Chapter 49 - Outcome of the Preliminaries (4)

He kicked me then. But I had been expecting an attack of that nature. I blocked it by pushing myself closer toward him, my leg meeting his own, until our plated bodies were almost touching each other.

A small grin formed on my face as I attempted to surprise my opponent, partly out of amusement and partly out of pride. Okay, I lie, it was all out of amusement.

It was a good thing that the warrior had chosen not to wear any vambraces or protections. It would have been alarming to see a human crush steel with just his grip.

I tightened my grip on his left forearm, putting more of my strength into it. His purple eyes winced at the pain, but he still had a firm hold on his weapon. My grin widened as I put even more strength into my grip and I even shook his arm a little to hint at what I wanted him to do.

His eyes, though pained, were still determined enough to not let go of his curved sword. I pressed harder, almost enough to crush his bones. The scarlet warrior finally relented, letting go of his sword. It fell onto the smooth, white stone floor, clattering loudly.

I did not relent even though he had done what I had wanted. I gripped his left forearm tighter, until I could almost feel his bones creaking against my hand. His piercing scream jolted me.

“Owwww! You meanie!” the scarlet warrior screamed, his voice soft and feminine in nature. “You should let go of my arm now that I have done what you wanted!”

Prince, or rather, the unknown female let out a small sniffle of pain.

I was so surprise at discovering that my opponent was a female that I instantly relented my grip on her left forearm. I was not surprised enough, however, to let go of my caution and fully release my hold on her.

“You can let go of my arm now,” Prince said, her voice a little lower now that she was no longer in pain. “I will surrender to you now, you monster. How in the world are you even this strong!”

Her words sounded sincere enough and I relented, releasing my grip on her arm.

As soon as I did that, the scarlet warrior pulled back her outstretched arm and drew back her other sword, which was still engaged with my longsword. Prince then stepped back a short distance away, and removed her helmet, holding it with one hand to her slim waist.

Helmetless, Prince revealed a delicate face which was accentuated by her high cheekbones. Strands of fiery red hair fell down like a cascade over her forehead and part of her face, before brushing her red shoulder plates. Her large, slit-like eyes, now that I could finally see them better, were violet with a twinge of golden in it. It was a rare color and made her look very exotic.

Her thin eyebrows were shaped into deceivingly perfect arches following the curves of her slit-like violet eyes, and her lips were small and pursed into a frown. The two eyes stared at me with a mix of emotions. I could only make out anger, and perhaps annoyance.

“I shall avenge this mark of dishonor,” she said in a soft voice that only I could hear, “I shall stalk you like a cat preying on a mouse, until all your dreams have turned into ashes, until all your sleeping moments have turned restless, and until I am satisfied that I have beaten you. Know your assassin's name. I am Veena, the one who will unmask you, green-eyes.” Her mixed gaze turned very intense as she looked into my eyes. “My name shall be the last word you utter."

The scarlet warrior then threw the sword in her hand. The weapon clattered noisily onto its twin, until both weapons were lying in a crossed position. She put her helmet on and turned backward, never looking back as she exited the arena.

“Ummmm...I do believe we have a winner,” the announcer said in an unsure voice, looking at the grandmasters for confirmation. There was a look of relief on his face, before he continued in an excited voice amidst the cheers. “Lords, ladies, and gentlemen, another round of applause for Verath, our masked wanderer and the black horse of the tournament!”

I ignored the various cheers from the crowd and did not even bother to look at the highest and most isolated part of the arena where the Serle family was spectating from (I could not see them with my human eyes for the distance was too far away and the spectators, too many). Instead, I looked upon the two crossed swords with a slightly wondrous look for a short moment, before turning around and exiting the arena.

It seems to me that I had gotten all the strange and weird opponents. It made me think that my luck was a play-toy for the whores of fate.

And now I had a beautiful red-haired assassin steadfast on killing me to restore her stained honor and pride. It was going to be an amusing tournament, and I had three more opponents to beat. Perhaps, I thought with mirth, I just might have three more assassins following me after the tournament was over.

It was quite an intriguing contemplation of my future.