170 Team Battle Part 3 (1/2)
Looking up at the stage, Greyson let out a sigh of relief before sitting on the ground. Actually, the Tatyana's poison was pretty vicious and most of his body was starting to numb. He was also glad that Keaton used his strongest move. No real damage was done to him and the rest of the aftermath was blocked by the shield. In the end, he managed to get Keaton to waste all that mana for his last move. Smirking to himself, Greyson could imagine how frustrated the young noble probably was for wasting a move like that. Although there were still some deviations, the major points of their plan were still working and moving along...
Eris did not waste thoughts for Greyson's state and instead jumped right back into the fight. With Efren knocked out, the main target would be Keaton. Combined with Aphina's healing, she felt that she would be able to knock out Tatyana fairly easily later.
Keaton's face looked pale and dark. At first, he was still smiling maniacally over his win, but then he felt the drain on his mana and witness the protection from the stage activate. Once the acid water faded away, he could see Greyson sitting calmly outside the stage with no harm to speak of. His expression quickly distorted and slammed the whip into the ground showing his frustration. Now, even his legs felt weak, yet he did not manage to damage his opponent only removing him from the rest of the battle. In his distraction, he did not notice the approaching bloodlust coming his way.
Tatyana watched in frustration as her one group member was also eliminated and the other was distracted like an idiot. Looking towards the remaining Keaton, she felt her will to fight dropping. However, this had to do with the nobles' honor and she could not just stand and watch. Rushing over in the matter of seconds, Tatyana pulled out her rarely used dagger. Her lithe body moved with the wind and managed to redirect the powerful spear thrust to the side with her dagger. The tip of the spear only nicked Keaton's side in the end. Letting out a sigh of relief, she glared behind her and quickly snapped at her pig of a teammate.
”Will you pull yourself together? The battle is not over. Even if you do not care about losing face, I surely do not want to humiliate myself along with you.” Although she does not speak much, Tatyana was not the type to mince words with others.
”Oh? Well, I can always appreciate an intelligent and tough woman, however, I can only continue to offend.” Eris winked a little flirtatiously before her expression immediately became serious. Tatyana's face changed after she felt the power behind the spear she blocked. With a strong horizontal swing, Tatyana's whole body was pushed flying by Eris's spear. Not wasting a second look, Eris swiftly went in for the kill. However, it was already too late as Keaton regained his bearings after getting scolded by Tatyana. He dodged away and rapidly retreated to create space between the two.
”...If I was to say that before I had nothing against you other than just general disdain, then now I am truly unable to look at that ugly face for much longer. It really stings the eyes. Maybe it would be more manageable if I beat you until I can no longer recognize your features?” Still keeping that same casual smile, Eris seemed to be casually joking. But if one looked closely, they could see her hand gripping the spear a little tighter. Aphina was busy recovering her energy, but even she looked up with a glare. Tatyana also looked at her own teammate with disgust. Of course, she caught the small glance he sent her way when he was speaking.
In the Snow Country, misogyny was actually not that widely accepted. Before the Moon Empire came into power, there were still some old kingdoms who practiced more traditional inheritance. Although the law that women can also inherit had spread due to the First Emperor's decree, some of the people who descended from the past powers still held inherent disdain towards women. In the beginning, they could still make up for half the population, but, as new citizens were continually born, respecting women became the norm for those growing up. Therefore, belittling women like Keaton just did does not occur much in public. It was an easy way to create enemies. Some of the noble families in the Moon Empire were matriarchies. Let alone the fact that the Moon Empire's First Emperor deeply loved and respected his wife. His inheritor was also one of their daughters.
”Duke Mendenhall's parenting still requires a lot of work. It's shocking someone like Her Majesty could descend from him, as well. Maybe she received most of her personality from her mother.” Duke Zaire commented plainly while watching the scene with humor in his eyes like he was witnessing a joke.
Trevion also shook his head and he could see Tatyana was extremely displeased.
Why must I help this half-wit? Did he never learn that controlling your tongue is of the first and foremost importance to nobles? Even if you have those feelings, could it not wait until the match is over?! Why are you making your own teammate hate you, too? Feeling distressed, Trevion almost resented his father for getting him involved. He should have just ignored the situation. Although he did not particularly love fraternising with commoners, he did not look down on Greyson who was clearly talented and powerful. If anything, he was hoping that Greyson would gain face for the Snow Country and their team. Otherwise, he would have to resign himself to the fact that he was going to the competition to get humiliated.
While he was stupid enough to say it, Keaton was not dull enough to not notice the change in atmosphere. Biting his lip almost imperceptibly, he already started to regret acting so impulsively. Normally, he had better control of himself...
Before he could address his own doubts, Eris once again began attacking. In his weakened state, Eris's powerful attacks kept Keaton on the defensive. At the same time, though, Eris also could not approach too carelessly due to his acid water that was constantly circulating.
This time, Tatyana did not rush over right away to help. She took a step and paused feeling conflicted.
”Tatyana!” A warning was shouted. Looking in the direction of the voice, Tatyana made eye contact with Trevion outside the stage. She could tell what he meant right away. Taking a deep breath, she held in her personal standpoints and ran over to give assistance. Keeping an appropriate distance, she pulled out her needles and waited for the right timing. Every time she saw an opening, she would throw in a needle to cut off Eris's rhythm. As a veteran fighter, Eris was definitely able to divide her attention to dodge the needles while attacking, however it would make her weary mentally. Inwardly, she was going back and forth between continuing to attack Keaton or to try to take out Tatyana first. Just because she was slightly angered did not mean she did not know how to keep a calm head.
Contrary to expectation, Keaton was actually dodging towards Tatyana instead of away to help keep a distance. Eris looked confused for a moment before a small grin appeared on the corner of her lips.
...
”Trevion, what is that idiot doing? Does he not even understand the basics? Why is he moving towards, Taty? She is more useful in causing a disturbance from a distance than helping in close quarters.” Efren was completely baffled about the current proceedings of the battle.
”I'm not sure...” Trevion also felt that this amount of stupidity was out-of-character, even for Keaton. He was arrogant, but not foolish. When it came to fighting, he was not that useless. He thought for a moment before realizing that everyone forgot about a participant.
”Princess Aphina...” He muttered while looking at the girl who was still recovering without participating. Although he could not prove it, he felt that there was something going on and the cause was her. After all, she was the one fighting with Keaton for a while earlier. Everyone else did not make contact until later.
”Your Grace, has Aphina learned the Moon Empress's - ” Trevion began to ask.
”Yes, it's as you thought.” Zaire interrupted and seemingly gave a warning glance. It was already against the rules for Trevion to try to influence the battle earlier after being defeated, but he let it slide as he only said one word. However, if he tried to ruin things again from the sidelines, then the Duke surely would not let it slide.
”...” Not speaking any more, Trevion just looked down with no one able to see his thoughts.