Enlightened Violence 64

Chapter 64: The Tournament, Part 2

"The first round of the free for all will start shortly," Briar said with a smirk as she stood in the middle of the fighting ring. "So everyone in the first group, get your asses up here," she added while gesturing for the contestants to climb into the ring. 

"Alright, people, I want this fight to be as dirty as possible!" Briar said with a smirk as she looked over at the contestant. "Anyone who hasn't punched someone's genitals in the first two minutes of the match will be eliminated!" she added while gesturing an uppercut with her hand, causing the contestants' eyes to twitch. 

"Disregard that," Kaden commented from the side with a sigh. "You're not fighting enemies but comrades you will have to entrust your backs to in the future," he added in a stern tone. 

"Keep that in mind, and don't do anything stupid," Kaden concluded, his eyes going over the contestants crowding the ring, settling on a particular woman for a second. 

The woman was short, and she had a tanned complexion. She wore a pair of conspicuous black pants and a grey sweater that, along with the generic features of her face, made her look mundane and boring.

However, Kaden knew better, which is why he was keeping an eye on her. The woman's name was Morana, one of the game survivors, and one of the group members, Kaden, was keeping an eye on because she was hiding her abilities.

"Killjoy!" Briar said as she looked at Kaden with a pout. "Anyway, there's nothing more for me to say, so you guys can just go ahead and beat the living crap out of each other," she concluded, jumping off the ring. 

The contestants awkwardly looked at each other, seemingly at a loss, not knowing if they should start or not until Briar exclaimed from the side, "Hurry up and start fighting before everyone dies of old age!" 

That was all the contestants needed to hear, and they immediately charged at each other, with the more confident about their abilities, or perhaps more foolish, making their way to the center of the ring, attempting to stand out from the rest.

The most eye-catching contestant fighting in the middle of the ring was a youth roughly the same age as Kaden, wearing a tank top vest and a pair of camouflaged military pants. 

The young man moved quickly with his hands crackling with electric blue lights, constantly dodging the many attacks directed at him by other contestants, who targeted him because of how flashy he was acting. 

However, he mostly seemed unphased as he flawlessly avoided every attack at the last possible mile-second, counter-attacking just as precisely as he knocked whoever attacked with one well-placed blow. 

The young man's name was Kai, and he was one of the new recruits that Kaden kept an eye on as well as the former made no attempt to hide his abilities.

Morana, on the other hand, remained on the sides of the ring, and she was acting much more inconspicuously, drawing no attention as she used textbook martial arts moves to take down anyone standing in her way without making any fuss. 

The free for all kept going with Kai rapidly, taking out any other contestant targeting him with seemingly no effort, while Morana kept methodically eliminating the competition at a much slower pace until only the two remained standing.  

"So it's just you and me," Kai said as he stood in front of Morana with a cocky smile as he sized her up. "Well, don't worry, I'll make it as quick and painless as I can," he added with a shrug, dodging to the side as Morana charged him, preparing to punch him in the face without bothering to reply. 

However, it was faint. Morana came to a sudden halt as Kai began moving to dodge, her eyes precisely following his movement as she adjusted her posture and swung her fist at a much quicker speed than she showed earlier. 

Kai's eyes suddenly flashed a blue light, his hair glowing in the same manner as well as he moved to the side, leaving behind an afterimage that quickly dissipated as Morana's fist passed through it right where his face was. 

"Close," Kai said with a smirk, touching his cheek where a thin, red, bloody line appeared. "I guess this will be more fun than I thought it would be," he added, his feet glowing in blue light as he charged Morana very quickly. 

Kai quickly closed the distance between them and punched, aiming at Morana's abdomen. However, she caught his fist merely an inch away from hitting her and twisted. 

Kai frowned and tried to pull back his fist, only for his frown to deepen as he failed to do so, causing him to attack with his free hand, aiming at Morana's wrest in an attempt to free himself. 

Morana had the same neutral expression she had since the start of the free for all as she yanked Kai's fist, causing him to lose balance mid-swing as she kneed his abdomen. 

Kai grunted in pain, blue electric arcs surrounding his body as Morana jumped backward just in time to avoid a small electric shock wave. 

"It looks like I'll have to get serious, or I might actually lose this fight..." Kai said with a frown, rubbing his abdomen with a pained expression. "Oh well, here goes nothing, I guess," he added, taking a deep breath as electric arcs began visibly coursing through his body, his eyes flashing an intense blue hue. 

He bolted, leaving an afterimage behind him as he charged at Morana, who stood her ground with a neutral expression, even as Kai reacher her, unleashing a barrage of punches.

She calmly stood in place, her hands moving incredibly quickly as she diverted and blocked every punch Kai threw at her for a couple of seconds, finally counter-attacking with a kick aimed at Kai's left knee. 

Kai, however, saw it coming and took a step back to dodge, only to forward, delivering a kick of his own to Morana's abdomen, which connected, forcing the inconspicuous woman two steps back.

"Finally paid you back for that knee earlier," Kai said with a smirk. "How does it feel?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Morana regained her balance as if nothing had happened. 

"Not bad..." Morana finally spoke as she looked Kai straight in the eye. "But you talk too much..." she added as she took a deep breath. 

"Well, what can I-" Kai tried to say something, but he suddenly stopped as Morana opened her mouth, not to speak this time, but to release a sinister-looking black mist, heading straight for him. 

And he couldn't even move a muscle before someone appeared in front of him, waving a hand and releasing a fiery wave that clashed with the dark, wreathing mist until it was no more. 

"The winner is Morana," Kaden said after he finished dissipating Morana's attack, earning a nod from the inconspicuous woman as she climbed down the ring with a calm expression.

"What? But the fight was just getting started!" Kai objected as he looked at Kaden with a frown. 

"You did good, but trust me, the fight was over..." Kaden said in a neutral tone, shaking his head as he turned to look at Kai. "And so would have been your life if that mist touched you," he added with a shrug. 

"Now stop being a sore loser and get off the stage," Kaden concluded in a stern tone, causing Kai to do as instructed despite having an unconvinced expression.

"Alright, everyone can take a break while we clean up the stage," Kaden exclaimed as he climbed down the stage and made his way back to his chair. 

...

"So that mist thingy... It looked familiar," Briar said with a frown, seemingly trying to remember something as she sat next to Kaden while several Phenix Wings members went to work on cleaning the stage.

"It's related to the undead," Kaden said with a sigh. "One of the special undead creatures I killed used something like that on me just before it died," he added, frowning at the memory of the disgusting substance.

"Oh, now that you mention it..." Briar said, tilting her head to the side. "I think I've encountered something like this too," she added with a nod. 

"It was a real pain to get rid of!" Briar concluded, carelessly waving her hand to the side. 

"At any rate, that other guy wasn't bad either," Briar said, changing the subject. "Too bad he was in over his head..." she added, slightly chuckling. 

"He's a little too brash and careless," Kaden said with a shrug. "But he's not bad indeed," he added with a smirk. 

"I guess I'll just throw him at Vilhelm," Kaden said with a nod after a second's pause. "I'm sure that grouchy bastard can drill some discipline into him," he concluded with a shrug.