The 2 hours have passed and the crowd although still a bit shaken has now recovered thanks to the medics stationed around the amphitheater.
This time it wasn't Ganesha who marched on stage to introduce the fighter, it was one of his children, Ibri Achaa.
Ganesha meanwhile was just coming back from their base of operations, he had quickly gone home to have a talk with Aagon, but to his dismay the green dragon hadn't returned to the stables.
Ganesha entered the VIP room and was greeted by the stares of every god in the room, Loki in particular was glaring at him, showing open hostility at Ganesha.
"Yo Ganesha!" the god heard someone calling him and when he turned to see who it was, he found Buddha grinning at him while waving for him to come.
'What's he doing here?' Ganesha wondered as he made his way towards their table, he saw him sitting alongside Heracles, Athena, and Hestia.
"Buddha." Ganesha nodded in respect. "Heracles, Lady Athena, Lady Hestia." he also nodded to the trio who was with Buddha. "Mind if I sit here with you? I fear that my presence is not welcome for the others here." he said as his eyes scanned the room, seeing the gods staring at him with an unpleased expression.
"Sure, grab a seat." Buddha nodded energetically. "Here have some ale, the big guy is paying, so drink as much as you want."
Ganesha smiled and did so. He really needed a drink after the earlier incident.
"So you're not hosting this time?" Hestia asked.
"After what happened earlier, I feel like I wouldn't do a good job... Don't worry, Ibri is good when it comes to this type of event." He answered.
Just as Ganesha answered, His child started to give the introduction. The gods brought their focus down on the stage.
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"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ARE YOU READY!!!" Ibri screamed at the top of his lungs, giving it his all to hype the crowd.
A round of applause and cheers entered his ears and he smiled joyfully at it. 'At least it seems like they have recovered well enough to cheer... Let's give them a show.' He thought as he continued. "Welcome to the semifinal rounds! Where the competition becomes even more treacherous for our champions who will be fighting on this very stage!"
"Now... Allow me to introduce, our fighters for the first match in the semifinal bracket B! To my LEFT!!! She had shown dominance in the first round, winning her match in record time, she had the fastest win in the tournament so far. Will her dominance continue here in the semifinals, where the lights are brighter? THE SWORD PRINCESS!!! AIS!!! WALLENSTINE!!!"
The cheers erupted as the crowd went wild, well it was to be expected given that she was one of the most popular if not the most popular adventurer in the city. Her beauty and strength had pushed him as such.
She entered the stage, her gait was confident, every step she took showed her unquestioned belief of her victory. She stood in the middle of the stage to the cheers and adoration of the crowd.
"WHAT A WELCOME!!! As expected, the sword princess is as popular as ever. But popularity does not have a say in this match." Ibri word captures the crowd's attention, he was masterfully controlling the crowd.
"And her opponent, to my RIGHT!!! She showed her mastery in the spear as well as her prowess as a tamer! What will she show us now? The captain of Ganesha familia! ANKUSHA!!! SHAKTI!!! VARMA!!!"
The crowd cheered, but it wasn't as loud as what Ais had received, still the expectation they have was through the roof. Ibri had said it best. What would Shakti Varma show them now?
And they were not disappointed in their expectations.
*ROAR!!!"
Multiple roars, growls, and shriek sounded from the tunnel. Ais raised her brow as her eyes were drawn at the entrance. The ground she was standing on started to shake.
Shakti walked out to the stage, and everyone in the crowd gasped, their eyes opened widely, behind Shakti are monsters, ranging from the common goblins to the large grand trolls. Their numbers made the crowd feel claustrophobic as the monsters filled the stage.
Even Ibri, who was a member of Ganesha had his eyes wide open. 'Holy shit, she's seriously bringing this many? It's like she's going to war!'
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The gods all stared at the stage, disbelief was apparent in their eyes, Shakti had brought a small army to the stage against one mortal. There were range monsters, flyers, melee bruisers, sneakers, even mini bosses such as forest trolls, all sorts of monsters, all under her control.
Athena who was sitting right beside Ganesha spoke with a strained voice. "I-Isn't that a bit overboard."
Buddha was laughing hysterically. The faces of the gods were such a spectacle for him. "Holy shit Ganesha! Your child is a riot!"
Even Ganesha was shocked, his eyes twitched under his mask. A strained smile formed in his face. 'Did she really have to bring that much? She even brought monsters from the deep floors!'
Loki stood up from her seat as she wailed and pointed at Shakti. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!! THAT CAN'T BE LEGAL!!!"
Hermes who was sitting a few seats next to Loki answered. "A-As I said, her monsters are part of her arsenal... But I didn't know she could control that many."
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August who watched the match saw Shakti bring out her monsters for the first time, his heart beats so fast, his mana was running wild inside him. He wanted to jump onstage and massacre every single one of those abominations. His mana leaked because of his anger making everyone besides him choke on the dense mana in the air.
"Interesting..." a hooded figure who was within the stands saw this and smiled. His presence slowly vanished and mixed in the audience.
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Ibri couldn't see the end of the monsters, there were still plenty inside the tunnel. He gulped and asked. "uhm... Excuse me captain. But exactly how many did you bring?"
"A hundred." Shakti answered, she then looked at Ais. "This isn't a problem isn't it?"
"Hmm." As shakes her head, her eyes are focused on Shakti. "No problem" she answered curtly.
Shakti smiled at Ais. "Good." She took her stance, the monsters besides him growl menacingly towards Ais.
'She actually brought half of the stable.' Ibri shakes his head and sigh. 'Well whatever... It's not like I'll be facing it.' "Now are the two fighters ready?"
Shakti nods, so did Ais. "Then let the match... BEGIN!!!"
As soon as Ibri gave the signal to start, Shakti whistled loudly, all of her monsters charged at Ais. The ground shook at the stampede.
Ais didn't move from her spot, she pulled her sword out of the scabbard and took her stance, waiting for the monsters to come to her.
The first to arrive were the hellhounds. They pounced at Ais like wolves, Ais moved her body to the side dodging the first of the hellhounds, she then slashed her rapier up slicing the monster in two.
She carried that momentum and twirled dodging another one of those monsters. This time she loaded mana into her feet and kicked another hellhound straight to the monster who was running at her.
The hellhound crashed among the goblins, and Ais took advantage of the broken file, she jumped at the fray, her weapon glowing in a light green hue as mana started to dance along with her every strike. Every swing she does, a monster succumbs to death.
Shakti observed Ais, she made sure to send the small fries first in order to gauge how Ais deals with multiple enemies. Seeing that the sword princess didn't seem to have a problem with dealing with them. Shakti whistled again, this time, monsters like minotaurs, ligerfangs, and lizardmen, joined in.
Ais felt the pressure increase, she was surrounded on all fronts, wherever she turned a monster was there. Sure they were weak, but their sheer number is starting to overwhelm her, they attack in an orginaze group, not like the monsters in the wild or in the dungeon, they always aim for her blindspots.
An axe swung by her face as she leaned slightly to the right, she dodged it perfectly and aimed her rapier at the minotaur neck, but at a seemingly perfect timing, a ligerfang pounced at her, not only that, another minotaur was charging at her with its horns.
"Fu...tile." Ais mutters as she twists her body in a display of extraordinary flexibility and agility, she dodged all the incoming attacks in one fell swoop. But that wasn't all, she also was able to deliver a series of lethal strikes to the monsters who attacked her. As she lands their bodies turns to dust as their monster core falls to the ground.
She then slashed blindly behind her on which Shakti blocked with her spear. Her eyes widened as it met Ais emotionless eyes.
'How? I-I timed that attack perfectly.' Shakti couldn't comprehend how Ais knew she was coming, She charged as soon as Ais's feet left the ground when she dodged those monsters. But not only did the sword princess saw her coming, she also delivered an attack faster than her which gave her no choice but to block.
"Tsk!" Shakti clicked her tongue, she then delivered a strike to the left, timing it as a lizardman also charged at Ais on her right.
Ais blocked Shakti, she then used the force behind her spear and spun right as she cut the head of the lizardman in the process. As she did that she delivered a spinning back kick to Shakti's abdomen. All of that in one quick motion.
Shakti blocked the kick with the base of her spear but the force sent her skidding back a few meters away.
Shakti whistled, giving a new order. This time the range monsters as well as the flyers joined in on the attack.
There was no change in Ais expression, but her movements became even more sharper and faster as the monsters surrounding her became more numerous.
Every move Ais made, a monster was turned to dust, and she was at the middle of the fray, twirling and slashing like a hurricane of death, her rapier moved so fast that it was a blinding for everyone. She was at an unstoppable lethal dance.
Shakti was contemplating in sending in her trolls, she only had two but they are quite powerful, the downside is that they would also take out her monsters. Her trolls were hard to control, they only know basic commands such as attack. And when they do, they do so without minding their surroundings, making them a liability for her other monsters.
'I have to be smart about this.' Shakti thought as she shook the idea of sending in the trolls. She joined her other monsters in the attack instead, the same strategy that she used against Tione, but this time the numbers were even more slanted in her favor.
As Ais cut another ligerfang's head, a spear entered her peripheral vision. She placed her sword on an upward angle as she parried Shakti, letting her spear harmlessly slide on her rapier. A hellhound suddenly jumped at her back, its fangs aiming for her neck.
Ais in an impossible angle flipped toward Shakti, her movement made the hellhound miss, but at the same time she also extended her leg delivering an axe kick straight to Shakti's shoulder.
The tamer winced at the pain. 'Not only did she dodge an attack at her blindspot, she also delivered a counter on me.'
Shakti's eyes went wide, Ais wasn't done, she also sent a barrage of stab towards Shakti. The tamer hurriedly blocked the incoming cluster of blades, but her body was riddled with wounds as she couldn't block all of it.
Ais's barrage stopped when a minotaur cleaved at her with an axe. With her smooth movement she dodged the incoming attack by taking a step back, giving Shakti a much needed breathing room.
But Shakti's eyes went wide at Ais's next course of action. She slashed up cutting the minotaur's hand off, blood splurting everywhere, she then caught the axe mid air and spun to her back as she threw it with overwhelming force straight to the incoming monsters that were chasing her on her heels.
It cleaved right through the monsters, the axe killing everything in its path. She didn't forget about the minotaur, she quickly disposed of it as she gave chase to Shakti.
A barrage of fire balls came crashing down at Ais, but she was an unstoppable force, she ran past the fiery projectiles not minding the damage she received.
The firebirds continued to rain fire at her, but Ais in a swift motion sliced the incoming fireballs like it was nothing. The air seemingly pushes her towards Shakti.
But as she got closer, Ais's vision suddenly became all black as a club smacked her directly, sending her flying in the air.
Shakti smirked, her plan worked, she was leading Ais in that direction, all for her troll to have a clean hit of her without suffering any collateral monsters.
It was the first time Ais was hit in this tournament. She landed hard on the ground as crimson flows on her head.
Ais lay flat on the ground, she was staring at the sky. 'Hmm... My mistake.' She sat up as she wiped the blood on her forehead. 'I didn't expect her troll to come in at that moment... Tunnel vision.'
Ais stood up and dusted herself off, Shakti paused at what she was seeing. 'S-she took a direct hit from a troll! How is she standing like it was nothing?' Panic started to fill her mind as Ais stared at her, her face was still emotionless and unreadable.
Shakti stared at her monsters, out of the 100 monsters that she brought, only half of them remained, maybe less. All of that for one hit that from the look of it, didn't even faze her.
"A-all these monsters on the stage..." Shakti spoke gaining Ais's attention. "but it looks like you're the true monster here Ais."
"Hmmm..." Ais didn't answer, there's no point, instead she took her stance, her rapier at her front.
The air inside the stage suddenly shifted, it felt heavy, the monsters that were surrounding Ais unconsciously took a step back. Shakti who could feel mana was the most affected by it.
It hit her, 'S-she was only using the basics of mana manipulation when she killed all those monsters. It's as if she wasn't even using mana at all!' "What a monster..."
Right now Shakti knew, the real battle was just getting started, and she was worried. Did she bring enough monsters to fight this person.
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Chapter 70 is done now, how do you guys like the story so far?
Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.
thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.
good day, love y'all.