Zetsumei

Chapter 52. Battle of the Swords Finale

.....................................final round................................................

This is the final round, the one who wins is the winner.
Kuon vs. Zero

Kuon: I never thought you would make it to the final round.

Zero: (smile) Nor I, to you.

Kuon: I must say, I was surprise by your fight during that last round. How were you able to heal so quickly? And why were you acting weird for a moment?

Zero: (smile) Who knows.

Kuon: Tell you what, you'll have to tell me if I win.

Zero: Then I guess I cannot lose.

Zero and Kuon then clash swords with each other, they start attacking with high speed. It's hard to tell who's going to win, they seem pretty even. After a few minutes, they did a high speed attack on each other then stopped side by side. I can't tell if their attacks hit or misses. But then suddenly, Zero dropped to his knees with a pained expression.

Zelphine: (Oh no! Did Zero lose! No...Wait!)

Kuon turned around and smirks at Zero.

Kuon: (smirks) Ha...ugh, you got me...

Just like that, Kuon dropped to the ground unconscious. Then the crowd roared loudly. The match had come to an end and Zero won. He actually won! After that, it was time for the ceremony.

Miester: Congratulations on holding the title of swords emperor. You are now known as the strongest swordsmen.

Zero: (smile) Thank you. But I'm sure there are others out there who are stronger than I am.

Miester: As promised, you will now received the prize money of 150 gold aaand of course the kiss from the fair princess.

Oh boy, I'm getting pretty nervous. (Sigh) I need to relax, it could've been much worse. I should consider myself lucky that Zero actually won. It will be alright, I actually get to kiss the person I like, what could go wrong? I look at Zero's smiling face and inch closer. The crowd held their breath and watched as I closed my eyes. But before I came in contact with him, I felt a hand on my shoulder pushing me back. When I open my eyes, I saw that Zero was the one who pulled me away.

Zero: I'm sorry for forcing you to do this.

Zelphine: Huh?

Zero: You should only kissed the one you like, I can't do something so cruel.

Just like that, Zero let's go of me and walks out of the arena.

Zelphine: Zero! Wai-! (Sigh) (Idiot! Don't you know! You're the one I like! But...at least I know he's considerate of my feelings.)

Zero: ( I do love you, it is the truth, but...I just can't be the one with you. As the reincarnation of Zephiel, I only bring pain and misery. I don't...want to hurt you. Still, it's enough as long as you stay by my side. I won't be greedy, all I ask is for you to call my name. That name you gave me, "Zero". It makes me forget who I really am, like I am a different person. I will treasure it for as long as I can...but, it seems that I don't have much time.)

The competition was over. In the end, I didn't have my kiss. I was sorta disappointed but also happy, he was being considerate. Still, watching his fight with Hatsu got me curious. How was he able to heal his wounds that quickly? Did he take any medicine, no..I didn't see him take any. But then the other way is drinking blood. I heard that when a vampire drinks blood, it can heal their wounds and make them stronger. But, Zero didn't even had a drop of blood. Hm...but there was also one other person from the legend who cannot be harmed by regular weapons...Nah, it can't be it.

Chiyo: Hey lady, (point at Kuon) are you the mistress of that arrogant guy.

Zelphine: Yeah, he's with me. What's the problem?

Chiyo: From this day forth, you are also my mistress.

Zelphine: Are you saying you want to become my noble?

Chiyo: If I can have a rematch with him, then why not. My name is Chiyo, I'm a demon from the night kingdom. Hope we get along well, mistress.

Chiyo then walks away. After that, I realize the other reason why I came here. I'm suppose to ask some people if they want to join me. But who should I ask, they were all strong. As I walk around the arena, I tripped on my high heels again. Ugh! It's like walking on stilts. But before I fell to the floor, someone caught me.

Shiki: Judging from your voice, you must be the girl who fell at town.

Zelphine: Oh hi there Shiki.

Shiki: (frown) How is it that you know my name, and why are you here?

Uriel: Shiki, that's the Reaper King.

Shiki: !! (Calm) I see, No wonder I sense something strange about you the first time we met. You were the reaper king all along.

Zelphine: Hey, I know we've just met, but I can really use your skill. Can you become my noble.

Shiki:...Me and Uriel are demons who travel from place to place. We have no real place to call home. But, it would be nice to have one. What do you say Uriel?

Uriel: The reaper king has nice people with her. That man who forfeit the match was one of your nobles wasn't he?

Zelphine: I guess so. Raine doesn't fight women and children no matter what. Even if they are the enemy.

Uriel: Shiki, we should join her. It will be fun and...we will finally have a place we can call home again.

Zelphine: A place to call home? Are you nomads?

Shiki: No, our village was burn down 20 years ago. Since then, me and Uriel travel from place to place to survive.

Zelphine: Then I guess I'll welcome you to my castle.

After that, I went to find others. I was interested in the animal eared guy so I asked him, it's just too bad that he said no. His ears were fluffy and it's cute how he wags his tail. Oh hey! Maybe I'll go to the beast land next, I'm sure the people there are fluffy animals.

I then went to find Hatsu, he was strong and I can really use his strength. But since most if the participants left, he was nowhere to be seen. Sheele suggested me with the one she tied with. Er..I think his name was Haku. It seems that she's interested in him because he is from the Arctic land, just like she is. This competition wasn't a complete waste of time. I was able to have Chiyo, Haku, Shiki, and Uriel be part of my nobles.

After that we went home. Lately, I've been seeing grandpa and Soren giving a curious glance at Zero. I wonder what's up? When we arrive back, I told everyone that I wanted to go to the beast land located in the southeast. Fauna got really excited when I said that. In the end, we decided that Zero, Fauna, Kai, Raine, and Shiki are coming with me to the beast land.

Urey: (crying) Whaa!! Aye wanta go two!!

Zelphine: Hm..alright then. Since Kai is coming along, no one will be taking care of you while you're at the castle.

Urey: (happy)Yayy!!

Zelphine: You're in charge of her Kai.

Kai: (smiling) Sure, I'm good with kids.

Fauna: (excited) (animal people. Will they talk? I bet their ears and tails are really fluffy. Haa..I want to pet it, I hope they don't mind if I keep a few.)