Reborn As A Maid

The Grand Royal Arena had never been so silent.

In spite of the most intense fights during the battles of the preliminary rounds, no one had ever seen such silence in the stands.

Audience expected the bloodshed, battles and chaos because they came to see the entertainment, not something serious.

Instead, they got much more.

Two warriors stood on the opposite sides of the arena.

One was a spear knight, his weapon shinning like a frozen star with the help of the silver tip.

Another one had the huge scarred shield in his hands.

Neither of them moved.

Neither of them said anything.

But everybody understood, for sure, that this battle would be unusual.

The announcement broke the silence in the arena.

"THE FIRST QUARTERFINAL! THE GENIUS SPEAR KNIGHT—KAI VIPER!"

The cheers rose on the eastern part of the arena.

Kai approached the arena, holding the silver spear in his right hand. He kept calm, having his breathing under control. He was looking at the opponent, trying to analyze his movements like the predator, observing his prey.

"GARETH GERAT!"

The western part of the arena started to cheer up with the roar of approval.

Gareth was entering the arena, carrying the huge tower shield with all its scars. With the huge impact, Gareth was placing his shield on the ground.

Boom.

Kai’s eyes were becoming a little bit narrowed.

He had already met with powerful warriors, champions, veterans, but Gareth was different from others. He had no vulnerable spots in his defense, no useless movements which could betray his intentions and no arrogance.

It was an enormous wall for Kai to win the fight.

Gareth was looking at Kai, smiling. "You have a wonderful spear."

Kai returned his smile, tightening his grip around the weapon. "And you have a wonderful shield."

Gareth was laughing with the booming sound coming from his chest. "Then we will see, whose weapon is better."

Kai was lowering his spear, keeping the eyes on the rival. "I prefer to know whose strategy works better."

Gareth was smiling again. "Good answer."

Queen Lilia was watching the warriors above the arena, touching the railing with her fingers.

Arthur was standing beside the Queen, saying in the thoughtfull way. "This can be the hardest battle of the quarterfinals."

Lucas was nodding, crossing his arms on his chest. "Kai has speed and precision. Gareth has endurance and defense. Two different strategies which are sharpened to the perfection."

Arthur was looking at the arena. "One wrong move decides everything."

Referee was stepping between the rivals, saying aloud. "Remember the rules! No killing! Surrender ends the battle! We will take care about the serious injuries with the help of the Royal Healing Corps!"

Both warriors were nodding, keeping the eyes on the referee.

Referee was raising his hand.

The silence was breaking the tension.

"BEGIN!"

Kai was vanishing.

Gareth was raising his shield.

CLANG!

Spear struck the shield with the terrible force, making the sparks fly to all directions.

Gareth wasn’t moving.

Kai was vanishing again, moving with amazing speed.

CLANG!

The second, the third strike.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Spear was starting to move faster, becoming a silver blur hitting the shield from all sides—left, right, legs, every time hitting precisely with an intention to find the gaps in the defense.

The audience was roaring louder and louder.

"He is too fast!"

"Gareth cannot even see him!"

"No!"

Somebody from the audience was shouting. "He sees him!"

Gareth was turning to Kai with the precision, and the spear was striking to the exact middle of the shield.

Gareth’s eyes were narrowing. He has predicted the attack.

Kai was immediately retreating, feeling the instinctive danger.

The huge shield was swinging toward Kai with incredible speed.

Kai was ducking.

The shield was passing by his head, sending the shockwave through the arena, making his hair move backwards.

His expression was changing.

This thing isn’t just for the defense.

Gareth was attacking again, and the shield was swinging toward the enemy.

Kai was jumping backwards.

BOOM!

The shield was smashing to the ground, throwing the stones around.

Kai was landing light-footed.

Gareth was advancing, step by step, shaking the arena with every step.

Boom.

Another.

Boom.

With every step Gareth was herding Kai toward the border of the arena.

Audience was realizing it, their cheers were stopping and becoming murmurs.

Gareth wasn’t trying to catch the opponent. He was reducing the number of his opportunities, decreasing the battlefield. Kai couldn’t retreat all the time.

The spear knight was planting his foot to the ground and coiling with the energy in his body.

His spear was flashing, turning into the silver flash.

"Viper Fang!"

Kai was rushing toward the exposed shoulder of Gareth, hitting with the amazing accuracy.

Gareth was shifting his shield.

The spear tip was scraping the shield, throwing the sparks.

Kai was twisting his wrist, aiming his spear at the knee of Gareth.

Gareth was immediately lowering the shield.

Kai was changing his direction—again to the elbow.

Gareth was blocking.

To the ankle.

Blocked.

To the neck.

Blocked.

This exchange was lasting only few seconds, but for the audience it was looking like dozens of attacks done with the incredible precision and counterattacks of the same level.

Kai was jumping backward, panting.

Gareth was still standing, holding his shield.

Nobody of them made any decisive strike.

Jennie was watching the rivals in the competitors’ section, analyzing all movements with razor sharp focus.

Roxy was leaning to Jennie, asking in curiosity. "Who do you think will win?"

Jennie was not answering for some moments, analyzing the foot movements of Kai.

"Kai."

Roxy was blincking, surprised. "Really?"

"He is analyzing Gareth."

"And Gareth?"

"He is analyzing Kai."

Snow was listening carefully to the conversation, tilting his ears. "So they are analyzing each other."

Jennie was nodding, having the serious expression. "This is why it is dangerous."

Kai was rushing to Gareth, attacking more aggressively than before.

Gareth was bracing himself, raising his shield.

Spear was rushing to the chest of Gareth.

Gareth was blocking.

Kai was attacking again.

Blocked.

Again.

Blocked.

Then Kai was changing the rhythm of his attack—one strike, pause, two strikes, pause, three rapid thrusts.

Gareth was blocking them, without giving any chances for the successful strike.

Kai’s expression was calm, but inside he was calculating and disassembling the moves of the rival.

His shield is protecting almost all areas. His foot movements are unexpectedly good. His left side is stronger than his right. But he always moves his rear foot when I hit to the lower parts.

Kai was looking at the Gareth’s feet, narrowing his eyes.

There. Pattern. Small. Almost invisible. But real.

Kai was stopping the attack.

Gareth was frowning, raising his brows. "What happened?"

Kai was smiling, showing his confidence. "I discovered something."

Gareth raised his shield and spoke with a stable voice. "Then come and try."

Kai rushed toward Gareth, lowering his spear.

Gareth prepared for another round of thrusts, raising the shield.

However, Kai did nothing of the sort.

He rushed straight toward the shield.

The audience gasped in shock and surprise.

"It seems he has lost his mind!"

Gareth pushed the shield toward Kai to stop his rush.

Kai jumped, not trying to pass around the shield.

Instead, he put one foot on the shield surface and used it as an additional platform for himself.

Gareth could hardly believe his eyes, losing his composure.

With one thrust, Kai flew over the giant shield.

For the first time during the whole fight, Gareth’s back was uncovered.

Kai landed behind Gareth and turned the spear.

Its blunt training end hit Gareth’s back.

"Got you."

The audience cheered loudly.

However, Gareth smiled, speaking in a calm tone. "Not yet."

The audience gasped in shock once again.

Kai’s eyes widened in surprise.

Gareth changed his position, lowering the center of gravity of his body. With great ease, the shield rotated in his hands.

Before it could hit Kai’s ribs, he jumped backward.

Despite everything, Kai felt the impact that hit his leg.

BOOM!

Kai was pushed aside, flying sideways. He tumbled several times, falling in the arena.

The audience cheered loudly, expressing concern about Kai.

Kai immediately got up, despite the pain in his injured leg.

Gareth turned around, looking coldly at Kai. "You are fast."

Kai heaved, panting heavily. "As you are."

Gareth raised his shield. "Then try again."

The second round of this fight was even harder than the first one.

Kai attacked Gareth from all directions with spear moves that seemed blurs. Gareth kept blocking with his shield skillfully. Gareth walked forward, and Kai went backward, becoming more and more anxious with each thrust.

Then Kai started attacking again.

The spear hits the shield so often that there was only continuous metallic roar heard from the arena.

Gareth’s armor started breaking under the constant pressure of blows, cracks appearing in it.

Kai was panting more and more heavily, sweating.

Neither of them showed any sign of giving up and slowing down.

All the spectators stood up, cheering with increasing loudness.

Even the royal knights were silent, watching this amazing fight.

Then Gareth roared, as if he wanted to show his anger to everyone.

Gareth pushed the shield on the ground, applying his full strength.

"FORTRESS BREAKER!"

The floor of the arena cracked loudly, throwing stone fragments in all the directions.

The shock wave passed over, and some spectators were knocked out of their places.

Kai was pushed upward by Gareth’s move and nearly lost his spear.

He fell onto the ground heavily, losing the breath.

Gareth ran forward, raising the shield.

Kai barely managed to jump aside in time, and the shield smashed the floor in the place where he had been standing.

More cracks appeared and began spreading throughout the arena.

Kai jumped up, ignoring all the signals of his injured body.

Gareth thrust the shield toward Kai, trying to smash him.

Kai bent down in time, and the shield passed a few inches above his head.

Gareth continued to swing his shield without stopping.

Kai jumped again, and the shield smashed the ground where he had been standing moments ago.

He landed on the ground, being almost exhausted.

However, Gareth was already turning around to smash Kai with his shield again.

CRACK!

Kai was smashed to the ground, being pushed across the arena by the impact.

Roxy got up in panic. "KAI!"

Jennie’s eyes narrowed, instinctively reaching for her sword.

Kai slowly moved, trembling from the effort.

He tightly clenched his spear, his knuckles becoming white.

He stood up, blood coming from the corner of his mouth.

Gareth watched Kai with concern. "You don’t need to go on."

Kai wiped away the blood, not taking his eyes off Gareth. "I know."

He raised his spear. "This is why I’m going on."

Gareth smiled, looking with admiration at Kai. "Then come."

Kai rushed toward Gareth one last time.

However, this time he was acting differently—he wasn’t trying to attack either the shield or Gareth himself. Instead, he started hitting the ground with his spear.

The spear hit the ground, making a crack appear on the floor.

Another crack appeared under Gareth’s feet.

Gareth looked down at it, widening his eyes.

Too late.

Kai kicked the cracked stone with precise force.

Gareth’s stance slightly weakened, and Gareth lost his balance.

Just for a moment.

However, Kai had waited exactly for that moment.

He came near Gareth, moving smoothly and easily.

The spear was circling around the edge of the shield, hooking behind it.

Gareth tried to turn the shield, covering Kai again.

Kai twisted his body.

The spear was hooked behind the shield, and Kai pulled the spear with all his remaining forces.

The shield shifted, and Gareth’s huge body shifted forward, his center of gravity being broken.

Kai moved behind Gareth, and the movement became even smoother.

The spear hit the back of Gareth’s knee.

Gareth dropped, his leg buckling beneath him.

Kai immediately placed the blunt spear end against Gareth’s throat.

Silence.

Gareth froze, looking with widened eyes at Kai.

Kai’s spear trembled, not from fear but from exhaustion. His body screamed from pain, and the vision blurred on the edges.

Gareth looked at the weapon and then at Kai.

Then he smiled and spoke with sincere admiration. "...Beautiful."

Kai panted, hardly able to speak. "Do you want to give up?"

Gareth looked at Kai for a while, his expression being unreadable.

Then he lowered his shield, his shoulders relaxing.

"I surrender."

The referee raised his flags, loudly interrupting the shocked silence.

"WINNER—KAI VIPER!"

The arena burst in cheers, shaking the whole stadium with them.

Kai dropped his spear, his legs trembling and barely supporting him.

Instead of celebrating his victory, he immediately reached out his hand to Gareth.

Gareth looked at it with surprise, widening his eyes.

Then he laughed warmly. "You are strange boy."

Kai smiled. "I’ve been told."

Gareth took his hand, and Kai pulled the giant warrior back to his feet.

The audience cheered them both, not just the winner but both of them. They had seen something special.

On the royal balcony, Arthur slowly got up, looking admiringly at them. "It was something extraordinary."

Lucas nodded, speaking with emotion. "Kai didn’t win against Gareth; he understood him."

Arthur looked at them, shining eyes. "That’s why he won."

Lilia remained silent, looking at Kai.

She looked toward Jennie next.

Jennie smiled, not shouting in excitement but simply smiling after the battle she saw.

Lilia looked at Jennie for a long time, feeling strange pain in her heart.

The same strange feeling.

Why did she always look toward this girl?

Jennie watched Kai leave the arena, looking thoughtfully.

Roxy approached, speaking excitedly. "Your prediction was right."

"Finally found that opening," Jennie replied, her eyes fixed on the warrior.

"And I was starving," Snow yawned widely.

"He fought well! What an excellent fight!" Roxy exclaimed with a shocked look at Snow.

"Starving."

Jennie chuckled, letting the warm, sincere laughter ring out.

But then her expression turned into a serious one, and her smile faded away completely.

Gareth had lost to Kai. But Jennie realized something—it was going to be very different from now on. None of them were weak here, none of them could underestimate their opponent. And each victory would cost everything.

Jennie turned her gaze towards the arena, her fingers slowly reaching for the usual sword in her belt.

She had fought Darius without Excalibur.

But as the tournament turned more dangerous by the minute, Jennie started to worry about how long she could hide her strength, using the Divine Swords.

The crowd was shouting the name of Kai.

Greatest Fight Tournament was entering its next phase.

And the greatest warriors had not even started to show their true powers yet.