"My arm! My arm! My fucking arm!" Kurtish screamed as he tried to pull his arm to his shoulder.


    His face was pale and he constantly knocked against the tform with his remaining hand in anguish, his eyes bloodshot with a gleam of fury burning in them!


    Kurtish slobbered and sniffled as he reached for his limb only to find a ming foot stepping on his chestte, pushing him away from his target.


    The pompous man looked up and saw the brilliantly burning figure of Skullius.


    His head had recovered back to what it used to be but from his chest to his right thigh, the mes caused by the bits of the explosion that caught him before he used all the mana he had stored to eject himself from the tform with his gravitation were still vibrant on his person.


    A scowl was on his face.


    After all that he had done, he hadn''t managed tond a fatal hit on Kurtish with the sh he had put his <CURSED HEART> and soul into.


    All that and he only took out an arm and an ear.


    Ridiculous.


    What''s more, Skullius didn''t think he could replicate his feat from just now instantly and worse yet... Urgh.


    Honestly, he couldn''t understand why Kurtish was sobbing and screaming over an arm. Sure it must hurt but not enough for him to lose his cool like this, right?


    Was he that pampered?


    Had he never experienced pain like this before?


    Back to the things that annoyed Skullius the most however, the cry baby''s armour seemed to have a healing effect which he was trying to trigger by attaching his lopped arm where it had been severed from.


    ''Hmmm.''


    Skullius gazed with his white eyes at Kurtish and shed hard with his sword at his neck!


    A spherical barrier that looked like an orb of flowing blood immediately appeared, blocking Skullius'' strike which shook the tform!


    ''As I thought. Even while in this state, his technique still responds,'' the Hybrid Luman thought.


    Unsurprisingly, Kurtish''s mana was being filled back up through the effects of his armour which was undoubtedly Legendary.


    As this urred, a green coloured seal appeared over where Kurtish''s arm had been severed, stopping the blood loss.


    His seals were automatic too!


    Immediately after, arge image zipped into existence, on its face a demeaning frown as it raised its fist to crush Skullius!


    With Kurtish''s mana slowly recovering, he could generate Perfect Aura again and his Incarnation immediately appeared!


    Fortunately, Skullius had seen thising.


    He had seen this alling before he had shed high up to avoid the explosion that urred after his strike. This why he was so upset that he didn''t hit his mark correctly.


    This armour that Kurtish had.


    His technique.


    They made him nigh impossible to beat for someone like Skullius who didn''t have many high level skills he could use consistently.


    On top of this, for the first time in a while, Skullius felt his mana reserves get close to a depletion. He had used everything he had to escape from explosion and tounch that deadly sh.


    ''This is beyond the current me,'' Skullius thought as he closed his eyes and breathed out.


    His Hybrid Luman form was at its limit.


    He raised his hand.


    "I surrender."


    "..."


    ''This isn''t worth it.''


    Silence once again epassed the whole stadium.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Huh?! This was getting good!"


    "Why did he quit?! I was starting to support this guy!"


    "No! Don''t give up, you bastard!"


    "Woow! He''s still on fire!"


    Manyments flooded from the stands, most being about why Skullius was giving up and the support he had garnered.


    His shockingeback against this man who proimed to have won before the fight even started had gotten him an ample amount of cheer as the ck horse but...


    A sh of green light sparked around Kurtish who shivered with sweat dripping from his brow while a red one circled around Skullius.


    "Hahaaa...." Kurtishughed with a low tone of voice, his pale face beginning to gain back colour and snarky confidence as he looked at Skullius who didn''t grace him with anyeback.


    The two were teleported back to their seats where Skullius got rid of the me, his VergeRider recovering to its full form when he injected mana into it.


    ''There''s no need to try too hard in this thing,'' Skullius said as he looked up at Guissepo.


    This whole event hadyers of mystery and definite hidden agendas.


    Besides, ording to Premium Age Royale regtions, the Preliminaries weren''t the endgame. Even if he was serious about getting the Bryne Family into the EverSword House, he still had one more chance and frankly...


    He didn''t think his showcase was that bad.


    The more he contemted, Skullius actually smiled.


    If there was one thing to celebrate...


    ''It seems I''ve just found a way to get past Incarnations...''


    ....


    A distance from Skullius, Vali was smiling brightly while tapping her cheek with a consistent rhythm. She had gotten more enjoyment from this battlethan she had thought.


    ''Hmmm. That caught me by surprise,'' she thought as her interest grew in the contender with light auburn hair.


    On the other side, miles from her, a certain Mage was still reying thisst match in his head.


    ''I didn''t realise one could manipte such a fickle concept as barriers to warp space like that. I should speak to the Arch-Mage about this,'' he thought. ''Then again, my knowledge is seriously limited. Gravity isn''t something one just wakes up with. My fellow contenders are not so weak, after all.''


    Another stretch of distance from this man, the same contenders who had been speaking to each other before were analysing what they had seen. Despite the distance, it was easy tomunicate if one used a special tool as that wasn''t against the rules.


    "I wasn''t expecting that man to survive. It''s a mystery how he is even alive. A treasure maybe?"


    "I doubt it. You''d need a Legendary grade tool to try and get out of that one. Only one is allowed and I think that sword of his fits the grade."


    "Hmmm. I imagine Kurtish will hunt him down after this. The Bryne Family is in the slumps right now isn''t it?"


    "It is. <Sigh>. In all honesty, the only ones bound to truly enjoy this event are the witnesses of lowest ss. For anyone else, victory here is not a guarantee to keep your life outside."


    The mour over thest match did not die down easily.


    Many were calling it the most exciting match of the day while others insisted that it was a tad bit of shy of earning that title, after all, Skullius had given up midway.


    Regardless of the result though, up top, Rearren was pleased that the event was full of variety.


    "What do you think?" he asked Rias.


    The young man beside blinked with his uninterested eyes.


    "I would much prefer to see the Royale begin."


    Rearren chuckled.


    "All in good time."