Born in Blood

Another quick adjustment was made to the court.

Four versus four.

Just eight individuals remained. 

And yet, when the Adjudicator left, Liam expected some sort of tension to be relieved. 

Instead, the air grew heavier.

Not literally, of course. It was just that the stakes were extremely high, and the opponents were anything but easy to play against. 

Getting closer to victory meant that the loss of bitterness stung a lot more. 

Liam's eyes narrowed.

And he had no intention of losing!

Just then, the Sage took a second to speak with Queen Thyress and the General.

After a few minutes of strange back and forth, their lips unreadable through a blurry Isolation Barrier, there seemed to be a Position switch.

This time, the Sage took the General's place as the 'striker'. 

How the Sage managed to convince the old man of the switch was beyond Liam.

…But his name was 'Sage'. There had to be some semblance of wisdom of how he talked to people and whatnot.

Or maybe he just offered the old man some drugs.

Either way, the means were not important — the swap itself was.

Reiner narrowed his sharp eyes at his once best friend. A moment later, he looked at Liam.

"Something's up," Eyes of Knowledge said seriously. "Switch places with me." 

Liam paused for a second. He could refuse. It was well within his right… but he didn't.

If the Sage and Eyes of Knowledge were going to go at it, he'd rather not get in between it.

A decent plan. 

Let them end each other, sit back and relax. 

Wait…

Wasn't that what Alucard was doing?

"Fine," Liam told Reiner, then promptly switched places with him.

A second later, the ball was thrown towards the Bloodsuckers.

Liam grabbed it first.

He and Spirit of Nature were side by side, and behind them was Alucard and Eyes of Knowledge.

But Eyes of Knowledge was a little further back than normal, mirroring the Sage. 

Both Reiner and the Sage looked at each other with pure disdain. 

A fight between friends didn't usually last as long as one might imagine. 

As long as it was a physical one, of course.

Even with a face purple with bruises and red with blood couldn't warrant the end of a brotherhood.

However… that changed when there was a third party involved. Especially if it concerned the opposite gender. 

'Ah,' Liam thought dramatically. 'What a gift being a loner is.' 

A second later, Liam threw the ball upwards, jumped as high as he could, then smacked it towards Alucard.

BANG!

With decent force, Alucard kicked it towards Naomi, low and straight. 

BHOF!

Naomi punched it towards Eyes of Knowledge, higher than normal, slightly resembling an uppercut.

BOOM!

Eyes of Knowledge jumped into the air. 

It looked weird.

His jump looked like he was just negating gravity and floating upwards.

But the passes were not speed-based once again, giving him some breathing room to do whatever he wanted.

Rin's violet eyes constricted.

The Queen looked calm but subtly vigilant.

The General was utterly unfazed.

But the Sage looked alarmed.

A second later, a bit of blue smoke puffed from Eyes of Knowledge's fingertips, seeping into the ball, giving it a strange luster. 

Next, he back-handed it towards the center of the Rag-tag Royalists' court.

With its trajectory, it would pass through all four Positions!

Meaning, it would pass the air-space of the Queen, of Rin, of the General, and of the Sage's.

What would they do in this case?

Well, the first two, Rin and the Queen, wouldn't touch the ball at all!

Of course, they could both easily touch the ball and pass it over to someone else, or even send it back. 

…But what was that blue smoke?

Why take the risk?

Let someone else suffer!

Like so, the ball casually passed over Rin and the Queen.

Then, there was the General and the Sage.

Except…

The Sage was a little further back.

If the ball continued without the General's interference, it would eventually force the Sage into hitting the ball. 

Slowly, the Sage looked at the General with a hopeful look.

The General smirked from ear to ear. 

He wasn't moving a muscle. 

There was no way the General would lose in a game of chicken. 

Besides… wasn't the Sage the person who asked for a switch?

The albino made his bed… let him sleep in it.

The Sage looked like he wanted to curse, but didn't. Instead, he heaved a little sigh and put on a mask of tranquility.

Yellow bolts of electricity crackled across his austere skin, making it seem as though he'd become lightning manifest. 

How did the Sage choose to respond to the unknown threat?

Brute force!

The Sage knew Reiner personally.

The two would never fight physically. 

Their battles were always intellectual.

Thus, when the Sage turned into lightning, it completely nullified that notion.

Did Eyes of Knowledge expect that?

Perhaps.

There was no expression on Eyes of Knowledge's face, giving no indication whether or not that was the correct response. 

But he wasn't done there.

Just then, the Sage threw a tiny little pellet towards the ball, which had yet to enter his Position

Circular in shape, the pellet was pitch-black and plainer than a piece of bread. 

As soon as the ball entered his Position, it met the pellet's trajectory.

PLRKH!

Before it made contact, the pellet burst like a fruity grape.

Except, instead of juice, the insides were a strange, sticky liquid.

And the liquid instantly enveloped the ball.

KRKRKRK!

At the same time, the Sage turned into a literal bolt of lightning!

Time felt a little slower. 

Then, the Sage struck the ball with all of his body. 

BOOOOOM!

The ball was incredibly fast compared to Eyes of Knowledge's throw.

In fact, it was way faster than all the previous shots! 

Unnaturally so.

It seemed like the black liquid was a catalyst of some kind, causing the ball to become elastic and faster.

The Sage's goal was simple.

Whatever Eyes of Knowledge was planning didn't matter if it wasn't able to occur on their side of the pitch.

WOOOOOSH!

The ball was making a beeline for Eyes of Knowledge!

One thing was clear. 

It was utterly unstoppable.

Nothing could make it stop!

Just as it was passing over the net, it… just stopped, as though someone had pressed pause on it.

Then, it fell over the net… and balanced itself over it.

It fell on both sides!

And it stayed there!

Who won?!

Was it a draw?!

Silence.

The Sage's eyes widened, and so did Liam's. 

But Reiner smiled knowingly.

"The Sage," the Mayor announced, "and Eyes of Knowledge… disqualified."