The Elimination League Phase of the Grand Champions Tournament had officially begun, and the arena was already filled with excitement from the earlier matches. Every battle had shown different styles of combat, and the crowd had been enjoying every moment.
Now the eighth match of the day was underway.
It was a clash between The Roaring Spirits from the Kingdom of Coarau and The Rising Heroes from the Kingdom of Cero.
The arena buzzed with anticipation.
For the first bout of this match, two fighters stepped forward.
On one side stood Doran of the Rising Heroes, holding his massive battle hammer over his shoulder. He looked relaxed, almost excited.
On the other side stood Enzo from the Roaring Spirits, wearing heavy armor that covered most of his body. In his hands he carried a longsword.
Both fighters stared at each other.
The referee raised his hand.
The whistle blew.
The fight began instantly.
The moment the battle started, Doran moved first.
Without wasting even a second, he leapt forward and swung his hammer with incredible force. The large weapon cut through the air with a loud sound.
Enzo reacted quickly.
Instead of stepping away, he raised his armored arms and blocked the hammer with both hands.
The impact was loud.
CLANG!
The sound echoed across the arena.
But Doran did not stop there.
He immediately swung again.
And again.
And again.
The hammer kept coming down like a storm of metal.
Each swing was powerful and heavy.
Enzo stood his ground and blocked several of the strikes, but the force of the blows was clearly strong.
Suddenly Enzo grabbed the handle of the hammer.
Using his strength, he twisted his body and threw Doran away from him.
Doran slid across the ground but quickly regained his balance.
At the same moment, Enzo withdrew his longsword from his back.
The blade reflected the light of the arena.
Doran grinned.
Without hesitation he leapt toward Enzo again.
This time Enzo raised his sword and blocked the hammer strike with the blade.
CLANG!
The two weapons collided loudly.
But this time Enzo did not only block.
He immediately swung his sword forward.
The blade cut through the air toward Doran.
Doran reacted quickly.
He jumped into the air and landed directly on top of Enzo's longsword.
For a brief moment he balanced on the blade.
Then he brought his hammer down.
The hammer struck Enzo directly.
It was a clean hit.
The crowd gasped.
But Enzo did not move.
His armor absorbed the blow completely.
The heavy armor he wore was extremely strong.
Enzo then pushed his sword upward, launching Doran away from him.
Doran landed on the ground and rolled before standing up again.
He cracked his neck.
"This is fun," Doran said with a wide grin.
Enzo looked at him calmly.
"You still have time to give up," Enzo said coldly.
"You are not hurting me at all."
Doran's grin became even wider.
"You don't need to worry about me," he replied.
"Because I will smash you again and again."
He lifted his hammer slightly.
"So be prepared to be smashed."
Enzo frowned slightly.
Then he stepped forward.
This time Enzo took the lead in offense.
His longsword began to swing rapidly.
The blade cut through the air again and again.
Doran dodged the first few strikes, stepping back and moving to the side.
But soon he raised his hammer and began blocking the sword strikes directly.
The two weapons collided repeatedly.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Each collision created loud sounds and bright sparks that flew through the air.
The battlefield echoed with metal striking metal.
Neither fighter stepped back.
Neither fighter gave ground.
Doran looked like he was enjoying every moment of the fight.
But Enzo looked different.
His face showed clear annoyance.
He wanted to end this fight quickly.
Suddenly Enzo stepped back a few steps.
He began chanting quietly and magical energy gathered around his sword.
His longsword glowed slightly as he enchanted it with magic.
Then he rushed forward again.
This time their weapons collided again.
But something had changed.
Every time their weapons struck, Doran was pushed back a little.
The enchanted sword strikes were stronger now.
Doran blocked again and again, but each impact forced him to move back slightly.
Enzo smirked.
"What happened?" he mocked.
"Weren't you going to smash me?"
He laughed a little.
Doran shrugged slightly.
"At least I landed a hit," he replied casually.
Enzo narrowed his eyes.
Once again he poured more magic into his sword.
With every clash he kept strengthening the enchantment.
Each swing of the sword became heavier and stronger.
Doran continued blocking with his hammer.
But the pressure on his arms began increasing.
Enzo noticed it immediately.
The hammer was absorbing the attacks, but Doran's hands were clearly feeling the force.
Enzo laughed louder.
"This is it for you," he said confidently.
He began preparing another magical enhancement.
But something unexpected happened.
Just as Enzo was focusing on his sword, Doran suddenly moved differently.
Instead of blocking from above, Doran swung his hammer from beneath.
The hammer moved sideways with a powerful motion.
It struck the grip of Enzo's sword.
The impact knocked the weapon out of Enzo's hands.
The longsword flew into the air and landed several meters away.
Enzo's eyes widened in surprise.
Doran grinned widely.
Without wasting even a second, he rushed forward.
And began smashing.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The hammer came down repeatedly.
Enzo raised his armored arms to block.
The hammer struck his arms again and again.
SMASH
SMASH
SMASH
The sound echoed loudly.
After several hits Enzo shouted,
"See? You are going nowhere with this!"
"You cannot hurt me!"
But Doran did not answer.
He simply kept smashing.
Again.
And again.
And again.
What Enzo did not realize was something dangerous.
Because of the constant hammer strikes, his footing was slowly sinking into the ground.
Each blow pushed him slightly deeper.
At the same time, Doran's attacks were coming so fast that Enzo had no chance to move away.
He was trapped in place.
Then suddenly—
A crack appeared on Enzo's arm armor.
It was small.
But it was there.
Doran noticed it instantly.
This time magical energy gathered around his hammer.
He enhanced the weapon with his own magic.
Seeing this, Enzo quickly cast a defensive enhancement on his armor.
Doran swung again.
SMASH
The crack grew larger.
Enzo's expression changed.
Another strike.
SMASH
The armor began breaking piece by piece.
Enzo realized what was happening.
But it was too late.
The armor on his arm finally shattered.
Without wasting time, Doran lifted his hammer high into the air for one final powerful strike.
Enzo panicked.
"I GIVE UP!" he shouted loudly.
Doran stopped instantly.
The hammer stopped only an inch away from Enzo's face.
The entire arena fell silent for a moment.
Then the referee raised his hand.
The bout was over.
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Shai began speaking calmly.
"Enzo used most of his magic enchanting his sword," she explained. "When the time came for defensive magic, he did not have enough strength left to protect himself."
She continued,
"He became too focused on attacking and did not plan his magic carefully."
Ifa nodded enthusiastically.
"Doran was amazing in this fight!" he shouted.
"But Enzo also made a rookie mistake here!"
He looked toward the audience.
"We all know Enzo is a good fighter. But today, he simply was not good enough."
Shai nodded.
"That is true. Enzo did not show his full abilities in this fight. Perhaps he was nervous. Perhaps he underestimated his opponent."
She then smiled slightly.
"Congratulations to Doran for winning this bout."
Ifa raised his voice again.
"Yes! Congratulations Doran!"
He then added,
"And Enzo definitely needs to figure some things out. We know he has much more skill than what we saw today."
He then pointed toward Doran.
"But the same goes for Doran! He also has a lot more strength in him!"
The crowd cheered loudly again.
Enzo looked clearly disappointed in himself.
Without saying anything, he walked away from the arena.
Doran did not celebrate loudly.
He simply walked back with a wide smile on his face.
Lila patted his shoulder.
"Good job," she said.
Drakar gave him a simple nod of approval.
Doran chuckled happily.
The first bout was complete.
Shai then spoke again.
"Now it is time for the second bout of this match."
She looked toward the arena entrance.
"Curtis from The Roaring Spirits…"
She paused briefly.
"…versus Drakar from The Rising Heroes."
The next fight was about to begin.