After losing to Arthur, Emma challenged Carlos and ended up winning by a small margin. It seems she had used her rune to the limit as the eagle was stronger than before with only a hair's breadth separating it from reality.
The ranking was shifted once again, with Arthur being the sole exception with his unattainable first spot. Leonard was the next challenger and he, as expected, challenged Arthur.
"Multiple teleports. He can't focus the laser fast enough. There are limits to the rune he's using, one of them being mobility. Use these teleport runes to gain an advantage and end it."
"… You're not holding back." Yurirl smiled at Arthur.
"Would you rather that I do?"
"Nope, I like it this way."
After Yurirl left, Arthur resumed his waiting. He had already taken every step to prepare for the Enders' attack. If even his work wasn't enough, he'd have no idea what would be.
The Enders needed Arthur to come out of the coliseum's interior for them to attack. If they needed to use a human to attack, then they needed to get close to Arthur first. However, they would probably pick a time where Arthur was alone and unprotected.
Even now, Arthur's room was protected by runes masters and awakeners. Unless the Enders could teleport without a medium, it would be difficult for them to find their way to Arthur.
'The award ceremony.' Arthur realized. That would be the best time to attack Arthur. This way, they get Arthur onstage without anyone else. As he would be crowned champion, he would be in the arena alone with Yurirl.
Arthur then looked at the stage. As soon as they began, the hooded person used the laser runes to attack Yurirl. However, by the time light was condensed into a beam, Yurirl had already teleported.
The hooded person needed to use another rune to attack but Yurirl teleported again. It then became a battle of how many cards each side had, and there was no way Arthur would lose.
In the end, Yurirl teleported next to the hooded person who flinched and tried to back away. However, he had no cards left. Yurirl took out the fire rune and activated it to attack the opponent.
When the fire attacked the opponent, even though the limiter stopped the damage from reaching the hooded person's body, Arthur felt a slight change.
A stinking smell that made him feel nauseous. For the briefest moment, the hooded person failed to hide it. It was all that Arthur needed to feel their existence.
'Bingo.' Arthur grinned as he now knew who the Ender's slave was. He had his suspicions regarding this person before, but it was now confirmed. The only question was why he felt a certain familiarity toward this person?
Unexpectedly, Leonard didn't challenge anyone anymore. His rank was established and the only one that hasn't challenged anyone yet was Mulan Keri.
The ranking was now as follows: Arthur Silver, Emma Agard, Carlos Beva, Mulan Keri, Leonard Leran, Lily Green, and Abraham Galan.
The bright sun's heat was contrasted by the chilly breeze that ran through the stadium. A person appeared on stage but it wasn't Mulan's partner, but Mulan herself. She wore the limiter of the rei-rank as the announcement was issued.
"Since Mulan Keri fulfills the requirements to wear a limiter, she was allowed to represent herself in the last rounds."
This announcement shocked the crowd and the participants alike. There was a reason that runes apprentices didn't represent themselves. They were too weak to do so. There wasn't any Vetus-rank runes apprentice in the competition before, so the partner's solution was presented.
For example, Arthur was a rei-ranker. However, Emma was still at the edge of the neo-rank. This was because she had spent her life studying runes and didn't have time for anything else.
Mulan Keri, shockingly, was a Vetus-ranker. With her short height, freckled face, and a grin from ear-to-ear, she stood on the arena with pride. She wore a limiter that reduced the mana output to the rei-rank with several cards strapped to her belt.
"The world is truly filled with geniuses." Arthur laughed helplessly. "She's a Vetus-rank runes apprentice, what if she focused all of her life on runes?"
There was no rule against representing oneself as long as the mana output was the same.
"I challenge Arthur Silvera." Arthur shook his head helplessly as Yurirl laughed by his side.
"I guess everyone likes you."
"…Wow, Yurirl. Was that sarcasm?" Arthur asked in genuine amazement. Yurirl frowned as if he didn't know whether it was himself.
Arthur was given one hour to prepare. In the meantime, other participants had their duels. After the one hour was done, Arthur gave Yurirl the runes.
"What is the plan this time?"
"Seven fire runes and seven protection runes."
"You know, she knows lightning runes."
"Yeah, but I don't have a better rune against her."
"How about Teleport?"
"No, you won't need it. This will be a direct confrontation."
"What, how do you know?"
"Well," Arthur paused as he couldn't explain it. "I've seen how Mulan behaves until now. She's a straightforward person. There must be a reason why she decided to represent herself now."
"That's exactly why I don't think it would be a straightforward confrontation."
"No, it's the opposite. She wanted to take things into her own hands. Whatever she's trying to do, it would be related to her runes. We can only hope to achieve victory."
"Okay, I'll just use the seven fire runes together."
"… Do you want to blow up the arena again?" Arthur was speechless. "That's a good idea." He laughed but Yurirl must have thought he was kidding. "There's no reflection rune this time. Just activate all of the runes at once and protect yourself."
"But, the arena…" Yurirl's forehead sweated as he looked at Arthur like a madman.
"Talk to Jumana. Ask her to construct a barrier around the arena this time. Also, warn Mulan."
Yurirl nodded at his words and left the room. The duels that determined the lower ranks were over now and it was Arthur's turn against Mulan.
"Oh," Arthur suddenly realized. "If I win this, I'll be the champion." There would be no one else to challenge him. It has been a long journey, but he's finally at the end.
"Well, it's going to be one hell of an end." Arthur grinned to himself. "You loathsome bastards want to have a go at me every time you get the chance, huh? Allow me to entertain you this time."
Arthur took out empty runic cards and cores from his subspace. He also had Idris supply him with runic cards for such occasions. Long ago, Ori had told him of how runes master fought. Runic Cards. He grabbed the core and began inscribing.
"I'll inscribe your doom, lowly beings." Arthur's hand tightened around the ethereal core. "You can come at me as many times as you want, but I'm your nemesis and the only person you can dream of killing." He started inscribing genuine runes as the battle began.
***
It was the last battle in the Runes Apprentices Cup #101. The crowd sat on the edge of their seats. Normally speaking, there was no way Mulan could win against Arthur after she lost to Carlos and Carlos lost to Arthur. However, the suspense was there.
As he walked on stage, Yurirl looked down on the short girl in front of him. She had a pixie cut with freckles on her face. Her hair was blue and her arms showed her muscles.
"Ah, how I wished that I get to challenge the Genius Hero." Mulan lamented and glanced at Yurirl from head to toe. "But the Divine Swordsman would do." She had a thick accent of Orlan.
The Yalveran language was considered the language of runes since many types of research were written in it. For some reason, many runes masters appeared in this region over the years. Their talents were passed in their families like the famous Agard family.
"I'm sorry for disappointing you." Yurirl nodded. "But I promise that Arthur's runes are enough to represent him."
"Show me their might, swordsman." Mulan grinned and pulled her cards as the host started counting down.
"Mulan, Arthur sent a message to you." Yurirl pulled his cards as well. "He asks you to be careful."
The crowd counted as well until they reached zero.
With no hesitation, Mulan activated one of her cards and a giant tsunami appeared, rushing toward Yurirl. Standing in front of it, Yurirl looked like a pencil standing in front of a large blue canvas.
"That's not all!" Mulan shouted as she used another card and this one integrated itself into the water. Electricity crackled as the water turned electrified. If lightning was a single target rune, this one was an area-of-effect rune.
Yurirl stood there calmly in the face of the electrifying tsunami. He took out his seven cards and activated them simultaneously.
"May the gods show mercy." Yurirl laughed to himself as he poured most of his mana toward the runes. The seven runes began shining brightly as a heptagon appeared between them.
A fire dragon appeared as it roared toward the heavens in defiance and rushed toward the tsunami. Like a giant serpent of flames crashing against the wave, the runes met each other in a single battle for supremacy.
Lightning crackled and a fire explosion followed. Yurirl managed to use the protection barriers just in time as his vision was obstructed by the water vapor and flashes of lightning.