Right as Musashi"s roar escaped from his mouth, a few armored guards with stoic expressions stepped forward and took the weak and drained Azir out of the training grounds. They carried him in the direction of the underground prisons, and soon, their backs could no longer be seen.Many of the fighters who were absorbed with their personal battles, including Falthor, were very confused. They didn"t know what had transpired, nor did they have enough time to ask before Azir was carried away. Alas, although the interruption was shocking, it by no means stopped the tournament, many of the paused fights started resuming left and right as if Azir"s imprisonment was just pa.s.sing wind.
Even the pedestrians couldn"t help but put Azir"s matter at the back of their heads and focus on the current matches. There were, after all, 12 more clan heads engaging in combat. Most of them were winning their fights by a landslide, however, some were having a relatively hard time.
Both Falthor and Ebisu were putting up quite the resistance, as they were both strong figures that hid from the limelight, many people had never even seen them before. This fact, coupled with their abnormal strength, caused many people to gape in awe. Even the clan heads they were facing off against, were evidently caught off guard.
Falthor"s body was extremely st.u.r.dy and his physical strength was surreal compared to his kin. Although he seemingly could not wield magic, his strong physique more than made up for this meager detriment.
Compared to Falthor, Ebisu was quite the opposite. Instead of strength, he used speed and precision. He utilized what appeared to be wind magic to sharpen his blade and heighten his speed even further. His way of fighting was extremely similar to Akari, however, he was much calmer in comparison to Akari"s fiery temper.
This made him a tad bit more dangerous than Akari, and he proved this fact in battle. The clan head he was facing off against was someone Caesar hadn"t paid much attention to, he had short blue hair, pale skin, a pointy chin, and a mole under his lip. He looked to be quite young and his experience in combat seemed to be close to none.
The clan head in question was currently being pushed back at a visible pace… his wooden sword, before it even moved more than a few inches, was pushed back. Likewise, his feet constantly stumbled back towards the edge of the arena, and his defeat was nearly certain.
And as if solidifying the poor boy"s defeat, Ebisu started waving his sword even quicker, knocking him out of the arena before the clan head could react. This battle, although short, caught the attention of almost half of the spectators present. And as a result, loud cheering resounded throughout the training grounds once Ebisu won.
After watching the battle, Caesar shrugged in disappointment. He was quite dissatisfied with the clan heads strength, even Akari could"ve swept the rug under his feet. Thinking to here, Caesar shifted his attention to the other side of the training grounds, where Falthor resided.
He was currently facing off against a figure that Caesar was well acquainted with, Khan. Both men had st.u.r.dy physiques and similar personalities, and as such, their fighting style was nearly identical.
Both men had rushed at each other from the very start of the match, neither even pulled out a weapon. They answered one another with their fists, creating quite the b.l.o.o.d.y scene. They had started a slugfest, and even Caesar was curious as to who would be capable of triumphing over the other.
Caesar was, of course, not the only one who was curious… after Ebisu"s fight, most people started focusing on Falthor and Khan, as it was the only "close" battle taking place. With each punch delivered, another spurt of blood landed on the ground or stained their clothes.
Although, to a normal human, such a b.l.o.o.d.y battle would unpleasant. To the fox-kin, who were a race that innately loved battle, the more blood, the better. Even Caesar, in the past, would"ve frowned at the sight of so much blood, however, after becoming a vampire, he could not be fazed by such things.
"Ah, it should be ending soon…" Caesar whispered under his breath as his eyes flashed a deep shade of crimson. He could see that both men were close to their limits, neither of them being in a position better than the other, and soon, as if in accordance with Caesar"s deduction, they each hammered each other in the face one last time before collapsing.
Their bodies landing on the ground created a loud thudding sound and the spectators roared in response. What better way to end such an exciting fight? A draw showcased that Falthor, someone who hid under the radar, was equal to an esteemed clan head. This brought much joy to the pedestrians, how could they not be happy over another strong fighter in their midsts.
After their fight ended, the referee called out a draw and marked the ending of the tournament round. 10 clan heads had prevailed while two had lost and one drawn. These results didn"t surprise Caesar in the slightest, in fact, he had expected something similar.
Although he disdained most of the clan heads, that didn"t change the fact that they were much more powerful than the average soldier. They were, after all, trained from a young age, by the best of instructors. Even their talent was superior to most.
Caesar had, at first, wanted Hisoka to attend this tournament, and hopefully gain a spot on the council, however, he had more pressing matters to attend to. With this in mind, Caesar turned towards the large podium and walked towards it.
His strides were long, and he soon arrived just a few feet away from Ahri and Musashi, to which both of them looked at him curiously.
"Some of the clan heads don"t want to fight any longer, correct?" Caesar asked whilst glancing at Leo and a few others who were clearly not interested in the rewards proposed by Musashi.
His words caused Musashi to nod his head with squinted eyes, "even if they don"t want to attend, their place on the council is at stake. None of them are willing to let go of such an important position" He replied with a piqued tone.
"Let those that don"t want to fight, leave. They can, of course, keep their position on the council, as there are only 12 fighters left…" Caesar"s words paused for a brief moment as his lips curled.
"As for the rest of the clan heads, let me take them on at the same time… this tournament has been a bit boring lately" Caesar said with a smile, his voice raised by a few octaves so that the clan heads could hear him. He wanted them to be provoked.
"What about Ebisu?" Musashi asked while glancing at the lone figure in the training grounds.
In response, Caesar tapped his chin with an amused expression, "let him fight me last, and if I were to lose, the tournament can continue normally… I"m sure no one would have any qualms about satisfying my desire" Caesar spoke sarcastically, he wasn"t arrogant and knew his limits, this was why he proposed that those who didn"t want to fight, didn"t need to.
"Hmm, are there any other things you wanted to ask of me?" Musashi asked with a tilted head, he did, indeed, think Caesar"s proposal was interesting, alas, the clan heads needed to agree before they set anything in stone.
"Ah yes, I want that sun technique banned, and I"ll let the clan heads decide on a skill they don"t want me to use" Caesar replied after thinking for a moment. He couldn"t dodge that large radius technique in such a small arena.
Musashi nodded and beckoned for the remaining clan heads to approach. Depending on their answer, a very interesting and thrilling match could take place… Even Musashi couldn"t help but gulp in antic.i.p.ation, while at the side, Ahri was frowning worriedly. Her marriage was at stake, after all.