5 05- Kops & Combatants III.

I looked at the man in front of me, as the bookie made his announcements.

"In the right corner! We have The One-Man Wrecking Crew himself! Rekyrts!" The bookie announced, as I cracked my neck, letting out several satisfying pops, as I heard the sound of cheers and boos.

Sylver looked me in the eye, as he twirled his blades with a cocky grin.

"And in the left corner! We have Sylver of The Glimmering Blades!" The bookie announced, causing the sound of cheers and jeers to ring out through the pit.

With that, the sound of a ringing bell chimed out, signifying the start of this fight.

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Tsurugi Gin/Sylver POV:

I looked at my opponent, sensing that he wasn't much of a fighter, and he must have gotten lucky with his first fight.

The announcer announced my opponent first, but I paid no attention to it, he was beneath me after all.

Looking at him, I twirled my blades in a menacing manner in order to intimidate him. My gleaming blades, Shiro and Kuro, were sure to put him off kilter.

The announcer then announced me, using my given title of Sylver of The Glimmering Blades, the epithet I had chosen for myself as a boy, using the name of Sylver as a pseudonym.

I had been taught by the greatest swordsman alive, Kenshi. Even if he had not respected my talent, causing me to leave after a month's tutelage.

But that didn't matter one bit, after all… this scum wasn't going to be a threat to me, for I was going to become a member of the Lin Kuei Clan.

I had followed one of their top assassins, a man by the name of Lio Beh, known for his ability to boil anyone with a simple touch, to this arena and I was sure that he would see my bout against this man.

And upon watching me dismantle this pest, he was sure to invite me into his order, so I could eventually rise through the ranks and become the grandmaster.

With that, I would lead my army of assassins into taking over other such orders, and ultimately take over the world.

Becoming The Glimmering King, the most talented and handsome man in all of existence… that is, if I wasn't already. Heh.

The sound of the bell ringing sounded out, informing me that the fight had started.

And so, I quickly got into a combat stance and ran towards my opponent, wanting to dispatch this mongrel as quickly as possible.

I swung both Kuro and Shiro at the man, but shockingly he managed to dodge out of the way of both of my blades.

He then quickly sweeped my leg, causing me to nearly fall to the ground, only saved by a quick stab into the pit's wall, allowing me to catch my footing.

I then pulled my blade out of the wall, sending dirt flying on top of me, just in time to block a punch from my opponent.

"You're tougher than I expected! Tell me, what is your name? So that I may properly write it on your tombstone" I said with a grin, before quickly blocking another punch with my blade, he seemed to be somewhat surprised when it didn't cut him, he must not have tested his strength before. It was only natural for a true combatant to require more than a simple blade grazing their fist to harm them.

"It's Rekyrts, and I'm here to wreck your shit" The man, Rekyrts said before kicking up some dirt in order to distract me.

Annoyingly, it worked as a small dust cloud was created due to his action, obscuring his appearance as he managed to punch me in the face.

This caused blood to start pouring out from underneath my eye, and only served to enrage me.

After all, how dare this imbecilic fool strike his betters? Cause me to bleed!?

"That's it! You're DEAD!" I shouted, as I slashed towards where I assumed he was, and yet… I hit nothing.

Instead, I was kicked from behind, sending me stumbling to the floor, before I got kicked in the head.

That blow was surprisingly painful, as I placed a hand to my head, and after a moment of confirmation, I knew that I was bleeding from the side of my head.

I stood up and raised my blades yet again, before charging towards where Rekyrts must have been.

And yet, once again, he managed to elude me as I slashed at nothing but air.

So, I quickly slashed all around me, causing the man to let out a grunt of pain.

The dust cloud faded away, and I caught a glimpse of Rekyrts holding his bloodied arm while grimacing at his wound.

"Ha! Looks like first blood is mine!" I shouted gleefully, causing him to look at me in confusion.

"...You're literally bleeding from your skull. Are you sure the blood loss hasn't gotten to you?" He asked me, sounding actually concerned.

I had never been insulted so much in my entire life!

"Damn you, Rekyrts!" I shouted, as I ran towards him again, as I slashed Kuro towards his head, hoping to decapitate him once and for all.

Only for him to raise his unharmed arm, blocking the attack, and then I heard the sound of something shatter.

Looking down at my blades, I saw that the blade of Kuro had been completely and irreversibly broken.

This blade of mine… the blade that had belonged to my father, and his father before him, and his father before him, a blade that has a history as far as the very beginnings of the Edo Period.

Now, it lay in my hands, completely shattered beyond repair.

Looking up towards the man who would dare to defile my ancestral blade, I felt a cold rage overtake me.

This was nothing like the red hot rage that I was used to feeling… no, this was cold. It was analytical. It was so far beyond rage that it looped around to indifference.

"How dare you?" I asked, sounding more like a whisper, as I slowly began to walk towards him.

He had an insufferably cocky look on his face, as he sneered at me.

"How dare I? How dare you raise your pitiful blade towards me?" He asked, with a smug smirk on his face.

I couldn't take this… I couldn't allow this man to live.

No matter what, Rekyrts must die.

"YOU BASTARD!!!" I shouted, as I rushed towards him, throwing the broken hilt of Kuro at him as a distraction, as I slashed towards him using Shiro.

He blocked my improvised projectile, but was unable to block the glimmering steel of Shiro, as I felt the blade pierce his body, I allowed myself to smile once more.

After all, he wasn't going to be able to survive such a blow, no one could survive a blade piercing their very heart, after all.

But as I looked at him, instead of piercing his heart, I had pierced… his hand.

No, I hadn't even pierced him. He was holding my blade.

And as he pulled Shiro out of my hand, using his sheer barbaric strength, I could do nothing but watch.

"This is a nice blade" Rekyrts said with an interested look on his face, as he swung my ancestral blade experimentally, "It'll look even nicer on my mantle"

With that, he then swung my own blade towards me and I knew no more…

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Back to Stryker's POV:

I heard the sound of uproarious cheering, as I knocked out my opponent. He was just a punk kid after all, and he didn't deserve to die for being a dick.

And hey, how could I kill him after he gave me this fucking badass sword?

I raised my unharmed arm that held the glimmering silver katana in victory, causing the cheers to increase in volume.

With that, the ladder was lowered and I climbed out of the pit, watching the 'paramedics' take away the silver-haired young man.

Honestly, I hope he learns to not be such a cocky bastard. It wasn't a bad fight at least. Even Stryker would have had a bit of trouble with him.

And it was actually pretty fun acting like a smug asshole for a few moments there, giving him a taste of his own medicine, it was honestly really fun to tease him.

He was like a rage-filled murderous puppy. It was fucking hilarious.

With this though, I noticed that there were only a few fighters left for the tournament.

Myself, Labak, Kobra and Kira. The only combatants left in this tournament.

I looked at the bookie, as he started to make an announcement.

"Now! With there only being four combatants left, the boss himself, Hornbuckle has decided to make a change to the rules! Instead of facing each other individually, this will be a duo battle!" The bookie announced, causing the watchers to shout out, "Whichever duo wins will then face each other in the finals! Before being given the honor of fighting Hornbuckle himself in one-on-one combat!"

With that, the four of us walked up and began to size each other up, or at least pretended to in my and Labak's cases.

We then drew some lots with two numbers, 1 or 2, to see who we would be teamed up with.

I drew first, getting the number 1, with that 'Labak' drew next, getting the number 2. Meaning that we'd be facing each other in the semi-finals.

Kobra also drew the number 2, which meant that I was to be partnered with Kira…

"Hey there, partner it's nice to meet you" Kira herself said with a smile as she swayed her hips at me seductively, "Let's fucking kick their asses"

"Alright" I said with a nod, trusting that Kabal wouldn't kill me… beat the shit out of me? Oh hell yeah, but he'll make sure I lived to give me shit about it.

With that, instead of going into a pit… the floor raised up, creating a platform above that would make sure anyone who fell wouldn't get up soon after.

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Well, that's the update. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

Also, I actually did roll to see who would be on either team in the semi-finals, it's literally a complete coincidence that the one possible waifu is on Stryker's team.