"We don't really give a rat's ass who wins, honestly. We just wanna see some good fights!

Now… those poor bastards who bet their life's savings on the matches, are a whole other matter altogether~" - Olga Kutschenova, resident of Sabaya and loyal fan of the tournament.

The round of sixteen and the quarter-finals were both held on the next day, with the semi-finals and final match planned for the day after. Willa, Ognar, And Giselle all smoothly crushed their opponents, as they earned their spot in the semi-finals. Vitali had taken the final spot, and was scheduled to face Willa as his opponent, while Ognar and Giselle faced each other.

When the therian man stood on the stage the next day, he received an unpleasant surprise as he watched his opponent ascend the stairs to the grand stage. Unlike how she had fought so far through the tournament, Willa was not unarmed for this match. Nor did she wear just a tunic and pants.

Vitali gulped with some nervousness as he looked at the well-made, thick, spiky plate armor that his opponent wore. The armor covered most of her body, and she even wore an open-faced helmet of sorts out of the same material. Her hands were enveloped by gauntlets that left her fingers free and had three wicked claw-shaped blades built into them.

Worst of all, the shiny dark sheen the metal gave out, along with the audible thumps Willa's feet made as she walked, clued him in on just what sort of material the armor was made of. High-purity adamant steel was quite definitely over the budget of most of the tournament's participants.

He also noticed how easily she moved despite the heavy plate armor that encased her body, and looked at his weapons. Vitali somehow doubted he would be able to do much to her, even if she fought without her armor.

The instant the gong signaled the start of the bout, he exerted all the force he could muster to his legs, and charged. The long, thin sword built into his gauntlet was extended forward, as he rushed with all the speed and force his body could produce.

His opponent moved for a bit, then seemed to rethink the situation and lowered her hands once more. She stood still, allowed him to land his full force strike. The blade of his sword-gauntlet struck right against her throat, a bit to the side.

Vitali's blade pierced slightly past the skin, into the rock-hard flesh underneath, and was stopped. When he tried to push it further, it was his blade that couldn't take it anymore and shattered instead. The tip of his blade was still embedded in Willa's throat, about a finger joint's deep in.

It had not seemed to bother her even in the slightest, and when she moved, Vitali could barely react before he felt as if he had been struck by a runaway bull. He felt himself flying through the air, and tucked himself, rolling as he landed to disperse the force.

He realized that he was pretty much uninjured, save for several small puncture wounds on his chest where the spikes of Willa's armor had struck him. He realized all too well that she had still held back against him, and the same tackle that threw him out of the stage could have shattered his chest instead.

She herself looked as if she had not been in a fight, other than the few bloodstains on the spikes of her right pauldron, and the small section of Vitali's broken sword that she pulled out of her neck like it was nothing. He sighed in defeat at the display, and gave her a bow of respect from below the stage.

They were ushered to where the healers and the adjudicators were seated. Two healers quickly handled the small wound on Willa's neck and the puncture wounds on Vitali's chest. Other than some bruising, he was pretty much uninjured.

Ognar and Giselle took to the stage next. Both of them were unarmored, but had their high-purity adamant steel weapons and shield in hand. They exchanged blows at high speed, as Giselle tried to strike Ognar from blind spots, but were repeatedly stymied by her fellow disciple's shield.

After a good ten minutes of fighting which got the crowd roaring in excitement, Ognar finally caught Giselle, as he bashed her face with his shield, taking a stab to the abdomen in exchange. Before Giselle managed to re-orient herself from the bash, Ognar's warhammer struck her side hard, and flung her out of the arena.

Once again, the healers quickly worked on their injuries, even though neither Ognar nor Giselle looked the slightest bit impaired by them, and they were given two hours of rest time, before the final two matches were to be held.

Vitali faced Giselle in the match for third place, a match he took on with full seriousness. The broken sword from the previous match had not bothered him. His weapons were just good steel, not masterworks, and he had spares for them with him.

Once the fight started, he quickly found himself stymied, even when he coursed lightning magic through himself, overcharging his nerves and maximizing his reflexes and reaction speed.

Giselle proved to be as fast as he himself was, despite the advantages his therian physique had. Making things worse, the young woman was also stronger than him, and judging from how she walked off a strike that would have pulverized many of his bones on her last match, far more durable as well.

Not five minutes later Giselle's shortsword struck his weapon, and shattered the blade, while her longsword slipped through his defenses and stopped just as it was about to touch his throat. He yielded with a sigh at the result. At least coming in fourth was better than the results of his previous run.

Both of them were seated at the edge of the arena when the final match started. Ognar and Willa both wore their full gear, and the two blood mages went at each other with reckless abandon.

The spectacle drove the crowd wild, and cheers resounded throughout the whole arena, as the two fighters in the middle brutally savaged each other while seemingly laughing off injuries that would have debilitated others on the spot.

In the end, after ten minutes of extreme violence, Willa won the match as she tackled Ognar so hard the half-orc was sent flying off the stage and even bounced a couple of times as he landed. Applause from the satisfied audience rained on her as the therian girl raised her arms and howled in victory.