"Huh? One loss? I don't think I've ever heard of someone who lived after losing a War Festival fight before and still be alive." Spectators in the crowd grumbled among themselves, curious about Black Mask's curious record.
"Bahaha! I bet everyone here is wondering how Black Mask could have survived losing a War Festival match." Toro said.
"Well, being defeated in a War Festival battle does usually mean death. In fact, he's one of the few I've ever heard ever survive being defeated." Hezikiah said.
"Yeah that's true. Still, they shouldn't underestimate him. He's light years stronger than he used to be. I have no doubt that he's going to come out on top this time." Toro said confidently.
"It's true that he's incredibly strong, but his opponent is "Death". Along with "Destruction" he's one of the strongest Captains in the Royal Guard. It'll be far from an easy fight. They say that he can kill a man with a single touch." Hezikiah responded.
"Either way it'll be a tough fight. I'm interested to see how it turn out." Toro said as the match started.
"Death" casually strolled towards the center of the arena. "You know it's impossible for you to win, why don't you just give up and die with some dignity? It's better than struggling in a futile battle don't you think?" He asked.
Black Mask just grunted, he didn't feel the need to reply to such a ridiculous statement. Though he wasn't much of a conversationalist anyway, so it unlikely he would have responded no matter what he said.
"Hmm, don't like to talk do you? I normally agree that the battlefield is no place for small talk, but in this case our fight will be over so quickly I thought it'd be a good idea to chat for a while to kill some time. Though I suppose a conversation with someone like you would be equally as dull, so I suppose I should just get this over with." "Death" sighed.
He then rushed towards Black Mask, and dodged every strike he threw until he was standing right in front of him. Once he was standing there he placed his hand on Black Mask's chest.
"Right now you are touching death itself." "Death" said as he gathered his aura and prepared to attack.
"Touch of Death!!!!"
Touch of Death is a technique that inflicts the status of "Death" to anyone who is touched by him or his aura. However, Black Mask seemed to be completely unfazed by this.
"Huh? Oh I see. The problem is this armor." "Death" said as he wondered why his opponent was still alive. "Usually something like this wouldn't affect my ability at all. I suppose it's because your own aura is powerful enough to protect yourself. You can be proud of that at least."
"Deathly Spike!!!!!"
A black spike sprang from the middle of "Death's" hand and pierced through Black Mask's armor. The Deathly Spike technique works by crystallizing his deadly aura and condensing it into a sharp point that pierces his opponent. Once pierced by the spike no armor could prevent an inevitable death.
"I give you credit for surviving my initial contact, but this battle is over now. Nobody has ever survived my Deathly Spike." "Death" said, assured of his victory.
Once the spike pierced Black Mask the fight should have been over almost immediately. However, that's not what happened.
"What? How are you still alive?" "Death" asked, clearly in shock that Black Mask was still alive.
The spike had pierced Black Mask's armor but it hadn't actually pierced his body. The attack had been stopped by the massive wall of muscle that surrounded Black Mask's body as well as his powerful aura. As "Death" tried to pull the spike away, it was stuck in his abdominal muscles.
"The one who is touching death, is you." Black Mask's raspy voice said through his heavy metal mask.
Black Mask's special ability was called Overpowered. It was an ability that enhanced both his aura and his physical abilities. A simple but powerful ability. He focused his aura around his cleaver and flexed the muscles in his arm until the armor around his arm was ripped off.
"Overpowered Chop!!!"
He swung down his cleaver and sliced straight through "Death" and cut him in two.
The crowd was shocked to see such a quick and decisive defeat for one of their strongest champions. Especially considering that Black Mask's record featured only a single defeat. Black Mask was congratulated by Toro and the others though he didn't participate in any celebrations himself. With that victory the score moved to 2-3 with the Coalition team still down by one victory.
"Alright folks let's get the next match under way!" The announcer said. "Introducing first, out of the Eastern corner! He stands 6 feet 1 inch tall! Weighing in at 159 pounds! It's! "Copy"!"
A slim man with spiky white hair, wearing a white and black hooded military jacket and a black mask walked into the arena. Though he was small in stature, he gave off the pressure befitting a Royal Guard captain like himself.
"Now for his opponent! He stands 6 feet tall! Weighing in at 200 pounds! He has a War Festival record of one win and no losses! It's the Steel Knight! Mikanos Papas!"
Mikanos walked out wearing a crisp white and blue military uniform and his white hair perfectly styled. He was the type of man who never had anything out of place. He had prepared for the match flawlessly.
The match opened with a quick charge from "Copy"; however, his punch was blocked by a steel wall that appeared out of nowhere.
"An attack like that won't make me budge even a single milimeter." Mikanos said as he deflected the blow and readied an attack of his own. "I'll perfectly end this fight in a single blow."