1 Hour before Round 2 began. In the Humanity Entrance Tunnel
Noah looked at the hooded figure who is the champion chosen to fight in round 2.
"So, what is your request, Artemisia? Is there anything I can do?"
Artemisia pulled the hood of the robe revealing her face.
"Yes, I do. But, before I get further I need to confirm with you about something."
Artemisia suddenly gets into a more serious tone.
"Did you have the miracle power called the golden sphere?"
Noah looks at Artemisia's reaction. He felt a bit suspicious but he try to hear the whole thing first before making an assumption.
"I do. Both sides leaders will get the sphere 2 hours before the match begins and then keep it until the leaders think it is the right time to use it and turn the tide."
Artemisia's serious expression then changes a little smirk and starts nodding like she just agrees into something. Noah still feel a bit confuse but he make small hypothesis in her mind that his statement just confirm something in her head.
Artemisia then looked Noah straight into his eyes and she tilted her head, curious.
"Then summon the golden sphere for me. Not during the fight. Now."
Noah blinked, startled. "Now? But that's reckless! you'll need it mid-battle, when-"
Artemisia raised a hand, silencing him.
"Please, this is an order and request from the grieving Queen and exhausted commander. If you do this, I will be grateful to you my whole life."
Noah hearing that made him hesitate and also guilty if he denied it. Before he decided anything he wanted to ask Artemisia, the reason behind this decision.
"Can I know why, your majesty? At least give me a reason to do it."
She smiled faintly.
"I know what I am, Noah. I'm no Alexander. I won't inspire eternity. I won't conquer the world or anything. I am a survivor, a strategist, and a commander. That is enough."
Her eyes burned with quiet conviction.
"I just wanted to make the enemy bleed as much as I could. I fought with my army on our warship as much as I could. I wanted to enjoy this moment of fighting and remember it as long as my name was being remembered across the land and sea. I know losing this fight is what you and every human being does not want to hear right now but please let me fight this duel to the fullest and the best form of me from the start until the end."
The queen bowed to the mere scientist. Noah quickly gets down to stop her from bowing. Noah hears the reason, he thought to himself for a few seconds and his expression finally showed what he had decided. He looked at Artemisia and asked her,
"Make sure you win this for humanity and that's a deal", while smiling.
Artemisia look at Noah with respect,
"I will win, no matter what is ahead of me. Take my words as a queen and a commander."
Back to the current time.
Lucianne's eyes widened as Noah's quiet confession echoed.
"Because she asked me to. It was her request."
She finally understood.
Artemisia's speed despite her wounds.
Her ability to run upon Kadita's conjured waters.
The phantom fleet of triremes and its phantom crew that crashed against Kadita's sea beasts.
At first she thought all of this was given by the Grimm's brother for a fair fight on the sea arena. But, None of it was a gift of "fairness" from the Grimm brothers. None of it was her natural strength.
It was the golden dust of the sphere, ignited before the fight even began.
Artemisia had wagered everything not to win, but to show the world that even against myth, humanity could make it bleed. To show a sign to all humans in the world where when you fight, you fight to the fullest and when you die, you die with your mark leaving a path for others to win.
Her lips curved into a smile, blood trickling from her chin as she stood unyielding against Kadita's rising tide.
The golden sphere pulsed once, then roared open above the Savu Sea. The dust scattered like constellations, raining down into Kadita's heart. The water beneath her feet trembled.
Rumpelstiltskin's voice cracked through the horn:
"OHHH!!! THE SOUTHERN SEA ANSWERS HER CALL!"
The ocean itself rose with her heartbeat. A towering tsunami of gold-lined water spiraled into the air, curling like the spine of some celestial leviathan. Within its swirling depths swam phantoms of drowned kings, sea serpents, and her own wrath embodied.
Kadita's Ultimate: The Crown of Tides.
She lifted her arms, blood dripping from her fingertips, and the massive spiral wave crashed forward, devouring the phantom triremes, crushing the sea beasts into oblivion.
The entire arena shook. Even the floating stands of the audience rocked dangerously, forcing fairies and humans alike to clutch the rails. The commentators could only gasp.
And in the middle of it…
Artemisia stood.
Her shield braced. Her Xiphos blade gleaming.
Her eyes locked on Kadita.
She sprinted into the oncoming deluge.
The crowd screamed. Noah and Lucianne froze. Even Hans Grimm's grin faltered for an instant.
Artemisia slashed, parried, rolled across broken planks of sinking phantom ships. She deflected waves with her shield, dove under tendrils of water, leapt between the collapsing wreckage, her movements a blur of impossible speed.
But the spiral closed tighter. The golden waves slammed into her.
BOOM.
A whiteout explosion. Water burst skyward, turning the arena into mist and spray. The ripple spread for miles, rocking the floating stands violently.
When it cleared-
Kadita knelt on the surface, trembling, coughing blood. Her wounds reopened, her stomach torn. She spat red into the sea, exhausted. The golden sphere above ticked out, its dust dispersing into the wind.
Rumpelstiltskin gasped.
"I-It's over! It has to be over! She's done it, the Southern Sea Queen has-"
Then…
the water rippled in front of Kadita.
A figure rose, staggering, dripping, her body painted red.
Artemisia.
Her shield was shattered. Her sword cracked. Her flesh was torn raw. But her stance was unyielding. Her eyes were burning.
She raised her weapon, teeth clenched, ready to carve one last strike into fate itself.
Kadita froze. Then she smiled. A weary, radiant smile.
For the first time, she didn't see an enemy. She saw another queen, just as damned, just as stubborn, just as alone.
Artemisia roared, charging forward. Kadita summoned every last drop of her blood and will, spitting it into the sea beneath her. The crimson sank, swirling, reforming until a single pointed spike of water shot upward.
SCHLUK.
The sound silenced the world.
The arena gasped. Blood mist sprayed across the tide.
Artemisia's sword halted mid-swing, her body trembling. The water spike pierced straight through her abdomen.
For a moment, both queens stood locked in that fatal instant, their eyes meeting, no words needed.
Finally, Kadita whispered:
"If we had met earlier in our life… before this cursed war… perhaps not as rivals, but as queens… we would've been the best of friends."
The sea shimmered. In their shared exhaustion, for the faintest heartbeat, it showed them a fleeting dream:
two queens running together across endless waves, laughing, free of crowns and chains.
Artemisia smiled weakly, her lips stained crimson.
"...You're damn right."
Her body cracked into motes of light, scattering into the mist like stardust.
Rumpelstiltskin, choking on his words, finally roared into the horn:
"T-The winner… by the tides of her own blood! QUEEN KADITA, THE STORM OF THE SOUTH SEAS!"
The fairy tale side erupted in wild cheers. Hans threw back his head, laughing like thunder. Leo only watched in silence, his smirk razor sharp.
But on the human side there was silence. Heads bowed, not in despair, but in respect. Noah stood frozen, tears in his eyes. Lucianne whispered with trembling lips:
"She fought… like a queen."
"She is a Queen…", Noah replied.