Showdown

To leave the Arena, the blade demanded blood.

Klarïon Ahnks, was an overzealous, aggressive, beast of a man; strong and athletic, which got him far, but he was cocky and not too bright. He had probably trained since childhood and it was he who reached the Holy Sword first while Voah and Juni Bajad battled it out on the tier below. Voah was better at unarmed combat and she kicked the woman hard, sending her crashing into one of the clay statues, shattering it. Lucky for Juni, it was the statue holding her favored weapon, the bow.

Voah left her behind momentarily in the rubble to turn her attention on Klarïon who was gloating victoriously over the bastard sword he thought he had already won. When she turned back, Juni was nocking an arrow, forcing Voah to dip and maneuver over around the corner out of sight. She sneered at the closest statue which wielded a spear.

Zarevel was a capable, pock-marked youth who had asserted himself and competed well enough to earn his place in the final, but he was defeated by a hail of Juni Bajad’s arrows nearly instantly upon reaching the weapon's tier.

Voah used her environment against the woman, parkouring off of walls and throwing shards of clay in the woman’s direction. Finally, she found a pair of daggers, which she delightfully tucked them into her leathers and ducked down to the networks of the lower tiers of the maze. There she could evade and confound her opponents while finding advantageous positions. Juni tried several times to shoot her with arrows, but Voah was able to dodge, deflect, and even catch some of them.

Leaning against a rough plank of wood, breathing heavily from the activity Voah recalled the wise words of Yan’Dian.

“Retreat for planned strategy or defense, never in fear.

When you are weak, appear strong; when strong, appear weak.

Confound your enemy. Deception is often a key to victory. Lure your enemy and strike fast like a viper.

Know yourself, know your enemy. Both strengths and weaknesses.“

Klarïon took one Juni’s arrow to the shoulder but it didn’t appear to phase him as he jumped down to pursue the archer who followed Voah’s lead into the maze.

Voah nimbly moved about the treacherous hellscape of the Pillar spending her time analyzing and wearing the others down her opponents from a distance while luring them into chaos and tighter quarters for the kill.

Voah kept her eyes on them. Juni was a good shot, but she was not as alert as Voah. Good, she would exploit the woman’s distractable nature. As Juni rounded a wall corner on the hunt, she essentially sliced and impaled herself on the twin daggers of the Arbiter.

“A blade needs little strength of force to kill, but a blade must be flexible, enduring, sharp, and well placed by its wielder.”

She was nothing if not flexible, enduring, and sharp, but things didn’t end it there. It was time for ruthlessness. Voah grabbed the woman by the hair and continued to stab her, her ire and pride getting the better of her for a moment.

Suddenly, the brute came rounding the same corner and strike down with the Holy Sword.