the throne, and a hand over her mouth to control her laughter should the need arise, she just carried on watching the battle with the rest of her people.

---

Zeek’s blade pierced by the side of Leon’s face, warping the very air around him and creating a vacuum around the blade. It retracted and in that moment a scythe came out from under Zeek’s field of vision and narrowly clipped his nose, which only kept together due to the blessing he had activated previously.

The two separated, and Leon saw that Zeek wasn’t coming at him as a child anymore, but now recognized him as a man. “Took you long enough.” Leon muttered and lowered his stance while Zeek did the same.

It appeared that the goblin hadn’t heard him, or was ignoring Leon completely, which was surprising considering all the trash talk that he had been spouting only moments before. However, Hazeel’s comment had marked the turn of his demeanor, making this fight a matter of his pride within the village instead of one of his own personal affairs.

Brought out of his thoughts, Leon parried another thrust by Zeek using the handle of the scythe. Zeek’s tempo was increasing, and Leon knew it was something he had to be wary of. Another thrust was parried, but Zeek used the momentum by spinning to his right and aimed a 360 degree slash at Leon’s torso.

Leon clicked his tongue and placed the scythe handle in between his own torso and the blade and took the blow, using the momentum of the swing to back off from the exchange, but Zeek continued to chase and apply pressure.

There was no sense of joviality or humor in Zeek’s eyes now. The only thing going through his head was that if he lost, he could lose his position as Champion due to that one remark by Hazeel.

With a fierce cry, Zeek swung from above Leon’s head, but Leon side-stepped and swung his scythe, aiming for Zeek’s neck. The goblin brought up his shield and grunted as his guard was blown to the side.

“What is this weight!?” Zeek cried out as he was forced to back off from the exchange. Leon twirled the scythe using his hand and gripped it tightly, stopping its momentum and aiming the blade at Zeek.

“I told you to concede.” Leon put his blade in the dirt and rested on the shaft of the scythe. "Despite my personal opinions on eliminating someone I don’t know, my benefactor would be pretty troubled if your clan came and destroyed our lands to get back at us.” Zeek twitched in annoyance.

“You damned bastard! We’re in a ceremonial fight to the death and all you’re thinking of is how much of a pain it would be to kill me!? I’ll kill you and reclaim my honor! I’ll kill your family, pillage their houses, and take your women for my own use!”

Zeek immediately shut his mouth and started backing away from the center of the ring. “What’s wrong Zeek!?” A goblin cheered from among the crowd.

“Yeah, show him who’s boss! Keep your word from those threats earlier!” Another drunken goblin slurred. Even Hazeel, who had heard everything that came out of the mouth’s of both parties, narrowed her eyes in confusion.

However, that confusion only lasted until she looked across from Zeek and saw Leon, eyes rife with death and destruction focused solely on Zeek. It was then that Hazeel realized Zeek had messed up, and jumped from her chair with a start, praying that she would make it to the ring in time.