[Only 1 chapter today. I was kidnapped away for birthday related matters, so this is all there is]
The smile on Violet Rain's face grew brighter and brighter. It was finally time for this farce to come to an end. Now that the second round had come around, there was no longer any words to hide behind.
A devious light flashed in her watery eyes as she turned on the voice projection system once more having gotten her fill out of the crowd's boos.
"I will now explain the rules for the second round as I did for the first."
One of the male Commanders by Violet Rain's side had a weird expression hearing these words. They were supposed to share hosting duties, so it was meant to be his turn to explain things. They had done this a couple times before already, so Violet Rain should be familiar with the process.
'Whatever. The rules for the second round have always been the same anyway. It doesn't need to be me.'
However, he had only barely finished thinking this when he was suddenly stunned by the next words he heard.
"The second round this time will be a seeded elimination tournament where your performance from the first round will be taken into account. You will be split into seeds one through eight.
"The first battle will be between seed seven and eight. The winner of the battle will go on to challenge seed six, while the winner of that will go on to challenge seed five. So on and so forth.
"In the end, whichever seed remains standing will be allowed to challenge the best performer from the first round."
After being stunned a while, the two male Commanders looked toward each other and smiled bitterly. Even if they were beaten to death, they wouldn't believe that this wasn't targeting a certain person. But since Violet Rain hadn't done anything too outrageous, they really couldn't say anything. Plus, it wasn't like they could make her retract the rules she had already said, right? They had already lost face once today after readmitting Leonel.
The second round was indeed usually an elimination tournament. But, it was a normal one in which everyone battled at once. Eight would become four, then two, then eventually one. This modification of Violet Rain's was appearing for the first time in the history of the gathering.
Unfortunately… since this was only the third gathering, no one picked up on the oddity. They only felt that the rules had changed, but they didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Like this, Violent Rain got away with it…
Plus, even if things weren't like this, would the crowd really turn against Violent Rain for the sake of Leonel? If anything, they would give her their full support for dealing with the shameless man who dared to call himself 'Indomitable'.
As for the man who was being targeted himself? He wasn't even aware. Leonel hadn't taken part in the other gatherings so how could he know what was normal and what wasn't when even the fanatics in the crowd didn't?
Violet Rain's smile grew as she continued.
"The bottom of the rankings will be decided by who lasted for the longest after crossing the minimum ten minute requirements. As for those who had the ability to kill the one or more Invalids, they will be even above that. Those at the very top will be decided by whoever defeated the five Invalids the quickest.
"Like this the seeds are as followed…
"First Seed: Chasing Wind. Second Seed: Thunderous Clap. Third Seed: Roaring Black Lion. Fourth Seed: Erupting Volcano. Fifth Seed: Falling Leaf. Sixth Seed: Precious Moment. Seventh Seed: Seer. And the Eighth Seed: …
"Indomitable."
The crowd was silent for a moment before cheers erupted once more.
"HAHA! Serves him right!"
"Good luck going through our gauntlet of geniuses, 'Indomitable'."
"Indomitable? More like Indumbitable!"
"… That was lame."
Another fight broke out in the crowd.
Violet Rain allowed the crowd to get rowdy to their hearts content before continuing.
"Once again, I will reiterate the rules and regulations.
"First, anyone who kills their opponent will be subject to judgment by military law. This is a time of war, remember that. Your sentence wouldn't be anything lighter than the death penalty.
"Second, only weapons from the racks provided can be used." She took her time to emphasize the word only, and for good reason. "Those weapons are all of the C-grade and can ensure fairness."
"Third, if I stop the battle for any reason, anyone who fails to obey in a timely fashion will once again be subject to military law. Disobeying the Command of a superior officer is worth at least a demerit."
This time, Leonel made it a point to listen to the rules so that he wouldn't make a mistake again. But, when he heard that the weapons of the rack were of the C-grade to ensure fairness, he had a weird expression. Though, no one could see it behind his mask.
His atlatl and darts were treasures from he received after clearing the Mayan Tomb Zone. They were C-grade treasures… So why was he disqualified?
Toward this, Leonel could only scratch the back of his head and shrug his shoulders. It didn't seem to matter anymore. After all, she had said that only weapons of the rack could be used, not that only weapons at the C-grade could be used. Though the difference was minor in a large sense, Leonel couldn't complain about it.
'Oh, I guess since these are the rules, I should go up now.'
Leonel stood and inadvertently yawned again. Toward this, he could only shake his head helplessly. He was truly too tired. It wasn't like he was doing it on purpose.
Violet Rain's expression darkened. This boy should be very clear that she was targeting him now, yet he actually dared to be so carefree.
"First battle. Eighth Seed Indomitable vs. Seventh Seed Seer." She said stiffly.
Leonel made it to the stage first, only to find a young man walking toward him. He had a scrawny build and a singular closed eye was painted on the forehead of his mask.
In his hand, Seer held an odd short staff with a bulbous head. Compared to the gazes of raging hatred Leonel had gotten used to seeing, Seer's eyes were calm and tranquil. His brows only barely furrowed when he saw that Leonel not only yawned, but also wasn't holding a weapon.
"Begin."