Chapter 47- LOUIS LA TEUR VS MARIAM AQUARIUS
"Did he just surrender?"
"Is that even allowed by the rules?"
"Can they do that even before the battle?"
In the midst of the Brilliant Colosseum, the crowd chattered away as they watched the next event unfold with bewilderment. An even more peculiar individual seemed to have emerged.
"....Mr. Silvan. Do you realize the implications of what you just said?" Michaelo asked with a raised brow and a questioning expression.
"I do, Patriarch Jun," Darell replied, bowing slightly. "I may be young, but I am not foolish."
He glanced at the other households. "I am well aware of whom I can challenge and whom I would lose bitterly to." He stole a glance at Jang and quickly averted his gaze as he headed straight for his family podium.
Jang exuded a visible red aura with a malevolent glint in his eyes. "...and you call yourself a knight?" he muttered, his voice harsh and husky.
Darell halted in his tracks, looking back a little, locking eyes with Jang.
"I am indeed a knight, but a cautious one," he responded.
He left the arena without further words, returning to his podium and taking his seat next to his father, who appeared unfazed by the situation.
Michaelo watched quietly and sighed. This wasn't the first time such a situation had occurred, but surrenders usually happened either in the middle or at the end of a battle.
Perhaps it was for the best that Darell knew his limits. Some people today fail to recognize the wisdom in not always challenging a wall when they are merely a pebble.
The audience section also seemed displeased, with constant grumbling and complaints, but their opinions mattered little.
Michaelo sighed. "May as well proceed to the next battle," he thought to himself. "Jang, return to your seat. The next battle doesn't involve you."
Jang's jaw muscles clenched so tightly they seemed ready to snap, and a murderous glint filled his eyes as he glared at Raffaelo Jun. He had wanted to make a spectacle of Darell to demonstrate the power disparity between them.
He had no interest in the other family members; all he felt was an intense anger towards the sole son of the Jun household.
Raph noticed Jang's hostile gaze, and a wild smile played on his lips as he waved back.
With a click of his tongue, he walked away.
Michaelo chuckled quietly as he announced the next battle. "Mariam Aquarius vs Louis La Teur!"
The crowd muttered in disbelief and disappointment at the previous event, rather than paying attention to the upcoming battle.
It was no surprise; martial arts had always been a spectacle for the common people.
Mariam bowed slightly at her podium as Louis La Teur sluggishly approached the arena.
His patriarch furrowed his brow deeply as he stared at Louis, while the younger one, known as Dark, looked on with a bitter expression.
"I apologize for not being the one going down there, Grandfather," the boy muttered quietly, ignored by the man who continued to stare at Louis.
'Not again!' He thought to himself as he turned his gaze away.
Mariam finally reached the center of the arena as the two men waited patiently.
"I apologize for my lateness," she said.
Michaelo raised a brow and chuckled. "No need for formalities in the battlefield, dear," he said with a smile, noticing Louis's disengaged expression. He seemed lost in thought, gazing at the clouds throughout.
"Are you prepared for this battle, Mr. La Teur?" Michaelo inquired, but Louis appeared even more distant from reality. "Louis?"
The boy finally snapped back to attention, gazing at Michaelo with an inquisitive expression.
"Uh, yes?" Louis replied.
"You... do you realize you're about to engage in a battle?" Michaelo asked, smiling faintly. 'How intriguing,' he thought.
"Yes, of course," Louis muttered, his gaze shifting to Mariam. "Nice to meet you, my lady," he added, prostrating.
Michaelo's brows furrowed, his forehead displaying wrinkles, while Mariam tilted her head, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Oh… okay," Michaelo muttered, raising his right hand. "Let the match begin," he declared swiftly, then disappeared from their midst.
He must have thought spending more time with Louis might seriously affect his mental state, as he glanced at Tonrook and then back at Louis. 'What's going on?' he wondered.
Mariam assumed her stance, quickly evading Louis's range, or so she thought. It was never wise to engage in close or ranged combat with the La Teur household. Their assassinations were flawless unless their target was stronger.
Louis, however, remained motionless, gaze fixed ahead.
Tension seemed to intensify as they remained motionless for about thirty seconds, but it dissipated when she suddenly slammed her hands on the ground. "Summon... water," she muttered, and the ground began to rumble.
"Hm?" Louis muttered, noticing a tiny crack forming on the ground, followed by a splash of water bursting out. He raised a brow as the soil gave way, causing a large quantity of water to surge out.
"I don't know what you're up to, but I won't play your games!" Mariam cried out, standing atop the flood of water that had inundated the arena within seconds. Louis swiftly shot out a gun with a hook, which clung to the arena walls, enabling him to escape the water's grasp.
"As if I'd let you off that easily!" Mariam exclaimed as the water formed multiple arms, each as large as a bungalow, rushing towards Louis in an attempt to seize him.
He dodged, causing the large arms to slam against the walls of the arena, creating tremors and tiny cracks in the concrete. "You fight well for a woman," Louis muttered as he suddenly transformed into a red mist, narrowly evading a large arm's punch.
"Where did he go?" Mariam wondered aloud as she scanned the area, searching for his whereabouts.
The La Teures were skilled assassins, and losing sight of them during a confrontation spelled trouble for their opponents. Mariam was aware of this, yet for almost three seconds, she couldn't locate him—a second too long when facing such adversaries.
Turning her back for the fifth time, Mariam sensed a chilling, eerie aura enveloping her. She nearly stumbled as an arm grabbed her from behind, its whispered words sending shivers down her spine. "I am here, Princess of the Sea."
It was over. Mariam knew it was over. Why? Because in the real world, she would have been dead. This fight had an advantage—the La Teurs refrained from using their full potential to avoid lethality. Louis stood on a thin thread, connecting the arena wall to the bottom beneath the water.
The light in Mariam's eyes dimmed, and the strength in her expression waned. 'And I thought I could...' she lamented silently. Defeated without even trying, embarrassment engulfed her, suffocating her will to fight.
"ELDER SISTER!! DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP!!!" Her younger brother's words rang in her ears like a judgment bell, snapping her out of her despair. "DON'T YOU DARE!!!" he cried again before their grandfather intervened, silencing the boy with a light tap on the head.
Their grandfather, patriarch of the Aquarius family, sighed as he regarded Mariam with a solemn expression. "Do your best, my daughter," he encouraged, loud enough for the other patriarchs and his daughter to hear.
"Hmmm…" Prince Julian observed the scene with intrigue, stroking his hairless chin. "How amusing."
"Family bonds are nothing but a weakness... you should learn, Julian," the king remarked with a sigh as they continued to watch the fight unfold.
"What a bunch of useless people... what good do they think their words would be?" Louis muttered to himself, eyeing Mariam's family, unaware that she had heard him.
"What? How dare you…" Loud tremors emanated from the water as a tentacle shot out, pushing Louis away from Mariam. "Oh…" he muttered as he felt a splash of water behind his neck. Turning slowly, he saw multiple slender arms pulling him towards the arena walls. His expression remained indifferent as he manipulated his fingers, summoning multiple thin threads that sliced through the water, freeing him from its grasp and pulling him back to the thread near the arena walls.
"How troublesome."
He said aloud, noticing how the water began to swirl around her protectively in response to her command. The tentacles numbered greatly, twirling continuously around her forming a formidable barrier as her eyes glowed bright blue while she stared at him with murderous intent. "This time... it will be different."
She waved her hands rhythmically, almost like a ballet dance causing the water tentacles to surge around her and strike out towards Louis in a hurried frenzy. He groaned as he dodged one after the other. Each tentacle caused a large tremor, and large portions of the concrete wall were cut off.
Manipulating his fingers deftly, he caused the threads to slice off those that came too close for comfort as he moved around the arena, desperately looking for an opening with his agility when the water suddenly rose up above him. His eyes bulged open in shock. "What? Did you think I couldn't control this large mass of water?" she cried out as the water completely engulfed him, crashing back down to the ground.
Her senses refused to believe that he was gone from just that simple attack. She must have learned from before, and she would not let the same thing happen again. Some seconds passed, and he was still nowhere to be seen. Her expression became complicated. "Hmm…" she muttered, lowering her shoulders, and the feeling that engulfed her once before quickly returned. It pierced through her defense and crept on her skin, making her hairs stand on end. Danger was very close by, and it proved to be true as Louis appeared seemingly out of nowhere above her, a dagger in his hands and a murderous glint in his eyes. He swung his blade down in an attempt to cut off a limb when the water suddenly opened up below her, causing her to fall within it and making Louis miss badly.
His eyes bulged open in shock when he noticed Mariam's smirk as she fell into the large amount of water with her arms raised as if holding a gun.
"Bang!"