"Did I... lose? Lost to these weaklings?" Zigrane began to think as he realized he couldn't dodge or block all the attacks, "Damn weaklings, I'll show you yet!"
And then, suddenly, someone walked into the arena—a man in a dark cloak with golden linings along its edges.
He said, "Blood Magic! Forbidden Technique! Blood Subjugation!"
Right after that, Michael, Ralph, Spinner, Torren, and Rob all began to feel a sharp pain in their heads. Their bodies froze mid-charge before they could strike Zigrane, and they were forcibly made to stop using their techniques. Rob's sword disintegrated into molecules, and Michael's arms returned to normal.
"Who did this?" thought Michael, Torren, and Rob.
"He!? Why did he have to come!?" thought Ralph.
"Huh? Father? What are you doing here!?" Zigrane asked the cloaked man.
"Silence, you disgrace! I just saved you from humiliation! You lost to those weaklings! I didn't expect this from you! You'll be punished well once we're home!" the man in the cloak snapped. Then he made Spinner release Zigrane and, using the same technique, forced Zigrane to follow him as he began to leave the arena.
But just then, an old man suddenly appeared in the arena and grabbed the cloaked man by the shoulder.
"Hold it right there, Billy! Where do you think you're going? And why did you even interfere in the fight?" the old man asked with a smile.
"What kind of father wouldn't step in to protect his son from a beating?" Billy replied.
"You're right, but they were all trying to protect one of the participants from Zigrane's attacks!" the old man countered.
"Them? Trying to protect a participant from Zigrane? Isn't that your job—to step in when things get out of hand?" Billy asked.
"Yes, but..." the old man started.
"Then that's it! End of discussion! Let's go, Zigrane. You're going to get seriously punished tonight!" Billy cut him off and turned to leave.
"Yes, Father!" Zigrane replied, having no choice but to follow as his father forced him to go with him.
"So… who was that guy?" Michael asked after the technique wore off and Billy and Zigrayn had left.
"That was Zigrane's father—Billy Vaynran! As a person, he's even more vile than Zigrane!" Ralph replied.
"Whoa! So you're not as bad a person as I thought you were," Michael said to Ralph.
Ralph walked up to Michael with a stern expression and said, "You'll never truly understand what someone has been through—even if you hear everything there is to know about them!"
Once everything ended, everyone was left in shock, especially after seeing the kind of magic Michael had used. Then, people went their separate ways since the matches were over for the day.
By evening, the whole village was buzzing about what had happened during the tournament.
However, the rumors had not yet reached Julius, and he knew nothing about the incident.
As the evening rolled in, he said goodbye to one of his customers. Just then, Michael came to Julius.
"Hello, Mr. Julius!" said Michael.
"Huh? Oh! Hey, Michael!" said Julius.
"Didn't even notice you walking up again."
"It's fine. I'm used to it by now," Michael replied.
"Well, want to come in and tell me what happened today?" Julius asked.
"Yeah!" Michael answered, and the two of them walked into Julius's bakery.
As they drank hot chocolate and ate chocolate-filled croissants, Michael recounted everything that had happened during the day:
Who he met—Torren and Blitz, his humiliating defeat against Ralph. However, Julius wasn't surprised. The battle between Spinner and Zigrane and everything that followed, including how it all ended. Julius was pleasantly surprised by something in particular.
"You finally managed to use magic!?" Julius asked.
"Yeah! I finally figured it out! I'm so happy about it!" Michael replied.
"That's great! Now you definitely have a chance to win this tournament!" said Julius.
"Yeah, my chances of winning just increased," Michael agreed.
"So who's your next opponent?" Julius asked.
"His name's Rob. He uses ice magic and can even make the ice explode like a bomb!" Michael explained.
Julius's expression suddenly changed upon hearing that.
"Exploding ice? I've never heard of such a thing! That's a problem… a big problem!" thought Julius.