Chapter 309: Two Against Two

  "Grey, Yuna, why don't you participate in duo matches?" ［Ar］

  "Huh...? Duos...?" ［Grey］

  A sudden suggesti over the diable, catg the attention of two figures. Their spoons stopped moving and their eyes swam towards the dire of the King, tilting their heads ever so slightly as they pondered over his suggestion.

  It's been several days since Grey and Yuna arrived in Avalon, and ever sihey registered themselves as gdiators, they have been fighting matches ead every single day, honing their swordsmanship as they go.

  Well, it's not only their skill in swordsmanship which improved, there was also their fame whiade them the talk of the town. People are eveing them as they walk dowreets aowards the colosseums.

  "Why so suddenly, Your Majesty? Is that a requirement or something?" ［Grey］

  "Not really per se... I just thought that it would be a good experience for the two of you. It's an opportunity to learn about trust and coordination." ［Ar］

  "That does make some sense..." ［Grey］

  "Well, I don't think you two really hat knowing you've been together for so long. I've seen how synized your movements were when you fought against the Azure Sword Emperor. It was exceptional." ［Ar］

  The King's words were no exaggeration. After all, Grey and Yuna have been together for almost four years now and their teamwork was as solid as steel. They didn't eveo talk to one another, a few gestures were already more than enough.

  Of course, there are still some things left to be desired, but they were all too minor to be mentioned. As far as the general public is ed, their teamwork was already perfeot a si of fw to be seen.

  "That, and I thought it would be iing as well. I'd like to see you two fight alongside one another once more." ［Ar］

  And his true thoughts finally leaked out, a troublesome smile blooming on his face. He might not be able to observe them due to work, but it was still iing to hear how the match went from other people. It would be a nice ge of pace.

  "I think that's a wonderful idea as well. People would surely be excited." ［Queen］

  "I'm sure Yhnesses would domihe matches, but it would surely be iing heless." ［ Prince］

  "Yes! You should fight in duos, Grey! Yuna!" ［Lisandra］

  There was also no disagreement from the other members of the Royal Family. Ead every one of them also suggested that they try out the idea. All except for one, not because he doesn't like the idea, but because he wasn't there.

  Despite having stayed at Avalon for a siderable amount of time already, Grey and Yuna have yet to meet the Sed Prince of the Graystone Kingdom. They say he's been sick all this time and couldn't attend even if he wao. It ity but there was nothing they could do about it.

  "Hmm... We'll give it some thought, Your Majesty." ［Grey］

  "Hahaha. I'm looking forward to your respohen." ［Ar］

  Dinner tinued and the night fell deeper. Before long, everyoired to their own rooms, and tucked themselves in the bed. The sweet lulby of the night rang iheir ears as they slowly but surely drifted towards dreamnd.

  And as quickly as night came, the m sun sned over the world once again. They had breakfast, a bath, and fixed themselves properly. They greeted the new day with a smile, the subtle chirping of the little birds pying musi their ears.

  As frey and Yuna, they have now prepared themselves for what's about to e. They had a short talk yesterday, and were able to quickly e to a decision. As to be expected, they are going to have duo matches for the day, their blood boiling iement as the seds pass.

  "Are you ready, Yuna?" ［Grey］

  "Un! Ready as you are!" ［Yuna］

  There was no uainty in their voices. With their swords sheathed tightly into their scabbard, Grey and Yuna soo up with Lisandra, and before long, headed out to the colosseums, various sorts of people greeting them by the streets.

  Si was a duo match, they headed towards another colosseum rather than their usual, ging dires as they went about. It was located on the opposite er of the city, people just as many as they lined up towards the colosseum.

  Other than them, no one khat they would be participating in duo matches, but such would ge soon enough. One by one, people started to notice them, eyes glued on them as they paced towards the reception desk, the receptionist greeting them with a professional smile.

  "Good day, Yhnesses. How could I serve you today?"

  "We'd like to participate in a duo match, please." ［Grey］

  "A... A duo match...?"

  It wasn't just the receptionist, everyone's attention was also caught when Grey spoke of such words. The crowd had seen them fight individual duels before, but never as a team. They couldn't help but wonder how it would be like, a stream of curiosity welling up greedily iheir hearts.

  In fact, they were so curious, they already started pulling out their pouches and wallets, ready to pay a ticket for their match as soon as it was avaible. Grey and Yuna have still yet to sign up themselves yet they were already so excited.

  The receptionists had also prepared themselves for what's about to e. With the eyes of the potential audiences sparkling as they e, it would surely be a se of chaos ohe tickets are avaible. All hell would break loose.

  "Yhnesses, I have already registered your names. Please atiently until your names are called by the announcer."

  "Thanks. We'll be going in now." ［Grey］

  "Yes. I wish you lu your endeavors."

  Grey, Yuna, and Lisandra soo. Like a school of starving piranhas, the crowd looked at the ters with eyes of that of predators, waiting to pounce as soon as the tickets were brought out, the receptionist getting ready as all.

  The tickets soon became avaible and things went just as expected. It was a se of total chaos as the crowd jumped onto one another, reag out of the tickets as if their very lives depended on it. It was like a live fan-signi, the only difference is that people are even crazier than usual.

  To top things off, more and more people gathered as the rumors spread around, soon rushing like a massive tsunami towards the colosseum. It was dire, the administrator had to step in along the colosseum guards. The day had just barely started ahey already had to face such a troublesome situation.

  Just like that, time passed by pretty quickly and Grey and Yuna's names were called towards the arena. Lisandra wished them luck, but such was nothing pared to the crazed cheers of the audience as soon they made their entrance.

  Grey and Yuna could still remember it when they ehe colosseum only tained a couple hundred people at best, but now, there were thousands. The power of fame was a scary one.

  "Here they are! The Rising Rookies of Avalon who dominated all their matches and carved their names in history in but a mere, single week! The Heroes of Oiros who broke all records before them! They call themselves 'Aster'! And they surely live up to their he Stars of the Week! Their Highnesses! Gdiatrey and Yuna!"

  "Whoooh!! Crush your oppos! Don't show any mercy!"

  "Yhnesses! Please look at me!"

  "Ohh! So they're the rumored heroes... They really are young..."

  Various reas came from the crowd, but they all cheered heless. Some of them only saw them o they were already ohose who didn't curiously eyeing the two. All were excited for the uping fight.

  "Going up against them, the destructive duo of Avalon! They have demolished a myriad of buildings in a sirike, earning them the moniker of "Demolishers"! They are not oo be messed with! Ranked 11 and 12, respectively! Gdiators Alvin and Misty!"

  "Sir Alvin! Don't let some kids defeat you! Show them what true swordsmanship is!"

  "Go! Demolishers! You do it!"

  "Miss Misty, please step on me!"

  Their oppos weren't any less parnering the support and cheers of the audieh their entrahey were very enthusiastie ents were better left ignored. Just a bunch of perverts and degees screaming loudly,

  It was their first time fag one another, but they didn't think they would go against a man and a air as well. To top it all off, they were very advanced kers, almost reag the peak. They were strong.

  "I hope we have a good match." ［Misty］

  "Un. The feeling is mutual. We'll be in your care." ［Yuna］

  Giving their greetings to one another, both parties then headed to the other side of the stage and soohed their swords. The announcer soon stepped dowage and looked at both sides, then nodding to himself soon after,

  "Let the duel... Begin!"

  The announcer finally gave the signal and two streaks of light rushed towards one another. One was Yuna and the other was Alvin, their swords g violently, a rush of gales and gusts running rampant oage.

  They then exged blows, a tempest of bdes rushing towards one ahey had about the same level of swordsmanship, pressing against one another, strikes heavy as be, produg shockwaves every time they ected.

  As frey and Misty, they simply analyzed the oppo's movements whilst Alvin and Yuna distracted themselves. Another violent shockwave rocked the stage as Misty also started moving.

  ??Wild Thrust!?? ［Misty］

  Swift as a speeding bullet, Misty rushed her rapier trey, rge bursts of wind following it soon after. It was fast, but not fast enough. Grey's eyes had already read its trajectory, dodging it with retive ease with a simple side step.

  But Misty simply didn't stop there. As soon as her shot missed, she then shrey with a barrage of thrusts, making sure he didn't have the ce to retaliate and driving him towards a er.

  Well, it wasn't really a er, per se. Misty stantly ged the angles of her thrusts in order to drive Grey towards Yuna. There, Alvin was already preparing to strike a single, powerful strike to finish the duel in a jiffy, simply keeping Yuna busy whilst Misty does her part.

  'No wohey're called "Demolishers"...' ［Grey］

  Unfortunately, Grey had already seen through their pitack, and so did Yuna. They were simply going with the flow, wanting to satisfy their curiosity and learning a couple more things from their seniors.

  And so the pn had begun. Grey and Yuna finally bumped against one aheir backs pressed against each other. As soon as they did, Alvihe pying field a everything to Misty as he prepared for his massive attack.

  ??Swift Star: Entrapment!?? ［Misty］

  Misty circled around the two, borrowing the power of light magic. Every time they tried to step out, she would lunger her sword at her, effectively pinning them down in her little cage. Jumping is also useless as she doesn't even give them a ce to try.

  It was no wonder why they were so effective as a duo. Even if it was a B-Ranker in a real battle, they would surely find it hard to escape their trap uhey use their auras. And just in time, Alvin finished charging his attack.

  ??Dev Shadows: Perdition!?? ［Alvin］

  Misty quickly fled the se, and so did Grey or Yunaー or at least, they tried. But just when Misty escaped, shadows came rushing from the ground and grabbed ahold of their feet and legs, preventing them from doing so. They were stuck.

  Alvin performed a horizontal ssh and a wave of death and darkness came rushing out after it. Such ferocious darkness darted trey and Yune, ready to devour them at a moment's notice. Doom on them.

  'Heh... How clever...' ［Grey］

  Yet all was useless. Also p it their all, Grey and Yuna also poured mana into their bdes. They then raised their bde and like simultaneously, they sshed down towards the rushing bde, a deafening explosiing out soon after.

  The bde of darkness was sshed twice at the same time, parting it half as Grey and Yuna's bdes struck down on it. It tie, but her of the two were hurt, only deep gashes left on the ground.

  "G-G-Gdiator Alvin's signature move was cleaved in half! What an amazing force! Only to be expected of the Heroes!"

  A loud cm out in the air, the audience cheering loudly. Though Alvin's strike had been broken before, even the champion had a hard time doing it the first time he saw it. Yet the two youths easily cleaved them as if it was nobody's business.

  "Haha... Those crazy kids... We really uimated them, huh..." ［Alvin］

  "Fufufu. I guess the fault falls on us then." ［Misty］

  However, it was entirely different for Misty and Alvin. Though it would usually be easy frey and Yuna, the same couldn't be said for their current selves who didn't only have their strengths limited but also pressed for time by the surprise attack.

  Yet they still did it. Grey and Yuna struck exactly the same spot at exactly the same time without a single fw, perfectly bining their strengths and breaking the bde of darkness. It was a feat impossible without perfect synization.

  "Galvi's opt for pn B." ［Misty］

  "Roger." ［Alvin］

  However, Alvin and Misty didn't let their mistake bother them too much. As soon as they saw how iive their attack was, they soon rushed trey and Yuna and started pressuring them again, a series of gs eg once again.

  At the same time, Grey and Yuna still kept on . They let Alvin and Misty do as they please, learning from their patterns like children learning from their parents. They simply dodged and parried, terattag when needed be.

  And like before, Misty and Alvin are pushing them back towards a er, keeping them both in check as they drew he edge of the stageー or so they thought, when suddenly, the two of them backed off from their rampage and rushed towards the other side of the stage.

  ?? ??Dual Judge!!?? ?? ［Misty and Alvin］

  It was yet another heavy attack. A bde of light and a bde of darkness rushed out from their swords, f a gray cross of destru. The cross bolted across the stage a a deep gash oage.

  The attack was much strohan before, making breaking it impossible in Grey and Yuna's current state. Even if they biheir strengths and pierced the very ter of the cross, they would still be devoured and knocked off the stage.

  However, all hope was not lost. Yuna just hid behind Grey and the tter then stood still all the while gripping his sword tightly, a scarlet glow radiating in the arena as fmes started to light abze from Grey's scorg sword.

  ??Scorg Crest!?? ［Grey］

  BOOOOMMMMMMMM

  Fmes razed the whole arena with Grey's words, but they weren't just normal fmes. What were once scarlet were now pitch bck, patches of pure white burning time and time again, increasing the temperature to an astonishing degree.

  During normal circumstances, an attack like "Cleaving Crest" wouldn't be a match against "Dual Judge", however with Vul Wrath's "Hellfire" ability, the fmes have been enhanced 5 times stronger, pletely overp the tter with ease.

  The fmes tio dand the steamy hot winds rose towards the sky. The stage was charged and both Alvin and Misty sustained a good amount of damage. Well, the same also went frey who faced their attack head on, however...

  ??High Heal?? ［Yuna］

  With their holy magic, sujuries were nothing. Spells were only prohibited when used directly against your oppos, unless used as a bination spell with sword art. However, the rules never mentioned not using spells on yourselves. A loophole very favorable frey and Yuna.

  "Misty, let's switch to pn Cー" ［Alvin］

  "I don't believe we let you do that, Seniors. We had a good time learning from you, however, I'm afraid we'll have to end the matow." ［Grey］

  Alvin and Misty didn't even have to hear anymore from him. As soon as they saw the smile on Grey's face, an ominous feeling loomed over their hearts. A feeling whily grew stronger with the sharp glint in his eyes as he raised his sword.

  Instinctively, Alvin and Misty rushed trey, mana hastily coating their swords, ready to ssh Grey the moment they were in rahey tried their best, pushing their legs to the limits, soon raising their swords towards him.

  ??White Dream: Fluttering Snowfkes!"??［Yuna］

  They were so focused ohey didn't even notice Yuna. When they did, it was already too te. A deadly frost already coated her sword, the arena turning white along her cold, blue ice. Danger rang out from all the fibers in their body.

  Snowfkes fell from the sky, dang slowly until turned into a wild storm of frost, ready to devour everything alive. It was already far too te for Misty and Alvin to dodge, Yuna sshing a frosty wave of blue and white.

  ?? ??Cleaving Cresent!!?? ?? ［Misty and Alvin］

  With no other choices left, what was supposed to be an attack directed at Grey had now bee a tool of self-defense against Yuna's wrathful strike. Their shoulders and arms hurt from the sudden ssh, but such didn't matter anymore.

  BOOOOMMMMMM

  An explosion of blue and white rang out in the colosseum, shards of ice flying here and there. Thankfully, there was a barrier proteg the audieherwise, they would have been swallowed by deep iot even fmes could thaw.

  Both Misty and Alvin survived, however, they didn't e out unscathed. Even with their terattack, it was still too powerful to bear with their bodies. Still, they were gd that they could still fight... Well, not for too long.

  Just as the clouds of snow and ice cleared out, the winds started to howl wildly and the ground started to tremble. A storm of mana gathered at Grey's bde, ferocious winds sucked in by a voracious vortex, getting bigger and bigger with the passing of time,

  ??Ssh: Sylph's Wrath?? ［Grey］

  Grey's words rang iage and the winds now bellowed. An inescapable tempest fell down towards the arena and the clouds darkened quickly as Grey brought down his sword. A sword or pure and indomitable Destru.

  The sword swept the ground and both Misty and Alvin were bsted off the stage, a loud crash eg as they crashed towards the barrier. The storm tie on until eveage was no more. All there were were clouds of lingering dust.

  "Th-The victors are Their Highnesses! Gdiatrey and Yuna! What an intense duel! Please give it up for all diators!"

  "Whohoo! That was a good fight!"

  "You did well, Miss Misty, Mister Alvin!"

  "Yhnesses! Please notice us!"

  Cheers and appuse rang out all throughout the colosseum, the audience cheering for both the victors and the losers. No matter whigle one looked at it, it was a very splendid duel one would rarely see even in the Grand Colosseum.

  And in the crowd, there was a hooded figure standing silently at the farthest reaches of the searing areas. He watched the whole fight unfold, his fadifferent as one be. Soourned his head left, footsteps eg in the air.

  "I didn't think I'd see you here, Mister Champion." ［???］

  "I could say the same to you, Runner up." ［Champion］

  "Rubbing salt on my wounds now, are we?" ［Runner up］

  An intense greeting, two figures staring daggers at one another's eyes. Sutense pressure and tension bhe air, but it disappeared soon after. The Runner-up simply heaved a lengthy sigh, giving up ohought.

  "So, what do you think of them?" ［Runner up］

  "They're pretty good, better than me when I was their age, at least... If it were a real fight, I'm sure I wouldn't stand a ce against them." ［Champion］

  "Haha. Who knew you would be so humble?" ［Runner up］

  "I'm not being humble. I'm just stating the obvious." ［Champion］

  The Champion looked at Grey and Yuna once again, a bit of thrill blooming inside his heart. He had already heard various rumors about it, but they were even more amazing thahought. They were simply outstanding.

  He was fident that his swordsmanship was better thawo, but if it es to their main ons, he also knew he pales in parison. Still, he won't simply back down in a fight against them. Rather, he looked forward to it.

  "Anyway, whether they end up in the finals or not depeirely on them. Only time tell whether we cross swords or not." ［Champion］

  "Heh... fident as ever, aren't you?" ［Runner up］

  "If that's how you see it, then so be it. I have no more business here. I will be taking my leave." ［Champion］

  "Yeah, sure... I look forward to fighting you again." ［Runner up］

  So said the Runner up, but there were no replies from the Champion. He simply walked past them, eyes indifferent as one be. His footsteps were slowly drowned out by the cheering crowd, and the Runner up left soon after.

  Of course, Grey and Yuna were also aware of their presehey simply didn't look much because they felt no hostility. It was a shame that Grey couldn't appraise them quickly because of the circumstances, but there was o fall down. He would surely meet them if fate allows it.

  "They're strong, aren't they?" ［Yuna］

  "Yeah. Perhaps the stro in Avalon." ［Grey］

  "Fufufu! I look forward to fighting them." ［Yuna］

  CHAPTER 309 END