0.06: In The Name of Love

The moment had arrived, and all the women residing in the castle assembled in the Duel arena. Sasha and Konami were granted seats on the upper level alongside Mikoto and Tedashii. Lady Williams stood beside Mikoto in disbelief upon the arrival of the "King." Doku positioned himself in the middle of the arena, wearing protective gear as a precaution against any significant impact.

"LADIES AND BARONETS!! YOURS TRULY, DOKU!!!!!"

As the crowd cheered, Mikoto yawned, and Tedashii clapped even harder with a smile. "I am your host and umpire for this classic battle!" he announced. The two doors on opposite sides of the arena began to open. "And from the side of the oak gate, the lady with a Gladiator spirit who issued the challenge! Please give a warm welcome to... Lady Yuri!"

However, the crowd responded with boos and jeers, showing they were against her victory.

"Good luck, Yuri! You got this!" Tedashii and Konami said.

"Don't break a leg or two! Hahahaha!!!" Sasha said.

She looked up at the queen, then around all the angered faces, and finally down to the other gate.

"AND FROM THE SIDE OF THE GOLDEN GATE! THE ONE AND ONLY PERSON CAPABLE OF A MIRACLE! HE WILL PROVE HIS LOVE FOR THE QUEEN! THE GOD OF WAR! KING CHEYZAR!!!!!!!"

The crowd already began cheering right before Doku could announce his entrance. Tedashii and Lady Williams clapped sarcastically, but the queen jumped off her seat.

"YOU GOT THIS CHEYMO HONEY!! TEACH HER A LESSON!!"

Yuri did not feel good to do so. It was written all over her face that she wanted to forfeit. But the look on Sanji's face was different. He had the determination to finish her off with everything he had.

"Stand on your ground!" Both Sanji and Yuri came face to face.

"Come on, Sanj. You can call it off…I don't want to."

Sanji laughed. "Worry about yourself, or else you might lose worse than you already will." He said.

"How…How are you this confident? You will lose! Why do you still want to do this?!"

Sanji just walked away without answering her question. And so they both stood 50 meters away from each other. Doku raised his hands in the air and glared at both the fighters.

"Lady Yuri. Are you ready?"

Yuri wiped the tears and shook her head. She then took out her Sai and held her fighting stance.

"King Cheyzar. Are you ready?"

As Sanji smiled at Doku, he suddenly caught the crowd off-guard. Mikoto approached the ring from the stairs, perplexing Yuri and Doku. She was carrying a briefcase, which she then placed next to Sanji.

"This will guarantee your victory." Yuri became infuriated when she kissed him on the cheek.

She returned to the top, and Sanji didn't hesitate to open the case. Many of the ladies cheered louder as they saw his weapon—the Tsugiri of the real Cheymo, the double-sided blade.

"BEGIN!!"

Sanji began the battle by building up spiritas, but it was beyond everyone's expectation. His aura was felt all around the arena. He charged up just like the queen advised him to.

*BEFORE THE BATTLE*

...

Sanji was swinging his sword out of anger. He was afraid to fight Yuri but had no choice but to back up his dignity. He was king of the castle, but what would he say if he got beaten by a girl in front of the kingdom?

"Someone is working hard." Mikoto walked in as he stopped training. He put his sword down and walked towards her.

"Mikoto, what are you doing here?" He asked.

"What? Is it bad to watch my husband get ready for victory?"

Sanji smiled but then frowned again, knowing he had to address her as his wife.

"H-Honey…" She began to smile when he said that. "Whenever I fought, what was my way of winning?"

She stopped smiling.

"It's always war with you. At least I know that you are still you."

She turned back to the drawer and took out a briefcase. Inside was the ancient weapon, one of the strongest in its time. "Rotanoria" was its name. Sanji was beyond amazed at its craftsmanship. Its design was made and specified for genocide.

"Whoa. What is that?" He asked.

Mikoto looked up out of surprise. "Wait, you don't remember your sword?!"

He then swallowed his words and called it the way he read. "Rotanoria! How could I ever forget it? HAHAHAHA….he." He smiled at her.

Mikoto just laughed and gave it to him.

"This will hand you a win over that crazy girl."

"Hey, she's not-…." Sanji kept quiet after seeing the look on her face. "(*Exhale)You're right. Sorry for raising my voice…sweetie?"

Mikoto changed her frown into a smile and hugged him. Her expression changed drastically.

"On a serious note, do you know how to use it?" She asked.

"Of course! How would I ever-"

"Then charge it up."

"HA! That's too easy for a swords-master like me!"

*PRESENT TIME*

...

But Sanji failed to charge Rotanoria up and hoped he succeeded this time.

"TAKE THIS!!!"

He swung Rotanoria from the ground up, and the crowd stayed silent to witness the impact. The ground level was dust-covered, and Yuri did her best to guard the attack.

"…What?"

Sanji opened his eyes, and all he saw was the scratch he made with his sword on the ground. The ladies all gasped to see just how futile all those spiritas were.

"Huh? What did he try and do, Mom?" Tedashii asked the queen.

"I knew he forgot how to use it…" She replied.

Yuri dropped her guard and stared at the dent he made on the ground. This made her beyond furious.

"That's it…? All that is screaming, all that confidence, All the effort…FOR THIS??!!"

She began to charge up her spiritas and held her Sai out. "WHY DON'T I TEACH YOU HOW IT IS DONE!!!"

She ran to him at full speed and speared her Sai through his jacket. He didn't have time to react, which caused Yuri to rip it off. And just before he knew it, her knee was driven in his face.

KICK!!

Sanji was sent up in the air but was not done there. She dropped her swords and leaped up with a barrage of punches on his chance.

"HHAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

With every punch that followed, another drop of blood came out of his mouth.

"AND TAKE THIS!!!"

SLAM!!

Yuri hooked her ankle around his waist and flung him down.

THUD!!

Sanji tried to catch his breath but was kicked in the face.

KICK!!

He met with the other side of the wall and broke right through.

CRASH!!

Yuri finalized her rampage by picking Rotanoria up and tossing it close to him, locking itself on the ground. The crowd began to boo again as Yuri smiled at them.

"This is not how it was supposed to go down!! Come on, Cheymo!" Mikoto said.

Lady Williams was on the other side of the walls, but neither Yuri nor any ladies could see her.

"You're not using it the right way." She told him.

Sanji tried his best to look up and noticed it was her.

"Lady Williams. Why…are you helping me? I thought you..hated me.?" Sanji said as he got up on one knee.

"Yes, I do. But there is something I have to tell you. And if I help you, promise me three wishes."

Sanji didn't want to get into any business with her, but he had no choice.

"Perfect. Now listen up…"

***

Yuri was waving around victorious at the retort she was receiving. As the crowd got louder, so did her appreciation.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I just proved why your king is nothing but a-"

The crowd began to cheer again, and Yuri did not know why. When she turned around, she was amazed that Sanji was still standing.

"I don't believe it. You don't want to let this go, do you?!" Yuri said, for she had had enough of his persistence. "I'll have to finish you off, once AND FOR ALL!"

HAKURAA!!

BWOOSH!!

She finally summoned Tedashii's sword. As she grabbed hold of it, her spiritas synced perfectly with it. This did put Sanji's early stunt to shame.

"She's going for the finish!" Konami said.

But Sanji was not fazed at all. He held Rotanoria before him and began to spin it like a wheel.

"Don't think you will fool anyone with that SWORD AGAIN!"

She leaped with immense speed. "TAKE THIS! HAKURAA: SHADOW WIND SCAR!"

Sanji took a deep breath and waited for Yuri to come in range. He used his unknown trump card when she was a mere five centimeters from Rotanoria.

~ SECOND TO NON!!~

BOOM!!

The impact shook the whole kingdom. Nearly half of the ladies fell off their seats and were killed by the roof. Tedashii took hold of his chair while Sasha and Konami grabbed one of the pillars. The queen lost her footing and fell into the cloud of dust.

"AH!!"

"Oh no, Mikoto!" Tedashii yelled.

The queen fell to the ground and cracked her neck.

....

"gnintseretni."

All the chaos was reversed from 10 seconds. The roof got destroyed before falling on the ladies; Tedashii, Konami, and Sasha were taken to safety, and the queen got caught in time.

"…What?" Tedashii couldn't believe what happened.

Everyone was still trying to process what had just occurred until one of the ladies cheered as they saw the savior.

"...No...way." Sasha and Konami said.

It was Sanji who was granted the sync with Rotanoria. His face was broken like glass, and only black matter filled the holes. His eye was filled with black, and his pupil became the 7th clan's immortal. "A Revlo"! He laid her down and looked at himself. He could feel the spiritas of a pure King flow in his veins. This was the skill earned after syncing with Rotanoria.

"Wait, where is Yuri?" Konami asked.

And Doku appeared again with Yuri in his arms. She was out cold, with blood pouring out her ear.

"Yuri!!" Tedashii ran towards her.

Mikoto ran to Sanji as he returned to his former self. All that was different was his eye color and hair length.

"YOU DID IT!! I TOLD YOU THAT THIS WAS A WIN!" She said as she kissed him.

Sanji saw the state of Yuri, and something came to his senses. She shook her head and got back up.

"Dammit…What happened?" She asked.

"Lady Yuri." Doku came and laid a napkin on her ear to stop the bleeding.

"Doku? Thank you…but what happened?"

He began to frown. "Lady Yuri. I have to admit. I hated you a lot when I found out you betrayed us. But that battle inspired me. How you went all out to fight against the king...However…" Doku looked away.

Yuri could not believe it. She slowly turned her head towards Sanji, who was sitting on the throne with Mikoto on his lap.

"Guess the wrong person wore the pants." He said with a sinister smile on his face.

Yuri slammed her fist on the ground, for she couldn't believe she lost. Doku stood up to the crowd. "So the battle has been set. KING CHEYZAR HAD COME VICTORIOUS!! So what will the verdict be, my liege?!"

The kingdom began to cheer. Sanji looked at Lady Williams, then looked back at Yuri.

"My verdict is for the immediate eviction of Yuri from the castle!"

The crowd chanted his name non-stop. Tedashii could not believe that Sanji would do such a thing.

"What?…B-But then where will I go? I'm not familiar with this-"

"Oh, don't worry. You are sent to live the rest of your life…IN PUNK KNOCK!!"

Everyone went silent; even Doku was perplexed by his decision.

"Wait…My Liege. Sending a lady to Punk Knock? Who knows what those men will do to her?"

Sanji looked down, and he was quiet. "Sorry, Evict her…guards..." Doku commanded.

The guards held their swords at Yuri. Tedashii wanted to intervene, but Doku held him back.

"I don't believe this…" Sasha said.

Yuri tossed Tedashii's sword on the ground and ran to the main gate. Konami was in tears, while Tedashii tried to hold in his frustration. Her Sai was thrown outside, and then she looked back at Sanji for one last time.

"YURI!! I PROMISE I'M GOING TO FIX THIS!" Tedashii said.

She smiled and began to cry. Tedashii was boiling with anger as he stared at Sanji.

"Don't do anything rash. You might regret it later, young Fugin." One of the ladies told him.

And the castle switched all their torches off to call it a night. Sanji kept celebrating with the queen, Konami sat down with Sasha on the roof, Doku looked down from the castle, and Tedashii was still staring at his sword.

***

Yuri began to run down in Punk Knock while being chased by the juggernauts. They kept attacking her with rocks up until the effect of her injury kicked in. She fell to the ground and lost her conscience due to her blood loss. Two guys quickly took her to the corner before the juggernauts appeared. As they ran past, they both smiled and turned towards Yuri.

"Great, another reject from the Big castle. What a shame…" One of the men said.

"Don't worry, little girl. WE will take g-o-o-d care of you."