—
The next few days blurred together in a rhythm, but it wasn't boring.
I woke up, ate whatever the xianxian servants brought, watched a few matches from the gallery, and then headed down to the arena whenever my na got called. That was the general flow of things.
The tournant had thinned out quickly as we neared the semifinals. What started as a circus of hopefuls from seven cities and a bunch from the mortal world trying their luck was now down to people who actually knew what they were doing.
I had two more matches in that stretch.
The first was against so guy from the City of Thunder who threw lightning like he was trying to burn the place down. Four Arms just walked through it, closed the distance, and put him through the stone in under a minute.
The second was an old man from Spider Island whose webs were sharp enough to chip the floor. That one took longer because he moved well and knew how to keep distance, but the result was the sa in the end.
None of them made work as hard as Tiger's Daughter had.
By the ti the semifinal bracket settled, there were only four nas left. After this would be the finals, which would decide who'd get to represent Kun'zi.
It was either , Amadeus Cho, Lin Lie, or an old master from K'un-Lun who looked like he'd been fighting since before Captain Arica was buried in the ice.
The old man and my match landed first. Lin Lie and Amadeus were matched against each other for the other slot.
The old guy was good. Very good. His footwork and timing were sharp, and if I were just a normal martial artist with muscles he'd have taken apart. But I wasn't, and he wasn't packing a magic sword or gamma-boosted muscle. He earned my respect for his craft, and then he went down.
Which ant the last path to the finals was Amadeus versus Lin Lie.
Hulk genius versus magic sword kid.
Not the worst matchup to watch with snacks.
****
I sat in Illyana's gallery again, leaning back on a pile of cushions. The balcony opened to the arena below so we could watch it directly, while a floating disc hung near the ceiling to show close-ups and slow motion. The crowd noise rolled up in waves whenever soone did sothing flashy.
Luna sat to my left with a bowl of candied… sothing. It was sweet and sticky and probably expensive. She hadn't really been eating, just stirring it around with her chopsticks. Her eyes were glued to the arena.
Illyana was on my right, on her usual bone throne. One leg slung over the arm, bangs half over her eyes, she looked like she was at so casual theater show instead of a serious martial tournant. She was in an unreasonably good mood these days, which I was taking as a personal complint.
Down on the floor, Amadeus and Lin Lie stood opposite each other.
Amadeus had already Hulked up into Brawn. His skin had grown green, and his fra was massive, but he still wore his glasses because they apparently survived everything. Does he even need glasses in that form? Banner didn't, so why him?
Lin Lie stood with the Sword of Fu Xi out in front of him, his blade low and shoulders loose.
"This is going to be weird," Luna said. "They're actually friends, you know?"
"I noticed, we've been standing in the sa gallery for the past few days, might surprise you," I joked. "Agents of Atlas, huh… So how does that work when they have to fight?"
"They'll hit each other as hard as they can," she said. "That's how it works. You don't sandbag a friend in a tournant, that's rude."
"Spoken like soone who's never had to explain a black eye to their mom," I muttered. "Idol life must be easy when you're born pretty."
"Mister, I have literally been a public superhero since I was eighteen," she defended herself. "My mom assus black eyes. And what do you know about idols?? Our lives are incredibly difficult! Hell, difficult doesn't even start to cover it."
She looked really offended. Looks like I hit a sore spot. She kept ranting.
"You know what an idol's usual schedule looks like? Wake up at five. Practice until my legs feel like they're vibrating. Vocal training until my throat burns. Then dance rehearsal again. Interviews where we're not allowed to say anything real. Even smile training. Yes, that's a thing. Can you believe that? Smile wider. Smile softer. Smile like you're in love with the cara! It's crazy. And then," she jabbed a finger at her own cheek. "Heaven forbid I gain two pounds. Suddenly it's the headlines. 'Is Luna Snow losing control?' No, I ate rice. Once!!"
She crossed her arms. "There's no privacy. I can't date without it becoming a national ergency, with people threatening to kill , and I can't even walk outside without soone filming breathing. Every move gets dissected. If I'm quiet, I'm 'cold.' If I talk too much, I'm 'attention-seeking.' You said idol life is easy?"
"I am sorry, I was trying to joke around…" I said, watching her shoot a glare, before turning her head back to the arena. She didn't look done with .
The referee floated down, said a few ritual words in Mandarin, then lifted his hand between them. I glanced at Luna, clearing my throat. "So, your money's on who?"
She chewed on the inside of her cheek, wondering if she should answer . Then she said, "Amadeus will win. He's too strong. And his brain is annoying when he actually uses it. It's logical, but…"
Her gaze flicked to Lin Lie's sword.
"But that thing is cheating?" I asked.
"Kind of," she said. "That's the Sword of Fu Xi. It's not cosplay."
"Ah yes, the Sword of Fu Xi. It's a juicy thing," on my other side, Illyana shifted like she'd been waiting for that. "Forged to kill the war god Chi You. One of the better toys this plane has ever made. It cuts gods. It cuts concepts. And it can also move on its own to keep its bearer alive."
I looked at her. "You like it?" She seed to have taken a fancy to it. I knew about it but only in snippets, and I wasn't curious to know more.
"I respect fine craft," she said. "It's not as clean as the Soulsword, but it's… nasty. A few would argue my Soulsword would lose to it, but I don't agree."
Now I got curious about this matchup. Who'd win, really? Amadeus, who was too strong to lose, or Lin Lie who had a trump card?
The ref's hand dropped.
Amadeus moved first.
For soone built like that, he was unfairly fast. Two long strides and he was already in Lin Lie's face, swinging a punch that would have turned a car into scrap tal.
Lin Lie twisted aside and the fist went past his shoulder, close enough that I could feel the impact up here. The sword snapped up in a smooth counter. Amadeus blocked with his forearm and the blade skipped off his skin, leaving a shallow glowing line. Green fire licked along the wound for a second and then faded as his body started to patch itself.
"See?" Luna said. "He can hurt him. Just not enough yet."
"Emphasis on yet," I said.
Amadeus didn't give Lin Lie ti to press. He followed through with a backhand, a knee, and then tried to catch the swordsman in a clinch, but Lin Lie slipped each ti, his senses sharp and footwork impressive. He fought like soone who knew any real hit ant a hospital visit.
They made a full circle of the arena.
Every ti the sword flashed, Amadeus took another cut, but nothing vital. Every ti Amadeus swung, Lin Lie just barely stopped not being there, the near misses stacking up like debt.
"He's trying to herd him," I studied. "By cutting off angles and trapping him on the edge. Or trying to at least."
"Yeah," Luna agreed. "Lin Lie's good, but this is Amadeus' ga. Movent and angles and probabilities. He's annoying as hell when you spar him."
"So bet?" I said.
Her eye twitched. "On them?"
"Why not? Last fight before I go down there. Gotta entertain ourselves sohow."
"Alright, then." She sat up a little. "I'll put my faith in the power of friendship and say Lin Lie pulls sothing off."
"…You just said Amadeus will win."
"Yeah," she said. "But it's more fun to be wrong."
Illyana snorted at that. "You two are terrible at this."
I looked her way. "Oh? Enlighten us, Your Majesty."
She turned her attention down to the ring. She went quiet for a bit and then said, "You fought Hulk, Ben. You know how strong he is. This one's strong too, even if it's just a Hulk-child. You can say he has all the advantages such as strength, durability, and intelligence. If this were a hundred fights, he would win ninety one of them."
"That is very specific. So you're betting on Amadeus?"
"The other nine," she went on, ignoring , "only exist because of that sword. It only has to land once, correctly, with the right intent. It is made for that."
"So… who do you bet on?" I asked.
She smiled. "Lin Lie. I like long odds."
That was curious. I suddenly had an idea. Bets were only fun with sothing to gain from it, wasn't it? "What are we putting on the line, exactly?"
She tilted her head. "Secret. How about you?"
"Secret."
Luna gave a worried side-eye. "I'm not participating," she said and we both chose to ignore it.
Down in the arena, Amadeus finally clipped Lin Lie properly. It was just a grazing backhand across the shoulder, nothing full-force, but enough to send him tumbling. The crowd popped off at that.
Lin Lie hit the ground, rolled with it, and ca up on one knee. His left arm hung weirdly. "That's not good," Luna said. "I think his shoulder is out. And if that's the case, his guard on that side is done for. And Amadeus knows it."
He did.
From then on, every swing ca aid at the weak point.
Every dodge cost Lin Lie more energy. His responses got a tiny bit slower and the sword began to do even more work than it was before, jumping into blocks that his body had missed, parrying blows when his footing was wrong.
"He's bleeding pretty bad, Illyana," I smirked at her, but she ignored .
Divine fire flickered in so of the wounds. Amadeus' body fought it, but instead of healing instantly, those cuts lingered like normal injuries.
"Keep watching, Benny boy," Illyana said
The next exchange did it. Amadeus feinted high, made Lin Lie commit his sword into a parry that left his side open, then stepped in and drove a knee right into his stomach. It lifted him off the floor and sent him crashing down flat on his back. The sword flew from his hand and skidded a few ters away.
"Yeah," I said. "That's ga."
Even the crowd seed to feel it. The roar had that tone that said 'it's basically done, but we'll pretend not yet.'
Amadeus limped forward, careful but confident. As the seventh smartest person on the planet, he didn't let his guard down even at victory's door.
He'd be a fun opponent in the next round.
He lifted his foot for a controlled stomp to the chest, the sort of attack that would knock the wind out and convince the ref to call it without killing anybody.
That was when the sword moved.
One mont it lay there, still and harmless. The next, the legendary Fu Xi's blade jerked like soone had yanked a string. It slid across the floor in a burst of green light, into Lin Lie's reaching hand, and ca up just as Amadeus's foot ca down.
The edge kissed his thigh.
The cut wasn't like the earlier ones. Green fla roared along the wound as the sword bit in deep, through skin and muscle in a diagonal slash that almost reached bone. Amadeus staggered back with a shout, balance gone.
"Oh!" Luna cheered. "There it is."
Lin Lie rolled to his feet faster than he should have been able to, eyes wide, probably more on adrenaline than anything. He didn't waste the chance. He lunged in, sword a streak of erald light, and slashed across Amadeus' ribs once, twice, then across his forearm when Brawn tried to guard.
Those wounds didn't close.
"They cut the idea of the wound closing," Illyana said. "Nasty work. I wonder who made that sword..."
Amadeus tried to adapt, to shift to more distance, but he was already slowing. Blood loss, pain, and the sudden realization that this stopped being just a friendly spar. Lin Lie ducked under one more desperate swing and drove the sword into his side, angling the blade away from anything that would kill him outright but deep enough to drop him.
Brawn went to one knee, then the other, then the floor.
The arena held its breath for half a second, then exploded. Even the old masters in the side balconies looked surprised.
"...Okay, that's actually crazy," I couldn't believe my eyes. Hulk lost to a magic sword?! Well, it wasn't really Hulk, but still.
Luna had both hands over her mouth. "He did it," she laughed. "He actually did it. Oh my god!"
Illyana's smile had sharpened. "Mmm. That sword earns its legends."
"Amadeus is going to complain about this for years," Luna added after a beat. "He hates losing to magic. Bad data or whatever he says."
Healers rushed in as Lin Lie stepped back, panting, knuckles white on the hilt. He looked up, following the line of the boxes, and eventually found ours. His eyes t mine for a second even through the glass. He gave a tired nod.
I nodded back.
"Alright," I said, exhaling. "So I'm fighting the kid with the god-killer sword. This is going to be fun."
Illyana turned her head slightly. "You sound worried. Feeling nervous after losing the bet?"
"I respect dangerous swords, ma'am," I said. "And I'm more worried about what you'll ask in exchange for winning the bet."
She chuckled. "You'll enjoy it, don't worry."
"Comforting as always, Illyana." I was actually a little worried about what she'd ask. She was so unpredictable that I could never be sure. I shouldn't have been so overconfident.
****
The final was called not too long after Amadeus was carried off. Heavenly dicine and city pride ant nobody wanted to drag things out.
When I stepped into the arena as Four Arms, the atmosphere was heavier than before. The seats were packed, even the distant ones carved into higher pillars. Banners of all the Heavenly Cities rippled along the walls.
Sowhere up in one of the higher pavilions, I could feel the Crane Mother watching like a weight at the back of my neck.
This was important. The victor here will represent the Crane Mother, and then he'll fight the other Champions of Heavenly Cities for the rights to roam the mortal world. This benefited as well. I assud I'd be granted a portion of the Crane Mother's century long Chi after this, which would benefit greatly.
Lin Lie stood on the other side of the ring, Sword of Fu Xi bare. He wore fresh robes, but his shoulder was still taped under them. The healers had patched him up enough to stand, not enough to erase everything.
The wind blew. Leaves flew around us, as people cheered around us in a circle. The wide arena was humming softly in anticipation as I cracked my knuckles.
The announcer floated between us again, clearly hoping this one would be a proper show. "Final match of this cycle," he called. "The future Champion of the Crane's Mantle. Begin on my mark–"
Lin Lie raised a hand.
"I forfeit," he said.
The words cut straight through the noise. The crowd didn't process it at first. The ref didn't either. He blinked. "What did you say, Sword Master?"
"I forfeit," Lin Lie repeated. He slid the sword back into its sheath and walked a few steps closer, stopping just out of arm's reach of . "I withdraw from the final."
The crowd finally realized what he'd said and went from roar to confused shouting in about two seconds. I looked down at him. "You sure you want to do that out loud?"
He t my eyes. Up close, I could see the fatigue better. And the fact that, under all the bravado and magic sword nonsense, he was still just a kid who'd taken a Hulk punch and kept walking.
"I won against Amadeus because of luck," he said. "Because the sword decided to save when I was already basically done. You saw it happen. Everyone did." He shook his head. "You're not going to be far more cautious after seeing that. No, I'm not scared of a beating as a warrior, but I feel ashad for relying on the sword this much. I want to win these things with my own ability."
"I might lose to your own skill, you never know," I argued.
He snorted once, then went serious again. "I ca here to test myself and see how far I could go. I did that. I am not here to pretend I can beat soone I obviously can't, just to make the crowd happy."
The booing was getting louder.
"The Crane Mother isn't going to like it," I said. "She probably would prefer you, as the wilder of Fu Xi, rather than the boy with an alien watch. Fu Xi has a mythical history in these circles, I heard."
"She'll live," he said. "She gets her champion either way. You pissed off more important people recently than she is. And she won't treat you badly as her champion."
"Fair," I admitted.
He extended a hand. For a second I just stared, then reached out with one of my upper arms and took it carefully. His fingers looked small against my palm.
"Good luck, Tennyson," he said. "You're better suited for that seat than I am."
"Thanks." I squeezed lightly, then let go. "And good job out there. Seriously. Making Amadeus eat dirt? That's going on your highlight reel for a long ti, until you surpass that sword's ability on your own."
I recalled how people disliked Sword Master's character for being a prick and a bum, but this ti around he seed to be overcoming that even before whatever happened in the comics that fixed him.
He gave a short bow, turned, and walked toward the tunnel. The crowd booed harder. So of them shouted things I didn't catch over the general ss.
The referee floated there looking like soone had just kicked over his sandcastle. After a few seconds, he seed to rember his job.
"By… surrender," he said, voice trying to carry over the noise. "Winner of the Heavenly Tournant, champion of the Crane's Mantle is… Tetra-Man of Limbo!"
The cheer that followed was mixed and ssy. So people cheered because they liked . So because they'd bet on beforehand and still technically won. A lot booed just because they'd been robbed of a good fight. I couldn't even bla them.
I rubbed at the back of my head with one of my upper hands, feeling awkward in a way this body wasn't built to look. Four Arms was made for smashing, not shrugging.
I glanced up at our box.
Illyana had one hand over her mouth, covering a yawn. Luna had both hands on her head like she couldn't believe this was how the big finale went.
Charmcaster, standing at the rail, gave a lazy wave that I read as "congrats, idiot".
"Sure," I muttered, turning toward the tunnel as the noise washed over . "Why not. This is fine."
Heaven wanted a champion. They got one. Whether they liked the packaging was their own problem. Next was the real fight, against the other champs.
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