Disqualification

The cornered prey went for the offense after catching his breath, he was trying to rid as much space as possible between him and his blond opponent.

It could only mean one thing. His attacks had gotten a little bit slower, it was not entirely noticeable from the outside but anyone on the other side of the blade could easily tell.

Suddenly, the attacks started to pack a punch. It was a strategic move to distract the mind of the opponent from his real intentions.

In the heat of the attack, the blond was totally focused on blocking the hits from the katana whose strikes were getting heavier by the moment.

The blade of the katana came slashing down, the blond knew that a single hand would not be enough to parry the attack, so he formed an x with his swords blocking the katana strike, making it so that his both hands were occupied, his opponent finally saw the chance he was looking for.

In a quick movement, he drew his dagger and slashed at his opponent's middle. It was a surprise attack, the blond saw the attack late and reached for the attack with one hand but it was too late.

The dagger had gone through, tearing a hole in his stomach. The blond clutched his stomach and fell to his knees. They were gasps from people in the crowd who had been watching the fight

The referee immediately ran into the stage to stop the fight, but before him, two figures clothed in all black, looking like ninjas were already in the stage.

The two figures were covered in black clothing all through, where their eyes should be were black lens instead and they were dual swords the shape of x on their backs.

The two ninjas quickly apprehended the assailant, pinning his hand behind his back and retrieving his weapon. Then dragging him to his feet, they led him out of the stage.

The medics arrived immediately after with a stretcher, the blond-haired boy was laid in it and quickly carted away. The officials moved really quick. After a minute, it was as if nothing of the sort ever happened.

The remaining two fights soon ended and the screen that showed information on the fight now had an x carved over the images of the contestants who had lost their fight.

The contestant who had brought out a dagger mid fight also had an x carved over his image, as suspected, he was instantly disqualified.

All eight fights on the left side of the screen had been concluded and it was time for the next eight.

"What a competition" Drake commented over the speakers. He could as well as everyone else present at the Citadel, testify that the first round of matches were nothing short of premium entertainment.

With a starter such as the DuPont fight and an end with a contestant pulling dirty tricks, it was not short of excitement.

After a brief review by the judges, number 12 has been disqualified from the tournament. The rules clearly stated that no weapons except provided by the school should be used in the fights."

"Number 12 clearly disregarded this rule, and there will be consequences for his actions" Drake clearly stated.

Resounding boos could be heard all around the arena as the crowd were equally displeased with Number 12's action.

"That being said, we're, moving on to the next part of the first round"

"For the first stage of this round we have, Dell versus Darla Rothschild." Nicki announced. There was another bout of cheers and applause as the Rothschild was mentioned.

"Let us see if Darla can make it to the finals once again and probably even win" Drake added.

Derek could now understand, little wonder the crowd became noisy. She was the runner up in the last competition.

Derek took a close look at her, she looked almost harmless he almost couldn't believe she made it all the way to the finals and probably held her own against David DuPont.

Her eyes were clear blue, a popular trait of the Rothschilds, her pointed nose sat on her fair oval shaped face and her ponytails stretched all the way to her lower back.

Her opponent was a big sturdy male with broad shoulders and a menacing look. If looks could kill, he would easily be the winner of the fight.

He had gone for an axe while Darla had picked a crossbow, it was a weird match up and the spectators couldn't wait to see the outcome of the match.

Derek had already found another interesting character he was going to watch in the competition, he could see the resolve in her eyes and he knew she wasn't going to be a letdown.

As soon as the hosts introduced all the fighters for the second set of the first round, the fights immediately began.

Less than two minutes into the fight, there were already oohs and aahs from different corners of the arena. Most of the exclamations as a result of Darla's fight

Unexpectedly, the big guy with the axe was quite faster than expected. Darla quickly fired off three knots at the start of the fight, but her opponent skillfully dodged all three while closing the distance between them both in just seconds.

Once he was within striking range, he raised his axe and brought it swinging down at Darla, she reacted almost immediately, bringing up the end of her crossbow to block the strike.

On impact, the axe bounced backwards, throwing its wielder back with its weight, Darla quickly took the opportunity and fired off two knots from her bow while rushing towards her opponent.

Thrown off balance by the axe, dell purposely let himself fall to the floor, allowing the knots from the crossbow to fly right over him. Swinging the axe to gain momentum, he quickly sprung back to his feet soon as he went down.

The exclamations from the crowd was getting intense, this was one fight that was not short of excitement. But Darla was not done just yet.