Born in Blood

Liam struggled to hold back a broad smile as he listened to the Mayor's announcement.

Other than Alucard giving him a little smile, nobody seemed too happy for him. 

Right. This little game didn't make them friends. It made them group members. 

Even Spirit of Nature had a stony, firm face. Star Dust looked like an extraordinary item. 

A new country like Xoltrah could benefit greatly if they managed to secure such a reward. 

Though, that would incur danger as a result, hence the conflicted look that seemed to measure whether or not this game was even worth it to play. 

And of course, the Adjudicator looked disinterested in life. 

The Shadow Weaver looked calm despite losing.

Children cried when losing. Men felt a pang of regret, but moved on. Zeniths remembered but would never forget. 

They paid back their debts. 

Judging by her distant, abyssal eyes, Shadow Weaver was clear she was imagining something morbid.

A corner of the Queen's lips curved to a mocking smile. 

"Don't feel embarrassed, darling. You had no chance. Just like your sisters." 

Oof… talk about adding salt to the wound. 

Still no reaction from the Shadow Weaver. 

"Count your days," Shadow Weaver said with a flat voice as she turned to leave. "Count your days, Kisra." 

The repetition made the threat a little more terrifying. 

'Wait… Kisra?' Liam thought, raising his brow. 'Is the Queen's name? All their names begin with 'K', apparently.' 

With the Shadow Weaver gone, the Mayor quickly made new adjustments on the pitch. 

It was five versus five again.

No special talks were exchanged. The plan was the exact same, and there were no position changes done to the lineups. 

Without delay, the third round started, except Queen Thyress got to serve. 

With the ball in her hands, and a stoic look on her graceful face, the Queen gently leapt into the air like a butterfly…

And with both her hands basked in sunlight, she struck the ball like a vicious animal. 

Of course she didn't pass. She had a whole persona of arrogance and pride to abide by.

Looks of annoyance passed over her group, except the General who seemed absolutely undisturbed.

And of course, the ball was directed towards Liam. 

WHOOSH!

No rest for the wicked. 

Funny thing was, Liam expected it!

He instantly knew he wasn't going to reach the ball.

It was too far away, and with its trajectory, Liam wasn't gonna make it.

But just as the ball was about to touch the ground and disqualify him… the Breaker Blade burst from the floor gloriously, casually deflecting the ball towards Alucard. 

Instead of simply kicking it like he always did, Alucard used a little something more. 

He sprayed blood over the ball!

A second later, the blood crystalized, making the ball seem like a ruby gem.

Liam wasn't surprised, but the Queen's group was.

A moment later, Alucard's palm gently swung the ball towards Eyes of Knowledge.

The passes were no longer speed based…

Something was fishy! 

Gently receiving the ball with the palm of his hand, Eyes of Knowledge immediately hurled it over to Spirit of Nature in the same move, who then passed it to Liam.

Without delay, Liam threw it forward towards the Queen.

It was a gentle throw.

Even a child could jump over and catch the ball.

Except, as it made a wide arch over the net… the ball split up into twelve different copies that scattered, each identical to a sphere of ruby.

Now the Rag-tag Royalists realized why the passes weren't speed based.

This was much, much more dangerous than speed could ever be!

Touch Ball was self explanatory. Each player could touch the ball once. 

Except… with twelve balls scattered like this… which one was the real ball?

Which one was fake?

A strange realization dawned on the Queen's group. 

The coin.

The one that Eyes of Knowledge took out of his ring.

That had exactly twelve circular engravings on it!

The smart manchild could replicate things after all!

If an item like this was allowed, that meant that the 'one touch' rule still remained.

They couldn't just shatter all the balls at once, playing with the chance that the real ball might be among one of them.

But they all looked the same!

Even the General subtly frowned.

Each player had 2 or 3 balls above their Position.

Time felt slower.

Rin and the Queen gave each other a knowing glance.

And the Sage and the Dragonmancer gave each other a terse nod as well.

Only the General was alone, but he smirked to himself. 

They each had formulated a plan!

Time resumed as normal.

The balls were falling.

Both Rin and Queen Thyress had 2 balls over their airspace. 

They were lucky.

Their plan was simple. 

Instead of shattering or breaking them, Rin and Queen Thyress immediately passed each other the one of the balls!

As soon as they exchanged the first set of balls, they exchanged the other in one swift motion. 

All four balls were hollow!

They let the ruby spheres fall to the ground, causing them to shatter into little shards of crimson light.

Safe.

Then, there was the General.

And the General just… stood there and crossed his arms with a grin on his face.

Four balls were flying above him!

Out of everyone here, he had the biggest chance of failure!

And yet, he did nothing and closed his eyes. 

KRSHHH! 

All four balls shattered on impact with the ground.

They were all hollow.

Liam's eyes visibly widened as he saw what the General did, but there were still four balls remaining.

Two above the Sage, and two above the Dragonmancer.

Instead of passing them over like Rin and the Queen did, the Sage just… shot a beam of lightning through his eyes.

KRKRKRKRK!

An electric sound echoed through the floor.

One of the hollow blood-balls shattered instantly as the two beams of lightning made contact with it.

Unlike Rin and the Queen, Urzek and the Sage had a more awkward position that didn't allow them to exchange balls like they did.

Instead, they both had to split their risk fifty-fifty.

With one ball gone, the Sage punched the remaining ball towards Rin, who punched it towards Alucard.

KRSH!

But it shattered instantly!

There were still 2 balls left!

The Dragonmancer had to think fast!

He could only choose one!

The turtle behind his back lashed out towards one of the ruby spheres and clenched it in its jaw. 

KRSH!

It was hollow.

The remaining ball fell gently beneath his feet, bouncing several times before slowly coming to a stop.

"The Dragonmancer," the Mayor announced, "disqualified."