But in the next moment, the one who was sprawled on the ground was Fie.
Dazed, she tried to move her leg, but was met with a sharp pain in response.
“Guuh...!?” It was as if her leg were being torn apart.
Whispering rose from the spectators around the ring.
“Hey... You don’t think...”
“A muscle cramp huh...”
“Wow, that’s quite something...”
To begin with, when Fie had been avoiding Gormus’ blows, her body was already at its limit.
In addition to that, to create an opening, Fie had executed a series of taxing movements — the jump and landing being the final nail in the coffin for her leg.
Fie could no longer get up from the sharp pain.
Upon seeing this, the judge walked up to Fie, who immediately raised her voice in protest.
“No, I’ll keep going! I can still... keep going!” Fie tried standing up. “Ugh... Ah...”
But Fie’s legs had already reached their limit. Both of her legs cramped up, and she was no longer in any condition to stand. Attempting to do so immediately sent waves of immense pain through her body.
“I haven’t... I haven’t...! I can’t lose!”
Fie attempted to prop herself up with her sword. She did not want to give up. After all, she had come all the way here. After just a bit more, she could reach it, with her very own hands.
When the masked man had posed his question to her, Fie felt it in the very core of her being.
There would be no one else in that pavilion. No one other than Fie. And then, her life would end there, with her being alone. All alone, surrounded by those high, impenetrable walls. In a dark, dark place. Just by herself... Eternally alone.
From the day she was born in the shadow of her sister, to a place where she would disappear and die of loneliness — a last and final place.
She didn’t want that. She could not accept that.
Fie wanted to walk in the light. She wanted to spend her life with someone else in such a place. A place where the sun shone.
As a child, Fie had fallen in love with stories of knights, and in their path she saw light — or so she thought. But as she came of age for marriage, she was made to put down the sword, and forget about everything she once knew.
Now, more than ever...
She had wanted to meet new people. Like Crow. Friends, comrades, senior knights, a place where she could see many people — a place where she could truly live.
“I won’t lose... I... I won’t give up... Agghh...”
In the face of her evident pain, Fie stood up, desperately leaning on her sword. The spectacle silenced the bout spectators.
Even Gormus, who could barely stand or attack — he, too, stared at Fie’s form wordlessly.
And then a minute passed.
The knight presiding over the bout shook his head sadly.
“You... You can’t go on anymore. Not in the state you’re in.”
And then he made his announcement.
“And the winner of this bout is... Gormus!”
Upon hearing that, all the strength Fie had mustered left her body.
(I’ve lost... I... I couldn’t... couldn’t win.)
And so cold despair sank into Fie’s heart.
(These hands... Did not grasp... anything...)