The Crown's Entrapment

A few moments earlier...

Xenia found herself gripping the edge of her seat as the fight went on. Her gaze shifted between the arena and the audience itself, she focused in particular on Jayra and her mother-in-law. Both of them were worried about what was happening down there, and she couldn't even fault them for it.

After all, both of the respective women they were rooting for were badly out of options.

From the bird's eye view of her seat, Xenia could already tell that it was going to be an uphill battle for either Bella or Clara. Even with the added support of the two other ladies in their group, their position was impossible to hold in the long term.

[They're slowly getting surrounded,] Xenia noted.

[That, they are,] Darius sighed. [Still, it's not unwinnable just yet.]

Blinking, she turned her gaze back down. Sure enough, she could still see some semblance of a chance if they could just time it correctly. Clara was starting to throw in a few shots at them, clearly hoping to somehow break Lady Pinra's formation.

'They'll have to be quick about this,' Xenia inwardly grunted. 'One wrong move will end their hopes in an instant.'

Around her, some of the audience members were getting antsy. How could they not? All of the participants below were just seemingly wandering around in circles. It wasn't clear to the untrained eye, but the obvious implications of where everyone stood in the arena were far more important than the skill of the participants at the moment.

[Something's about to give,] Xenia breathed out.

[The question is which side will give out first,] Darius finished.

The bubble of tension brewing across the battlefield was palpable even from where Xenia sat. And even then, she was almost about to stand from her seat just from how tense the situation was getting.

The clock ticked down, and Xenia licked her lips in an attempt to keep herself calm...

Inevitably, chaos finally erupted.

With one wrong step on Bella's part, Lady Pinra quickly pounced on the opening, quickly pushing away the former as she breached the group's shaky defenses. In response, Clara then quickly charged at Pinra, foregoing all sense of strategy as she swung her bow at the enemy vanguard.

'This is bad... They're disorganized...'

It was as clear as day to anybody with half a mind for strategy. Using their numerical advantage, Pinra's group split the four-man group apart, forcing most of them to fight alone against their better judgment.

[They're getting hammered down there,] she worriedly mentioned.

[Unfortunately, that seems to be the case... Still, we must have faith,] Darius grumbled, his own worries starting to come to the forefront of his words. [I know that Clara's better than this. That they're all better than this. They can still fight.]

Shaking her head, Xenia clicked her tongue as she forced herself to sit down. She was getting close to wanting to interfere, but she heeded her husband's words, hoping that he'd be right.

'Come on... You can all fight this...'

Watching as the fight raged on, the crowd cheered even as Pinra's minions effectively pinned Bella and Clara's support. Bella at least seemed to be faring much better against the minions, but Clara looked to be struggling hard even though she was only fighting against Pinra alone.

'Why are you being so reckless?!'

There was no doubt about it. From her movements and wide swings alone, Clara was angry at her opponent. And while anger could be used as a weapon in select moments when harnessed properly, unchecked, it was more of a detriment than a proper boost in both power and morale.

With each missed swing, the state of the battlefield slowly deteriorated. Xenia could see Bella slowly making her way to Clara, but before she could provide support, Pinra had already landed a concise blow under Clara's ribcage.

[No!]

Her eyes widened at Darius's worried shout. From the stands, she could see Jayra and her mother-in-law looking horrified at what just occurred. Likewise, Darius himself was close to standing up based on how close he was to the edge of his seat.

All the while, the crowd hollered and cheered, and the violence at the display.

[That's... Clara shouldn't be that weak,] Darius worriedly pointed out. [A single punch shouldn't deal that much damage to her.]

[Foul play then?] Xenia asked, her nerves already screaming at her to intervene. [I should go and-]

[No! Not yet!] Darius insisted. [You don't need to get involved. They'll find a way-]

His thoughts stalled as a loud thundercrack echoed from below. Looking down, her eyes widened as she saw streaks of black lightning electrocuting Bella into submission. For a few agonizing seconds, her screams filled the arena before she finally fell down lifelessly on the ground.

Xenia gritted her teeth. She was getting restless.

[Darius, I have to go down there!]

[Xen, wait!-]

She didn't bother waiting for his permission as she grabbed her sword and sprinted her way down the arena. Aiming her sights at Pinra's hands, she swung the flat of her sword directly at the woman's wrists, hoping to stop the woman from outright killing Clara.

"Get away from her!"

Unfortunately, her move didn't have the desired effect. Instead, Pinra's attack went to her instead as her sword gathered the black lightning into its blade. Gritting her teeth, Xenia braced herself as she felt the lightning travel through the metal weapon and onto her own body. Clenching her jaw, her chest seized as she forced herself to breathe through the pain.

"X-Xenia?"

Keeping calm, Xenia forced her unruly muscles to her will, forcing her sword down on the ground and redirecting the lightning away from her body. She panted hard at the exertion, barely even registering the fact that Clara had called out to her.

"I see that the Princess has decided to grace us with her presence," Pinra scoffed at her, her anger thinly veiled with sarcasm as her hands smoked from her previous attack. "How generous of you to do such a thing to a lowly woman such as myself."

Xenia fought through the lingering pain in her body as she took on a defensive stance. She didn't know what was happening, but she was going to make sure that nobody that didn't deserve it would die today.

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