Temporarily cutting her connection with Darius, Xenia raised her sword against Pinra. Her vision still refocusing after enduring the lightning attack that just went through her. Behind her, ra was still on the ground, audibly groaning as thetter struggled to get on her feet.


    ''Focus... Remember thatst bit of information that Darius told you...''


    Her eyes flew across the battlefield, she quickly assessed the current state of everybody present. In terms of potential allies, ra and Be were still out ofmission. She wouldn''t get any sort of support from them for a long while. Meanwhile, Ladies Evelyn and B had seemingly gotten some reprieve, all due to Pinra having wordlessly motioned for what remained of her minions to gather to her side. Just from the way their enemies stood, it was clear that they were nning something.


    ''Be had already downed a few of them, at least,'' she inwardly pointed out to herself. ''It''s three against four... Very much doable. Although...''


    Her grip tightened on her sword as she saw the glint of malice in Pinra''s eyes. Xenia watched as the woman looked to the stands, her gaze quickly spotting Nasser as the two visibly exchanged a wordless conversation. Her opponent cursed under her breath, and her minions began moving as they circled around her.


    "You''ll regreting down here, Princess," Pinra spat out. "Be grateful that I don''t have the time to spend with you right now."


    Xenia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Running away, are we?"


    "Don''t you dare insinuate that I''m running away," Pinra growled, her hands already crackling with yet another salvo of dark lightning. "I''m being smart, unlike you."


    *KRAKATHOOM!*


    Once more, a loud thunderp erupted across the arena. Xenia dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding Pinra''s attack. She felt her hairs standing on end as the static energies flew over her, forcing her to stay still and wait for Pinra to call the attack off.


    "Stay here and be a good Princess along with the other hopefuls," Pinra scoffed, her hands smoking with power as Xenia barely got a glimpse of her. "As for myself, I''m doing the smart thing and leaving."


    Xenia gasped in anger. "Coward!"


    Pinra didn''t even flinch at the insult as she went ahead and left the arena. Meanwhile, Xenia could only watch and click her tongue at the cowardice on disy. Even as she found herself stuck on the ground due to Pinra''s preventative tactic of keeping her down, she couldn''t help but growl in anger.


    ''What a cheap move,'' Xenia inwardly spat out. ''And I''m sure that her minions will try and use this opportunity to get rid of me and the others.''


    A few secondster, the lighting disappeared, finally letting Xenia stand back up to her full height. A ways away from her, Lady B and Lady Evelyn had also stood back up, both of them seemingly looking at her for directions as they stood near her.


    And of course, Pinra''s minions stood at the ready in front of them, all of them looking ready to kill despite their leader having left them for dead.


    "Right... Let''s get this over with," Xenia sighed. Turning around, she addressed her allies, "Lady B, Lady Evelyn, feel free to leave these rabbles to me. Go ahead and secure your seats."


    "What? Are you looking down on us?" Lady Evelyn asked in disbelief.


    "We''re more than capable of defending ourselves," Lady B scoffed. "If anything, you''re the one that needs our help."


    Xenia chuckled. "Well, if you two insist, then let''s try not to get everyone killed."


    With a snap of her fingers, everything seemed to fall into ce as the three remaining minionsshed out at her and her group. Of course, Xenia was ready for them toe. Deftly dancing through their attacks with graceful precision, her counterattacks were equally as devastating. Likewise, her two allies held their ground, each of them keeping one minion busy as they fought three against three.


    She fell into a trance, her focus solely on her opponents and the women she was currently protecting. Nobody got to her, and nobody got past her to try and hurt the injured. Still, her allies were tiring, and she knew she had to try and relieve them from battle somehow.


    "Nghh...."


    ''Be?''


    Xenia took a passing nce at one of the injured. Sure enough, Be started to stir, forcing herself to stand up as her eyes shot open with a hint of panic. "P-Princess?!"


    Xenia''s eyes quickly shed with an idea. This was perfect. She could get Be to try and get the rest to safety. "No time to chat, Lady Be," she called out, her sword just having sliced through one of her opponents. "Go and get an empty spot along with the rest. I can handle this alone."<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "R-Right..." Be nodded. "Thank you, Princess."


    Xenia could watch as Be then went and convinced the rest to go with her. Seeing them leave, she could only shake her head at their obvious reluctance to leave. They didn''t even notice their own exhaustion as they walked, their legs wobbling as they went up to the other vacant seats.


    ''Stubbornness doesn''t belong on the battlefield,'' Xenia wistfully chuckled. ''That''s only for foolish heroes.''


    It was the sensible tactic. The longer they stayed, the likelier it was for them to be mere liabilities for her to try and defend. She already had ra and Be to take care of. She didn''t need two more bodies to protect.


    ''I just wish they managed to get ra to go with them,'' she sighed. ''I don''t know why she stayed, but I just hope she keeps her distance.''


    Unfortunately, they weren''t able to carry ra to safety as they left. It would seem that thetter refused to leave against better judgment.


    ''Still, this is doable.'' she nodded to herself as she readied herself. ''Three against one... Decent odds...''


    Xenia took a deep breath. Even as Be left her along with her two tentative allies, she was more than ready to take on the three of them. One by one, they fell to her de, the Princess forcing them to yield by holding her de to their necks. All the while, she noticed ra watching from a distance, seemingly in awe at herbative skills.


    With a flick of her wrist, she announced the end of hostilities. All of Pinra''s minions had surrendered, choosing to live another day instead of dying by her de.


    "Princess..."


    Hearing ra speak, Xenia turned her attention to thest remaining contender in the arena beside her. Slowly, she walked towards her, her de still at the ready as she addressed her.


    "Will you still fight?" she asked, her gaze leveled at the woman''s own. "You''re in no condition to do so."


    "I know," ra ruefully chuckled. "I don''t think I''ll survive against you as you are now even if I tried."


    It was true. ra was still wobbling on her feet, the poison in her system still keeping her weak as she stood rxed. She wasn''t going to fight. There was no way she''ll win even if she did.


    As if spurred by the moment, Xenia remembered that one time when she and ra called themselves close friends. That one drunken night they spent together yed itself in her head, making her smile at the memory.


    "What''s wrong?" ra cautiously asked. "Why are youughing?"


    "Just recalling something we did together," Xenia wistfully smiled. "I still want us to be friends, you know."


    "O-Oh... I... I''d like that," ra warmly smiled. Shaking her head, she sighed, "Now that I say that, I guess I''ve fully let him go..."


    Before Xenia could reply, ra did something that she never expected her to do. Down on one knee, her once-contender fully bowed her head to her,pletely showing her absolute surrender to her.


    "Your Grace," ra respectfully addressed. "Go ahead and take your seat. I concede my defeat."


    Xenia didn''t register the crowd''s reaction as she stood stock still. She was surprised at what she just heard, and there was no way that she predicted this would happen.


    "T-Thank you, Lady ra," Xenia sincerely nodded.


    "J-Just ra, Your Grace," ra weakly replied. "Let''s have another drink sometime after this. I''d like for us to start anew."


    In the end, Xenia was the only one left standing in the arena; ra having kneeled in deference before her future Queen.