Hikariryūshi Ogunosuke

"The winner of the final match is Hikariryūshi Ogunosuke," Princess Minerva exclaimed, and the crowd cheered and applauded my victory.

Above the arena, a projection crystal displayed the results of the tournament. The screen showed the winners in order, there was me, followed by Akinyemi, three names that I didn't recognize. The first two were Giuseppe and Antoinette Baron, a pair of Aziza twins with dark skin and light brown hair from the Loa Quarter located in the Akuma Dynasty of Jigoku.

The other name was Arjun Titanica, an Oni from a Kijin village in West Sidhe. He had a large stature with broad shoulders and a hardened face, and like all Oni, he had their signature two protruding horns on his forehead. I didn't get a chance to see his match since I was preparing for my own match, but according to Ogunkoya, his ability was nothing to take lightly. At the very bottom of the list, I saw a few more familiar names, two I was actually glad to see, Olufemi and Ogunkoya, they made the cut.

"May the following seven participants make their way to the arena's battlefield immediately," Lady Mini commanded. Her voice echoed throughout the stadium and almost instantly the others made their entrances, aside from myself and Akinyemi who was getting a feel for her surroundings; we each stood shoulder to shoulder awaiting our next orders.

CLAP—!

Suddenly, like something I'd never seen before, a large paper panel door appeared in front of us. The design of the door practically screamed Lady Mini's personality; the wood panels were made of a dark, almost black wood and the paper panels were deep royal purple. There was a black inked painting of a tree with orchid flower petals drifting in the wind beneath a cloudless, moonlit sky, This has The Princess written all over it, she's simply amazing.

As fast the door appeared, it opened revealing a swirling vortex, the image was inconceivable, I really had no idea what I was looking at and started to second guess whether she really did have something to do with this door. However, I was put at ease once I saw the princess and Lady Ayosaki step out from the vortex, and like clockwork each of fell to one knee before the door closed shut and vanished. There was an overwhelming presence oozing from the princess, so much so it had most all of us quivering.

"The hell—?" One of twins, it sounded like Antoinette, mumbled to herself, "this is the power of an empress to be?"

"She's practically on par with one of The Six," retorted Arjun, "hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't already considered to become a Demon Lord."

"You may lift your heads. Thank you all for giving it your all in this tournament," Lady Mini began, "I would like to host a formal dinner party for you all in celebration of the occasion and I plan to make a special announcement at said party. Will you do me the honor of joining me in this special ceremony?"

A dinner party? I hadn't expected her to offer something so grand, especially for a mock tournament.

"Your Highness used this 'mock tournament' as something of a placement test," informed Lady Ayosaki. "With the top seven combatants being deemed strong and worthy enough to serve as members of—."

"—Will you accept—?" Lady Mini quickly said trying to cut off her subordinate from giving any more information by using one of her shadow tendrils to wrap around her mouth, keeping her from talking, "Please, it's rather important you do, I'm really excited to make this announcement." She wore a hopeful smile on her face, but she still had that overwhelming presence exuding from her that made it impossible to say no.

"Yes, Your Majesty," we all said in unison, much to her delight.

CLAP—!

The same paper door as before manifested itself behind the princess and she made her way to the vortex, dragging a still constricted Lady Ayosaki behind her. "Very good! The banquet will be held this evening at my palace, please come dressed in your finest regalia," she smiled before walking through the portal and it was at that moment, my life would be set on a path I never imagined.

To be Continued...