Chapter 163 - Quarter Finals

After the referee started the match, Cecil was still muddleheaded. It was only when a large flaming ball of fire was approaching him did he snap out of it.

Cecil instinctively reacted to the attack. He subconsciously activated Mana Burst and disappeared from his spot.

"Eh?"

"Huh? I thought Cecil said—"

"With this, the match has already ended..." Ainz said.

"Oh my~ what did he do~?" Serilla asked.

Voices of surprise and bewilderment rose from the Little Kings. Just like Ainz had said, the match ended.

Cecil appeared right in front of Friedrich in the next instant. He leaned forward and placed his palm on Friedrich's chest and pushed.

BOOOOMM

Friedrich's body soared through the air in the next instant. He smashed into the wall near the fighting stage and he fell unconscious from the impact. His protective enchantment had also broken apart and that spelled the end of the match.

"...eh?"

Cecil had done all that subconsciously. He took a look at his outstretched hand and saw the golden aura rising from it.

"Oh noooo!!!"

He had just broken his promise of limiting himself by not using mana at all during the tournament. The abrupt end of the match made the referee lag behind in response. He could only stupidly stare at the back of the boy who had just shouted out loud in dejection.

"W-winner!! COMBAT KING CECIL!!!"

He couldn't understand. Why was the one who had won put on a face like he had just lost the match? He clearly won, so why the look of dejection?

The audience was still unsure on how to respond. The fight had just started, but then before anyone could react, it had immediately ended. It hadn't even been a good 5 seconds since the match started, but it had already ended...

Then there was also the winner of the match, Combat King Cecil, who had a clear look of dejection on his face like he was the one who had lost the match. Not to mention the earlier cry of lamentation that came from the boy.

As the boy got off the stage with a clear look of dejection, the audience didn't even know what to do...should they cheer and roar in applause or what?

Cecil was just about to land his foot off of the stage, but then he felt a presence—no, 2 presences walking towards him.

He looked up and immediately flinched.

Lucia and Serilla were walking towards him.

"Hey, Cel—"

"Sorry!"

FWOOSHH

The audience was still paying attention at Cecil, so when they saw him abruptly disappear again, they exclaimed in response. The once quiet stadium had once again turned noisy.

"..."

"Ahaha~ Lucia? Let's go back~" Serilla said with a giggle.

"...the next time I see him...I'm gonna smash him."

"Oh my~ surely there's no need for that~"

"Just watch, Cecil and my fist are going to have a date later."

"Ufufufu~ let's go back~ I'm tired," Serilla pulled Lucia away and the two went back into the Kings' waiting room.

When they got inside, Ainz immediately asked where Cecil was.

"Hey, where's the brat?"

"...dunno." Lucia replied tepidly

"W-what happened?"

"Dunno... he saw us and then he just, poof, vanished. Next time however, I'm gonna smash his face in if he tries to run away again." Lucia said in a threatening manner.

She quickly sat down, clearly feeling annoyed. 'It was only a kiss, why was he so fl.u.s.tered to the point where he's openly avoiding me?!'

Lucia couldn't understand it. She was the one that should be embarrassed. After all, she was the one who kissed him. Lucia turned her head to look at the girl beside her.

Serilla had laid her body down on the sofa and was snoozing away, completely at ease. 'Even Seri is doing fine...'

"Aggghhh!! Man up Cel, you idioootttt!!!"

Lucia's sudden outburst surprised her friends who were around her, but then they turned a sympathetic look towards her. Even they thought that their party leader should man up already and face these two girls head on.

What's the point in running away? It's not like he could keep doing that...unless of course he had the intention to suddenly leave the party, but this was impossible because they knew Cecil's character.

Lucia grew more and more annoyed as time passed. The tournament continued and the next round had begun.

It was the top 16 and everyone who had advanced once again went up to face off against their opponents. Lucia was first and unfortunately for Alex Silverfang, the student council vice president who was her opponent, she was annoyed.

She had to vent and Lucia took it all out on Alex. By using only her Elemental Burst, Solaris Flame and her Shirayuki, the girl turned the vice president into her punching bag.

The matches continued and Lucia only turned more and more annoyed. Cecil still wasn't back! She nearly blew her top when Cecil came back for his match, quickly defeated his opponent and once again used Blink to run away.

"CEEEEELLLL!!! IF YOU DON'T COME BACK NOW! I'M GOING TO PUNCH YOU!!!" She yelled in frustration.

It was a little comedic since even if Cecil did come back, Lucia's fist would no doubt start flying. She had just vented her annoyance earlier on the vice president, but now it had only gotten much worse.

She didn't blow her top only because her friends were constantly trying to calm her down. Even Serilla helped out for a bit before going back to sleep.

Once the top 8 was confirmed, the final stages of the tournament had finally begun. The Top 8 were none other than, Combat King Cecil, Apocalyptic Queen Lucia, Crimson Sky Queen Elizabeth, Sword King Robert, Ghost Queen Alice, Student Council President Zephyr, Student Council Secretary Serilla, and unexpectedly, the dark horse Yunaria Yukihime.

The matchups were randomized once again. To everyone's surprise, the first match of the top 8 was Student Council President Zephyr vs. Sword King Robert.

It was the ex-representative of the Kings vs. the current representative of the Kings. The Kings' Representative was somewhat like the leader of the Kings but, he had no authority to order any of them around.

Once the matchup for the first match was determined, the second, third, and subsequent matches were immediately listed on the stadium's monitor.

1st Match, Zephyr Arks vs. Robert Stein

2nd Match, Lucia Yukihime vs. Alice Mayden

3rd Match, Yunaria Yukihime vs. Cecil Silvaria

4th Match, Serilla Lunarts vs. Elizabeth Arks

High up in the supporting beams of the stadium, Cecil heaved a sigh of relief. His heart nearly dropped when he read the name Yukihime. Good thing the first name was Yuna and not Lucia.

"Safe...if things keep going, then I'll meet her in the finals."

Down in the waiting rooms, Robert was grinning and everyone knew why. The large rabbitkin was always looking forward to a match with the student council president.

Unlike his regular spars with Zephyr, this time Robert and he would take their fight into an official setting. They could both go all out now because all that mattered now was winning. No bullshit like exchanging pointers or something like that.

It was a bout where their reputation and honor were on the line and their skills were put to the test. There would be other people bearing witness to it. They could finally settle the score and both Robert and Zephyr were looking forward to it.

The two met up on the stage. Robert had a grin on his face while Zephyr had a slight smile on his.

"Finally...right?"

"Hehe..."

Zephyr only replied with a chuckle. He seemed uncaring, but present in his eyes were the fires of war. He was looking forward to this match just as much as Robert.

The two extracted their weapons. Robert grabbed the large sword behind his back and gave it a swing. Zephyr extracted his black great sword from his spatial ring and got into a sword stance.

The atmosphere around the stage was ignited, but the audience couldn't even cheer or roar in response. It was so tense that it was like the audience had a mutual agreement with one another, focus on the fight and shut the hell up.

Two great sword users were just about to pit their wit and skills in the ring and everyone was anticipating an awesome fight.

"Quarter Finals First Match! Zephyr Arks vs. Robert Stein!!!"

The referee eyed the two contestants and loudly declared.

"FIGHT!!!"