The Aquarius family, over the years, has gathered various nicknames, such as the Sea People, the Mermaids, the Creatures of the Deep Blue Sea, and the Masters of the Ocean, among others. They are the royal family of the Atlantic Kingdom of the Sea and have been granted ranks among the land people.
There was a time when they had nearly gone extinct due to human greed. They were beautiful creatures and rumors of their flesh granting immortality only brought more attention and misery to their kind. They are masters of the sea and anything related to water, and their power has only grown with time.
Now they stand side by side with the greatest powerhouses of humanity, and their kind are no longer sought after, at least not lawfully. They have the ability to flood a whole nation with their strength.
On the other hand, the La Teure household is one of the most notorious in both land and sea. Their impeccable methods of killing and torture have built them a reputation that no one could fathom. They have a family technique passed down from generation to generation, with each younger member surpassing the older in cruelty.
It was only a matter of time before they would stand among the powerhouses of the Kingdom.
The crowd was left bewildered by the scene before them. The patriarchs felt a ghastly feeling that should not have been there, especially Michaelo, who was amazed. No one had seen it coming, no one had seen his next move. It seemed like Mariam wasn't the only one watching for his next appearance.
And if he was good enough to fool even the patriarchs, then who was she? But the feeling of giving up was far from the mixed emotions that bombarded her as she figured out what to do next.
"Ho…How?" she muttered.
"Your defense isn't as strong as you think. You should work on that," he said with a smile, slowly putting down the knife as he seemingly crashed down to the ground from the air.
He landed with a loud thud, gaining their attention. As the smoke cleared, he lay on the rocks with his right hand holding a white flag and a big grin on his face. "I give up!" he cried out, chuckling and cackling at the same time.
For almost ten seconds, everyone was left stupefied.
Tonrook La Teure sighed as he patted his forehead. "It's exactly because of this attitude of his that I decided not to let him in the battle," he muttered with a shaky voice. A dark shadow loomed over his forehead as he sighed. "Louis La Teure….until when will you stop torturing me," he muttered with a bitter taste in his voice.
The young assassin named Dark could only watch his Patriarch in silence. 'Brother Louis is as strong as always,' he thought to himself, observing the scene of the battle. "The arena has never gotten this bad," he said to himself while staring at Mariam. '...would I have survived through all that?' he thought when Michaelo finally walked towards the arena.
The clean-up mages were waiting behind him.
"Mr. La Teure….are you sure about this?" He asked the boy, who seemed to be in a world of his own. He was back again in a trance, staring at absolute nothingness. "Louis?!" Michaelo cried out, and he finally snapped back to reality. He took a glance at Michaelo and then at Mariam, who still seemed too shocked to come down from the sky. "Yes.
Mariam has proven herself plenty….while on the other hand." The boy slowly took a peek at his family podium. 'There are many of us who have failed to learn,' he thought to himself as he excused himself.
Michaelo had a complicated expression, and the congregation seemed equally in an uproar. The king and the prince weren't affected by the result in the slightest. It was evident since they showed little interest in who won the battle.
"....Ma…Mariam Aquarius wins!" Michaelo cried out awkwardly as she floated back down to the ground while reverting her mermaid body parts to human. "...I don't accept this win," Mariam cried out, walking quickly towards Louis. She bit her lip and scowled as she walked begrudgingly towards him.
It was difficult to tell what she felt at the moment, and the congregation seemed to be only adding fuel to the fire with their chants of congratulations to their Sea goddess. "Lou-." She froze in her tracks as she felt a dashing pain nearly suffocating her and a nauseating aura overwhelmed her senses.
Her eyes contracted and shook as she stared at the ground with her hand stretched forward in an attempt to contact him.
Louis slowly turned around, noticing her presence, and the feeling disappeared in an instant as he smiled. "Oh, it's just you, My lady," he said, grinning from ear to ear. Mariam slowly regained her composure as she stared at him. A chill crept up her spine, and cold sweat began to form on her forehead. "It's…it's nothing. Just wanted to know.
Are you okay with this result?" she asked with a hushed tone. 'I really am no match for him,' she thought to herself. "Not really. I have no interest in this farce of a tournament after all" he replied, bowing down a little and walking away, leaving her to her thoughts. She stood still for a few seconds, sighed, and walked away.
The cleanup mages quickly took the stage. It seemed like a short break would be necessary due to the sorry state of the arena.
Raph remained in his seat, observing the events unfold. 'Nothing has changed much from my previous life… well, except for winning my matches,' he thought to himself as he watched Mariam walk back to her podium. A smile escaped his lips.
'Even in my past life, she was loved by the people,' he thought, remembering the moments when their squad would return after a demon subjugation and the crowd would shout praises at them. 'It was fun.' He slowly turned his gaze to his side, feeling a rather unpleasant eye contact. "Is there something you wish to say?" he asked with a raised brow and an awkward smile at Gilda.
She stared at him for a few seconds and then turned slowly towards the Aquarius household. "I see Master Raph has found a soulmate?"
Raph choked on his laughter as he held his chest light-heartedly. "You must be joking, Gilda. What made you think so?" he asked, trying to control his amusement.
"You have not stared at anyone here as long as her," she replied with a puzzled tone. 'Did I say something funny?' she thought to herself.
"Well… maybe," he muttered with a sigh as the cleanup mages began to retreat. The arena was finally restored to top-notch condition.
"The mages are really pulling their weight," Raph said as he watched them float away through a large door with their flying brooms.
"It's only right they do so," Gilda replied, her expression stoic.
He turned towards her once again. 'She always had a dislike for mages… and it only became stronger because Fiona is a mage.'
"Well… the next battle should begin any minute now…" Raph shrugged off her reply. 'I already know how the battle ends anyways… Louis La Teure. If not for his disappearance, I would have lost Mariam to him… though this time. I will stop it, I may as well get her on my own terms this time,' he thought as he watched the next contestant walk down to the Arena.
"It's finally your turn, huh… Jang Kang Lin," he said with a smile.
Gilda stared at his peculiar reaction from her spot, and a thought dropped in her mind. "Certainly, you are not into men, right?" she spoke out, causing Raph to choke on more than just his laughter in that instant.
Michaelo was in the middle of the arena as the next two participants locked gazes. One was locked in a gaze with the other, while the other simply drifted into space, and the one with the locked gaze looked like he was seeing red.
'This… insignificant…' Jang thought.
It felt like he was being ignored, and he didn't like how he had been feeling that since he came to the tournament.
Well, this was an opportunity to bring their heads below his knees. He was finally going to fight after all.
"Are… Are you ready?" Michaelo awkwardly smiled as he stared at Louis, only to be ignored. "...Louis?"
"Uhh… Um… Yeah?" He replied, snapping back to reality.
'Like a repeat of before…' Michaelo thought to himself as he raised his hand in the air.
"The next battle shall now commence. JANG KANG LIN VS LOUIS LA TEURE."
A battle between martial arts and assassination techniques?
"Oh, this… is going to be fun."