3 Free for All

There was no room for leisure. The moment the voice echoed within the arena, every single man standing locked onto their victims and immediately pursued. Exul was spontaneously charged by six men simultaneously, just as he had predicted. It also didn't help the assailants to scream like banshees while performing a "surprise attack".

The first man coming up was actually quite skilled, throwing a feint punch only to sweep kick at Exul's knees. The latter saw through this combo and lifted his left leg to dodge, keeping the other one firmly planted in the ground, forming a crane stance. At this moment, Exul's back was facing in the direction where he was originally looking, so he simply hoped that Michael Doreno didn't get bored with his opponent at the moment.

As a shocked expression blanketed the attacker's face, Exul wasted no time stepping into his guard. Before the poor man could back away quick enough, his face was gripped within Exul's left palm and his head was slammed into the sand, leaving him disoriented. To finish him off, Exul slugged his sternum area with his right palm, fingers curled back, utilizing the muscular part of the thumb region to disrupt the attacker's homeostasis. This technique was a simple one, but to execute it on an opponent wearing leather armor was quite difficult.

At this point, all noise except for necessary information regarding enemy footsteps, breathing patterns, heartbeats per minute, and muscle movements was snuffed out, leaving the same tranquility with only slight obscurities. Exul's enhanced "sense training" seemed to be more than enough to take these men down.

The next attacker was paired with another, with one of them dressed in a cloak and the other in leather armor. Exul, this time, took the offensive, dashing toward them, closing the distance remarkably.

Before Exul could prepare a drop kick, the one clad in leather armor performed a near-perfect flying kick. If anything, Exul's surprise encouraged his slip-up, although he managed to slide to the side before the kick made contact.

As Exul was about to tackle the combatant's lower stomach, his heart sunk slightly. Behind the leather fighter, the cloaked individual was able to completely veil himself behind the former, masking his presence. Exul had assumed the guy would try to flank him, so using another man as a "second cloak" never crossed his mind.

Exul let out a smirk, which was concealed by the cloth.

*/It seems my arrogance outplayed me. There's karma for you... But it'll take more than karma to put me down./*

Suddenly faster than before, the teenager snatched the kicker's throat with his left hand. The sheer grip force incapacitated the fighter instantly as his body was chucked at the veiled fighter behind him. The body was launched and made contact with the cloaked man in less than a second... or so Exul thought.

In that same instant, a slithery presence similar to a constricting serpent threatened to choke Exul from behind him, where he was most vulnerable. All of the noises that Exul hadn't snuffed out were also extinguished, with only one sensation remaining in his mind:

Constriction.

His eyes shined a vibrant purple, like an amethyst gemstone in behold of pure light. They dug deeper than swords and sharper than knives. Only one thing lied within them; only one concept that paralyzed the serpent and overwhelmed the sense of constriction:

Death.

In the next moment, the cloaked man's face was also gripped with the teen's hand. His body hung helplessly and unconscious, then dropped like a hunk of garbage into the sand, making an insignificant *thud*.

Simultaneously, a good portion of the audience's, including the Head Chief Warrior, her advisor, and the imperial knights' eyes were locked to the young man. Apparently, the Queen didn't catch the scene, for her eyes were on the brave Michael Doreno who was putting down man after man, already keeping two men under his foot and another two at bay.

"What just... happened?" the Head Chief's advisor stammered. His voice was shaky and his armor could be heard from his trembling from miles away. Although, the imperial knights' armor were making slight imperfections in the atmosphere as well.

Speechless, Emilia Jaqueline could do all but stare as Exul Valentine dominated the arena like it was his domain, gazing down at the body for a second longer with a sideways look before paying his full attention back to the three other men who had their sights on him.

*/He didn't even bother turning his entire body around,/* she thought. */That takes much more than technique to perform... It takes strength./*

The vibrant amethyst aura surrounding the innards of Exul's eyes disappeared as fast as it had emerged, replaced with the original violet from before, however they *did* seem to be more ferocious, and deadly.

This was proven quickly.

The rest of the men he noticed targeting him were assaulted before a chance was given. Two of them wore shining armor while one of them had leather, however the latter was most likely an archer considering his slim frame and uncomfortable aura in close range.

*/You first, "imperial knight"./*

Due to their uncooperative formation of charging in a straight, linear arrangement, Exul wasn't able to dissect their strength as precisely as he had hoped. On the other hand, they couldn't utilize each others' either, so a frontal assault would've been enough to subdue them.

Faster than the three could react, Exul appeared before the individual on the right, who wore armor along with his pal in the middle, leaving the dude on the left in leather alone in terms of similar apparel.

He placed his right palm on the chest plate of the armored individual. The warm metal due to the blazing sun sent small rivers of warmth through his fingers.

Exul inhaled.

His left foot planted itself in the sand like an anchor on a ship.

A pulsation resonated within Exul's body, up to his chest...

Then shot out of his palm like a bullet.

Vibrations echoed within the plate of armor that Exul's palm was resting on, and the opponent's eyes rolled up immediately. As his body helplessly tilted, then proceeded to descend onto the ground, a trickle of blood emerged from his lips, sticking to his chin.

When the other two men began to move toward him, Exul retaliated, not throwing away precious time. In moments, the six men that had planned to assault Exul together were nothing but immobile lumps of flesh, basking in the sunlight.

The audience's cheers and screams gradually slipped into reality, accompanied by the thundering seismological pulsations. Exul sighed as he examined the men he just defeated, then turning his back to them and walking back to where he started. Around him, bloody fist fights commenced; teeth flew, blood was splashed, and knuckles were broken. Like a carousel, the fighting circled Exul, but didn't interact with him.

Suddenly, a man screamed to his right.

Exul's head spun to the noise, which was in Michael's direction. The sight he beheld was that of a single man, triumphantly standing on top of the mountain of men he had put down, numbering six in total.

The smirk from before re-emerged as Exul analyzed the situation and decided who his next target was going to be.

It was the man directly in front of him, dressed in nothing but a casual orange t-shirt and sweatpants, and had ruggedly-shaped hair that was neatly paired with a set of pale blue eyes.

Michael Doreno, the only man in the Kingdom that went toe-to-toe with Emilia Jaqueline herself, and brought the match to a stalemate.

The Kingdom's second strongest warrior.

The Head Chief Warrior's proclaimed equal.

Excitement boiled in Exul's heart. He gasped slightly and looked down at his chest. As he opened and closed his hand repeatedly, he glued the smirk onto his face.

*/Am I actually... getting *excited*?/*

With one more analyzing look, Exul made sure to remember his new opponent's figure, which in of itself emphasized a balance between strength and athleticism, as well as his name.

"Let the show commence, Sir Doreno."