The Great Demon System

Regrit's voice was low, yet despite that, all could hear what he spoke. His thick words ominously permeated the air, and the atmosphere suddenly turned grim as the crowds gradually began to lose their previous excitement.

The silence slowly grew and spread like wildfire, and before it could become too overbearing, Artorias spoke with a simple smile.

"Patronize you? Whatever do you mean? Apologies if my words came out wrong, but I was truly trying to congratulate you… You're the victor here…"

"Am I really though..." Regrit scoffed looking at the ground and clenched his hands tighter, small sparks releasing from them.

"Well, certainly so! You have bested me! Are you trying to argue that you somehow lost?" Artorias chuckled.

Regrit's arms began to tremble, and those small sparks upon his hands slowly began to flicker into flame. And with the flaming orange eyes of a predator, he looked up to meet the gaze of his foe and at the now tranquil gaping crowds staring at him from behind.

Yet, when he did so, the eyes he met were completely unlike that of what he expected. They were serious, with the ferocity of a lion yet with the calmness and wisdom of an owl. His arms were still out wide, looking for a handshake, even despite all that had just transpired.

*Tsk* Regrit scoffed once more, relieving his pressure, the flames upon his shaking hands slowly dispersing into nothingness.

"Keep your hand to yourself…" He took a deep breath and smacked Artorias's hands away in disgust.

And with those parting words and a scowl on his visage, he walked away towards the tunnel in which he came, ignoring all the silent stares targeted at him like daggers.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️

The fight had officially ended, and it was once again time for a break before the semifinal match-ups were announced…

And at a time like this, the group had never been more separated… Moby was in places unknown, Rupert was in the hospital recovering, Elizabeth was all alone and Hikari seemed to be elsewhere she could not find…

There were only two men who found their way together. In a dark tunnel underneath a cave where the bright light of the heavenly space could not reach… Cracked rocks of gray filled the walls, water droplets gently dripped down from the ceiling and rodents scurried the ground and played within the filthy puddles.

There, at the edge of such a place peacefully stood one man… His silver hair could not gleam like it once did, his arms crossed and his golden eyes staring keenly towards the wall as though he was waiting for someone's arrival.

And that most certainly seemed to be the case as the sounds of footsteps and splashing puddles were heard from behind, turning his previously blank face to something more natural.

"Tell me… Of all places, why choose this one?"

"Because no one would be able to hear or spy on us…" The figure responded.

"I… I see…" He grinned, turning around to view the face of the same Regrit he fought on the arena, no, this one may have been even fiercer. "So, why exactly did you call me here? What's on your mind?"

"Don't act fucking stupid! I know you let me win! I've worked hard to reach where I am here! I don't need such handouts!"

"Let you win?" He raised an eyebrow. "Now, why would I let you win? What made you think that? Even if I was holding back somehow, so were you! There's no blood in this space so you couldn't go full power. And besides, my holy Excalibur does extra damage to demonkind so you even managed to win against the odds..."

"There you fucking go again… I'm no idiot! Did you really think I wouldn't notice!? How I just miraculously dodged attacks that would have otherwise killed me!? How your movements were odd, not to try and mix me up but give me an easier time!? Hell! You even used useless techniques YOU KNEW would never work on me! You even tried to make me look good in front of the crowds!! WHI!? YOU LET ME WIN!!"

"You were so mad that you went all this way to tell me that? Well, Hypothetically, let's say that I for some reason did do all that stuff you said, I fail to see the problem. In the end, you still won, isn't that all that matters?"

"NO!! You made me look like a fool! I can't stand for such an empty victory!! Don't look down on me!" Regrit roared, an aura of flames enveloping fists his slowly lightning up the darkness of the space.

But that was when Artorias's smile faded away, and his expression shifted— like a mask had suddenly fallen off his face and was now dissolving on the puddle beneath his feet.

"You claim you're no idiot… But is that really true? You came into the arena as the villain… And you could have left as a hero… You won the match, won the favour of the crowds… All you needed to do was act natural… Just thank me and shake my hands… But you blew it… Something so simple, and you threw it all away… I tried to be nice, give you an opportunity at glory... Now you may never get the chance… You let your pride get in the way of something so simple! Your pride got in the way of common sense! At least you showed some restraint there at the end, or else you would have gotten disqualified… But… What happened to getting to the top? Isn't it by any means necessary? Wasn't all your hard work in order to help your mother? How is what you did suppose to help her!? YOU'RE BEING SELFISH!! What would she think when she watched you do all that on TV? Proud?"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE BRING MY MOTHER INTO THIS!! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Regrit's roared, his voice echoing off the rocky walls as he heavily shook his head.

"Do I really know nothing?" Artorias slowly approached. "If you think so then so be it… You call yourself a rival to Moby Kane… What a joke! You're just a pathetic child… I thought more highly of you in the past… This will be the last time I ever think about helping you…" He slowly walked past the clearly distressed and motionless Regrit, and soon after did he disappear into the shadows.

"GOOD!! IT'S NOT LIKE I EVEN NEEDED YOUR HELP ANYWAYS!!"