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He went at it again, sprinting towards Reiss. An air blast was launched towards him, but he raised his sword and cut through it, shattering the spell like a pane of glass. Reiss continued hurling blasts, with Abner slashing his way through each one. He got in close, dodging another kick from Reiss, and finally landed a cut on Reiss’s shoulder. Reiss hissed in pain, but gathered his strength and grabbed Abner by the throat, holding him off the ground. For the wound Abner landed, Reiss paid him back with several punches to the gut, the last punch accentuated with an air blast that launched Abner like a champagne cork. Abner hit the ground rolling, though not by design, and left behind several blood drops before stopping.“You’re going to die today, boy.”

After Cain’s fight, the seventh match proceeded without a hitch, and as always, Seraph stepped into the ring for the final battle of the round. Though his earlier wins had been desperate and narrow, the prince’s arrival brought a chorus of cheers from the audience. One might expect this noisy support to bolster his confidence and turn him back to how he was, but he remained humble, or perhaps ‘fearful’ would be a better word. Every win would plague him with doubts, doubts that he was really strong enough to have defeated his opponents. All of his accomplishments were surely due to plain luck, or maybe his enemies had been paid off to let him win.

“I know that this is all new for you. That last part was new for me too. You made my body feel amazing—better than it ever felt before. Every one of my nerves is still tingling. Please don’t feel bad or guilty—you did exactly what I wanted. I should feel bad for turning you into a…”“…pervert.” I interjected, but smiling now.