- Veena -
The two fighters stared at each other, taking their stances. Garell Cole held two daggers in a cross before himself while Arthas held his sword in front of him. His sword lit up with Lightning and a Black Coating of Armament Haki covered the blade as he stared at the opponent's, observing his every move.
As the referee gave the signal. Garell Cole disappeared from his place, at a speed which was hard for her to catch. The difference between their stats was immense.
While the Black Hand most probably used the whole kidnapping incident, it was undeniable that Garell Cole was a very strong fighter. In fact, from what she had seen, he could have easily stood in the finals even without resorting to such means.
Unfortunately, he met someone like Arthas… a complete outlier.
Arthas spun around in his place and stung his sword down, forcing Grell who had suddenly appeared behind him to block the attack with both his hands.
The force of the attack made his knees buckle a little as the ground under his feet cracked. It made his balance shaky. Arthas took his moment to kick him directly in his abdomen.
Garell Cole's whole body shot like a cannon ball but the man regained his balance in midair and stabbed his daggers into the ground, slowing down and halting his body, preventing himself from being tossed outside of the stage by the force of the kick.
By the time he stopped his body, Arthas was behind him and sent another kick.
To his credit Garell Cole managed to dodge the kick with a turn of his body. Arthas however didn't give up and spun around, using the momentum from the previous kick and sent another kick towards him, forcing him to raise his daggers and defend.
Stalker was an Agility based Class. Strength wasn't something they were known for. They mainly attacked from the Shadows so expecting them to fight head on against a Knight in terms of strength was a big stretch… and yet Garell Cole had done just that in his previous matches which showed that his physical strength stat wasn't any less than some of the strongest Knights… and yet… when faced against Arthas' attacks, he was stumbling around to maintain his balance.
The kick was followed by a strike of his sword, making him lose one of his daggers.
It had however given him some time to make some distance between them.
The man stood there, quickly taking some deep breaths before the assault began again. This time however, there was no follow up.
Arthas just looked at him from a distance.
"Why are you trying to make a distance between us? Do you think it will help you cope up with my attacks? I am sorry to disappoint you but that won't work. Distance only has meaning in a fight between equals. With you and I, distance holds no meaning at all."
"Hahahaha that's some confidence." Sir Ralph laughed.
Even Rose looked confused at the sudden change in his behaviour and looked at her.
Veena however just smiled.
"He is roleplaying." She whispered to Rose.
"Eh?"
"Hmm, you know how he has had slightly muted emotions?"
Rose nodded.
"When he was a kid, he started doing Roleplay on how to act… normally in front of others, to assure his parents. He is obviously much better now but I guess he just enjoys this. It can be very funny sometimes. I think it's cute. Just watch him. I guess he is trying to act arrogant to provoke the other side this time." She smiled while looking at the ground.
As expected, Garell Cole's face morphed into a look of rage at the comment. He threw his dagger at Arthas, the dagger multiplying in air, turning from one to a dozen. Arthas however just swung his sword, deflecting all of them with a gust of wind from the force of the swing.
Garel took the opportunity to summon a short sword. The sword lit up with a bright light and he smashed the ground he was standing on with a roar.
Shockwaves spread throughout the stage as the entire stage was shattered into pieces, some of the pieces rose up, making the entire stadium become a rocky terrain, with enough places to hide.
He stood up and looked at Arthas with an enraged look. "You asked for this."
And with that, his figure slipped down into the shadow under his feet.
"Hmm, Shadow Walk. That's a rare Skill, something which belongs to Shadow Chasers, the next stage of Stalkers. He must have learned this Skill from a Skill Book. Changing the whole terrain to suit his needs was a good move. I can see why he can gain fame in the kingdom for his skills." Daren Black spoke as he watched the game.
They obviously weren't affected by the Skill and could follow the man's movements even from this distance.
Veena for one, couldn't and she had noticed that neither could several others in the same room as them.
Rose was obvious, being the lowest level character in the room, but to her surprise, even Arnold's frown showed that he couldn't see the movements of Garell Cole.
"This could be annoying. I cannot see him." Arnold spoke with a frown as his eyes searched the ground.
"Oh, afraid?" Sir Ralph smiled.
"Not really. I am sure I could beat him if I were down there but… I am not sure I could stop him from escaping if he wants to. The man deserves his name." He said with frustration, lacing his voice.
"Hmm, yes. Stalkers and their advanced Classes are hard to keep in case they want to run. I have seen many Templars, Magic Knights and even Holy Knights lose to them in ambushes. They gain a bonus to their attacks when catching their opponent off guard. Their speed increases when they are in shadows and the first attack they make after the Shadow Walk does increased damage too and sometimes, if it hits a delicate place, it can do around three times more damage than normal attacks. Their skill is not to be underestimated." The man in the mask who was sitting behind Uther said, speaking for the first time in the discussion.
"Yes. Underestimating them can be an easy way to die. Although, it doesn't look like your friend seems to be bothered by any of that."
Sure enough Arthas was smiling on the ground.
"Oh, are you so worried about me finding you that you used almost half of your power to destroy the ground? You could have told me and I would have closed my eyes. Actually, you know what?… Let's do that too." With that said, he really closed his eyes. Not only that,he summoned a handkerchief and tied it around his eyes.
…
…
…
…
"Lady Veena!" Rose was surprised and even she raised an eyebrow at his actions.
"Don't worry. Arthas is not the kind to make unfounded claims. If he is saying that, he must have some plan." She said even she was confused with his actions.
Garell however was even more enraged at his words and appeared behind him, from a shadow and attacked, going directly for his neck.
Just when it looked like he was about to hit him, Arthas moved to the side, dodging the attack by a bit.
After that, it was just a game. Garell, attacking from the shadows and Arthas moving slightly to dodge his attacks, one after another.
It was like a dance, one where even a single miss could lead to an instant loss.
"Ahhhhh be serious and stop moving around!" Garell, having gotten frustrated by the repeated failures, shouted in frustration.
"Get serious? Come on. What adult goes full force when fighting children?"
…
…
…
…
"Ahahahaha well said, brat. Well said." Sir Ralph burst into a laugh at his words.
"Hehehehe while only roleplaying, there is something very hot about his domineering style, isn't there?" She asked Rose who was looking at the ground, unblinking.
"Arthas is taunting the opponent to make him lose his cool. This makes his attacks fueled by rage, and thus predictable. The biggest strength of a Stalker is their patience and this one has lost it completely. His loss is imminent."
Sure enough, Arthas continued.
"I am not trying to make fun of you, you know. You being weaker than me… is a fact. But go on, let it not be said that Knight Arthas doesn't give his opponent any chances. I will take your next attack without moving. Give me your best shot. I am getting tired of this boring match too." Arthas spread his arms wide.
There was a moment of silence in the field but then an aura rose and Grell Cole appeared from the shadows, a dark light shining from his blade as he struck down towards Arthas with a roar.
Arthas on the other hand took a stance and his sword lit up with a Holy Light. The Holy Blade was Arthas' strongest one hit Skill. He faced the attack head on as he had said and the result… a large scar appeared on the opponent's chest and he was sent flying, getting embedded into one of the rocks.
Dust flew everywhere but Arthas waved his sword and cleared everything.
The man, to his credit, tried to stand but his steps were unstable.
Arthas looked at him calmly and spoke once more. "It seems that you still want to dance but... You will not be able to make steps anymore."
But contrary to the rage which was expected of the man, he looked at Arthas and laughed, before his sword took on a reddish hue.
"You think I would fall for such obvious taunts? I am not the one who fell into a trap… it's you. Your attacks… have been collected by me. Now pay the price of your arrogance." He raised his sword.
"That's…" Uther narrowed his eyes as he looked at the attack. "Bide. A Skill which allows them to attack and return twice the damage of the last three attacks on the enemy. It's a rare Skill of a Master Monk and if one doesn't pay attention, it could turn the whole fight around in one attack… this could be troublesome."
Hmm, that could indeed be troublesome.
She could see many people falling for this trick. After all, the Skills of a Stalker were obviously unsuitable for open combat. Even more so in this tournament, where most of his skills were exposed in front of other players in the previous matches. A Stalker loses their greatest weapon, the element of surprise… but no one would ever expect… such an 'un-Stalker' type skill being used by a class which is known to have low defense.
Garell Cole shot towards Arthas and slash down, the air crackling with the energy in the blade and a huge arc of red fell towards Arthas…
However something happened next which blew the minds of the audience.
Arthas slowly lifted his left hand… and grabbed the attack between his forefinger. The stage behind him was torn apart and even a part of the stadium's entrance was sliced. The attack would have done even more damage had it not been for the referees intervening and stopping it but even their face looked pale as they did so… but Arthas remained impassive in the face of such an attack, looking at the stunned Garell Cole with the same calm expression.
Veena quickly realised that he was using his Skill: Limitless.
And then he spoke again. "Oh, that stung a bit. But then again… It's no surprise it hurt me; I wouldn't expect anything less from myself!" And then his eyes turned sharp as his sword moved at a lightning fast speed, cutting Garell Cole shoulder to waist.
The man fell to the ground, spitting out blood.
"But playtime is over now, Garell. I'm going to have to ask you to stop now. I can only step on an ant so hard without crushing it. So give up…"
Garell however didn't answer and fell unconscious instead.
"Well chosen."
The silence in the stadium was deafening. No one had expected Arthas to fight like this in the finals, especially after all his previous matches which had seemed like close calls.
Even the VIP Room was silent. No one spoke for several seconds and just looked at the ground quietly.
Arthas was the first one to break the silence. He looked at the referee and pointed towards the fainted man on the ground.
The man seemed to have realised what had happened and quickly rushed and checked his condition and then gave the verdict.
"Winner… Arthas!"