“WOOWW!!! Magnificent!!! What an excellent performance at the second event!!!” the commentators scream from their seats.

“That was indeed a very powerful and terrifying display of power by Earthville’s Prince Damian Ignition and Stormville’s Tesla Silver. As expected of the great king Gray’s son. Incredible!!!” they say.

“Don’t also forget that astonishing power boost by Dubnet against Mr. Hachi. All in all, they were all amazing,” one of the commentators adds.

After the display of Damian and the others, the spectators are in awe and remain silent for a while then some start shouting in applause of the wonderful show.

As the loud cheers of the multitude that gathered roars through the entire arena, some start chatting among themselves about the competition so far.

“Interesting, it is indeed as expected of your son, Gray,” Phoenix says, turning to Gray. Gray just sits there, unfazed.

“However, the battle royale tournament is where we shall see their true strength,” Phoenix adds.

“Brings back memories, does it not?” Gray replies with a calm unbothered expression on his face.

“Hmph!!!” Phoenix smiles a little.

“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, our dear kings and queens, the time for the battle Royale tournament is finally here. The remaining twenty four participants will be grouped in threes and contest among themselves with one winner emerging. But before that, we shall now proceed for a break so that the participants can be refreshed while you can enjoy the many delicacies the great Glory Academy has prepared for you all,” the commentators announce.

The kings stand and take their leave with their queens and escorts. Phoenix is about to walk through the exit door when a very huge muscular man, about thirteen feet in height, appears, standing at the door. The man, has behind him, three other huge muscular men, all about nine feet in height and a woman, slim but looking quite fit, about eight feet four inches in height having an afro Mohawk, also carrying a long staff. Also, beside the huge man, is another woman, same height with the Mohawk lady, beautiful with a very fair skin, having a gentle yet vicious look. She is wearing a silky sleeveless emerald gown with a golden sash hanging on her right shoulder. The thirteen feet man has black full medium hair, packed behind in three locks and also lots of beard packed in three places. His facial expression is like that of furious tiger ready to devour its prey. His eyes are black in color and he is clad in cream-colored sherwani (long coat-like garment), a pair of dark brown trousers and a pair of huge black boots.

He just stops, standing at the door, glaring down at Phoenix.

“Quite the late comer you are, Goryu Futen, Windville’s great giant king. Oh it’s Galedom now right?” Phoenix says looking up to and smiling at Goryu, the eight feet man.

“Good to see you and your lovely wife Nadi,” Diana adds.

Nadi, the lady standing beside Goryu, replies in a slow intriguing manner.

“Diana, quite the long time it has been, hasn’t it?” she says.

“Hmph!!!” Goryu sighs.

“Phoenix, king of Lightville, kid, you’re in my way,” he says with quite the deep and raspy voice.

“Kid? Old fool, do you want to have another beating so badly?” Phoenix replies, glaring at Goryu, with a smile on his face.

“Move,” he adds, smiling.

“What?!” one of the men behind Goryu, screams. Goryu uses his hand to stop him from making any further movement.

“Move!” Phoenix repeats, this time with a stern look on his face. For a second it becomes hard to breathe for those around, except Goryu, Diana and the lady behind Goryu though she struggles a little to breathe.

Goryu stares at Phoenix in the eye and then makes way for him to pass.

“Thank you very much great giant king, Goryu,” Phoenix says, walking away with Diana.

“Well you do know there are other doors you could have used,” Diana says to Phoenix as they walk.

“Oh there were?” Phoenix sarcastically replies with a chuckle.

Diana laughs. “Yup, it’s definitely from you Kiiara gets her behavior,” she adds.

“Now it’s from me? I think we both know who the loud one is between us,” Phoenix replies.

Meanwhile, the remaining participants are gathered together sitting in a big hall inside the arena where the tournament will hold. They are there to get refreshed for the battle royale tournament. This means that their wounds will be healed if any and their elemental energy restored to a particular level depending on how much was expended. This process is done by the school’s healing team and also volunteers from different kingdoms.

“Alright, now I’m replenished to some extent,” Kiiara says wriggling her right arm about.

“I depleted my energy level too much by using that conflagration technique there. Still I won’t give up, I’ll win this!!!” she says within herself.

“Seems the time is finally here Kii Kii. Time to show the world who the next greatest will be,” Serena says, standing beside Kiiara.

“Certainly not you,” Maka interrupts with a giggle.

“Instead of arguing, why not just wait and see what happens,” Kevine says.

“Tch!!! How boring. Hey Falcon tweep, what’s your motivation?” Maka asks Serena.

“Tweep? Anyway, not that it’s your concern however only the strong survive, truly achieve their dreams and end up not bullied out of it, right?” Serena answers.

“And the winner of this tournament will be seen as the strongest here, right?” she continues.

“Interesting, I see,” Maka replies.

“I’m sure everyone has their own motivation for doing this and none can be taken lightly. To this effect I do hope we give it our all,” Tesla says.

“Alright people, time for rest is over,” the coordinator for the battle royale tournament says, signaling the participants to gather close to her.

“Finally,” the participants each say within themselves. Damian who was lying, relaxing on a long couch, grins and gets up. Dayve who was leaning on a wall with his legs crossed and arms folded, raises his head and starts to calmly walk towards the coordinator. Kiiara takes a deep breath and exhales. Everyone looks fired up.

Back at the royal viewing area, the kings, queens, other royalties and their escorts have returned and are taking their seats when a black vortex spiraling with dark purple radiance, appears at the space before the exit doors, behind the seats. This gets the attention of everyone seated there, making them turn to see what it was. Out of the vortex, comes a man, putting on a long black leather coat with purple linings, black gloves, black trousers and black boots reaching close to his knees. He has violet eyes, black long hair packed like a ponytail and a cold countenance.

“Hey!! Hey!! Don’t just go off running in like that leaving your sweet wife alone, Draem,” a lady says, emerging from the vortex after the man with violet eyes, Draem. She has short violet hair, violet eyes, wearing a long black sleeveless gown with some nice jewelries.

“You’re the reason I’m here in the first place, Rouge,” Draem, the man, replies in his deep calm voice.

“Yes. I am your queen and as my king you should fulfil my desires,” Rouge replies and sighs, turning her face to the side while closing her eyes.

“You two, can we please have our seats, your majesties?” a young man with glasses, also coming out from the vortex, suggests. He comes out with a lady just behind and the vortex closes up.

“My, my, what a grandiose entrance,” another mysterious man says, entering from the exit doors. He is dressed in all black, wearing a hat, a suit and a grey muffler hanging around his neck. Walking beside him, are two ladies, left and right, and behind him a lady and two men. The men behind him are wearing the same attire as himself while the lady behind him is clothed in a black skirt suit, with a cream hat. The lady to his right is putting on a short black gown with a long collar while the lady to his left is attired in a black jumpsuit.

“Well what do we have here? If it isn’t the current king of Darkville, Darius Black. Along with your two concubines, how’s your wife, Medusa?” Draem replies.

“They’re my wives too, not concubines anymore and the queen is doing just fine. She claims not to be interested in such and so has other business to meddle into,” Darius answers.

“On the other hand, what brings you here, Draem, proud king of Psyville?” Darius questions.

“I have no obligation to answer you, Darius,” Draem responds.

“Would you two take your seats already? You’re making a fuss over there,” Goryu says from his seat.

“Hoo, want to have a go at it?” Draem responds in his usual cold and calm composure.

“I’ll be glad to take you on anytime, young fool,” Goryu replies.

“Seriously, the competition is about to start guys,” Isabelle, queen of Aquaville, says.

“You’re one to talk, Isabelle,” Darius replies, with a grin.

“What do you mean, Darius Black? I wouldn’t mind a duel against you,” Isabelle responds.

“Everyone, can we respect ourselves and take our seats?!” Echo Forge, king of the Central plains, calmly yells.

“Echo Forge, taking you on, wouldn’t be so bad either,” Goryu says.

“Hey…I think we’re forgetting the reason we’re here,” Phoenix says, calmly, from his seat, with a stern look.

“Tch!! I came here because of Rouge anyway. Let’s go,” Draem hisses and says, signaling his wife Rouge, and the others with him to follow him to their reserved seats.

The other kings and queens face the arena. Farads Hertz and Luxxi Hertz, king and queen of Stormville, smile at the happenings.

“Nice one, Phoenix, but how long can you keep this up?” Darius says, walking with his people to their reserved seats.

“Sheesh!!! What are they? Kids?” Phoenix murmurs as he turns to face the arena.

Diana smiles, resting her chin on one of her hands.

“Seems Darius came with the Danes,” she says to Phoenix, referring to the lady and one of the men walking behind him.

“That must the real reason he came. I guess he’s curious to see the prodigy of Darkville for this generation and that is none other than Erraz Dane, son of Ban and Sharon Dane,” Phoenix replies.

Another batch of people enter through the exit door, this time, it is a man dressed in a similar attire like Phoenix but with small design changes, having long full black hair, dark red eyes and a fair skin. Beside him, is a lady and two other young girls, one looking eighteen years of age while the other, eleven years of age. The lady has long straight black hair with dark blue eyes wearing a light blue gown with a silver colored scarf on her shoulder. The girl of eighteen years, has the same eyes as the man while the younger has the eyes of the woman. They all walk over to meet Phoenix.

“Marcus, you are here,” Phoenix says with a smile.

“Wouldn’t miss this, your majesty. Since Gerrar is participating and so is Ruby’s son, Dayve,” Marcus replies, smiling back.

“Marcus, how long do I have to repeat it? Just call me Phoenix,” Phoenix says.

Marcus laughs and replies “whatever you say.”

“Good to see you too, Lilian,” Phoenix says, greeting the lady beside Marcus.

“Good afternoon, your majesties, our great king and queen,” the two young girls greet Phoenix and Diana.

“Marya, Sapphire, good to see you both,” Phoenix replies.

“Big Sis, a pleasure to watch this with you,” Diana says to Lilian and they both smile at each other.

“Ha ha. You don’t always have to mention the ‘big’. It’s not even that big a difference between our age, Sis,” Lilian laughs and responds.

They all take their seat.

“If you’re here though, I’m guessing Aloysius is in charge back home?” Phoenix asks Marcus.

“Yeah. No need to worry, everything is in order. Asides the strong military force, there’s also the guardian pillars so I’m sure no one would dare to try anything stupid,” Marcus answers.

“I’m not worried at all. Aloysius is totally capable of handling things well over there. He is your father in-law after all and the father of our beloved wives,” Phoenix responds and chuckles.

“Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, our dear kings and queens, IT…IS…TIME!!!!” the commentators shout through their microphones. The microphone is not connected to any outlet or source and so uses sound element to emit sounds instead of the usual way microphones work. The whole arena is full and the great cheers of the crowd thunder through the atmosphere.

“For this year’s battle Royale tournament, we will be having eight groups with three participants in each group. The participants will battle themselves in the massive fighting stage and only one winner will emerge from each group. The winners of each group will then face the winner of another group and the elimination will continue till the final round where the last two will face off against themselves,” the commentators announce.

“Now the rules of the battle are simple. The fighting area is quite big and in the center is the large fighting stage. Once you are out of the fighting stage for more than ten seconds, you lose the match. The fighting stage refers to the large rectangular field in the middle of the fighting area, the four pathways its sides, the air above it and the ground beneath it. Also you can run on the walls for more than ten seconds. Once you are knocked out whether on the fighting stage or not, for more than ten seconds, you lose the match. Lastly if you want you can also forfeit the match if you perceive that the battle is beyond you. As for weapons, you can use personalized weapons provided they will not be fatal to the participants, if any fatal injury should occur due to such, that offense is punishable by Central Plains’ law,” they continue.

“And our esteemed live spectators, don’t be perturbed about large scale attacks and if they will get to you. Your safety is our priority too, as you can see, the arena is quite massive. Not just that but we have the school’s best shield emitters providing a double layered shield around the fighting area to prevent any attacks from leaking out. Yes before we forget, if any match seems outrageous or ridiculous, the kings, queens, generals, principal, teachers and the games coordinators have the right to either allow the match and end the match, as their judgements can be well trusted,” they add.

“Without further ado, time for the matchups to be displayed on the crystal screens. But before that quickly let us introduce the coordinators for this event. Starting from the left, give it up for the great general of Central Plains’ fourth division, Dinah!! Next to her are two of Glory Academy’s teachers, one of Psyville’s great psychics, Deva!! And the other, the blade master of the eight blades style, Hachi!! Next to him is the great knight, the young genius, Campione!!! And next to her, is the great Lady of Light from Lightville, the mighty Saphix!!! Don’t let her beauty fool you, she’s quite older than she looks but a very kind hearted soul that also helps to freshen up the participants of this Glory games with her light element. It’s an honor to have you here, Lady Saphix. The referee for this match is none other than the great knight, Echelone!!!” they announce and the massive crowd give a powerful cheer at the mention of each judges’ name.

“Now now, for the matchups,” they say and everyone fixes their attention on the screens.

“We shall be having eight matches.

Group A: Sienna Vs Serena Vs Kiiara. Group B: Dubnet Vs Artemis Vs Buffy. Group C: Teru Vs Aurium Vs Jin. Group D: Damian Vs Dia Vs Arsey. Group E: Tesla Vs Armstrong Vs Pamla. Group F: Maka Vs May Vs Kalium. Group G: Dayve Vs Gerrar Vs Erraz. Group H: Kevine Vs Kevla Vs Borro.

For the quarterfinal matchup, the winner of A will face the winner of F, B will face G, C will face D and E will face H. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, we give to you the Battle Royale Tournament!!!” the commentators announce, screaming at the end of the speech.

While some of the crowd are cheering on loudly, some discuss among themselves.

“Hoo, they put three Lightville people against themselves in the first group and that’s the first match,” they discuss.

“Ahh the matchups look great to me. I guess they want to eliminate too much of a particular group of people from the same kingdom using this system so that other kingdoms have a good shot at it too,” they say.

“Well it’s no one’s fault that a particular kingdom has so many great talents this time around,” some others complain.

At the place where the participants are gathered, after seeing the groupings, they are all surprised yet pumped up.

“Well well, sis, seems like there’s no time to waste,” Serena says to Kiiara, grinning.

“Seems so Sis,” Kiiara replies, smiling.

“Don’t hold back,” she adds with a serious face.

“Without wasting much time,” the commentators broadcast as the contenders of the first group begin filing out.

“From one corner, we have one of the daughters of the great king of Lightville, an excellent student of the special class level, Princess Serena Falcon!!!” they yell, as Serena walks out onto the fighting platform.

“From another corner, belonging to the mighty house of the Brogues, users of the unique pink lightning, hailing from Lightville. Also an excellent student of the special class level, Sienna Brogues!!!” they yell again, as Sienna steps out onto the fighting platform.

“Lastly for group A, is another of the daughters of the great king of Lightville. A smart student and an excellent drummer too, Princess Kiiara Falcon!!!” they yell again as Kiiara steps out onto the fighting stage.

The three are now standing at the center of the large fighting stage (about the size of three football pitches, length and width), facing each other in a triangular manner, with the referee, Echelone, in their middle.

“Now now, brats,” Echelone speaks up in his deep bass voice. He is wearing a dark red armor having golden designs on it and carrying a behemothic sword which he puts down, resting his hands on the long handle of the sword.

“Hope you’re all fired up for this. Make this one hell of a fight,” he says.

“Yes sir,” they calmly reply, fixing their gaze on each other as the warm afternoon breeze sweeps across with their hair and clothes flowing along with it.

“Alright then, let’s have some fun. Let the battle, Begin!!!” he shouts, taps the shout with the tip, on the ground and jumps backwards to a very tall chair just outside the fighting platform.

The fighting platform is in the middle of the fighting area which is about forty five feet below where the seats for the spectators start from. The walls of the fighting area are built in a curve-like manner so the fighting area from top view looks almost like a sphere with a large rectangular platform in the middle. The fighting platform has four long thin pathways, each from its four sides, running all the way to the doors of the fighting arena. Also within the fighting platform are some huge pillars. There are four people dressed in white robes with hoods standing respectively at the four corners of the fighting arena, at the top of it. They are the shield providers. The other participants yet to battle, have a special stance above the fighting arena where they can directly watch the match.

“This should be fun,” Kiiara says, making a run in Serena’s direction. She is wearing a white t-shirt with her jacket tied round her waist, her hair packed in a ponytail style and a necklace with a cross pendant dangling from her neck. Strapped to her waist is a sword and some knives.

“Interesting,” Serena says, taking her fighting stance. Serena is wearing the navy blue jacket that all participants were given, all buttoned up with the sleeves folded and a pair of finger gloves. Her hair is twisted from her neck down to just below her waist.

Sienna just smiles, folding her fingers except the index and middle finger of both hands and they begin to emanate small sparks of pink lightning. Sienna is dressed like Serena except her jacket is a folded short sleeve, unbuttoned and she is wearing a grey t-shirt on the inside.