The rising of the Shield Hero X One piece

The Rising of the Sword Hero part 24

Zoro sat, quietly, in a corner of the waiting room after getting checked out by the medical staff.

When they arrived at the stadium the morning after the preliminary, the eight final contestants were split into two groups and led into separate waiting rooms. It was probably so that there would be less chance of the two fighters of the same match to collude with each other to arrange a result, or just because they wanted to make it more thrilling for the audience to see the two fighters walking out of two opposing sides of the stadium.

The air in the waiting room was heavy. The two other men in the room, zoro had seen the other day as Alder Abelot and Artos, were glaring at him with eyes of contempt, suspicion and wariness. Although, the Sword Hero felt that their glares were aiming at him more than at each other. Obviously, from the performance he had just made the previous day, they had more than enough reason to be wary of him. A no-name fighter who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and fought the strongest swordsman in the world in his first tournament would put even the hardiest fighter on edge.

They didn't give Larsazusa, the last person in the room at that moment, the same look, though. It seemed the fact she was in the top cut wasn't something strange to people here; the panda woman was just that skilled and strong. Even Zoro himself could tell how strong she actually was by appearance alone. She must be a regular in this tournament.

The voice of Damian Kaur boomed outside the room. "WELCOME BACK, EVERYONE, TO THE 11TH ZELTOBLE GRAND TOURNAMENT! YESTERDAY, WE HAVE SEEN THE ASTOUNDING PERFORMANCE OF THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD, AND AMONG THOSE, THE SEVEN STRONGEST OF THE STRONGEST HAVE BEEN DECIDED! AND TODAY THEY ARE GOING TO COMPETE AGAINST EACH OTHER, AND AGAINST THE MOST POWERFUL CHAMPION, THE SEVEN STAR AXE HERO, TO SEE IF THEY COULD BECOME THE NEW STRONGEST MAN OF THE WORLD!"

His voice stopped for a moment, then emerged again with even more power in it. "ARE YOU EXCITED, EVERYONE? ARE YOU READY TO IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE THRILL OF THE FIGHTS BETWEEN THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS IN THE WORLD?"

The deafening cheers that shook the stadium of the audience were the obvious answer. Kaur's voice became even more cheerful and heated.

"THEN LET'S NOT MAKE YOU ALL WAIT ANY LONGER! FOR THE FIRST MATCH OF TODAY, PLEASE WELCOME CAPTAIN FARGUS, THE MIGHTY SEVEN STAR AXE HERO, AND HIS OPPONENT, ALDER ABELOT OF FAUBLEY!"

Alder Abelot stood up from his seat. The previous day he fought without any weapon, but today on his hands was a pair of gauntlets with sharp claws made of some kind of metal. Those claws looked dangerous; Zoro had remembered his fight against Mr. 1  from Baroque Works. but he was sure that these might kill a normal person with a single stab, no matter how strong they might be.

Glancing back at Zoro the final time, he disappeared behind the exit.

"AND HERE THEY ARE! THERE'S NO ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT CAPTAIN FARGUS, AND HIS OPPONENT, SIR ALDER ABELOT IS ALSO ONE OF THE STRONGEST GLADIATORS OF FAUBLEY! PEOPLE SAY THAT HIS SKILL WITH THE METAL CLAWS IS SO GREAT HE MIGHT AS WELL BE THE NEXT HERO OF THE CLAW! DURING THE LAST GRAND TOURNAMENT, IT WAS CAPTAIN FARGUS HIMSELF WHO PUT A HALT TO HIS AMBITION OF BECOMING THE STRONGEST, AND THIS TIME, WHO IS GOING TO BE THE WINNER?"

The cheers of the crowd were getting louder and louder.

"ARE THE TWO FIGHTERS READY? THEN THE FIRST MATCH OF THE QUARTERFINAL... BEGINS!"

The roar of the crowd let Zoro know that the two fighters had just begun their battle. The crowd screamed... yelled... gasped as if they shared the same consciousness as the two fighters did whatever they were doing to get rid of each other. The only man left in the room beside Zoro, Artos, fiddled with his weapon, a decorated spear that looked like it had been through a lot of battles, in anxiety while the voice of Damian Kaur continued booming outside of the room: "Ooh, what a narrow miss... ", "What a surprising strategy! He almost got him...!", "No effect! He should have tried something else...!"