Chapter 224: City vs. City: Finals (VII)

--

Sieg was dispirited after the fight...if you can even call it that.

He was sent to the medics conscious but not really present. His eyes were hollow and lost; he probably didn’t even know how he ended up there.

His mind kept replaying the events of the fight. But his memories kept magnifying every single mistake that he did, and that’s what made him feel even worse.

His body was healed. He was intact. He wasn’t injured gravely to begin with. He just got punched in the stomach, twice; that’s it. Sure, those punches were enough to end the fight, but still...compared to others, he got out relatively unscathed.

And that’s what stings the most. Ren didn’t defeat him through force. He never needed to. Hell, Ren wasn’t even the enemy in the first place.

It’s his own insecurities that brought him down. Not Ren.

Yes, Ren was strong enough to pummel him any day of the week, but it wasn’t necessary. Their fight was more psychological than literal.

But regardless of what it was, Ren defeated him soundly in both.

The worst part is Ren knew.

Ren knew his ultimate secret. One that he kept so close to his heart. One that even Aria doesn’t know about.

For all he knew, Ren could very well tell everybody he knew about it and expose Sieg to the whole world.

They would believe him. Sieg’s almost certain of that.

He could say that Sieg cheated, and everybody will immediately investigate. Ren could tell them what he knew about it, and Sieg’s master will be taken away from him.

And Sieg...could only blame himself if that happens. Because it was he who exposed his master. It was he who wanted to cheat. It was he who became so desperate to prove something that he begged the old man to help him.

If the old man were taken, or confiscated, from him, Sieg would be helpless against it. It was he who doomed his own self, and he will deserve every ounce of suffering he faces afterwards.

What hurts the most is that his master had gone quiet.

Sieg called for him. He still called. But the old man doesn’t answer. It’s like he disappeared already.

Guilt ate away at Sieg’s heart. Shame flooded his whole body. And regret seeped into his very soul.

He was an ungrateful disciple and despicable person.

He put the same man who didn’t turn his back on him, who taught him and changed his fate, into the maws of the monster.

He deserved this. He deserved this cold shoulder. He deserved every pain he’s feeling right now.

Hearing that boisterous crowd outside and the celebration, Sieg felt completely and utterly alone. It’s the same feeling he had before his master appeared before him.

He was an outsider. He doesn’t belong here. He pushed himself to this crowd thinking that he might have a place here somewhere, but no, he never had.

’I want to go home.’

**

Lily sighed.

She saw it coming, but not this way.

Although she was unaware of the deeper and psychological battle that ensued between Ren and Sieg, she knew that the former would easily beat the latter.

She wanted to root for Sieg. Even after everything, she admired him for coming this far. He was a friend, as distant as the word might be, and she genuinely wanted him to show the world how far he had come.

And he had been doing a fantastic job at that, truly...but Lily wasn’t stupid.

She recognized the look on Sieg’s face. The look of defiance, of unwillingness, of disbelief, and of sheer refusal and rejection of the reality before him.

Lily saw the same look on his face back in their initiation ceremony. It was the same look. The one that screams, ’No.’ This can’t possibly be true. I refuse to believe it! ’

She could only imagine what that felt like for Sieg. Try as she might, even she can’t say that she’d react the same if she were in his shoes.

Of course, she knew what comes after that. What happens after Sieg is exposed to something that goes completely beyond his expectations?

Desperation.

She had been there. She watched as Sieg destroyed himself nearly every day, calling it training and hard work, refusing to believe that he’s untalented as the system indicated.

Lily saw the very same thing when Sieg reacted to Ren’s existence. And especially when he fought against him.

The fight went on as she imagined it to be. And honestly, she could relate to his frustrations.

Ren was a looming wall. One that seemed to be made out of divine materials. He just seemed...invincible.

No attacks hurt him, nothing could force him back, and he feels invulnerable to damage. The worst part is that Ren wasn’t just all defense. He could attack, and he’s extremely skilled. He was the most skilled martial artist Lily had every laid eyes on.

Fighting him could feel extremely aggravating; Lily could say that with confidence since she had been fighting him for a long while now.

But Sieg...he’s truly and utterly desperate.

She was surprised when Sieg suddenly changed, somehow. She didn’t know what happened. It’s as if Sieg calmed down and suddenly turned into a completely different person.

But even then, nothing has changed.

Sieg did fight better and more skillfully, but Ren was just something else completely.

Ren did look amused when Sieg suddenly felt different, and Lily assumed that he knew that something she, and the audience, didn’t. She was curious too, but she knew Ren wouldn’t say anything unless he wanted to.

Then came the ending.

Most of the audience saw Ren punching Sieg once, landing solidly in his stomach. But she, and probably a few of the other finalists as well, saw him punch Sieg twice.

The first one was gentle, more like a push with his knuckles than anything, and the second one had the real impact.

Ren didn’t use his full power there, as always, because if he did, Sieg would undoubtedly die.

Regardless, that’s the end of it. The fight was over. Ren won, and Sieg was carried off to the medics. He was conscious, but his soul wasn’t there.

Lily sighed because she knew that Ren somehow broke something within Sieg.

But whether he did that on purpose or not, Lily genuinely doesn’t have a clue.

**

’How dare he! ’

’How dare that man do this to Sieg! My Sieg! ’

’He did this on purpose! What a despicable man! What a bully! What a monster! ’

Aria screeched like a banshee within her mind.

She came to Sieg’s side as soon as she was done with her match to check up on him. She all but nearly ripped apart her opponent just so that she could come to his side as quickly as she could.

And what she saw nearly broke her heart.

Sieg looked empty and broken. He looked haunted, as if he aged several years in an instant.

Usually, he would greet her with a wide smile or a grin, depending on how hurt or exhausted he was. He would always be happy to see her.

But when she came to him, none of that happened.

He saw her. He looked at her, but he didn’t smile. In fact, he didn’t see her. It’s as if his eyes rendered her nonexistent, and so his gaze went through her without ever acknowledging her presence.

That said more than enough about Sieg’s current mental state.

This was even worse than the night after the initiation ceremony.

At least then, Sieg just collapsed to the bed and began training relentlessly the next morning. He damn near ruined himself in his desperation, and he always worked himself to near collapse each day just to prove that he wasn’t the trash that everybody told him he was.

This was different, though.

Aria had no idea what transpired between Sieg and Ren, but whatever it was, it affected Sieg far deeper than any injury inflicted on him.

And Aria blamed Ren for that, all the way.

She never even thought to blame Sieg for anything. In her eyes, Sieg was a saint. He could never do anything wrong. He was right, and the world was needlessly cruel to him.

He doesn’t deserve any of this. For her, Sieg should be standing. He should be undefeated, a hero admired by everybody. He should be something that even the martial gods must respect.

But because of that vile man—Soren Marek Vire—Sieg had become like this. Bedridden, broken, and completely dispirited.

She couldn’t even feel a single ounce of fighting spirit left from Sieg. All she could feel was his yearning to leave this place. To go home.

The sight broke her heart and enraged her so.

She badly wanted to ruin Ren for doing this to her boyfriend, but that would be unprofessional and unbecoming of her martial virtues.

So, she would wait. She would simmer in her rage until the time came for the match between her and Ren. Until then, she would stay here and wait until Sieg recovers somehow.

Fortunately for her, she doesn’t have to wait long.