Alex found Aadityapal leaning on the outer walls of the structure.

He was gritting his teeth and punching the wall. A slight hint of frustration emerged on his face when he saw Alex, but he swiftly concealed it and bowed down.

With his face hidden by his bow, he hoarsely said, "Master, why didn't you let me bring down the sword of judgment on him? He deserves it?!"

Alex coughed slightly and gently replied, "Whether he deserves it or not, that is not what matters. Who are you to exact retribution upon others, Aadit?! You are not Emperor!"

At first, Aadityapal seemed furious by this remark, but then, he stood up and a wide smile replaced his fury.

"Master, did you imply something in that remark of yours?" A single tear slid down the prince's face.

Alex shrugged and replied, "When you're Emperor, you can then execute him and deal with the consequences yourself, but do you really want to do that now?"

He continued, "I'm not your moral teachers, Aadit, I simply guide you, you can make your own decisions."

Aadityapal shook his head fervently and quietly commented, "Master, you said 'when' I become Emperor, not 'if', do you have that much confidence in me?"

Alex didn't hesitate in his reply and exclaimed, "Of course I do! I trained you! Hermes trained you!"

Aadityapal moved his mouth but no words came out.

Suddenly, the sound of a large explosion resounded from the stadium.

"I wonder who's fighting?" Aadityapal seemed awed by the scale of these sounds of battle.

Alex jokingly replied, "It's your two favorite siblings, Ranya and Aarush!"

Aadityapal's tearful face brightened up and he said, "Master, what a joke...."

"Well then, let's go spectate upon your siblings.."

_________________________________________________

-A few minutes earlier-

The host had announced the match-up for the fight, and the audience anticipated this battle a lot.

Ranya had entered the arena.

A black henna lightning tattoo slithered down her shoulder, and the Vajra in her hand inspired fear and intimidation.

In comparison, Aarush walked slowly and he circled the thick rope in his hand.

"Well, hello there, sister."

Ranya frowned and didn't give him any heed.

"Not very talkative, are you? Doesn't matter, because I'll for sure get the words 'I give up' straight from your mouth," Aarush confidently declared that he would be victorious.

Ranya simply stared at him with an enigmatic expression and waited for the host to speak.

"Start!"

As per usual, Ranya didn't move from her place, and a storm of lightning zigzagged in the arena.

Aarush didn't retreat at all, and instead, he placed his hand on the ground, and large trees sprouted all around him from the dirt.

"You're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve, sister!"

A crescent moon henna tattoo revealed itself on the upper side of his shoulder when he leaned down.

Wood was an excellent insulator from lightning, and no bolt made its way to him.

Aarush laughed maniacally and taunted Ranya, "What are you going to do next?"

Ranya seemed perplexed by the matter, but she clenched her fist around the Vajra.

Then, a huge swathe of white flames ignited on the ground and made their way to Aarush.

Strangely, when the flames reached the trees, they didn't burn them, and the trees actually got taller and sturdier.

Aarush seemed to expect this, as he stated, "Ranya, your Vajra invokes solar fire, and Master Chandra's vegetation thrives on the Sun."

He sneered and continued, "If this were Lord Indra, I would have no doubt been burned, but.....

"The Sun only makes the moon stronger!"

Ranya still maintained a poker face and proceeded to extinguish the flames.

Then, she invoked a whirlpool of wind and directed in Aarush's way.

However, the trees were well-rooted in the ground, and the small tornados didn't have any effect.

Aarush mocked, "Out of tricks?"

Then, Aarush left his vegetal encasement and charged at Ranya.

"You know, I noticed that you never let your opponents approach you in battle, sister, are you weak?"

Ranya frowned and performed a backflip to create some distance between her and Aarush.

She invoked fires, and lightning, and tornados, but nothing ever worked against Aarush, who inherited a slight mastery over vegetation from his master, the god, Chandra.

Then, he was able to clear the distance between them, and his rope encircled around Ranya's neck.

The rope was also resistant to any of her magical attacks, and she frowned further.

Aarush pushed her around with the rope and propelled her body into the sky and.....

*BAM*

back down.

He looked at her and said, "Give up yet?"

The quiet Ranya suddenly stated, "You are annoying."

Her voice was cold, unlike the Sun she was supposed to represent.

She continued, "You've caused your downfall with your own words."

Aarush was puzzled, and asked her, "What do you mean?"

Ranya impersonated his accent and said, "The sun only makes the moon stronger!"

"However."

"The Moon is but inexistent without the light of the Sun!" Ranya halted her words, and her Vajra moved towards the sturdy rope on her neck.

With one silent and swift cut, the Vajra severed the rope.

Aarush stuttered, but it seemed Ranya had gotten serious, as she didn't give him any time to think.

Without any of her magic this time, she charged at him and simply swung the Vajra at him.

He was able to barely dodge, but his neck had a thin slit from the air pressure.

Aarush felt the warm blood on his neck with his hands, and his breath got heavy.

Ranya harrumphed and reached him at breakneck speed.

Then, without her Vajra, she got a grasp on his entire body, and uppercut him.

Aarush's body flew into the air.

However, this wasn't the end of her move, as she jumped into the air again.

"The moon can never defeat the sun and Chandra can never defeat Master Indra!"

Ranya punched down on Aarush's body and...

*BOOM*

A small crater formed in the ground.

At this very same moment, Alex and Aadityapal got back to the seating area, and the latter looked at his half-sister with enigmatic feelings.

....

After a minute or so, Aarush still didn't emerge from the crater.

The state medics flooded the arena and examined the prince.

He had fainted, so the host exclaimed, "Victory goes to...Princess Ranya!!!"

The sound of applause reverberated repeatedly throughout the audience.

'There are very few contestants remaining, Aadityapal is going to go against her soon...' Alex remarked.