Chapter 8.
Back In Chile, Ana is currently cooking food for her younger brother, Santiago,
"Food is ready any second, Santi, come down!" Ana yells while adding finishing touches.
After a while, Santiago doesn't come down. Ana goes and checks up on her little brother, she finds him sitting by some boxes in their father's room, curiously looking at some papers.
"There you are, what's this?" Ana asks, crouching down, she notices some disturbing scriptures and weird figures.
"Daddy's box!" The young Santiago answers,
Ana frowns in confusion as she reads the papers before holding Santiago's hand to go downstairs.
Their dinner passes by in a flash as Ana finds herself lost in thought about the papers she just found,
"What could it be?" She thinks to herself,
When they finish up, Ana sneaks into their deceased father's room to take a more focused look at the papers.
It looks like types of rituals and dark religious scriptures, Ana sees that they seem to've been written at Sangre De Reyes.
"That's the school Saint goes to… What have you gotten yourself into, Saint?" Ana thinks to herself,
She continues reading when she finds a drawing of what looks like 3 gods, the vague description of them sends goosebumps and shivers through Ana's body. Just the thought of them brings terror.
Ana feels like she stumbled across something she shouldn't have. With trembling hands, she puts the documents back where Santiago found them.
Back In Sangre De Reyes, Ayce is about to activate his technique, "Salem Style: CREWL! Murder Technique"
Beretta's eyes widen as there can be no casualties in this tournament. Overseen by Taiho,
Immediately, he rushes towards Ayce, but he isn't alone.
"Match is over, draw." Taiho is also restraining Ayce, with Brugger and another Instructor holding Ayce back.
"What are you doing?" Saint asks from afar as he sees the scene in front of him,
Ayce is breathing heavy while restrained, the technique had a dangerous nature about it.
"Hey, I can still fight!" Saint yells at them,
Saint's red Mana starts fading away, his head starts hurting. He holds his head in pain.
Up in the stands, a drop of sweat falls off Ari's forehead, Ari recognizes that that could've been bad for Saint.
Saint's head pain gets worse, Saint falls to his knees while clutching his head tightly,
"W-what is this?" Saint says through gritted teeth,
Some instructors teleport to assist Saint. One of them knocks him out with a strike to his neck.
"He's unstable, who greenlighted him?" One of them asks,
Taiho steps up and clears his throat, "Approved by Oshoku. He's fine, he has poor control, it's not strange. He just overworked himself."
At the roof of the arena, even Hazu, the strongest In Reiki Five is shocked.
Hazu laughs, "Saved by the bell. You can fool others, but not me, I know Ayce would've died there" Hazu lies back on the roof smirking,
"Couldn't have let a Reiki Five potential recruit lose against such a low rank, huh?" Hazu thinks to himself.
The instructors carry Saint's body to the medic room beside Beyce and Plaster, who still seem knocked out.
Taiho and the other instructors move their separate ways, leaving Beretta and Ayce alone in the arena.
"Why did you stop me?" Ayce asks calmly as he dusts off his clothes,
"No killing policy." Beretta answers professionally, while escorting Ayce out of the arena.
Beretta steps up to the middle of the arena after escorting Ayce back to the stands.
"Well then, let's continue to the second round, shall we?" Beretta announces,
The big screen shows Ayce has gone through to the next round,
The screen starts randomizing names, the first match of the second round shows;
Back in Ana's household, she's currently looking up at the ceiling. Thinking about the scriptures she saw,
A cosmic authority… Envisioned as a majestic figure draped in shimmering robes and seated upon a celestial throne, he embodied the vastness and mystery of the heavens.
Ana's heart starts beating harder and harder with each second that passes,
"I have to warn Saint, this is some scary stuff… but Carmelo sent him there… Is he a part of this? What do I do?" Ana thinks to herself.
The screen back at Sangre De Reyes arena shows,
Monita #1999 (B22) VS Claire #2013 (B29)
Monita steps down to the arena,
"Dori Dori! This time you're not getting hurt 'kay? I'll protect you… Believe me, believe me… believe me! Believe me!" She repeats, calmly and maniacally.
Her opponent, Claire also steps down, with long black wavy hair, wearing a black plague jacket with a black blindfold over her eyes.
"This is it, then?" Claire says,
Beretta starts the fight,
Immediately the arena has a dark feel to it, Monita was scary, but something about Claire was oddly unsettling too, up in the arena, Ari and the other participants feel the same.
Claire doesn't waste any time and starts the fight, triggering her ability,
"Sound Style: Cacophony Dance"
Monita just stands still, clutching Dori Dori to her chest when suddenly… she coughs up blood, she clutches her throat and realizes she can't speak anymore,
(Monita's inner monologue: I can't… I can't speak, I can't activate my ability…)
Monita falls to her knees and the lifeless teddy bear falls to the ground,
"Enhance."
Monita coughs up more blood after that word, to the outside audience, they don't understand what's going on. But Monita is hearing a screeching, horrible sound at the moment that is messing up her brainwaves, her ears are bleeding from the inside. It's clear that Claire wasn't gonna be an easy opponent. Perhaps Monita has found her match?
(Monita's inner monologue: Dori Dori… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, I can't protect you… Protect… protect… pro…)
Monita starts crying, her tears falling over Dori Dori.
"Enhance."
Claire calmly multiplies the strength of her ability, making the effect four times stronger.
Monita cries harder, when suddenly yellow Mana starts surrounding Dori Dori,
(Monita's inner monologue: Dori… Dori…? You're protecting me? Why? I'm your elder sister… I should be the one protecting you…)
With Monita's remaining strength, she holds Dori Dori to her chest and stands back up,
"She can still stand?" Claire's eyes widen in shock before regaining her icy composure.
…