Lorelai Seraph

Kai stared at Lorelai with eyes filled with determination. It was telling her that if she couldn't make him surrender, then he would still be counted as "alive."

"Just surrender!"

Lorelai's temper was getting increasingly sour as time went by. Her well-placed, careful shots had slowly turned into hurried, inattentive ones.

This was one of her flaws. She wasn't able to control her mood very well. Kind of like Alter, but she was more expressive about it.

Oh dear, she's crying.

"J-just give up!"

How childish, haha. It makes me want to go up and hug her.

What am I thinking? I slapped myself on the cheeks to keep my focus.

I hope she can calm down soon. At this rate, no one's going to win. The judges seem to be getting impatient as well.

"Why won't you let me win?"

Okay, this is taking too long. It's been, what, six minutes? The entire crowd that was cheering for Lorelai's victory in the first minute was now silent.

"Hey, bro… isn't she, like, too infantile? Wang Jin poked up from beside me.

"That's part of her personality. She'll probably get over it."

"Whoa, why are you talking as if you've already known her for a long time? What are you, her childhood friend?"

"Do I? Well, I guess I just know her very well. Look, she's about to break down."

I wasn't too far off the mark. Lorelai wasn't too far off her breaking point. Ah… it would be embarrassing for her if she were to lose here.

It wasn't like Kai could do much about the situation either. Both his knees had been immobilized. He couldn't get them to move a single inch.

There were healers on standby to help the contestants recover, but that was only for when the battle ended.

"Maybe she needs a little push." I inferred.

I got up, preparing to do something I wouldn't normally have done. I questioned my sanity, but if it meant we could finally conclude this sorry excuse (sorry, Lorelai) of a battle, then I'd do whatever it takes.

"Where are you going, Leader?" Rokas asked, seeing me stand up.

"Just the bathroom. Save my seat, make sure no one takes it."

Rokas shrugged but agreed.

"Whoa, can I come with you, then? I feel like pissing, too." Wang Jin asked, nagging me. He seemed to have realized that I wasn't going to the bathroom.

I saw the look in his eyes. It told me that he'd ruin my plans if he didn't let me in on them.

"Fine." I reluctantly agreed.

"Sweet! Let's go." He wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me in the direction of the "bathroom."

***

"So? What's your plan?"

Wang Jin had dragged me to an empty hallway. When he was sure that there were no people around, he whispered to me.

"Plan? What plan?" I played dumb.

"Shut it. I know it has to do with that Lorelai girl. You really like her, don't you?"

"I do."

"That's alright, there's no shame in admit– wait, what? Did I hear that correctly?" As if he hadn't finished processing the information, Wang Jin leaned in closer to my ear.

"You did."

"My man! Digni's finally growing up!"

There's nothing about liking someone that means you're growing up, what the hell. I wasn't in the mood to correct him, though.

I started acting like I was going to head in the direction of the bathroom, but was stopped by Wang Jin, clearly seeing through my intentions.

"Anyway, don't disturb me.

"Alright, alright. Tell me then. What are we doing?"

"I'm just heading to the walkway to give her a little push. Just to make sure she doesn't break down and cry."

Before reaching the main arena in the middle, both sides had a small walkway that the cadets used to get there.

Sort of like the ones in beauty pageants, where models walk down a short platform, pose, and then walk back.

If I could get close enough, then I could shout out my message.

Problem is, there are probably guards assigned to block anyone from interfering. It wasn't a full security detail, but there were probably around two C ranks standing guard.

"Say, Wang Jin. Are you good at drawing attention?" I asked.

"Hah. Me? Draw attention? Why would I need to do that, when attention naturally flocks to me?"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I have a job for you. I need you to distract the two guards and lead them away from the walkway, so I can slip through."

"You gotcha! I'll get the guards away so you can do your thing."

The plan was already set in motion. The moment we approached the walkway exit, I hid behind a nearby wall and instructed Wang Jin to make as much noise as he could.

"Ready? Three, two, one…"

"Hey, guards! Come here!" Wang Jin poked out from the wall, revealing himself.

Good… they're currently focused on him.

"What is it, young man?"

"I saw a monster! It managed to get past the school fence and is causing chaos in the park! Come quick!"

"What!?"

The guards looked at each other, before nodding.

"Very well! Lead us to them!"

"Thank you! Over here!"

Haha. Easy as pie. The moment the guards left their posts, I calmly walked through.

And unsurprisingly, the fight still hadn't ended. Lorelai was on the brink of surrendering, herself.

I had to applaud Kai's willpower. Even with three arrows stuck through his legs, he was still able to resist the pain and keep going.

Although, I did worry that the arrows were going to cause permanent damage to him. I hope he doesn't become a cripple after this.

I watched slowly as Lorelai was going to raise her hand to surrender.

The crowd had gone wild at the sight of this. Was she really going to give up after being so close to victory?

And just as she opened her mouth to speak, I showed myself.

Everything seemed to stop as the cameras focused on me, showing Dignitas Qwerdan walking out.

The crowd's eyes were on me, as well. Who was this person, and why was he coming out from Lorelai's side of the arena?

Even Lorelai had paused her mouth and looked towards me, her eyes wide.

I'll admit, with Dainsleif attached to my side, I looked like I was going to attack somebody.

I wasn't here to do that, of course.

Walking slowly, I approached Lorelai until I was right beside her. Taking my hand out, I placed it on her shoulder.

I leaned in, perhaps in a weirdly suggestive way, and slowly whispered something into her ear.

"Your brother's not gonna like that."

"W-what… did you say?"

Huh? Don't show me that face. I looked around the stadium and noticed people giving me a death stare. What, did I say something wrong?

Lorelai had an older brother by the name of Mordecai. Unlike her, he had inherited the All Seeing Eyes, meaning his archery skills were greatly superior to hers.

At this point in the story, Mordecai should've been praised around the world as a hero.

Why? He was part of the few individuals who managed to clear an S-rank dungeon without having a full party.

It was just him, and his girlfriend, who acted as the duo's melee fighter.

So I really didn't get it. Why was Lorelai, along with everyone else in the Colosseum, looking like they wanted to kill me?

"You… Do you know what you just said!?"

"Whoa, wait!"

Without warning, Lorelai raised her bow and fired an arrow at me. But I was able to react fast enough and deflect it with Dainsleif.

"I hope you have something to back up that statement! Don't you dare talk about my brother like that!"

"Seriously, what is wrong with you?" I heaved, deflecting another arrow.

"What is wrong with ME!? What is wrong with you!?"

I seem to have made Lorelai cry. Damn, this is not what I intended to happen. What happened to her brother, anyway?