Record of Ragnarok: Ouroboros

Chapter 9: Flawless Persistence

In the desert arena, Simón begins to inspect his opponent and the arena's floor itself, holding his chin with a puzzled expression as he starts analyzing and thinking to himself about the situation. "I see, they are giving me a disadvantage by making the floor full of sand, and I can only assume that he is an Egyptian god based on the painting on the wall, that little guy's clothing, and my opponent's clothing. I am 80% sure that I am 100% correct."

As Simón analyzes the arena, Set stands there, patiently waiting for Simón to finish his deduction. Even professionals have standards. The audience is confused about the exchange of silence. Yu Huang observes the fighters and arena, deducing on his own before focusing on Simón. "For the Supreme God of Egypt, everything needs to be in his favor, like a spoiled brat. He intends to rig this "Ragnarok" for his benefit, setting up an arena where Set could easily utilize his power. But still, this desert might be a bit unfair for that human."

As time passes, the atmosphere of the whole arena becomes awkward due to the silence before Set decides to break said silence and speak to his opponent. "Are you done wasting your time, human? The atmosphere is so thick I can cut it with a knife."

Simón stops focusing on his methods to beat Set, even with the god's assumed advantage. After Set spoke to him, he let go of his chin before smiling at Set and confidently replying. "Ah, I apologize for delaying the fight. I am just thinking about how to counter you, even within this environment."

After Simón stated his reasoning, Set lets out a little chuckle and hides his face before facing Simón with his eyes, scratching his face as a sign of irritation. "You reminded me of my brother, Osiris. He's so damn pleasant, it makes me sick to my stomach."

Simón's face becomes astonished by Set's words, but he laughs at them, annoying Set even more. "You flatter me! Comparing me to one of your family members, that's a great honor!"

Set's teeth grit from the annoyance that the man's words brought him, but he eventually starts calming down. "You're not so lucky, human. This arena is made to guarantee me the upper hand. It's an awful lot for a guy like you. Or maybe you want to cry and run like that runt over there. I might be willing to go easy on you."

"What did he just say about me?" Heimdall mumbles in annoyance at Set badmouthing him.

Simón smirks before he reaches into his belt, grabbing both a sword and a pistol, unsheathing the blade, and pulling the gun out of his belt buckle before posing in a battle stance in front of Set. "Alright, enough smack talk. Let's get down to business."

"Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore." Set says as he grabs a pair of khopeshes from the sand below him, spinning the blades in his hands stylishly before stopping the spin and rushing toward Simón without hesitation, swinging his left khopesh at the liberator. However, Simón swiftly parries the strike with his sword. Set then repeatedly swings his khopeshes in different directions, trying to hit Simón, but the liberator keeps on parrying Set's strikes.

"Set is cornering Simón Bolívar with a storm of attacks, trapping the liberator in an endless cycle of parries!" Heimdall proclaims on his Gjallarhorn

As Set is trying to corner Simón with his assaults, the liberator slightly steps back away before aiming his pistol at the god's head and firing the gun. Even so, Set manages to cut the bullet in half before it can reach his head. With the god distracted from the bullet, Simón crouches down and attempts to stab Set's chin with his sword. Set quickly raises his head to prevent the blade from stabbing his chin. Simón uses Set's evasion to use his pistol to shoot Set in the abdomen, as Set is not able to see Simón as he looks up. Although Set is not able to see the projectile flying toward him from below, his fighting instinct allows him to slightly dodge the bullet, causing the liberator's bullet to only scratch his skin instead of directly hitting his inside. Set then proceeds to quickly move away from Simón, holding his wound with the back of his hand.