The Holy Mission

[Overlord]

The Island Closest to Heaven is filled with a lot more people than it used to hosting as the scene opens to show an open top arena, with all of the seats filled and a large crowd gathered outside the building, watching a big screen with the Esthar City logo on the side. Everyone in attendance here today are all students and faculty of the three Gardens of the world, with them all being segregated into their own groups to prevent any arguing or disturbances from occurring in the stands. As the camera shoots along the crowd inside, we see people holding signs to support their favourites. The majority in the Balamb section are held up for Renea, though the people holding them seem not very enthusiastic about showing them off, as if they had been forced to hold them or something. The screen does pick up on a few other signs for Thadeous and Amne. In the Trabia section, everyone is united holding different signs to show their support for Muthrik and their Garden. The Galbadia section seem to all have Gresh signs, or just Galbadia Garden signs, with no one showing an interest in supporting Dilaminous. The view from that camera changes, and we are met with a girl with short brown hair flicking up at the end, and a SeeD uniform on. On the front of her uniform is a name tag calling her “Martina Macula.”

Martina: Ladies and Gentlemen, everyone is gathered here today on the Island Closest to Heaven to witness the very best young talents that the three Gardens have to offer, in Trabia Garden’s Holy Mission tournament. So far, six of the eight competitors have already been named, and the other two will be announced shortly. For now, I hear something is happening out the back. Let’s go see what it is.

The camera cuts to outside the tent where Thadeous is walking around with his friend Cas, buzzing with anticipation. Cas has a coffee cup in one hand and a water bottle in the other, while he is seeming to give his friend a pep talk.

Cas: You have got this, brother. Nothing to worry about. You’re in a fine physical specimen who has aced every mental, psychological and endurance test thrown at you by Balamb Garden. It’s all on you, Thad.

Thadeous: That’s alright, I’m not sweating it too much. Have you seen Trixie yet?

Cas: No, I think she might be in the Balamb section of the stands already.

Thadeous: No, she said she’d meet me. I got a letter from her earlier today.

Cas: A letter?

Thadeous: Yes, she said she’d meet me before the tournament started to wish me luck one last time.

From behind them, Renea walks up, looking at them both before flashing them an uncharacteristically kind smile. Cas looks at her with love-struck eyes, as Thadeous eyes her up and down sceptically.

Thadeous: Renea.

Renea: Thadeous.

She nods at him, then glancing at Cas who is still staring at her dumbly, she turns back to Thadeous.

Renea: That girlfriend of yours is over by the tent entrance. She asked me to come and find you so you could talk to her quickly.

Thadeous: She is? What over there?

Renea: Yes. Do you want me to take you there?

Thadeous: Sure. Thank you, Renea.

Renea: Don’t mention it.

She begins to lead him over, as Cas follows silently behind them, not for one second taking his eyes off of Renea.

Thadeous: You know, I’m starting to think a lot of what has been said about you is just hearsay.

Renea: All the bad stuff, you mean?

Thadeous: Yes. You’re nowhere near as bad as… Wait, there’s no one here. Where is she?

Renea: She was here a minute ago.

Thadeous: Wait, where’s Cas? He was right behind us.

Renea: Come to think of it, he was, wasn’t he?

From behind where Thadeous was looking, four masked figures, one obviously female and the other three being largely built males simultaneously jump on Thadeous. At first, he manages to shrug two of them off, throwing punches to knock them both down. Then the numbers begin to over power him, with them all throwing heavy punches to his head and kicks to his stomach to knock the wind out of him. One of the bigger guys then stamps on his knee, dropping Thadeous to the ground while he screams, holding his leg in agony.

Renea: Hey, leave him alone.

The manner of which Renea said that, she didn’t seem too bothered by what is happening, and the smile on her face suggests she was actually enjoying the attack. The four all hit him a couple more times, before they look at Renea who puts up her fists mockingly at them, and they all proceed to walk off leaving Renea with Thadeous.

Renea: Thadeous, are you okay?

Thadeous rolls over onto his back, and looks up at Renea with a severely bruised face and blood coming from several places. The camera zooms in on Renea’s sadistic smile, before it cuts back to Martina.

Martina: I am at a loss of what to think of that brutal attack on Thadeous just moments ago. Four masked people savagely attacked him, and there was no security around to come to his aid. Renea was in the middle of everything, and it looked like she might have been in on it the whole time. If she wasn’t, then it may have even been a blessing in disguise for her or anyone else that faces him in the first round. The healers are only meant to heal people after each battle has finished, meaning that Thadeous is going to have to fight in the state he is now in, with the battered face and injured knee. Whoever was behind the attack has put him at an extreme disadvantage. I just can’t believe anyone would do such a thing. Moving away from the subject before I say something I don’t want to say, I have word that my partner in crime, Riko Animoto is with the Holy Mission chief of staff, Trabia Garden’s assistant to the Headmaster, Miss Quin Alestra. Over to you, Riko.

The scene on the big screen quickly flips over to the middle of the arena where a tall slim man with long spiked up brown hair in a SeeD uniform is holding a microphone and is joined by a shorter woman in her late twenties. She has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a white blouse and black skirt, with a black jacket worn unfastened over the top to keep her warm in the cold climate.

Riko: Miss Alestra, we are told that you have with you the names of the two as yet unmentioned competitors in today’s tournament. But before we get on to that, why don’t you tell me what you are expecting from the Holy Mission.

Quin: Allow me to explain what an honour it is to have been chosen as the chief of staff for the tournament. Everyone knows how big an event today is, and I was thrilled to be part of it. As you all are aware, eight people will be competing in a three round, knock out tournament. The winner of each first match will progress until we have one person left undefeated. We do have a selection of the world’s finest healers present, so any extensive injuries can and will be cured so that everyone is safe and ok to fight another day.

Riko: I can’t tell you how excited I, along with everyone I have talked to before now is about the Holy Mission. As yet, only one Trabia student is present in the programme of events. Can you tell me if you feel this leaves you at a disadvantage?

Quin: One would feel that the numbers being against Trabia might mean there is less chance of us crowning our very own tournament Champion. What I would point out is that everyone is in the same boat, having to win three battles to win, and if we don’t win, one of them would have had to defeat Muthrik. To be honest, I can’t personally see that happen, so I am confident that Trabia will have the winner.

Riko: Well, that is definitely good to know. Now, I have been told that one of the competitors has yet to arrive, and has only ten more minutes to make it here. Is that correct?

Quin: Yes. Galbadia Garden student Gresh is not yet here and we have no word as to is whereabouts. What we do know is that he was under house arrest, but managed to escape after drugging his own friend with sleeping pills. Our sources suggest he was heading in the other direction, away from the Island Closest to Heaven, so our theory is he was worried about Muthrik.

Riko: Yes, I’m sure that was it. Now, could you announce to everyone the final two students or SeeDs taking part in today’s activities?

Quin: I sure can. The first student hails from Galbadia Garden. She has good grades and a bad reputation of being a wild firecracker in a confrontation. Nisha.

Riko: Nisha? That certainly is a surprise. It surely makes the proceedings a lot more interesting.

Quin: It does indeed. Just wait until you find out who the second last minute addition to the days events is.

Riko: We’re all dying to know.

Quin: From Trabia Garden, our very own SeeD who passed the test six months ago. It’s Latasha!

The Trabia Garden section of the audience begin to scream in excitement, obviously feeling that the chances of having a Trabia crowned winner just doubled.

Riko: That’s more like it. So there you have it, everyone. Eight SeeD’s or Students ready to attempt the gruelling task of besting three opponents to become the Holy Mission Champion. As I make my way over to meet up with my lovely co-host, Martina, let’s go over to the side where seven of the eight competitors are about to begin proceedings.

[Overlord]

The scene cuts over to where the seven people are all lined up by the side entrance to the arena, with Dilaminous at the front of the queue looking extremely pleased with himself. At the very back of the group is Thadeous, who is leaning against the side, holding himself up, though his pain is clear in his expressions. Next to Dilaminous, a large muscular man is arguing with one of the tournament officials, waving a piece of paper at him.

Man: I have the letter here, for heaven’s sake. Look, it says right here, “I’ll see you at the tournament, Gresh.” I am telling you, he is going to be here.

Judge: Regardless of what you or this letter says, the tournament rules state if he doesn't arrive in the next 5 minutes then he will be disqualified, there's nothing I can do about it.

The camera moves back to get a good view of the contestants standing around the entrance of the Arena, Dilaminous at the head of the line leaning back against the wall tossing a coin over and over again, now with a bored look on his face. Though he is not there, Riko’s microphone has been set up to go over the built in sound of the camera.

Riko: It appears that one of the contestants has, as yet, not shown up for the tournament and may even be disqualified. As you can see all the other participants are being made to stand around in the hopes that Gresh, from Galbadia Garden, will be here within the 5 minute time limit. Could this be an omen for things to come?

Gradually the members of the crowd who had been lucky enough to get tickets start standing up, pointing at the sky and because of all the commotion, the camera switched again. The distinctive noise of a helicopter begins to grow louder.

Riko: It appears there is something headed towards the arena, some sort of helicopter. are we expecting anymore VIP's?

The camera zoomed in and started to focus on the passengers. A unknown female and Gresh are in the cockpit.

Riko: No, it appears the elusive Gresh has made it just in time with a mysterious female companion. What is he doing now?

The helicopter had swooped low, into the arena, but instead of landing it was hovering in front of the competitors, causing a great deal of panic amongst most of them down there. An arm then reaches out of the cockpit window and in it's hand was a pistol pointing straight at Dilaminous. People in the crowd turn silent unsure of what was happening.

Riko: Is he threatening Dilaminous?

The commentator sounded distant, forgetting he was live on air when all of a sudden there was a loud CRACK and a flash from the barrel of the pistol, the coin Dilaminous was still tossing was suddenly embedded in the wall above his shoulder, barely an inch from his right ear. Gresh’s head then leaned out of the window and he began to shout loudly over the noise of the helicopter.

Gresh: How's that for an answer? I ain't nobody's bitch, especially for some punk ass like you.

With that the helicopter turned and flew around the arena, with each camera following them to 100ft away, landing next to a set of stairs leading up into the stands, both the woman and Gresh exited the helicopter and were greeted by the muscular man, seemingly relieved they had finally shown up. After a few seconds talking the muscular man leads the woman up into the stands. The camera returned to Dilaminous and the commentator remembered what he was supposed to be doing.

Riko: Disturbing scene's ladies and gentlemen, I wouldn't like to be Dilaminous right now, or maybe I would… Far from being concerned he's actually smiling about what just happened. Unbelievable!

Dilaminous reached into a pocket and pulled out another coin and carried on tossing it, as though he had been expecting something like this to occur.

The camera changed again, this time to Martina and Riko now standing beside each other.

Martina: Well now that all the entrants are here it's time to begin the Holy Mission!

The crowd all resume the loud buzzing and cheering that occurred prior to the helicopter’s wild arrival.

Riko: And the first match of today’s proceedings is…

Pulling out an unopened envelope, Martina opens it.

Martina: Thadeous against Dilaminous.

[Overlord]

The scene cuts down to the entrance where Dilaminous walks out to the middle of the battle field, with a confident smirk on his face. Thadeous is not so quick, being lead out by two men, as he slowly hobbles over to where Dilaminous stands. Dilaminous smiles mockingly at Thadeous, as the camera, though it cannot hear, sees him mouth the words, “you can’t be serious.” As the two men prop Thadeous up on his good leg, in the middle of the arena. They walk off leaving the two contenders in the middle of all the action. A loud horn cuts through the arena, signalling the start of the contest, and Dilaminous just stands there for a minute, smiling and looking from side to side, savouring the moment. Then, taking his time, he slowly stalks forward, with his head lowered slightly like a wild animal hunting its prey.

Martina: Thadeous is already in a bad shape, and Dilaminous looks as if he is enjoying having the advantage.

Riko: It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t find out from the beginning that he was facing Thadeous and orchestrating the whole thing himself beforehand.

Martina: They did look as if they could have been Dilaminous’ usual followers.

As Dilaminous stands directly in front of Thadeous, Thadeous tries to swing wildly at Dilaminous, who easily steps back and out of the way of the punch. Thadeous falls forward a few steps, off balance, and the pain of standing on his injured leg shoots through him, appearing on his face. Dilaminous smiles once again, and slaps Thadeous hard, causing him to fall to the side. Dilaminous smiles and walks over to pull Thadeous back up, knowing that in this state, Thadeous was more of a threat on the ground than standing up. As he bends down to grab Thadeous’ top, he is met with a slap from Thadeous that causes him to stumble back a few steps. Clearly not appreciative of the disrespect, he turns to go at Thadeous again, this time met with spit in his face. Dilaminous stops, and wipes off the sweat, looking thoroughly annoyed, before he pounces on Thadeous, who is still grounded. As Dilaminous jumps forward, Thadeous uses his good leg to catch his weight and flip him over in a judo throw, before rolling on top of him, throwing some mounted punches into Dilaminous’ face, which the Balamb and Trabia sides of the audience seem to enjoy.

Riko: It seems the Balamb student is not beaten yet.

Martina: He sure does have a lot of fight left in him.

Still positioned on top of Dilaminous, Thadeous pulls his axe out of his holster and goes to swing it down into Dilaminous’ shoulder, but Dilaminous catches it in his hands at the last second, and slams the handle back into Thadeous’ face. Not wasting any time, Dilaminous draws his sword and runs at Thadeous who is on his knees a few feet away. With a mighty swing of his sword, Dilaminous strikes forward but is parried off easily. Another swing, is blocked, but Dilaminous continues to push forward, taking the opportunity to kick Thadeous in the chest, knocking him down again. Dilaminous holds up his sword and turns to look around the audience, while mouthing something like “is this all he’s got?” And smiling sadistically. Turning back to his injured foe, he is caught off guard by a blast of fire from Thadeous’ Firaga spell. Dilaminous is floored instantly, rolling around trying to put out the flames. As he stands, Thadeous too has climbed back to his feet and attempts to cast haste on himself, but Dilaminous had scouted it before he finished and slashed at Thadeous with his sword, giving him just enough time to get his axe in the way. With a few quick swings which are blocked, Dilaminous elbows Thadeous in the face, recoiling him slightly before bringing his sword back to stab him again. This time, Thadeous manages to get a kick in, causing Dilaminous to drop his sword, and Thadeous to fall down under the weight of his good leg. As Dilaminous stands, he sees Thadeous writhing in agony, and quickly runs towards him, picking up Thadeous’ own axe which has now been let go of to try to nurse the leg, and drops it down just inches from Thadeous’ chest. “Do you yield?” Dilaminous mouths, which Thadeous seems to nod to. Dilaminous smiles, before unnecessarily driving the axe home into Thadeous’ stomach, hard, cutting right through. The horn blows to signify the end, and Dilaminous raises his arms in victory, to a chorus of boos from everyone, including the Galbadia Garden section of the arena.

Martina: That was uncalled for! Thadeous had submitted, and Dilaminous stabbed him anyway.

Riko: If the healers weren’t present on the side, I think that would have killed him.

Martina: What must have been going through Dilaminous’ mind before that happened? I just cannot believe he would do such a thing.

Riko: Believe it. Thadeous put up a brave fight, despite his disadvantage, but it wasn’t enough to stop the despicable Dilaminous from advancing to the semi-finals.

Martina: Thadeous is being helped up now, and now that he’s been healed he looks more or less alright.

Riko: That’s one of our first round matches out of the way. Do we have the envelope for the second match up of the evening?

Martina: I have it right here. So, the next battle will be between…

The envelope is opened.

Riko: Amne and Latasha! That will be an interesting battle. Latasha is a SeeD, has been for six months.

Martina: And Amne appears to be your average student, but never let that fool you.

Riko: We will see for ourselves what she has in her. Apparently everything is clear for the second fight.

Martina: Then let’s pick up on the action on the battle field.

Amne walks out onto the battle field first, looking quietly confident, and raring to go. The Balamb section of the audience gives off a cheer, though they don’t seem too sure of themselves. Latasha walks on after her, with a loud explosion coming from the Trabia students. He looks as if he is pleased with himself, looking over at Amne as if she is easy pickings for him. The horn then blares, and both competitors begin circling each other, waiting to see if the other would charge.

Riko: Looks like they are both measuring each other up.

Martina: No one wants to rush into things, not knowing what the other is capable of.

Latasha then charges at Amne, quickly drawing his sword, ready to slice away at her as she seems off guard. As he approaches and pulls back his weapon, she rolls out of the way comfortably before the blade came at her. Turning to face him, she draws her gunblade and smiles at him. He looks slightly angered, running at her again, and as they meet, both contesters exchange blows with their weapons, once, twice, a third time holding in, trying to push for an advantage. Feeling he had the strength advantage, Latasha tries to shove her back, but Amne moves to the side, causing him to fall forward. As he tries to turn back round in the middle of his stumble, Amne flips forward, kicking him twice as she lands, knocking him over. As he climbs back to his feet, Amne feigns a repetition of the attack which he prepares to block with his arm, but Amne strikes with her gunblade while upside down severely hurting his arm. As she lands, Amne turns back and sweeps under his legs, dropping the presumably more experienced fighter to the ground. She is instantly standing above him, though he tries to escape by rolling out of the way. As she stands over him, readying her weapon, he raises his legs to try to block her. Seeing this, Amne grabs hold of his foot with one hand and twists her leg around his, proceeding to drop down. Latasha screams so loud it could be heard all around the crowd. As soon as she let go, Amne hopped straight back on to her feet and readied herself for him to do the same, which he did not do. As Latasha slowly climbs to his feet, Amne casts confuse on him, and due to his low wisdom, Latasha begins to savagely swipe at the air and at himself, not taking too long to take himself out of the battle. The horn is blown signifying Amne’s victory.

Martina: I certainly didn’t see that coming. She didn’t even break a sweat!

Riko: She said from the beginning she was picked for a reason, and I think anyone that underestimated her made a grave mistake.

Martina: Too right! The Balamb section of students is going crazy with chants of Amne drowning out all other noise in the arena, except for us of course.

Riko: The beauty of microphones. Amne dominated Latasha the SeeD and finds herself in the semi-finals alongside Dilaminous. Who will join them?

Martina: Absolutely no idea. Before we pull out the envelope to find out the next battle, let’s hear a word from our sponsors this evening.

Riko: Esthar City technology inc. The only technology you need.

*Advert break*

Martina: I have in my hands the envelope for the third first round battle of the evening.

She opens the envelope.

Riko: Gresh will battle Nisha. Excellent. Let’s not forget Nisha is good friends with Dilaminous, who not long ago was shot at by Gresh from a helicopter.

Martina: Interesting. Both competitors have a questionable reputation, with one being a rogue who plays by his own rules.

Riko: And the other being an enforcer who plays by someone else’s.

Martina: While Gresh is a master of the pistol, Nisha prefers to use a bow, and they both do it with excellent accuracy.

Riko: And from what I here, things are about to happen down there. So let’s pick up on the action on the field.

Nisha is first to walk out, looking completely expressionless. Gresh follows her out, with a cool look of confidence etched on his face. They stand opposite one another, from a distance, seeming to opt to play strength against strength. The horn is sounded, and as Nisha pulls an arrow out ready to fire the first at Gresh, he has began running at her. The first is fired, but he has moved out of the way instinctively, still coming at her. As she brings the second out, he has reached her and draws his pistol, only to slap her around the face with it, knocking her back and causing her to snap the arrow in her hand. As he then takes aim, ready to fire back from close range, Nisha almost seems to disappear, she must have moved exceedingly fast, only to be right next to him in a second. Gresh turns his head, confused, only to be met with her shoulder into his stomach, which she then uses to pick his larger frame up from off the ground and slam him down a second later. Gresh looks for a second as if the wind were knocked out of him but as Nisha goes to follow up on her initial attack, she is met with his foot slamming into her face. He is quick to then pull out his gun and fire two shots, giving him time to get up comfortably. As they both turn to face each other, they both have their weapons drawn. Frozen in a stalemate for a second, the arena is quiet. Nisha attempts to make the first move, letting go of the arrow, which Gresh was only too ready for, firing it out of its flight. Then, aiming at her leg, Gresh fires another shot, bringing her down. Gresh keeps his gun raised as he briskly walks towards her, proceeding to shoot her in the chest to finish her off. The horn sounds to declare Gresh the winner.

Riko: I thought that would have lasted longer. Gresh making short work of Nisha there.

Martina: It seems the late entries were early exits after all.

Riko: The healers have already fixed her. She’ll be ok now.

Martina: And Gresh has easily found himself through to the semi-finals.

Riko: Indeed he has. That leaves just one battle to go. Renea will take on Muthrik.

[Overlord]

Martina: This will be an interesting battle, possibly the most so far.

Riko: Yes. Both are fine examples of what a future SeeD can be. Muthrik is unmatched by anyone else in Trabia, thus why the Chief of Staff here has every confidence in him. Renea on the other hand is the bad seed at Balamb Garden, pardon my pun, though she never gets in even a lick of trouble.

Martina: Both have a promising chance here, and it will undoubtedly be the closest of the first round matches.

Riko: I have word that the field is clear and things are about to happen. So let’s go back down to the battle field for the last first round match.

Muthrik is out there first, not waiting for Renea to go ahead of him. The Trabia section of the crowd begin chanting wildly as there last hope makes his way to the centre. Renea is slower, taking her time purposely, with a look of indifference on her face as the two make eye contact for the first time. As she finally reaches her place, Renea winks at Muthrik, who stares back, unaffected. The horn sounds, and both opponents cast haste at the same time, and what happens next to everyone else seems to happen so fast, they can barely see it.

Riko: It’s all a blur!

As they both met, metal repeated to hit metal a number of times as they parried off melay attacks. Muthrik blocked Renea’s last strike, throwing a quick elbow which caused her to stumble back, but like lightening, she had flipped past him in a handspring, and swiped towards his legs, forcing him to jump out of the way. Both were up and at each other again, this time meeting with one strike only, as Renea back flips out of the way and runs towards him to attack from the side. Ducking out of the way of her first strike, Muthrik throws a hard punch knocking her to the ground before he pounces on her with Destiny swinging down. Renea quickly shot up her legs, catching him in midair for a second, before she flung him backwards. Muthrik followed through with the momentum, doing a back flip to keep himself balanced. Before charging at Renea who had already flipped back up to her feet. Both their blades met once again, with hammering force, knocking them both back. On the second blow, Muthrik used his greater physical strength to push through, causing Renea to fly backwards. As he charges forward, she rolled to regain her footing and jumped back into him, with her blade flying across him, just grazing his chest. Both opponents rolled through again, regaining themselves and turning back to face one another once more. The haste then expired as they both began to charge again.

Riko: They both must have used haste! I don’t have a clue what they just did though!

Martina: It seems Muthrik has a slight trickle of blood coming from the side of his torso, but apart from that they both seem to be doing ok.

Their blades met once again, both having the same idea to fire a shot as they met to throw the other off, both seeming to succeed. Muthrik is first to recover this time, swinging half a second faster than Renea, catching her on the opposite side of the torso that she struck him on, though he managed to cut deeper. Thinking that she’d react, Muthrik quickly jumps on the chance to follow up on his strike, aiming another swing which she avoids by grabbing the handle with her free arm and ducking under his blow. As the momentum followed through, Renea uses her back leg to swipe under Muthrik’s legs, much like Amne did in her earlier battle. Muthrik hit’s the ground and Renea pounces on top of him with her gunblade held high. Muthrik instinctively fires destiny, which causes Renea to dive off and out of the way just in time to see blood from her arm spray across her. Renea dropped her gunblade on impact, and Muthrik jumps back to his feet sensing his chance. As destiny swings at her, barely missing her as Renea manages to roll out of the way, Muthrik fires again, missing by inches. Renea finds herself by her own gunblade, rolling out of the way of another strike as she picks it up with her uninjured arm.

Riko: Muthrik now seems to have the advantage. Renea is doing everything she can to get out of the way of his attacks.

Martina: Does she have it in her to carry on against someone like Muthrik?

Riko: I guess we’ll find out.

Muthrik tries to fire once again as he strikes and is shocked to see that he has mistimed the recharge slightly. Renea uses the brief opportunity to fire her own gunblade, catching Muthrik off guard this time and hitting him directly in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. Renea runs at him, allowing the adrenaline to ride out her pain. As she neared him, Muthrik was already on his feet leaping inhumanly high, over her head. Renea dug her heels in the ground to turn around, just in time to be met with Muthrik’s boot in the face, knocking her straight down to the floor. Muthrik then jumps on top of her, pulling her up with one hand, punching her hard in the mouth, back down to the ground. Renea’s bottom lip seems to have split on impact as Muthrik pulls her up again, ready to do the same. Renea spits her blood in Muthrik’s eyes and grabs his head quickly head butting him to knock him off of her. Muthrik is up in a shot, holding his gunblade up as he turns into Renea holding hers in line with his head, causing him to roll out of the way instinctively, only Renea didn’t fire, following him until he stopped, choosing to fire then. Muthrik’s hand instantly went up to the wound in the centre of his chest, tasting the blood in his throat. The grim smile that spread across Renea’s face is indescribable as she jumps forward to strike Muthrik with her blade. Muthrik just manages to throw destiny in the way, though Renea manages to power it out of his hands now. Once again she strikes at him, this time catching his arm as he raises it to block her gunblade, nearly causing it to hang off. Muthrik uses his other arm to grab hold of her wrist, somehow managing to will himself on to fight. Renea looks at him in disbelief as he throws her arms back and throws a punch hard enough to send her flying back. Renea hops back up to her feet readying her gunblade which Muthrik seems to be waiting for, unblinking as she swings. The horn blows before it caught with his head and a bubble seems to engulf him, causing her to fly back. Muthrik passes out after projecting the defence bubble with the last of his energy and the healers rush on to tend to them both. Renea sits up, looking at the fallen Muthrik seeming shocked at what just happened. Then the realisation that she hadn’t been defeated seemed to hit her face, and she hopped up, raising he arms to the crowd. The entire audience remained in a shocked silence, as the camera cuts back to the hosts.

Riko: What just happened? I know Renea won, but what was that?

Martina: Something came out of Muthrik? It was like a bubble, wasn’t it?

Riko: I cannot explain what happened! I’m in shock.

Martina: I don’t even think he knew what happened! Did you see the fighting spirit in him. I think even if they hadn’t sounded the horn early he wouldn’t have given in!

Riko: That was the most amazing battle I have ever seen! Both competitors put on an amazing fight and now I have to say, if Renea could defeat Muthrik when he fights like that, I can’t see how anyone can defeat her!

Martina: She showed great presence, taking the fight back despite Muthrik being stronger and taking the upper hand early on in the fight.

Riko: It seems patience is a virtue. At that moment when she chose not to fire her gunblade, she took the fight over.

Martina: I am still in shock, though. Something stirred inside Muthrik at the end there, and where a normal man would have fallen, he seemed possessed, somehow still having the energy to jump impossibly high!

Riko: You said it. Muthrik was the man to beat, and now Renea seems to have taken that crown.

Martina: So officially, the four semi-finalists have been named and the healers have done their job.

Riko: So Renea will join Dilaminous, Amne and Gresh in the semi-finals in what has already been a great Holy Mission tournament.

Martina: You said it! We’re going to take a very short break. When we return we will be down amongst the remaining competitors to maybe get a few words from them.

Riko: So we’ll be right back after Esthar City Technology Inc. has this to say.

*Advert Break*

[Overlord]

Martina: Welcome back, everyone. I’m here in the tent with Amne who finished her match in the shortest time limit, showing remarkable skill and awareness. Amne, I have to ask how you feel right now.

Amne: I don’t know, to be honest. I am still buzzing from my first tournament battle and I am quite pleased with myself. Everyone was questioning the reason why I, of all people was picked for the tournament before today, and I really think that now I have shown them.

From behind them, Renea walks on to the shot, laughing loudly.

Renea: Well done, sister. I have to say I didn’t expect to see you progress. But this is where the real challenge begins. The three other people left in are in a different league than you, so take everything in while you still can. We both know I won’t be seeing you in the final.

Amne: We’ll see.

Martina: You sure sound confident, Renea. Especially after you were so close to being eliminated in the first round. One good move kept you in it, but if he hadn’t slightly mistimed the recharging of his gun, you would not be in the semi-finals.

Renea: You can say all the “if’s” and “buts” you want; the fact is I got through and he didn’t. Everyone knows I had the biggest challenge in the first round, and I overcame it. Muthrik was one of three threats that I foresaw in the line up, and I have already proven myself by defeating him. Now, unless I have to face Amne in my next battle, I will have to face Dilaminous and Gresh simultaneously. It will mean that when I am crowned the Holy Mission champion, I will have done it travelling down the hardest path. And let me tell you, I would honestly prefer that because then there would be no question that I am worthy of holding that title.

Martina: Fighting words, surely. But do you honestly think you can underestimate your sister after her impressive victory which can only be described as utter domination?

Renea: If she had fought Muthrik, she’d be out. Period. Does that answer your question?

Amne: Say what you want, Renea. But I’m not going to be a walk over for anyone.

Renea laughs in response, before turning her back on her sister, and walking away. Amne stares after her, obviously frustrated by her sister, then realising that she is still in front of the camera, she turns back to face Martina, with a nervous smile.

Martina: Any response to that?

Amne: She’ll get what’s coming to her.

Martina: We will just have to wait and see. Thank you for your time Amne.

The camera cuts back to the battle field where Gresh is standing on the battle field, waiting patiently for his opponent to be announced.

Riko: Facing Gresh in the first semi-final battle is… Renea.

Gresh remained indifferent, as Renea began to stroll slowly onto the field, as she had done in her previous battle. He watched her, taking in everything about her as if he was weighing up his options on how to begin proceedings. Renea stopped just short of him, keeping the distance between them limited to just about ten feet. Gresh nodded, smiling, as if he found it funny that she thought it would make much difference to him. Renea winked, once again, which caused Gresh to smile and shake his head for no. The horn sounds loudly, and both draw their weapons quickly, firing at the same time to cause each other to think quickly and move.

Martina: No haste this time for Renea.

Riko: She couldn’t risk any cast time when Gresh has a pistol in his hand.

Gresh had opted to side step the shot, as Renea cart wheeled towards him, closing the distance more. Gresh ducked under a swipe from Renea’s blade, before he threw a solid elbow, knocking her back. Raising his weapon once again, Gresh attempts to fire another shot which she somehow managed to block with the thick blade of her weapon. Sliding towards him underneath his next shot, Renea raised her boot quickly to catch Gresh in the thigh, just missing his sensitive area by inches, causing a look of relief to show on his face. Gresh whips Renea’s face with the handle of his pistol, taking her straight off of her feet. Not wasting any time, he quickly casts haste on himself, which Renea responds quickly to by casting blind on him. Gresh is up, wildly releasing the last few shots in her general direction, which Renea avoids easily. Not wasting time reloading yet, Gresh stands still, trying to hear where the next attack would come from. Renea answers his silent question with a running dropkick, sending him flying. Quickly back to his feet before Renea, Gresh is quick to locate her and punches her twice, taking her back off her feet. He then bends down to grab her by her belt and collar, proceeding to snatch her weight up and press her over his head, tossing her in front of him. Renea somehow manages to twist herself round in midair, landing in a perfect crouch, and quickly begins rolling around Gresh, looking for an opening. Though he is still blinded, Gresh continues to use the effect of the haste to keep on top of where she is, and he waits, ready for her. The haste runs out half a second before the blind does, giving Renea a slight chance to swipe at his gun hand. Realising what would happen, Gresh launches himself out of the way in just enough time, finding himself with his back to her as his sight comes back to him. Renea comes running back at Gresh as he quickly reloads and rolls back out of the way.

Martina: Neither person is giving the other an inch of space. This is definitely going to be another closely fought contest.

Riko: You said that right. Neither one has taken any serious damage.

Gresh turns again, this time raising his gun to get a shot off to shake her momentum off. Renea front flips forward, continuing to roll before Gresh could fire again. Gresh waits, watching her roll, trying to use Renea’s own patience idea against her, but is shaken off by an impossibly close shot aimed midway through a roll, giving her the opportunity to regain her feet. Gresh tries to fire at her again, just catching her on the top of her leg, causing her to fall. He follows forward with his gun raised, trying to get the perfect aim for another shot, only this time Renea fires back again, taking him by surprise and grazing the side of his chest.

Riko: I think he thought his shot would have had more of an effect on her.

Martina: It seems every bit of pain inflicted on her goes unfelt until after.

Quickly back to her feet, Renea places one hand on the ground and throws two quick kicks at him, catching him in the face twice. Gresh manages to keep his footing as he stumbles back, and fires a shot at her gun blade’s handle, causing her to let go of her weapon.

Riko: Renea is without her gunblade. Gresh could win it right here!

Martina: Unarmed against the guy notorious for his accuracy. How could she get back from here?

Renea doesn’t allow that to deter her, and quickly jumps forward, kicking him twice in the chest, before executing a perfect roundhouse kick, taking him back again. Gresh raises his gun, only to be met with a powerful kick to his hand, causing him to be unarmed as well. Renea pulls Gresh up to his feet and tries to head butt him, only to receive a swift knee to the stomach which Gresh follows up with a heavy elbow to her face. Gresh quickly follows her, trying for a teakwondo back kick which Renea avoids by dropping to the ground. As Gresh lands, Renea pushes off of the ground with her arms, flipping up and catching Gresh with her boot in the face before she lands perfectly and hit’s a hook kick to follow it. Gresh falls to his knees and Renea attempts to hit him with a right knee in the face, which he blocks with his right hand, then using his left arm to grab hold of her leg over his shoulder. Renea tries to punch him to make him let go, only to have him forcefully grab her left leg over his shoulder, before he stands, despite her hard series of punches. Then, he falls on top of her, slamming her down with all his weight behind it. They both land badly, and he rolls off of her, now feeling the concussion of her punches. Renea seems hurt, as she holds the back of her head where she is bleeding.

Riko: Both of them are down and hurt, but I think it is Renea that got the worst end of Gresh’s attack there.

Martina: She nearly managed to hit him hard enough to let go, but he wasn’t willing to let her go. This one has got to be nearly finished.

After a few seconds of them both being grounded, Gresh slowly rises to his feet, touching his face to assess the damage. Turning to see Renea still on the floor, he smiles and walks towards her, being careful of her legs to avoid any kicks she might throw at him to defend herself. As he stood over her, he nearly missed her pulling his own pistol on him, and firing two blind shots which he just dived out of the way of in time. Knowing the weapon was now empty, Gresh charges back at her, quickly pulling her to her feet by the collar before lifting her up ready to slam her. Renea desperately wraps her legs around his chest, and then elbows both of his arms out to force him to let go of her. Slamming her head into his nose, Renea puts him in a headlock and lets go with her legs so that her weight would force his head to slam into the ground. Gresh just manages to stop the full force on the impact with his arms, though his left wrist seems to have taken some damage in the process. Renea is just a fraction quicker to her feet than Gresh and grabs him in a headlock once again. She squeezes his neck tight before shuffling herself around him to lock his left wrist behind his body. Renea then uses her free arm to go between Gresh’s legs, bends her knees while keeping her back straight, and then lifts his weight across her shoulders while holding his wrist tightly.

Martina: I don’t know how she is doing it, but Renea seems to be taking this somewhere.

Riko: Incredible strength. He has 50lbs on her.

Renea then simply falls back, landing on top of Gresh who lands face down on the ground. For a few seconds neither of them move, until Renea rolls several times to lay next to her gunblade. As she reaches for it, Gresh slowly begins to pulls himself up. When Renea slowly climbs to her feet, Gresh has already seen her and slowly makes his way over to her. Renea turns and is caught off guard by a solid punch that sends her straight back to the ground. He then stands on her wrist that holds the gunblade and kicks at her hand with his other leg, causing her to let go of it. Gresh then drops his knee into her arm, causing pain to shoot through her face. He stands again, repeating the attack. This time, as he lands, Renea uses her other arm to grab hold of Gresh’s left wrist, using all of her strength to pull him down. She holds on to the wrist tightly as she uses her injured arm to reach for the gunblade, which takes some effort to lift up. Then she rolls on top of him and wastes no time to drive her gunblade into his stomach, causing him to cough uncontrollably, with blood spewing from his mouth as the horn sounds.

Martina: Renea did it! I can’t believe it!

Riko: Gresh had her! I really thought that he had this battle won. Then Renea seemed to come out of nowhere.

Martina: This fight seemed to go back and forth with neither one giving up. It was just lucky for her that Gresh didn’t kick the gunblade out of her reach, otherwise this one would still be going on.

Riko: Amne and Dilaminous have to be watching this one wondering what they have to do to defeat her. Muthrik and Gresh would defeat anyone else they come across, and yet neither one managed to stop Renea.

Martina: Call it strength of will, call it luck, call it awareness. Renea has something that prevents her giving up and any situation she has been put in, she has somehow managed to get out of it.

Riko: Precisely. She has forged her way into the final of this years Holy Mission tournament and now that she has been healed, she looks more confident than ever.

Martina: That brings us to our last semi-final. Amne and Dilaminous are just about ready to take the field. I am wondering if their battle will be anywhere near as exciting as what we have just witnessed.

Riko: So let’s join them on the battlefield for the penultimate match of the tournament.

As the shot goes back to the battle field, we see a determined Amne march out first, taking her place in the middle of the field. At first, Dilaminous remains out the back, leaving Amne alone on the field. For a minute, she is alone, waiting as patiently as she can, watching for Dilaminous to show. Her expression seems to indicate that she is aware this is another of his mind games. When Dilaminous appears, the entire crowd, including the Galbadia section begin to boo and hiss him, showing their disdain. Amne meets his arrogant gaze with a smile to show she is neither bothered or intimidated. Dilaminous proceeds to walk straight up to her, standing inches in front of her. The crowds booing seems to get louder as they are obviously aggravated by him. Dilaminous takes his eyes off of Amne for a second, looking around the crowd as a smile seems to spread across his face. He turns back to face Amne, and shoves her hard, sending her falling on her backside. The booing from the students seems to get louder still and Dilaminous laughs as he watches Amne hop back up to her feet and walk straight back up to him. Amne shoves Dilaminous back, and he stumbles backwards, barely keeping his footing. The crowd give off a little cheer in response to this. Dilaminous walks back to Amne, this time throwing a hard slap, causing her whole cheek to go red from the blow. Once more, the crowd break out in boos which turn to cheers as she punches him hard, knocking him to the floor. Dilaminous is back to his feet once more as the horn sounds and they both are quick to draw their weapons.

Martina: This one hasn’t even started and they are at each other’s throats.

Riko: Dilaminous inspires hatred to everyone he comes across, even the modest Amne gets heated up because of him.

Sparks seem to fly as their blades meet. Both of their faces are almost touching as they hold their weapons together. Dilaminous mocks a kiss with his mouth, as they both pull away. Dilaminous goes to follow up with a quick slash of his sword, only Amne ducks out under the swing and kicks him in the back of his head, knocking him down. Dilaminous holds the back of his head as he quickly hops up to his feet and just pulls his sword up in time as Amne attacks him with her gunblade, firing a shot as they connect, to unsettle him. Amne swings again, and as Dilaminous blocks with only one hand on his sword handle, he catches her hands with his other hand before smashing his head against her face. Amne stumbles back, ignoring the blood trickling from her nose, and holds her weapon up to block the three swings that Dilaminous throws at her. Realising that she is on the back foot, Dilaminous feigns a swing, before quickly kicking her in the stomach and elbowing her in the throat. Amne falls to the ground, coughing as Dilaminous kicks her in the chest twice, and turns to celebrate to a booing audience, soaking it in. Having had his fill, he turns back to her, grabbing hold of her shirt with his empty hand to pull her up, before swinging his sword at her. Amne somehow manages to block his attack, before punching him with her other arm. Dilaminous lets go, as she runs forward and hits him with a scissor kick.

Riko: It seems, Dilaminous could have had the fight won if he didn’t feel the need to celebrate.

Martina: Now Amne is back in the fight and Dilaminous is on the back foot.

Dilaminous falls on his back, knocking the wind out of his stomach, as Amne steps forward, kicking him in the stomach as a measure of payback. The audience break out in cheers, which she momentarily acknowledges by holding one hand up, before swinging her gunblade at him, which he just manages pulls his sword up in time to defend against. She tries her luck again, and this time Dilaminous manages to roll out of the way of and is back on his feet. Amne runs at him, as his back is turned around, only to watch Dilaminous drop to the floor to flip his feet up, catching her in the face. He then follows it with a spinning wheel kick as soon as he found his feet, which takes her to the floor. Amne reacts a fraction too slow as she tries to roll out of the way of Dilaminous’ sword, catching her side. Sensing his victory, he jumps on top of her and Tries to bring his sword down in to her chest, which Amne has to let go of her gunblade to grab his hand and stop the momentum of his thrust. Putting all of his weight on top of the handle, he begins to move the blade down until it is just penetrating her chest slightly. In desperation, Amne throws her knee up into his back, giving her enough a distraction to punch his stomach and push him off. Amne is slow to her feet as she grabs her gunblade, which gives Dilaminous the opportunity to slash her arm from behind her. Attempting to follow up on it, he swings once again, only to be met with an elbow to his face. She turns, swinging her own weapon to slash across his chest. Dilaminous looks enraged, and he jumps on top of her in a flash, dropping his sword in the process, before punching her hard, twice. Amne hits Dilaminous in the face with the handle of her gunblade, before kicking him off of her. Amne drops her own gunblade, before pouncing on top of him and punching him in the face several times.

Riko: This is getting personal. You can really feel the animosity as Amne sends yet another punch into Dilaminous’ face.

Martina: I can’t see a clear winner yet, but you can bet that they will be more than satisfied.

Dilaminous’ face is a mess as he desperately sends his head into her face, before tossing her back off of him. Both are slow to their feet, feeling the weight of each others punches as their concussions are clear. As they meet, Dilaminous punches her with a sluggish right hand punch. She stumbles back, before throwing her own punch. Both of them begin to trade punches, back and forth until they fall into each other. Dilaminous tries to pull her over his shoulder, but is met with an elbow, causing him to fall. As he hit’s the ground, she quickly looks around the floor for her gunblade, which she quickly picks up. As Dilaminous climbs to his feet, he watches Amne stand around looking vacant. He smiles, picking up his sword before running at her. From out of nowhere, a stream of water shoots into the middle of the battle field, blocking his path from her. It rushes up to form a tidal wave which Amne finds herself on top of. Incredibly, it seems to follow Dilaminous. He looks horrified, trying to run away from her. The water begins to pick up pace as the wave begins to obtain more water, and it draws in towards Dilaminous. Just before it crashes into him, Amne jumps off of the wave, slashing her gunblade at Dilaminous five times, causing blood to spray everywhere. The tidal wave collides into him, and as the water disappears, Dilaminous is clearly unconscious on the floor. The horn sounds.

[Overlord]

Riko: Amne has done it! It’s an all Balamb final.

Martina: Not just that, but it’s twin against twin. This is going to be interesting.

Riko: That was an impressive victory. I’m certain that she just performed a limit break.

Martina: How else could she have summoned all of that water? Dilaminous was still pretty much on even grounds with her until she hit him with the limit break.

Riko: And Amne road the wave into the final. She sure put on a great effort, impressing everyone.

Martina: But let’s not forget that her sister has also been impressive. I really can’t call a winner on the final. All I know is, if the semi-finals were anything to go by, it’s going to be very exciting.

Riko: Expect the unexpected. That’s all I can say. Before today, no one would have thought that Amne would reach the final.

Martina: Certainly not her sister. But now Renea has to realise how big of a threat her sister is.

Riko: Exactly. Renea herself admitted that Dilaminous was a threat, and Amne was the one who knocked him out of the tournament.

Martina: Now that the healers have done their job, Amne is waiting patiently for her sister, so let’s join her for one last battle.

The screen picks up once more on Amne, who is waiting in the middle of the field. Renea is quick to walk back out to face her sister. The entire crowd is filled with energy, cheering in anticipation for what is sure to be an exciting contest. The horn blows, and both girls quickly draw their gunblades. Within milliseconds, they are on each other, wildly colliding their gunblades into each other repeatedly. On the final deafening strike, Renea seems to win out, pushing Amne back with all her strength. Amne stops herself from falling and holds up her blade waiting for Renea to make her move. Renea seems to laugh for a second, before she runs at Amne with a barrage of slashes which Amne desperately tries to parry off, while stepping back due to Renea’s momentum. On the final swing of her gunblade, Renea fires a shot off, before quickly flipping forward and catching her sister in the face with two swift kicks. Amne stumbles backwards, and rolls into a backwards handspring kicking out into Renea’s face as she followed Amne’s fall. Both sisters are quickly on the offensive again, exchanging swipes of the gunblades once again. This time, Amne ducks under Renea’ swing, sweeping her legs out from under her before jumping on top. Renea catches Amne on her feet, before pushing her back up and flipping back to her own feet. Amne charges back, to be met with a roundhouse kick, knocking her to the ground. Amne hops back to her feet as Renea charges, this time catching Amne’s weight on her shoulder before tossing her onto the floor. Amne is quick to her feet once again, holding her blade up defensively.

Riko: Amne just went down like a sack of potatoes! Here she is back up again. Neither sister is taking the other too lightly.

Martina: Not one inch has been given away. So far, it’s been more or less a stalemate.

Renea runs forward and flings herself in the air, thrusting her gunblade down at Amne which Amne manages to sidestep, before rolling around her sister and countering with a slash of her own, catching Renea’s right shoulder from behind. Renea turns quickly blocking Amne’s next attempt, before landing a solid kick to Amne’s chest sending her flying back a good eight feet. Amne flips back up to her feet and as Renea tries to swing her gunblade down onto Amne’s head, Amne jumps in air while knocking Renea’s blade to the side. As she is in flight, she quickly wraps her legs around Renea’s shoulders, before pulling her weight down backwards, sending Renea hurtling towards the floor. As Renea lands, she wildly swings her gunblade, which Amne rolls out of the way of, giving Renea time to find her feet once again. Renea looks slightly shocked, as she now holds her gunblade in a defensive position.

Martina: Amne is really trying to take the fight back to her sister. That was an incredible offence.

Riko: One thing is definitely sure, she has surpassed Renea’s expectations already. The way Renea spoke before, this fight should already be over.

Amne chooses not to charge, leaving Renea standing with her gunblade shielding her for a couple of seconds before she realises that Amne is still several feet from her. As Renea lowers her weapon for a second, she is met with a waterga spell, throwing her back on impact, hitting the ground hard. Amne is quick to charge this time, hand springing forward ready to land feet first on Renea’s chest, which Renea rolls out of the way of in the last second, before tripping Amne in a desperate effort to stop Amne’s momentum. Amne falls back onto the floor beside her sister and quickly reacts to block Renea’s gunblade from her throat, before pushing her sister back off and rolling out of the way. Renea flips up to her feet quicker than Amne and performs a midair wheel kick followed by a perfectly timed shot from the gunblade, hitting Amne in her lower abdomen as she falls. The wind seems knocked out of Amne as she lands hard and Renea is quickly on top of her, trying to force Amne’s gunblade back down into Amne’s throat. For a few seconds, Amne looks to be losing the struggle, until she finds it in her to throw Renea off. Both girls are once again on their feet, with Amne’s movements looking slightly laboured.

Riko: That shot from Renea’s gunblade seems to have done the trick. Amne looks hurt.

Martina: Will that be enough for Renea to find a victory here?

Renea leaps into the air once again, using a mixture of her weight and gravity to strike Amne with her gunblade. Amne jumps into a roll to her right to avoid the impact, before once more getting to her feet. Renea casts blizzagra on landing, knocking Amne down with a blast of ice. Renea then runs at Amne, before slamming her gunblade into Amne’s left arm, causing her to drop her own gunblade. In a moment of pure desperation, Amne grabs hold of the arm wielding Renea’s gunblade to prevent her from moving, before kicking up with all her strength into Renea’s chest, sending her flying backwards. Renea lands hard on her back as Amne pulls the blade out of her arm with a look of pure pain clear on her face. Amne struggles to find her feet, as Renea hops back up. Renea runs at Amne, trying to jump across her to knock her down, only to find Amne miraculously catching her in midair, before she is slammed down with Amne’s full weight on top of her. As they both roll away, Renea is again quickly to her feet, trying again to jump on Amne, this time succeeding, with an elbow to Amne’s injured left arm. Renea then quickly pulls Amne to her feet, but is caught off guard by a heavy right armed punch, connecting hard with Renea’s mouth, knocking her back. Renea turns back to find Amne casting another waterga spell, only this time not quickly enough because Renea manages to kick her in the head in time to break the cast time. Following it up, Renea grabs hold of Amne’s injured arm with one hand, and puts her other arm under her right armpit, lifting her off the ground only to drop her back down by the wound in her left arm. Renea pulls Amne up again, this time receiving a head butt to the nose, knocking her down to the ground. Amne casts a waterga spell again, hitting Renea as she got to her feet, knocking her back once again. Amne walks briskly to her grounded sister, and kicks her hard in the side, twice. Amne then leans over on Renea, punching her in the nose. She tries for another punch, only to be interrupted by a punch back from Renea, knocking her off. Amne is first to her feet, pulling her sister up slowly, only to be pushed back awkwardly. As Amne staggers back, she looks at her sister to see her with her eyes closed, concentrating. Amne slowly walks forward, looking as if she is trying to weigh up what she is doing, before she tries to punch her. Renea’s eyes open, just before the impact of Amne’s punch, and after the connection turns Renea’s head to the side, she turns back to face her with a twisted smile on her face, before she wipes away the fresh blood off of her mouth. Amne looks confused, only to then realise that the audience had gone completely silent for the first time in their battle. Renea looked behind Amne, causing Amne to turn to see what she was looking at. Shiva was already in the middle of casting her diamond dust attack, and shards of ice were engulfing Amne like an avalanche, and as they exploded in a shatter of icicles, Amne hit the ground, defeated. The horn sounded, and Renea smiled before falling over, barely breathing.

Riko: Renea summoned Shiva! I can’t believe it!

Martina: I think this match lived up to all expectations. If Amne had have worked out what was going on, this would still be going and perhaps Amne would have ended up winning.

Riko: I know, but love it or hate it, Renea is the Holy Mission Champion! After she defeated Muthrik, I had a feeling that she couldn’t be defeated.

Martina: The same could have been said about Amne. It must be even more disheartening for her to know just how close she was. Renea couldn’t even stand up straight at the end of the match.

Riko: Definitely! Amne put up the most valiant of efforts but somehow Renea managed to carry on after everything that was thrown at her. I’m impressed! I think it’s now understandable why all those Balamb guys follow her around all the time.

Martina: Riko? I think I have lost him, ladies and gentlemen. Anyway… Renea is this years Holy Mission champion! The tournament lived up to all expectations, and after seven gruelling matches showcasing the best warriors that Garden has to offer, everything is done. Thank you, and goodnight.

The Esthar City Technology Inc. logo appears on the screen, until everything turns to black.