Liz finally made a full acknowledgment of Hector, which just consisted of her turning to Hector in response to his instructions.

She wasn’t able to act on her own or Hector's accord, as Mercy had already begun to stand back up.

Her hair was messed up so much that it covered her entire face. Jon had a hard time even seeing what her expression was underneath.

It’s gonna keep going…

“Mercy…” Jon wished he knew what she was feeling. If she was sad, nervous, scared, or even angry. He wanted to know. Not knowing was scarier than anything else.

She had her mouth open wide to catch some breaths, then she ran forward.

Like before, Liz began tracing more shapes over the ground with her food.

A blue block lifted out of the ground at an angle, catching Mercy as she tried to jump over it.

Mercy rode the block before she was able to flip over the front and continue forward.

She bumped into a second block that had appeared, having to push herself off before she got carried out of the ring.

It’s like again, except at the end someone gets hurt…

Mercy contended with the vertical and ascending blocks that she encountered, hopping between each block until finally pushed herself towards the floor.

In response, Liz stomped her foot.

The blocks all descended to the floor with her, forming into a large platform underneath Mercy’s feet.

It suddenly folded in half with Mercy in the center.

Both ends of the platform rose up, only stopped by Mercy who was able to leap up and catch each of the ends in her hand.

She was clearly straining in trying to stop herself from being crushed.

Liz rotated her hand, and the entire book-shaped light mana structure tipped over.

With a yell, Mercy pushed out hard enough for her to escape the structure before it rolled out the side of the ring, disappearing on contact with the border.

Liz had already begun the next phase of her attack, tossing her book towards the center of the ring.

A dark blue structure rose out of the ground, appearing to be a sort of warrior with armor, a sword in one hand, a shield in the other, and a helmet with blue spikes, and an undefined face.

Jon got flashbacks to his battle with Cass, the wizard who had summoned several infinitely reappearing magical structures much like the one Liz had just summoned. Except his were a lot more undefined, like beings that struggle to even create a single form.

Liz’s being had a much more structured form, a little bit like Jon was staring at an actual person.

The being raised its sword and swiped down at the approaching Mercy, forcing her to retreat with several backflips.

Again, Jon could see that the structure had occupied the center of the space, separating Mercy from Liz on either side of the ring.

Mercy found her tool on the ground, picking it up and choosing to fight the structure head-on.

She used her maneuverability and speed to strike at the being and keep it in place behind its shield.

She then tried to jump over it while it was down, but the structure reached up and caught her leg before she got too far and slammed her into the ground.

Mercy kicked off its leg before standing up and quickly slicing it into three pieces.

The pieces suddenly reformed into a full figure again and forced Mercy on the defensive.

Whoa. Can she do that forever? Jon risked a look at Liz again.

She still had the dark blue circle around her, but Jon could see that she was losing energy.

“She’s using too much mana!” Hector yelled again.

He turned to Mallory.

“Stop it!” Hector yelled.

Mallory shrugged. “I can’t, man! They’re still, like, going at it, you know?”

“No! I don’t know!” Hector yelled.

Mercy finally slipped past the structure, sliding under its shield and running straight to Liz.

The structure turned after her and bled into the ground.

It slithered until it was in front of Mercy again.

It caught Mercy with its shield charged forward.

Liz was still straining as she commanded the soldier. Jon theorized if she had more mana, she would have been able to toss Mercy immediately out of the ring.

Jon wasn’t used to theorizing, but it’s what everyone else seemed to be doing, and it seemed to help out when determining how a fight would turn out. It would make sense to learn so that he could keep up with his friends.

Mercy kicked off the shield and spun, lopping off the structure’s undefined head with her blade and causing its helmeted head to spin throughout the air.

Liz made a short yell but twisted her hand in the air again.

Did that hurt? Jon wondered.

Mercy landed on the ground and tried, but she was stopped by the headless structure, which had begun rapidly expanding in size. Its large blade had cut off Mercy’s path, and she looked around for a new way past.

Jon held on to his chair as he felt the ground rumbling and watched the structure rise higher and higher, its body taking up the majority of the ring.

IT grew so big that its arms disappeared into the sides of the ring as they expanded.

“Too much mana!” Hector yelled, standing up.

“Too much, too much, too much!” Mallory had joined Hector’s in his panicked protests as he began moving his arms rapidly again.

The structure lifted its foot and tried to stomp on Mercy.

Mercy moved to the side, but she was getting close to the edge of the circle.

She ran alongside it, not running at full speed so that she could be careful not to leave.

Jon couldn’t help but feel like she was trapped in a cage. He wanted to open the door to let her out.

But there wasn’t a door. IT was just a competition, and she was trying not to lose.

Mercy dived past another huge kick before she decided to jump into the air.

She did one of her signature air dashes, but this time she went straight up.

She repeated the maneuver, going higher and higher before she was at the height of the structure’s head.

Just when Jon thought Mercy would get by, the creature headbutted her with its reformed helmet.

Mercy flew back down into the bottom of the ring.

Ohh…. She’s still in…

Liz clutched her chest.

Jon felt a light brush of wind on his face as Hector sprinted past it to Liz’s side just from the outskirts of the circle.

“Liz, stop it!” Hector yelled. “You’re using too much unrestricted mana!”

“Go, Hector!” Liz responded, not taking her eyes off the ring.

A large beam of light mana erupted from the side of the field, piercing the large structure in the stomach.

“Ahh!” Liz held her stomach, but she held her arm outstretched, still trying to keep the structure from crumbling.

It wouldn’t last much longer. Mercy lept up into the air with her tool raised above her.

It raised towards the ceiling again, matching the height of the giant.

She swung the blade down, slicing the entire being in half and making her path towards Liz clear.

She then kicked off the air, diving right into Liz.

Both women tumbled onto the floor, flipping over each other. After some struggling, Mercy finally stood up and kicked Liz’s spellbook out of her hand, sending it just outside of the ring.

Before Mercy could do anything else, tendrils flew outside of the book, passing into the ring from the outside and grabbing Mercy.

“Sorry!” Liz called out to Mallory, who watched in both confusion and awe. She twisted her wrist.

The tendrils pulled at Mercy, but not before she grabbed Liz, and pulled her to to the floor.

Mercy held on to Liz as the tendrils began to wrap around both of their bodies.

“You’re gonna pull us both out!” Mercy yelled as she mounted on top of Liz, holding her by the collar.

“So be it!” Liz declared. “I-”

Mercy;’s elbow caught Liz in the side of the head.

“Liz!” Hector yelled. He looked at Mercy.

“Stop it!” He said.

“I can’t!” Mercy said, “tell her to stop!”

“I can’t…” Liz muttered.

Mercy punched her in the face again.

“Stop it!” Hector repeated, following their bodies as they began to slide towards the edge of the arena. They inched closer and closer to the book’s location.

“I…” Liz was interrupted by another punch from Mercy.

Hector turned to his father, who was watching the entire thing.

“Dad!” Hector yelled.

“Oh, now I’m your Dad?” Luther asked.

Hector gave him a sour look before ignoring him and returning to the fight.

Mercy… Jon had pushed himself over to the ring as well. He didn’t want to yell, since everyone else was yelling, but he could feel the building agitation.

Instead, he just readied his gun.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Mercy began to repeatedly punch Liz in the face more and more.

Suddenly someone grabbed her wrist from behind, stopping her assault.

It was Junwata, who was somehow able to the other side of the arena and stop Mercy without anyone else interfering.

“What are you doing?” Mercy asked with venom in her voice.

“...It’s over,” Junwata said. “The battle is won… by you…”

This directed everyone over to the edge of the ring, where Liz’s feet and lower legs had been dragged out by the tendrils. They were covered in white powder.

“...Yeah…” Mallory nodded. “He’s right. Mercy won.”

There was no fanfare to the announcement. Jon then realized that Mallory had grabbed onto his shoulder. It wasn’t enough to stop him from shooting his gun, but Jon figured that was done on purpose.

“I should…” Mallory stopped himself with a high-pitched gasp that caught everyone’s attention.

“What are you-” Liz!”

Hector’s annoyance quickly changed to shock.

Jon turned back to Liz to see that Liz’s hair was matted with red, and a large pool of blood had been gathering around her head.

“I didn’t…” Mercy climbed off of Liz in shock. “I didn’t… I mean-”

Both Mallory and Hector dropped to Liz’s side, Hector picking up Liz’s head and putting it on his lap while Mallory began tracing his fingers over her body.

“Mallory!” Hector said. “Do something! She’s-”

“She’s fine, Hector,” Mallory muttered quickly.

“Mallory, she’s-”

“She’s fine!” Mallory yelled.

Both men caught each other’s gaze, ceasing to speak while Mallory’s hands still traced over Liz’s body.

“She’s fine, man,” Mallory finally said after some time. “Trust me.”

“Might I draw attention to the fact that the opponent has been dealing with a self-caused head injury earlier in the match,” Junwatat noted. "That along with the-”

“Repeated head injuries made the cut open larger-” Mallory said. “Making it seem worst than it actually is. Hector’s gotten worst during training-”

Mallory waved his hand over Liz’s head and winced. “Still pretty bad.”

“Where are the nurses?” Hector asked.

“They’re coming,” Mallory said. “We can’t move her yet!”

“May I?” Junwata asked, holding out a large piece of tape.

“Sure,” Mallory said. “If… Hector can make some room.”

“Him?” Hector asked. “You want me to-”

“Hector.”

Mallory just saying Hector’s name was enough to stop him and make him grumble. He stood up and let Junwata take his place on the floor behind Liz’s head.

“Hector…” Mercy started, approaching him. “I’m sorry, I-”

“Sorry?” Hector swiveled towards her with a look of fury. “You caused all of this to happen!”

“I…” Mercy’s face returned with scorn. “Really?” I’m doing this for you!”

She shoved Hector in the shoulder.

“You’re doing this for you!” Hector shoved Mercy in the shoulder. “You’re just obsessed with winning!!”

“Really?” Mercy had begun to raise her hands towards Hector. “You-”

There was a loud pop, stunning the area. Jon had fired his gun up into the air.

“...Enough,” Jon said. He didn’t know how to follow up. Somehow, he had managed to make the gun sound louder, much like a regular blunderbuss just by thinking it. Nothing had actually shot fired from the barrel.

He wondered how Dan was able to do it without breaking a sweat. Even if he hadn’t shot anything, it still made Jon nervous to shoot the gun among a crowd of people.

“He’s right…” Macy came Jon’s side, rubbing him on the shoulder. “You guys are doing too much.”

“What are you doing here?” Hector asked her. “Here to gloat about my fiance getting be up?”

“No, actually,” Macy said. “I’m here to tell you that you guys need to calm down since you’re getting close to winning.”

“What do you mean?” Hector asked. “How are we close?”

“You’re fended off most of the families,” Macy said. “The ones who were gonna fight anyway. Liz is maybe the strongest one here at the moment whose participating, followed by Hector. So, once she went down, everyone else is probably doubting themselves.

“Still…” Hector turned back to Liz. Junwata had been neatly wrapping the top of her head with badges as Mallory her up.

“Liz is a warrior, dummy,” Macy said. “And she loves you. Of course, she was gonna fight her heart out.”

“There shouldn’t be this much fighting at all,” Hector said. ‘It’s-”

“Hector.” Mercy, now calmed down, had started speaking to him again. “I respected Liz’s strength and she respected mine. She didn’t fight any less hard than she had to. We’re all fighters. We’re gonna get hurt! You’re gonna have to deal with that.”

“And you shouldn’t be arguing with your girlfriend right before she’s gonna collapse from exhaustion,” Macy added. “It’s unbecoming of you.”

Just as Macy said, Mercy’s knees suddenly buckled, and she stopped herself from dropping to the floor completely.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re here, trying to help,’ Mercy said. “Why aren’t you over there with your Father?”

“I’m over here because I think you have a chance,” Macy said, giving a warm smile. “You should see my Dad right now. He’s shitting his pants, and I’m loving it! Why do you think he’s been trying so hard to stress you out?”

“Cause… he wants me to learn my lesson,” Hector said, putting his head down.

“It’s because he thinks you can win,” Macy responded.

“I… I…” Hector picked his head up. “Ah…”

He turned to his father, catching his attention and pointing his finger at him.

“You’re a piece of shit!” Hector yelled.

Luther’s eyes went from curiosity to fury.

“You speak to your father like that?” Luther yelled.

“You’re not my Dad right now, it’s like you said!” Hector responded. “You’re just trying to push me down!”

“I’m just trying to-”

Hector turned away from his father before hearing the rest of what he had to say.

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Luther bellowed to Hector’s back.

“I don’t need-” Hector’s retort was interrupted by a sharp blow to the face.

Liston had just shocked Hector in the jaw. Jon felt disappointed that he hadn’t spotted Liston sneaking up behind them.

“You… bastard!” Liston said, “You-”

He tried to chase down Hector, but Jon immediately flicked his leg out.

Liston tripped over Jon’s outstretched leg and fell on his face.

‘You…” He pushed himself up, somehow ignoring everything that had just happened to him. “You’re a blight on my sister! You’ve always been one!”

“Liston!” Hector was more astonished than angry. “I-”

“You watch yourself, Liston!” Luther yelled, stepping up in front of Hector.

A magic circle began to form around Liston’s feet.

“Move over, Mr. Luther!” Liston called. “I have a problem with your son!”

“If you cause more fighting, you’re gonna have a problem with me!” Luther yelled.

“Well, I’m sorry Mr. Luther, but-”

Lester’s arm immediately wrapped around Liston’s neck, pulling him out of the circle and bringing him into a chokehold.

“Sorry about that!” Lester said. “I was trying to keep him out of the castle, but he got off his leash. I’ll just-”

Liston bit down on Lester’s arm!”

“Hey!” Lester seemed mildly annoyed. “Hold on…”

He grabbed Liston by the collar and headbutted him hard. Liston went limp immediately.

“It’s all good!” Despite the casual manner, the comment seemed to be directed to Luther, who was still looking on with anger.

“You best take him out of here!” Luther said.

“Yep! He’ll be on a bed right next to his sister!” Liston holstered Liston’s body over his shoulder and walked towards the side door.

At the same time, Liz’s bandaged body was being lifted up on the stretcher. They followed Lester out through the side door.

“I don’t need your help,” Hector said to his father without yelling.

“It’s not about you,” Luther said, “It’s about keeping this whole shindig together without falling apart.”

“I agree,” Junwata said, standing back up finally. “We should keep all of the fighting in the arena.”

Mercy gave a sad look to Jon.

“Go on, son,” Luther said to Mallory. “Tell ‘em what’s next.”

Mallory grimaced. “I-”

“It’s fine,” Mallory,” Mercy said. “Keep going.”

“I…”

“Get off, Daddy!” Jon turned back to the tables to see where the voice came from.

Cecilia was trying to drag herself away from her father and brother, who were both trying to stop her from leaving the table.

“Stop it!” Cecil said. “Stop-”

Cecilia pulled hard, tossing Cecil out of his seat and onto the floor.

She looked at her father, who quickly withdrew his arms.

“Cecilia, please,” her father said. “It’s not worth it. We-”

“I’m not doing this for you!” Cecilia yelled. “Well, maybe a little.”

She winded up her shoulders and turned to the front of the room.

“I…” She brushed her hair away from her face, “Cecilia Artford Havenson, accepts the next challenge for the hand of the groom.”

“Cecilia!” Hector called out. “Don’t do this!”

“Sorry!” Cecilia responded. “I-”

“Come back here right now!” Cecil had pushed himself off of the floor. “You’re being insolent!”

“Shut up, Cecil,” Cecilia responded. “Shelley!”

Shelley reached underneath her own table from where she was sitting and pulled out a long, skinny sword with a flair sword guard, and tossed it to Cecilia with both hands.

Cecilia caught the sword from the air with one hand.

“Aww crap.” Mallory looked at Mercy. “You ready?”

“I…” Mercy tried to take another step but dropped to other knees again.

“I can do it…” she said, trying to catch her breath. “I-”

“Take your breath!” Cecilia said. She took a seat at the front end of the circle. “But we will have to resume this.”

“No, she won’t.” Macy craned her neck. “I was looking for some exercise anyway.”

“You’ll… no!” Hector said. “Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Of course I do,” Macy remarked. “We had a deal, remember? You trust me to hold that up?”

This was directed towards Mercy, who seemed to be regarding the choice.

“You can’t do this!” Luther started approaching Macy. “This is-”

Hector stepped in between them.

“She can do whatever she wants!” Hector said. “Even if…”

He grunted. “Even if… it seems weird.”

“Why are you both going against me!” Luther said.

“Cause you’re an asshole,” both Macy and Hector responded.

Luther turned red in the face.

“Why, you-”

Luther suddenly had two people holding him back.

One was Junwata, who had calmly placed his hand on Luther’s shoulder.

The other was Mallory, who had wrapped his arms around Luther’s whole body.

“We said in the arena, didn’t we?” Junwata suggested.

With a small grunt, Luther brushed off Mallory’s hold.

“You raised soldiers, Daddy,” Macy responded. “We know how to put up a fight.”

She turned to Mercy. “It’s up to you.”

Mercy looked up at Jon. “What do you think?”

“....It’s up to you,” Jon said to her.

“Right…” Mercy nodded. She turned back to Macy.

“You can fight for me.”

“Great!” Macy jumped up in excitement. She turned to Cecelia.

“Get ready to get your ass kicked!" She yelled. She ran inside the circle.

Cecilia stood up in shock.

“Macy?”

“Hell yeah!” Macy raised up her hands. “Come on in!”

Cecilia entered the circle as well, unsure.

“Uhh… Yeah…” Mallory approached the circle again. “The next match is… starting…”

Jon escorted Mercy back to her throne. Even if he was the one that was in the chair, he was concerned about Mercy’s deposition. She was still breathing hard, even if she tried to look calm, and she was just barely limping back to her chair.

“I didn’t… mean to hurt her…” Mercy muttered under her breath to Jon.

“It’s okay…” Jon muttered. He put his hand in hers, but she pulled it away as she sat down in her chair.

Hector walked silently to his one chair.

“Hector…” Mercy began.

“Get some rest,” Hector responded.

Mercy didn’t say anymore.

Back in the ring, Cecilia was swinging around her sword in preparation.

“I hope you’re prepared to meet your defeat!” Cecilia said. “Such is the fate of the leftovers of a great family.”

“Oh… you’ve been riding my sister really hard,” Macy replied from her side.“You think a few little dance classes are gonna really put you at any level with my family?”

With that said, Macy turned around to Jon and gave him a wink before turning back to a fuming Cecilla.

“I’ll have you know!” Cecilia said. “I’ve been training with this epee....”

“3,” Mallory said somehow both loudly and unenthusiastically. “2…”

Macy lowered her stance, her hands held up in front of her face.

Cecilia drew her arm back towards her shoulder and pointed her sword forward.

“No weapons?” Cecilla asked. “You can’t be that stupid.”

“Your face, of course,” Macy responded. “That should be enough to hurt you.”

“1…”

Macy blew a final taunting kiss to Cecilia.

“Start!”