The Defending Champion

Almost everyone who was watching the fight had their mouths wide open, the majority of the crowd had their eyes fixed on the fight they had termed the most interesting. But more than half of them could not explain what had just happened.

The whole arena went quiet for a few seconds, even Drake and Nicki were speechless for a moment, then the crowd went crazy. Objects were thrown into the air amidst cheers and screams from the crowd.

"I don't think any of us just understood what happened there, but David has just knocked out his opponent in the shortest time ever" Drake's excited voice amplified by the speakers sounded over the cheers from the crowd.

"Whoa, that was something. Let's take a quick look at the replay" Nicki added.

At once, the screen shifted from a defeated Lin lying on the floor to the beginning of the fight. Lin could be seen running toward David while swinging his sword wildly. David stood calmly, waiting for him with his staff in one hand.

Just as Lin got close, raising his hand slightly to strike with his sword, David moved in swiftly stabbing him in the stomach with the end of the staff and then whacking the side of his neck. The impact of the staff on Lin instantly immobilized him and the second knocked him right out. It was an instant double strike

David had moved ever so quickly that even though the replay had been slightly slowed down, his movements made it seem like the replay had been sped up at the end.

If someone had looked up at the booth housing the VIPs, they would have noticed the head of the Astor family slightly nod his head in acknowledgement. But the look in his eyes said that he had something up his sleeve.

After the crowd had gotten over David's instant victory, their attention was now back on the stage.

One of the contestants had taken advantage of the loud cheer when David had won his fight, he quickly rushed at his opponent and struck with his knuckles, his opponent taken by surprise was slow to react and immediately received another attack on his temple, knocking him out.

"That's dirty" a voice commented just a little distance from Derek. It was a voice Derek had come to recognize.

"Maya" Derek muttered

"I guess everyone just wants to win, whether they do that honestly or not does not matter to them" Maya shrugged while still looking straight ahead.

"Hmm" Derek grunted and stared straight ahead. He had been following the matches from the beginning. Just like others, he had been completely absorbed in the DuPont's fight.

So, his attention was fully focused on David when he saw the single double strike. To the normal eye, it was like a single strike but any experienced person would see it was a double strike. Derek's eye barely followed the attack.

Out of the eight fights that started at the same time, only three were left. Three of the big houses that featured in this round were already done with their battles, each of them emerging victorious.

Watching the rest of the three fights, Derek moved his attention from fight to fight, depending on the one which was more intriguing at the moment.

The fight that caught his attention the most was the one in the middle, one of the contestants, a blond-haired kid with a pair of swords while his opponent who looked slightly older with a burn mark on his face and a short black hair brandished a katana.

The two contestants looked to be equally matched, they blocked each other's attack with precision, it almost seemed as if they were reading each other's mind. Anyone who was watching this fight knew that getting a victor in this fight wouldn't be so easy.

One of the fighters needed to have an ace up their sleeve to alter the outcome of the fight.

The blond rushed in swinging his both swords one after the other, his opponent skillfully dodged the first swing and brought his katana up to block the other.

It had become a fight of endurance, whoever could last longer was going to be victorious in this battle, even Derek could tell.

As if the universe was also watching the fight, the guy with the katana suddenly took a wrong step and faltered for a moment. His opponent attacked with his both swords, swinging them together at his target in the middle.

The contestant wielding the katana reacted quickly by stabbing his katana into the ground and bending down just in time.

The dual swords which slashed over his head missed by a breadth, slashing half of the hair off his head. Those in the crowd watching the match fell into a short bout of laughter. The middle of his hair had been shaved off by the swords, leaving only the area around the head.

Jumping back a few steps, he retreated and paused to catch his breath, looked like it was him going to run out of stamina first. The look in his eyes was one of a cornered prey who was not going to back down.

Derek could almost feel the need to win radiate from the katana wielding contestant, he was not going to give up.

From where Derek sat, he was clearly at a disadvantage, being the first person to run out of breath which made him wonder what trick he had up his sleeve, seeing as he was not willing to give up.

Derek didn't have to think for long before he saw it. Just as the fighter Derek had termed 'cornered prey' took his stance, he could see the reflection of light flash directly at his eye from the stage.

The light vanished as soon as it had flashed, it was now Derek took notice of it. He had not noticed it before, since the cornered prey has been on the move and he was almost sure no one had too.

Right under the garment, there was a wooden handle decorated with strings. Derek easily guessed what it was. A dagger.