He slowly rose from the miniature crater in the wall, locking onto the robotic melodies of Julius' gauntlets—a golden stream running down his temple.
"Ratella Evergarden rises from that monstrous blow, although he is not unharmed. A stream of golden liquid runs down his temple; it seems our Lord of Death isn't made of the typical angelic lifeblood. But it is purely divinity!"
The announcer's words invited lots of confused and suspicious murmurs to spread through the crowd. The existence of divinity is entirely foreign to foot soldiers and those less educated in the crowd.
Julius didn't follow up on his attack, surveying Ratella cautiously, wary of the feral growing in Ratella's eyes. He brought his gauntlets into a defensive position, expecting Ratella's attack to be lightning fast.
Ratella shot his four back wings into the ground below, bending them slightly and splitting the earth. He put an even split of his divinity into his wings and legs, launching forward towards Julius, using his wings as springs to further boost his speed. His speed was inconceivable to the crowd, appearing as particles. His form was completely obscured.
Julius was unable to react in time as Ratella's leg impacted with his shin; the force behind his kick would have annihilated a normal angel's leg, leaving a bloody stump. Julius, however, was a four-winged angel, so his leg wasn't destroyed beyond all repair, but by the grimace plastered on his face. It definitely broke a bone or two. Despite his injury, he continued trading blows with Ratella, catching a couple of stray kicks to the chest, which turned his chest purple from the force.
"That's four confirmed blows on Julius Croft! Making the score 1-4! Ratella has taken the lead at a staggering pace. Will he be able to keep it up?"
"You're fast, maybe too fast, but I'm still stronger!"
Julius fainted after a blow was pointed directly at his head, and his strike landed directly on his stomach. Ratella fell for the faint, moving his guard to his head, leaving his stomach completely unguarded as Julius' gauntleted fist was about to crush his ribs on their own. Ratella's unoccupied wings jumped to his defense, blocking the blow for their master, the earlier divinity still slumbering within them, awaiting the command to morph into blades or a stalwart shield.
Ratella's body was completely unharmed, but the blow still blew him backwards a few paces, being a short distance between the two.
His four wings shook off the damage inflicted on them, quickly recovering and returning to their natural positions at his rear.
"That's a clean strike landed directly on Ratella's wing. We do not accept blocks if a blow lands its point worthy. Making the score 2-4!"
"You can use your wings as shields? So that's why you asked me earlier, who taught you such a method, and from their misshapen form you can morph them into blades, can't you?"
"You will not see the full extent of my power. Do not ask again. I still do not wish for your death, so I do not need to change my wings into blades."
"Come on! You won't win with that attitude. Show me what that Edict can do, I'm dying to see."
"Using my Edict's strongest spell would defeat the purpose of a duel, and it's no fun at all," declared Ratella, a sinister grin growing on his face.
"I'll make you use it!"
Julius smashed his gauntlets into each other, charging at Ratella, closing the short distance in a second, and throwing a flurry of attacks at him. Ratella kept up with the flurry of attacks, evading and throwing back his own attacks, neither of them managing to land a clean blow, only barely grazing each other.
He knew their stalemate would be endless if he didn't do something to break through the behemoth's guard.
Waiting for an opening, he planted the tips of his wings into the back, stabilising himself and amplifying the force of his kicks by using the momentum from bending his wings to spring his movement forward when released.
When Ratella sensed a disruption in the melody of Julius' gauntlets from an overthrown attack, he kicked upwards, releasing the pent-up energy in his wings, reinforcing his kick, landing directly on Julius' chin and shooting him upwards.
He quickly followed up on the blow, matching the man's flight, striking him with another kick to the chest, sending him flying into the ground below, where he shattered on impact, leaving a massive crater under the man.
"Ratella Evergarden has scored two clean strikes and a knockdown, making the score, 2-9. One more point to win the match!"
Julius burst forward from the ground, charging at Ratella, intending to grab him, his stance low and both arms out, ready to squish Ratella into red mist.
Despite his injuries, the man seemed completely unharmed; a broad smile had been plastered on his face since Ratella first struck his shin. His chest only increased in bruising after his last blow, his chin turning completely black.
Ratella guessed he must have damaged his brain, as in his mind, no one was actually stupid enough to attempt a grab attack on him, knowing his wings could turn into deadly weapons in an instant.
He dodged to the left of Julius, ready to deliver his own counterattack as his fist was about to impact the nape of his neck. The smile on Julius grew larger. He swiftly shifted his body, avoiding his strike and kicking Ratella squarely in the chest.
Ratella was caught off guard but quickly grabbed the man's leg, throwing him into the dirt and striking his side, delivering the finishing blow to him.
"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen! Ratella Evergarden has defeated Julius Croft, a veteran of Ironstar! Ratella's wins are now two with zero losses!"
"Bahahahaha!" exclaimed Julius, laughing to himself on the ground. Rateel offered the man his hand, pulling him up.
"You're strong. The fighting style you use is interesting and unpredictable. I see why people call you a titan of battle."
"I welcome all the compliments you'll give, but I am in no position actually to receive them. I lost using most of my power while you didn't even fight to kill."
"Don't worry about it, just use this loss to grow even stronger than you currently are."
"Baha! I definitely will, and I'll come back to challenge you. I won't let you go easy on me next time!" declared Julian, clasping hands within him before walking back into the waiting room searching for medical personnel to nurse his shin and bruises.
The collected pain all hit him at once in the absence of his earlier adrenaline. His limping form soon disappeared from view.
"With a score of 4-10, this week's men's tournament comes to an end. Ratella Evergarden, newbie to the Divine Arena and the amply named Lord of Death, has secured his first tournament victory!"
The announcer's words of gratitude weren't met by silence this time, but by thunderous applause and screams of admiration. The earlier fight was all but gone from their minds; the only thing lingering was the earth-shattering clash between the two titans of war that just unfolded before their very eyes.
"Next up is the final for the women's tournament. Every opponent brave enough to face the Lady of Death has been beheaded in a split second. Will the final be any different, or will it end up the same?"