The tournament rules state that as long as one gives up or is completely incapacitated, the participant would be considered lost.

Thanatos clearly had the upper hand and had Phaeton was in his grasp.

“Why don’t you make me” Phaeton retorted despite being pinned down. The moment he got stabbed by the fangs he already knew that he lost, however, he couldn't understand why the person he met for the first time was acting like he was his mortal enemy.

Naturally, a person born with noble blood would not take this down lying.

Thanatos halted his steps, turned around, and smiled coldly. “Perfect. I was about to be disappointed, show me what you're holding on to.”

Thanatos then motioned at the fangs holding on to Phaeton. It slowly retracted its grip and released Phaeton.

Phaeton’s body fell to his knees with a thud. Blood started spurting from the open stab wounds from the fangs when it dug into his body. His face was rugged and sweaty, clearly showing that he was already on his limit.

Despite all this one could see the fire burning in his eyes.

“Are you just going to lie there or are we going to continue?” Thanatos asked impatiently as he was already raring to go.

Seeing Phaeton’s eyes, Thanatos felt an urge to extinguish that light.

Phaeton grabbed his remaining sword and used it to support him standing up. There was an occasional tremble in his movement.

He sluggishly shifted his stance and raised his sword towards Thanatos.

Although his body looked like it would topple over, his demeanor was still that of a warrior.

“What's happening, Phaeton isn't giving up? Does he really need to prolong this? He no longer even have a weapon” General Escariot frowned.

“They seem to be acquaintances, but not the good kind” Princess Hildegard said.

________________________

“Let’s resume” Thanatos said as he summoned a claw, it wasn't the same when as before. White bony pieces shuffled in the air, each piece formed into a large claw which almost overlapped his hands.

He swiped.

A purple light flashed on Phaeton’s eyes. Blocked! Phaeton blocked the initial attack on pure instinct, even still, his body flinched so hard he was almost lifted from the ground.

Phaeton realized what immense strength Thanatos possessed. He already had strong summoning magic to begin with, to make things worse his strengthening was just as monstrous.

“Are we even of the same age?”

It dawned on him. Outclassed! He was severely outclassed from the very beginning.

“Is this really worth it at this point? Now that I think about it, why am I so bothered by what he did.” Phaeton thought.

Swipe!

Phaeton was unable to fully blocked it. The attack broke his guard and cut right through him. It couldn't be considered a shallow wound.

Swipe again!

Thanatos kept attacking. He could have ended it earlier but he chose to proceed with a string of slow deliberate attacks. It was meant to slowly chip away at Phaeton.

Phaeton tried to block the attacks, but with his injuries, it was getting difficult.

For every exchange, a few strikes managed to breakthrough. Cut wounds slowly build upon Phaeton’s body.

As his senses dulled, an attack on his blindside swatted him away. His body was thrown over the edge of the arena.

“I can't give up right?”

In the participant's area, the applicants were on a discussion.

“He never stood a chance in the first place.”

“I told you guys, that guy was a monster, you guys got lucky that you didn't get paired up with him.” The noble who spoke was the first person who Thanatos fought. His match was was anti-climactic compared to Phaeton’s but he wasn't discouraged seeing how powerful Thanatos was.

“Tch. How unsightly.” Isabelle was together with the other nobles watching Phaeton. She was having mixed feelings about the events that are transpiring.

She and Phaeton had known each other practically since childhood. She did not want him to win, but not this way.

Azrael was also watching, he felt frustrated. “Why do you have to be so stubborn.”

He couldn't grasp why Phaeton was acting this way. He was a great warrior judging from his short time with him.

It was understandable, Azrael had grown up in a very different environment despite being both of noble origin.

Thanatos walked towards Phaeton, he then looked down. “Are you done already?”

“In your dreams” Phaeton said as His consciousness was slowly fading but he forced himself to try standing up again.

________________________

**

A small child at the age of 8 was holding his hand on his cheek while feeling its soreness. “Aghhh. That hurts!! You said were just doing light sparring!”.

He had orange-red spiky hair, clear orange eyes, and a few smudges of dirt on his face.

He was essentially throwing a tantrum.

“Yes we're light sparring, but that doesn't mean I won't hit you right?”

In front of the child was another person who had similar features but was much older, he was already a teenager. “Don't be a baby and Pick up your weapon or else I won't accompany you with Father.”

The teenager sighed and slowly sheathed his sword. “You said you could handle this didn't you?”

Sigh. “We should just go home”

The child then ran towards the teenager and put his small hands on his sword to stop him from the sheathing. “I’m sorry brother.. Let’s do it again. I won't complain any longer.”

The teenager let out a smile. “Why are you doing this anyway? You’re too young to start combat training. You should be learning magic basics.”

The child looked at his brother, his eyes were starting to get misty. “We never get to do anything together anymore. You’re away all the time, and you're even leaving next week. I won't see you, and you kept promising that we would spend more time time to—”

“Shhhhh. Okay, okay I got it. Let’s continue sparring, stop crying now alright?” The teenager patted his brother’s head and ruffled his hair a bit.

“Tell you what, I’ll give you the ‘Twins’ if

“YES! YES! YES!”

**

________________________

Phaeton grasped his remaining sword tightly and thought to himself. “I'm not just someone who needs protecting. I’ll make sure I'm worthy of standing side by side with you.”

A reddish aura of flame began developing, it enveloped the blade. Streams of fire spewed at an intense rate, it occasionally flickered brightly and dimly.

After a while, the flames then stabilized and formed as an extension of Phaeton’s sword. The heat was scalding.

On the observation stands.

General Escariot observed. “Those embers? He’s trying to overdraw his mana. Is he crazy?”

“Kids these days are truly reckless.” General Escariot frowned.

Each person has their mana source within their body that they can freely use however the human body has safeguards to prevent a person from exhausting it to the limit.

Thanatos sneered. “You’re going to use 'Flame break' again? You know you barely scratched me with that.”

“What a pathetic stand, trying to save face... You're already smeared filthy.”

Thanatos then started to release more purple mist. The aura intensified on the claws, and he made a slash.”

“DIE!”

________________________

“STOP!” A loud shouting voice was heard from the Observatory stands.

A suffocating air spread throughout the arena. The magic that Phaeton and Thanatos were using instantly dissipated and lost power and form. The bones crumbled, the flames extinguished.

The source of the power came from and originated from a woman. It was princess Ave Hildegard.

“Your Majesty!” General Escariot was sweating nervously. “She actually released her power here” He thought.

General Escariot called out. “Your Majesty, please restrain yourself, there are a lot of civilians here.”

Princess Hildegard looked at the stands of the crowd and saw that the people there were in shambles. Others are barely hanging on to their consciousness and the weaker ones had collapsed altogether.

“Uhgg. I can't breathe.. Help us..”

The princess had a panicked expression then she immediately retracted her powers and the pressure instantly vanished.

She looked towards the arena and said. “My apologies general, however, I wouldn't have any other way to stop a great seed from dying.”

The Princess leaped from the observation ground and arrived at the middle of Thanatos and Phaeton.

Thanatos had an expressionless face but he was shaken on the inside. He was seething in anger more than ever but he buried this feeling.

In the arena, Phaeton and Thanatos were both motionless.

“I believe this match is already over.” She looked over to Phaeton and smiled.

Phaeton clenched his fists, clearly not willing to listen. Even if she was the princess, she had no right to interfere.

“Forgive me if my words are disrespectful but I haven't lost yet your Highness”

“You should know better than anyone that there’s no reason for you to risk your life any further, your loss has already been determined a few exchanges ago. You’ve already done the best you can, I’m sure your family and your brother will find your performance beyond acceptable.”

“I wouldn't know how to explain to Lord Adreian, if he lost his son here in my presence.”

Realization dawned on Phaeton and he stopped himself from talking back further.

She then turned to Thanatos and walked towards him. “Your strength already surpasses many officers in the military, however, you lack the restraint. I sense a lot of anger in you.”

The princess then held his hands. “I hope you use it wisely, I expect great things from the both of you. Will you accept your opponent's loss and let this go?”

Thanatos frowned but he took a deep breath and replied. “I will do so your highness.”

“Its common courtesy to bow to royals, however, that seems unnecessary considering the situation.”

________________________

In the audience stands, two people were conversing.

“How scary… The all-powerful ‘Sovereignty’, that ability is truly troublesome, even I can't resist something like that”. Said the man on the black hood.

“I felt like I lost all control of my mana. How the hell are we going to deal with that? She’s already there!” A slightly higher pitched voice sounded from another man.

“Relax will you.. The ‘Sovereignty’ might be powerful but I’ve come prepared obviously, your side only needs to deal with each of your respective tasks.”

He pulled a black sphere from his clothes and poured mana into it. He then looked at the observatory stands where Demetrius stood then looked back to the Princess in the arena.

“I guess it's about time we started.”