Chapter 7

The finalists were given half an hour of break to prepare for the final bout. Hemon had the opportunity to punch his ticket into the final first so he got to rest even longer. The second match took close to an hour to finish, the majority of which Hemon spent trying to relieve some pain from his shoulder and any other places where he was hit by applying hot compression. Many in his position would have chosen to watch the second match to scout his opponent which was crucial for any fighter who aspired to win tournaments, but Hemon wanted to reserve some energy for his upcoming match. These types of tournaments were a test of endurance more than anything.

He had a half a mind to forfeit this round. He has already made a lot of Rais so far yet his competitive side reminded him, qualifying for the final of any tournament is no easy feat especially for an orphan. When glory was so close to him, he couldn’t let that chance slip away. So what he was injured and barely walking straight, he was still standing and for a fighter is all that mattered sometimes.

There was a loud knock from the outside on the door of his rest room. Someone called out,

“It’s time for your match, Sir.”

He walked out from the administrative tent just as the announcer was pointing towards him, introducing him. Rather than the warm welcome he had been receiving early on, now the crowd booed him with a certain vitriol. Well to be fair, he did beat their favourite fighter to reach the final. Although he anticipated some boos but not like this, never this type of reaction. For him, the atmosphere had changed inside the ground. It felt like he was in a hostile territory now and he won’t be getting any support from the crowd. They most likely were out for his blood.

His final opponent, a woman named Sasa Vernad, limped to the battle circle with great fanfare. She had a small yet an athletic build. She had standard protection on her upper body and legs. Her knees were heavily wrapped around by lots of bandages. She was the second seeded fighter in the tournament as well and the crowd welcomed her as if she was a conquering warrior returning from an victorious adventure.

She entered the circle and stood in front of him and smiled at him. She looked pleasant which made Hemon smile as well. There was a massive roar going on among the crowd, but he heard her say,

“Thank you.”

He asked in confusion, “Why?”

“For beating Charlot, that bitch” She replied.

A streak of anger coursed through her face as she continued, “I have had to face her three times in the finals of three different tournaments and lost every single time. Can you believe that? That bitch! Finally got the beating she deserved tonight.” Her smile returned on her face.

The announcer called out to both of them to check if they were ready to start. After the fighters gave a slight nod of their heads, the official signalled for the match to be started much to the delight of the fans.

She armed herself with a standard sword and shield and started to advance slowly. Hemon picked up a sword with his only working arm and waited for his opponent to close the distance between them. The crowd chanted Sasa’s name in unison and it was deafening in the ground.

Sasa very cautiously moved forward, definitely protecting her heavily bandaged leg. Hemon didn’t fare any better. Every time he moved his right leg it pained him and coupled it with his shoulder then things were not looking good for him. When both of the fighters moved within each other’s striking distance, they exchanged a series of probing strikes. Sword clashed with sword in a flurry as they were coming from all angles to test each other’s defence. They wanted to figure out the best way to break each other’s defence quickly as both knew it would be trouble for them if they dragged this bout much longer.

Sasa had it relatively easy to defend because of her shield with which she attempted to bash Hemon on his shoulder, but he managed to side step just in time. She missed, but had put too much force for her liking which made her balance shaky and hampered her footwork to turn around and defend. Hemon threw quick jabs, one of which connected on her collarbone while Sasa managed to dodge the rest.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

She grimaced and he heard her cursing him after getting hit, a smirk crept up on his face.

“That fucking hurt” she said to which he replied with a simple apology, “Sorry, I guess.”

She snorted and pressed him by going low with her strikes. He desperately defended with his sword, but her sword sneaked past him and he felt a slash of her sword struck him on his hips. Even though he was wearing armour, the strike hurt badly.

Suddenly, Hemon moved his injured arm downwards, locking her arm along with her sword. There was a visible shock on her face as she tried to drag her arm back, but was unsuccessful. Hemon had locked it tight against his hips. She looked towards him and saw him clenching his teeth with a fierce gaze.

He swung his sword upwards aiming for her hand and struck her on her wrists holding the shield. She cried in pain, trying to jerk her hand free but he was relentless. He kept slashing, aiming her wrists until she dropped her shield. He then struck her on her face with a closed first to knock her out. Sasa took the full blow, but dropped to one knee and with her now free hand struck with a fast uppercut.

It was Hemon’s turn to be surprised this time. The uppercut didn’t cause much pain but it stung as his head jerked back. Sasa didn’t stop at just one, she caught him with a barrage of jabs. Each of them stung and he wasn’t in the proper stance to defend them at all. Each and every one of those landed flush on his face, blurring his vision.

In a desperate attempt to stop her, he let go of his sword and grabbed hold of her throat. By now, the crowd was pin drop silent as if all the noise was sucked right out of the ground. Her upper body protection made it very difficult for him to grab hold of her throat properly, hence he couldn’t exert as much force as he would have liked.