The next morning arrived and everybody was excited. The round of 16 was beginning soon, where the winners of the preliminaries would display their might in full-fledged battles. There was both emotional conversations about the participants and bets for who would win that day. It was going to be a long day for Natsume, who woke up from another nightmare and was getting prepared to have breakfast.

-Good morning Natsume!- greeted Susbok energetically as usual.

Without saying anything, Natsume sat down and ate her breakfast just as slowly as the previous day. In the meanwhile, she could hear the other customers talking.

-Have you heard about White Fur? That one is super fast, like they slashes everything in a split of a second!- exclaimed a short elf-like woman.

Natsume didn’t know why, but that name called her attention. That mysterious creature from the other day… There was something that picked her interest, but she couldn’t put a finger on it. Still, she kept eating her breakfast when the soldier from the other day arrived at the inn.

-Natsume Kumojima, we should get going! You have to prepare yourself for the battle!- exclaimed the soldier.

Natsume walked towards him, while everybody in the pub cheered her up and wished her good luck. Still, Natsume didn’t feel anything towards that, so she just ignored their voices and followed the soldier outside.

That time, the battle would take place in the official arena inside the capital. From the outside, Natsume recalled the Roman coliseums she studied at school: round, made of stone bricks, with a lot of gates all around the facility. Both of them went inside one gate and walked through some corridors and arrived to a door where Elima was waiting. After the soldier greeted the commander, he left, leaving Elima and Natsume alone.

-Well, I hope you are ready for today- said Elima, her tone being a bit serious than normal. -This is your rest room. You will wait here until you are called for the battle, although you will be the first one to fight, so you won’t have to wait for long. When they call you, a new door will open, just go through it and you will get to the arena. Do you need anything else?

Natsume didn’t know if Elima was talking about the fight or about their other conversation. Still, the girl denied with her head.

-Very well. I will be watching the fight from the crowd, along with King Mito. Good luck out there… you’ll need it- said Elima, and then she left.

Natsume went inside the room. There was enough space for a whole soccer team, and it was accommodated for that, with several benches, lockers and even a toilet and shower. For a moment, she felt a painful nostalgia, but she focused on the coming battle and sat down.

Outside, the stands were already full, as probably most of the kingdom’s citizens had gone to watch the battles. At one special terrace, King Mito, Prince Zester and all the commanders chosen to supervise the tournament were waiting patiently for the battles, including Elima and her friend Xion sitting next to her. Out of nowhere, a shadow rushed through the air, but instead of screams, everybody roared as the shadow slowed down and revealed itself as a young, cheerful woman wearing a short, fluffy dress with pastel colors, her face painted like a buffoon from medieval movies.

-Heeeeeeelloooo everybody!- exclaimed the girl, making the crowd roar even more. -Welcome to you all to the round of 16 of the Guardian Clash Tournament! I’m your favorite, one-of-a-kind, the most talented commentator Pristille! In this edition, we have so many exciting and strong participants aiming for the grand prize: the title of Highest Guardian, engraving their name in our history, and the honor of receiving one wish from the original Guardian Sphere. Who’s ready for the clash?

Everybody roared as much as they could. On his terrace, King Mito happily said “I surely am ready for this!”. Elima looked at him askance, finding his excitement strange.

-And without further ado, let’s introduce the participants!- exclaimed Pristille, and then a big board with the pairs for each match appeared for everybody to see. -We are using the standard rules here: during the established time, participants will fight for the sphere and the one who keeps it most of the time wins. The Absolute Victory condition remains, but unlike the preliminaries, there is no off-limits, they can move around inside the battle area and there’s no way of leaving it until the fight is over. And now, for the first fight, we have… Natsume Kumojima…

As soon as her name was mentioned, Natsume saw how the walls of her rest room opened, showing a gate that lead her directly to the battleground. She walked slowly through the dark corridor towards the shining light and, as soon as she stepped out, the crowd roared again with excitement. The girl looked around: she didn’t expect the place would be that big from the inside.

-And…- continued Pristille. -Life Eater!

On the opposite side of the battleground, another gate opened. After a few seconds, someone else appeared: they looked like a young kid, around the same age as Natsume, but they definitely weren’t human. Even with human body, their skin was of the same color as a log left out under the sun for too long, their hair was greyish and spiky, and above it, two cat ears appeared. Their big, shiny eyes made him look innocent, but they had huge fangs coming out of their mouth, almost reaching their chin. Their clothes were worn-out and dirty, and they had a big duffel-bag on their back.

-Wow, such young competitors for the first fight, right?- asked Pristille. -First of all, get into your positions and greet each other. This is a formal battle, should you know!

Both kids walked shyly towards the marks in the middle of the arena. Natsume made a reverence as she was used to, while Life Eater simply shook their hand to say hi.

-Hi! It’s a pleasure- said Life Eater. -I hope we have a fair fight. I promise I won’t exceed myself… but I can’t promise anything about zir.

Natsume didn’t understand what Life Eater meant with that, so she simply focused and made her yellow clouds appear on her extremities. The other kid, on their part, unzipped their bag.

-Well, I see everybody’s ready for the fight!- exclaimed Pristille. -So let’s not make them wait, alright? Everybody say it with me: ready… CLASH!!!!

After hearing that word, Natsume jumped forward to catch the sphere that had just appeared between both fighters. She was so close to it, but then… a giant blur rushed in front of her, pushing the girl backwards. Natsume knelt down and looked up, and then she saw the most weird thing in her life: a giant worm-like creature was swirling mid-air, chewing the sphere with zir mighty teeth.

-Ha, too slow, girl!- said the worm monster with mocking tone.

-Hey, L.E., take it easy. There’s no need to harm her- said Life Eater.

It was then that Natsume noticed that the worm monster was coming out from Life Eater’s dussel-bag. Actually, there were other smaller worms in the opening of the bag, all with little teeth. The big one approached the kid.

-Come on, Life, you’re a party pooper!- exclaimed the worm called L.E. -We are here to fight! Let me go wild for a while! Can I swallow this thing?

-No, there’s no need. You know what happens when you get “wild”. We have to focus and manage our energy for this fight. And no, you can’t swallow that. Don’t you even remember the rules?- asked Life Eater.

The curious couple kept fighting as Natsume looked at them from the ground. She guessed that team-esque cooperation was allowed and didn’t think much about it. Instead, she stood up and run towards them. L.E. perceived her approaching, and suddenly, another big worm came out of the dussel-bag, rushing towards Natsume. The girl kicked the creature, but ze was way bigger and stronger, so it was Natsume who was pushed back and rolled on the ground.

-Damn, it doesn’t work- muttered Natsume. -So it’s not magic, it’s… alive…

The worm holding the sphere went back to the dussel-bag, although zir head was outside of the opening with the ball in zir mouth. Natsume rushed again. The bigger L.E. attacked her, but she slide under it to avoid it, only to be hit by a second worm that appeared out of nowhere. As seconds went by, the girl tried several times to reach Life Eater and take the ball, but she always met the mocking worm creature in one of its many slithery copies. It didn’t matter that the girl kicked or punched the monster, as it didn’t have any effect on zir. The spectators roared along the battle, but some made comments.

-Poor girl, I think there’s nothing she can do…

-Yeah, Life Eater won the preliminaries rather quickly.

-That monster sure is powerful. I wonder where it came from?

On the king’s terrace, Elima was watching Natsume’s futile struggle with pity and confusion.

-Hey, don’t you think this is a bit… unbalanced?- asked Elima to her friend Xion. -Who did the pairings?

-I think it was… Your Majesty...- answered Xion while looking at the king.

Elima turned around, looking at King Mito’s pleased expression in his face. He seemed to be enjoying the show.

-Why did he do that?- wondered Elima. -Pairings are usually chosen with power balance in mind until the next round…

Her thoughts were interrupted with a resounding “Oooh” from the audience as a giant L.E. hit Natsume in all her body and pushed her back almost to the opposite wall. The girl crouched on the ground, with barely any strength in her body. She tried to get up, but her knees felt weak and she couldn’t keep balance.

-I’m… I’m so sorry, Natsume- muttered Elima to herself. -I didn’t mean this, I swear… But I promise I won’t leave you alone, I… I’ll help you… so please, give up, it’s already over…

But the girl couldn’t hear Elima’s words. All Natsume could hear on the battleground was the screams and shouts of the audience who were enjoying the battle. She tried to look at Life Eater again, but her vision was blurry. The clouds on her hands were very faint, she felt weak.

-I can’t… I can’t move… This is… over...- thought Natsume.

The girl closed her eyes. For a moment, she didn’t feel the pain in her body as she left herself fall into the darkness. When she opened her eyes again, there was nothing except for a soccer ball in front of her. Then, some faint figures appeared, but they moved as if walking away from her until there was only one, but it was very far. Natsume extended her arm.

-Please… don’t...- muttered Natsume.

A lot of images came to her mind: her usual dream, her father’s scoldings, how her mother cried, all the gossiping… and those scared eyes that always made her wake up. She then heard some words she knew.

“Just one fail… and you’re out…”

-So… it’s really that? Is it because of my fault? If I fail, I lose everything? So the only way I can get this wish… the only way I can get rid of this pain is… winning…

Natsume opened her eyes. She felt the ground on her cheek as she laid down on the ground. She felt the pain in her whole body after the battle so far. She felt all that… but that didn’t matter. Somehow, she found the strength to stand up slowly. The audience roared with excitement, but Elima looked worried.

-Natsume… Wait, there’s something wrong. I don’t like this- said Elima to Xion.

As she stood up, Natsume walked slowly towards Life Eater, dragging her feet along the way.

-Hah, I feel bad for the girl!- exclaimed L.E., but zir mouth changed shape after seeing zir companion getting ready. -Hey, whaccha doing?

-Be careful and get ready!- exclaimed Life Eater. -I feel something strange…

But Natsume didn’t care about their conversation. She just looked down with a smile, muttering to herself.

-That’s right… I just have to win… and everything will be over… I have to win… I gotta win… I gotta win, gotta win, gotta win, gotta win…

The girl stopped walking and took her hands on her head while repeating those words over and over. The audience turned silent after watching that, like waiting for a storm to unleash. Elima couldn’t hold it anymore and run towards the edge of the terrace.

-Natsume! Can you hear me? Say anything, please!- screamed Elima with all her might.

However, the girl didn’t hear anything. She kept twirling and repeating those words, until she stopped moving.

-I… gotta… WIIIIIIIIIIIEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!