“He’s not waking up. Are you sure he’s okay?”
“I used my healing skills, but look at how he fought… He pushed way past his limits.”
“But isn’t it bad if he just doesn’t wake up?”
“Hm… Well, let’s at least try the smelling salts first.”
“Let me give him a wake-up kiss.”
“Stop that! No! I’m the one who’ll have to suffer his wrath later!”
“But he’s so adorable when he’s sleeping. Wakey wakey, beautiful! Mwah!”
“I am no longer taking part in this!”
I woke to a racket and opened my eyes to see Alma’s face right before me. Without batting an eyelid, I smacked her in the nose with the palm of my hand.
“Ow!” cried Alma, clutching her nose. “What the heck?!”
I ignored her and sat up from the bench I’d been lying on. Last I knew, I was fighting in the ring, but now I was in the locker room.
“Damn, my head’s still foggy… Did I pass out?”
Leon flashed me a troubled smile. “In the fight with Wolf, yeah.”
He went on to explain that Wolf and I had duked it out until we’d both fallen unconscious—a double KO. In the end, there was no victor.
“The crowd went absolutely wild,” Leon continued. “After a match like that, Wolf pretty much righted the reputation of his clan. If that was what you were planning from the start, you really are one hell of a tactician.”
“Wolf is different from me. He wins hearts by surpassing people’s expectations.”
That was exactly why I could call the man my rival.
“Caius was angrier than you can believe,” said Alma, cringing. “He feels like you built up his expectations and dashed them in a single match.”
I laughed. “Put you in a tough spot, huh?”
“It wasn’t like I could go telling him about our plan.” Alma sighed. “I just had to laugh it off. Guy practically chased me out of the VIP room and told me to piss off. I swear, that shithead prince is gonna get his…”
That explained why Alma was here in the locker room instead of acting as bodyguard for Caius.
“Caius will understand the bigger picture when it all comes together. For now, leave him be.” I stood up and walked to the locker room window. “What match are we up to?”
“Block B, fifth match,” said Alma.
“Koga’s up next,” added Leon.
I spun to face Leon and Alma. “I’ve been out that long?!”
“There haven’t been that many actual matches, so things have moved quickly,” said Leon.
He put a copy of the tournament bracket on the table, which had the results written on it:
Block A Semifinal, Match One: No victor.
Block A Semifinal, Match Two: Pandemonium’s Leo Edin wins by bye.
Block A Finalist: Leo Edin.
Block B, Match One: Blade Flash’s Arthur McBain wins.
Block B, Match Two: Cave of the Universe’s Lei Su wins.
Block B, Match Three: Fairy Garden’s Fran Cottingley wins by bye.
Block B, Match Four: Supreme Dragon’s Zeke Feinstein wins.
“After you and Wolf were done, Dolly pulled out of her semifinal match,” said Leon.
“She did?”
“Something about urgent business. The other competitor from her clan, Kaspar, also pulled out. That’s why there were less matches than scheduled.”
If Goat Dinner pulled out of the tournament as an entire clan, it probably meant that Dolly had gone after the Netherworld Faith, who must’ve been up to something.
“So Leo made it to the finals without having to fight any further matches, and the tournament moved on to Block B.”
“And Koga is up next…”
I looked back at the ring. The match preparations were done, and both Seekers were facing off. Koga was up against Arthur McBain, master of third-tier regalia clan Blade Flash. Even though Koga had made it to A-Rank, Arthur was a bad matchup for him. His chances were less than 10 percent.
And yet…
“Show me your spirit, Koga,” I whispered, lighting up a cigarette.