Sometimes I think of myself as a genius. Times like this proves that I am right. I know that I could not take the "hero" bastard in secret. People will quickly trace the murder back to me since I am the only one who has the motive. So if not in secret, then I will do it in public.

The days of inactivity made the men restless and in much need of entertainment. They also wanted to see the vaunted hero who vanquished the world's evil that is my brother. So what better way to satisfy their need than to arrange a show of skill from their "Hero" against a hated traitor of the country?

If the traitor wins, Cloud dies and then the men will demand the execution of his killer. If in a far off chance that the bastard defeats the Reaper, then I will just have to find another chance to take him out. Whoever dies, I win.

Watching that fool flail around and embarrass himself truly puts a smile on my face. Such a wide attack is something even an amateur could dodge that I have a hard time holding back my laughter. Good, good. Expose yourself for the fraud that you are. It was only by a miracle that you have defeated my brother and now all of these people will know it too.

"Your Majesty, is this really necessary?" Romulus who was sitting beside me and the other officers inquired.

"What is necessary General?" I asked the General without taking my eyes off of the fight in front of me.

He then got off his seat and kneeled in front of me. "Prince Arthur, please excuse me if my question might come as rude. But does Cloud really have to fight for the men's entertainment?"

"No need to kneel General. I'm not offended by your question." I helped him up and returned him to his seat before standing in front of them while facing the fight. "In these trying times, the men need their spirit to be lifted. Then I thought, what better way to lift their spirits other than seeing their "Hero" vanquishing evil? Surely the soldiers would like to see the skills of the "Hero" who defeated our most hated enemy, don't you agree?"

"I do agree with your majesty that the "Hero" fighting and defeating the traitor would be best to raise morale. But only if his skills are on par or better than the enemy. For who would like to see their heroes fall? It is apparent that between the two, it is the "hero" who is severely lacking in both skill and strength. Wouldn't he be in danger?" Asked Artemisia. I thought she hates Cloud for taking away her chance to take revenge on my brother for killing her parents? Why is she concerned for the very person responsible she lost her chance?

I sat back to my seat and drank a cup of wine before I answered her question. "You heard Pariston. He is safe and sound inside the enchanted armor. He is also wearing a steel anti-magic collar that will disable his ability to use mana to use skills in order to bypass his defense. There is no way for Vash to hurt him."

"That is really Vash? As in the "Reaper" Vash?" Artemisia was apparently shocked after hearing his name. I guess Vash is quite famous for her to even recognize his name.

Who haven't heard of the private who allowed his fellow scouts to escape with a crucial intel by letting himself be the rear guard and singlehandedly held back a hundred strong group of northern rebels in a narrow pass. What is more impressive is that when they came back to the scene of the battle, what they saw surprised them. Along the pass there lies corpses strewn all over the place and at the end of the trail laden with corpses was him, sitting in front of a meters high pile of corpses, eating food that he got from the dead bodies. That was when they started to call him the "Reaper".

"Why are you so surprised? We already told you that we caught him with his family weeks ago." Romulus answered.

"No, you told us that you caught potential spies. You never mentioned their names." She is clearly annoyed that Romulus didn't bother informing her of Vash's identity.

"Really? It must've slipped my mind, and why on earth do I have to inform you of every lowly soldier that we capture?" A clear lie. If I knew Romulus as well as I think, I guess that he wants to be completely sure if Vash really is a spy before informing the rest of his identity.

He is a kind, but stubborn old man. I remember him pleading that I hold off Vash's execution when we first caught him and his family to make sure that he is indeed guilty of being a traitor by being a part of the Ice Queen's army.

"Quit your squabbling you two." I ordered "you are spoiling the entertainment with your pointless bickering."

"We apologize your majesty." They both said at the same time.

"Your majesty, if you don't mind me asking. The fight is clearly one sided…" She pointed out as Cloud continues to miss his attacks. "Wouldn't it be better if I, or Romulus fight him instead of Cloud? That way the gap in skills would be closer and it will be a more entertaining fight for our men."

"It would be more entertaining to watch indeed. But the men wanted to see the skills of our "Hero" for a long time now so I am just giving them what they want." I quickly shot down her suggestion. "Just sit still and watch. Maybe our "Hero" will surprise us and show something good. If it gets dangerous, I instructed Pariston to intervene and stop the fight." Yeah right. Once the men see that the "Hero" they praise is nothing but useless trash, they won't even care if he was killed by a prisoner. Vash just need to follow the plan. Humiliate and exterminate.

As the crowds' cheers begin to wane and replaced by scattered booing, the smile on my face widens. It would not be long now.

Shit… No matter how I attack, I just can't hit him. True, I didn't have any experience in sword fighting but how hard is it to hit someone with a sharp stick? Apparently its hard, especially against a veteran.

"Your attacks are god awful. I can swing a sword better than you when I was but a child." This guy keeps mocking me as he dodging all my attacks.

"Why don't you say that to my face? You just keep on dodging. I already attacked you 10 times, why are you not fighting back?" It's like trying to cut water; he just keeps slipping away. It is really hard to hit someone who is focusing on defense. I need to change things up.

"I am saying it to your face. For why I'm not fighting back, you are such a pathetic swordsman that I'm even feeling sorry to attack yo---"As he speaks I try to rush him once more. Since my body is covered with this armor, I could just ignore his attacks and chase him down.

I kept running after him for a while till he jumped back a few meters towards the middle of the arena. He just stands there. "So you got tired of running huh? Ready to take this thing seriously?" I saw his eyes darted up and went back to me again.

"Yeah, come at me Cloud." Finally, since he is now going to attack. That means there will be an opening the moment he strikes. I can use my defense advantage and trade blows.

I then rushed towards him and saw him raise his sword. I raised my shield to meet his attack while swinging my own to cut him down. I see my blade is about to finally taste flesh but then I suddenly find myself kneeling when his sword lands on my shield, forcing me to the ground.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed. Even though my shield was able to intercept his attack, I can still feel the force of his blow travelling to my arms like a thousand ants crawling under my skin. I tried to stand but another swipe attack and although I was able to block it in time, my shield hand is almost numb from receiving the shock of just two attacks.

"Argh!!!" another scream comes out of my mouth as I was thrown to the ground, skidding from a kick to the gut. What the hell. Even when I am totally covered by armor I can still feel his attacks. Although I am thankful that the armor protects me from being dismembered outright, is it too much to ask to enchant this with anti-vibration defense? I feel that my insides are turning to mush from his attacks.

Another attack was caught by my shield, but even when I felt like my hand is about to drop it I continue to swing my sword to keep Vash away from me while I plan my next move. I am clearly outmatched. There is no doubt about that. Just when I thought I could find an opening if he stopped focusing on defense I was proven wrong again. He has even less opening now that he is on offensive rather than earlier when he is just dodging my attacks.

After stalking around me, Vash suddenly dashed towards me. Shit. Let's try something else. Turtling behind my shield, I charged towards him. With my weight combined with the weight of my armor, I hoping to do some damage by crashing into him with my momentum. Even if he side step I will catch him with my sword.

My plan came crashing down when he didn't even bother to dodge and my charge has been stopped in its' track. I felt like I hit a wall and when I looked at what he did, I saw that he stopped my charge with a single hand. Even with all that weight and force I was only able to push him back a few centimeters?

"Weak." He uttered, his usual demeanor of being a loving father and husband was in direct contrast of what can be described as utter lack of compassion as he casually pushed aside my shield and he swung his sword towards my head. I was able to crouch down and avoid the strike, but all of a sudden I was laying in the ground once more as I was sent sprawling by a knee to my chin, followed by a front kick. Just like that I am already struggling to pull myself up from been sent sprawling a second time and my armor starts to weigh me down. In just below 2 minutes after he fought back I am already reduced to this sorry state.

Not even giving me a second to catch my breath he continued his onslaught and I was unable to do anything except to defend. On and on I tried to put up a fight but he kept on knocking me around like I was nothing. Blocking an attack numbs my shield hand. When I cross swords with him makes my hand hurt as if I hit a metal post. When I try to dodge his sword I am then met with a kick to the gut or get swept off my feet by a low kick. The only reason that I was able to last this long is because of this armor, but as moments pass I began to notice something.

The armor that I am wearing is slowly becoming heavier.

I was alarmed when I looked at the gems and saw that its' glow is getting weaker. The gems are supposed to fuel the runes to make the armor lighter and sturdier. What would happen if it is out of juice?

As panic begin to set in my mind, I began lashing out hoping I hit him. Cut and thrust, a downward chop here and a sweeping strike there. Combining sword attacks, shield bash and even kicks while ignoring all of Vash's attack just so I can hit him even once and hopefully swing the tide of battle. I continued to swing my sword until I can't raise my arms in exhaustion.

My sword and shield fell from my powerless hands, too weak to hold them as I myself fall to my knees. This is hopeless. I can't do anything against him. He is just too good and I am too inexperienced with a sword. I can't win in a straight fight…

Then a thought came into my mind as he slowly walks towards me. "Given up already? Just because you won against a careless opponent your head became big, thinking yourself stronger that you really are. But I am not him. I know that I am weak. That is why I won't be careless and defeat you with all my power. My family depends on it." Vash started to walk slowly towards me with his sword on his side. "You can die in peace knowing that your death will free me and my family. Goodbye Cloud." I was suddenly alarmed when I felt mana pouring out of him. It was weak but he clearly using mana with his attacks. That means I can't allow this strike to hit me, armor or no armor.

As he raised his sword to strike me down, I quickly grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at Vash's face blinding him momentarily. I then grabbed my sword and swung it with all my strength targeting his legs. He was able to jump back, avoiding getting his legs chopped of but even though I wasn't able to cut his bone, I was still able to make a deep gash on his right leg. Limiting his mobility.

"Bastard! So that's how you wanna play huh?" he shouted as he kneels down and check on his leg, trying to stop the bleeding.

Even when my feet are shaking, I slowly stood up with my sword on my side. I feel adrenaline starting pumping in my veins as I the path towards victory is open to me once more. "This is a battle to the death Vash. Everything goes." I declared.

"Yeah, everything goes." He growled and I felt his mana focused on his uninjured foot for a split second before he rocketed towards me once more. My sword is longer so I just pointed it at him hoping he skewer himself on it. Although he was able to avoid getting impaled by my sword, he now finds himself in an outbalanced position and I take the opportunity to swipe my sword against him once more. He was able to block my attack but accidentally put his weight on his injured leg causing him to fall to the ground in pain.

Chance!

I found my second wind as I ignore the weight of my armor and pounced at my opponent. I swung my sword down but he quickly rolled away from my attacks. I turned the table against Vash as I continue my attacks while he continued to roll away from mine. When he suddenly stopped rolling away, I took the chance to deliver the final strike when a handful of dirt was thrown to my face. I was about to rub the dirt from my eyes when I felt an attack coming so I quickly jumped back. His blade was not able to do any damage to my leg thanks to my armor but after getting hit, I feel my armor get heavier in an instant.

"You sly bastard. You used my move against me." I said as I rub the dirt off my eyes.

He quickly cut a large piece of cloth from his pants and used it to wrap around his wound. "Two can play it that way. I too grew up in the streets.

Even when wounded, I still can't land a good hit on Vash, his skill and experience is evident as he dodges and parries my attacks the only damage I can deliver are light cuts and scratches. Meanwhile he keeps on battering my armor down and depleting what remained of the energy inside it. As moments pass I can feel the weight of the armor slowly pushing me down. 60 kilos of metal are too much for my exhausted body.

At last the glow of the gems died down and the full weight of the armor is now weighing down my body and it started getting dented by the unrelenting attacks of Vash. The armor became so heavy that even standing is almost an impossible feat.

The crowd became silent as they sense the battle has reached its peak. I stood there, meters away from my enemy. Both of us are so exhausted that it was a miracle we are still on our feet, fighting. Me being weighed down by my armor and Vash still bleeding from his leg wound.

This is bad. I thought. Even if I am still covered with armor, it is more of a dead weight now since the gems are out of juice, while Vash, even if he is wounded, could cut me down like butter with or without armor due to his mana enhanced sword strikes.

"It seems we have reached the end Cloud. Even as a novice you were still able to push me this far. For that I commend you. If you were just a little bit better as a swordsman you could've severed my feet. Alas, you lost your last chance and now, the time of your death has come."

"Yeah, I admit that I am not cut out as a swordsman." I took off my helmet first and when I saw Vash is just watching me, waiting for what I will do next, I then also began removing the laces of my armor and dropped it in the floor. "Even how much I try; I wouldn't be able to beat you with a sword. From the beginning I kind of knew that although I tried to deny it." Next I took off my arm guards and chausses. I know that Vash understands what I was doing but is doing nothing. I don't know what he is thinking, if I was him I would've attacked me as I take off my armor and strike me down. But as they say, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I reckon there is still some honor deep inside him either that or this is a final display of mercy. "Because you see, I am not a swordsman" I then took off both of my boots leaving me with just my clothes and gloves.

Even in front of a man who just manhandled me with his superior sword skill, the fear that I felt earlier melted away as the familiar feeling of fighting with nothing but your fists fill me with renewed strength and courage as I shout in the top of my lungs. "I'm a fighter and with my bare hands I will show you what I can do."