Sabatsday, 9th of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

The morning sun shone upon Josias and his companions as they faced the Ephorus Ludwig upon the tournament field. In this semifinal round, because the two teams were of a christian faith – albeit different streams – the blessings were carried out by their respected clergymen.

The Tanjung Narians were blessed by their priests and monks, with prayers using the foreign Latin tongue and rites that were almost alien to the Halak peoples. In contrast, Ludwig had made sure the Gorian Halak church looked as native as possible. He had chosen to wear his vestments in the most popular style of traditional Halak ulos. He had used the traditional tunggal panaluan with a cross on top of it in place of his regular crosier. And most of all, he conducted all his blessings in the Halak tongue, Goria's preferred liturgical language.

All of that was a master stroke of Ludwig's efforts to familiarise the christian faith with the Halak peoples. It was why in recent years, christianity was gaining traction among more of the realms of the Halak. It was seen by many not as a complete rejection of the old ways but as an addendum to local customs.

Josias felt more of a weight upon his shoulders from this tournament as he took in all this fanfare. He and his companions weren't just simple warriors fighting to represent their realm. No, it was more than that. In a martial culture like that of the Halak, splendor and prowess in battle was nigh paramount. And in proving one's skill in combat, one also proved his resolve and conviction in his ideals.

Josias was a holy warrior representing his faith and his God. That was why the followers of the old ways couldn't say much immediately after the victory at Haumarara. Whatever rhetoric or hatred any of the parmalim and sipelebegu had against the christians was worthless if they had not the strength to back it.

And that was what Josias and his companions had been proving throughout the entirety of the competition. Winning victory after victory over the teams of the so-called heathen realms. But much like Goria's first match against the Sombanarians, they must now fight another force representing a foreign ideal. A force that also claims to be christian but was clearly distinct from anything Goria had.

The followers of the old ways made no distinction between the christian branches. All they knew was that a foreign influence like that had to be 'defeated'. But now in this position, Josias must once more prove the conviction of his faith against another expression of that religion. Though Christ teaches mercy, Josias had to spread the Word in a language that the people understood. And in this case, that language was 'glory'.

After the blessings were concluded, the Matanitao elder finally emerged to signal the start of the match. Before the match officially started, Josias decided to call out to Alvaro first. "Before we start, I'd like to apologize first on behalf of Goria."

Alvaro raised his eyebrow at Josias' statement. His face then frowned as he immediately suspected something.

"And for what specifically are you apologizing, heretic?" Alvaro asked. Josias smirked.

"I apologize that this match will be over before you know it."

As Josias said that, the match was signalled to start by the Matanitao elder. As soon as the match started, Josias and his companions all unleashed their auras. Surprise immediately coloured the faces of both the audience and their opponents.

All the warriors within the Gorian camp were third star aura warriors. All this despite them being below twenty years of age.

Not letting the shock sink in first, it was as if the five Gorian warriors had vanished with how fast they were. Josias had immediately appeared in front of Alvaro and engaged him in a melee. Though they were both third star warriors, the gap in their skill was immediately obvious. Alvaro was quickly beleaguered and could not keep up with Josias' relentless attacks.

Giving Alvaro a quick faint with his sabre, he instead kicked hard on his shins. Alvaro was immediately unbalanced and his stance faltered. At that moment, Josias a swing at his legs and drew blood, eliminating him.

The other Tanjung Narians – being second star warriors – could not contend with Josias' companions in a determined one on one. Perhaps if they had trained more, they could, but as it stood it was impossible. Not long after Josias had eliminated Alvaro, the rest of his companions had made short work of their own foes.

It was as Josias had said. The match had barely lasted five minutes and the victor was already clear. An overwhelming victory by the Gorians.

The crowd stood, cheered, and roared. Goria was on a winning streak and throughout the tournament, not a single one of their warriors had been eliminated even once. With that record, Goria had made it to the finals of the tournament. Many in the crowd had already started chanting the names of the Gorians. Many more had even descended into the field from the tribunes to hoist up the winners of the match.

Josias' father had of course lifted his son up once more, a proud smile ever present on his face. It was joyous occasion after joyous occasion. Even King Parhal had gotten tired of throwing feasts every night in celebration of Goria's victories in the match.

Many had even taken up calling Josias 'Soditaluhon' or 'undefeated'. It was a lofty title indeed but given his track record up to that point, understandable. Looking at the ashen faces of the Tanjung Narian warriors as well as the astounded face of their king, Josias felt all the more better. With a grateful feeling in his heart, he had begun singing at the top of his lungs.

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"Ingkon Jesus do donganku sahalakku lilu do! (I must have my saviour with me, for alone, I'll lose my way!)" Josias started singing "Raphon Jesus, boi au monang! Talu musungki na ro! (Only with him, would I win and cast my enemies astray!)"

All the Gorians had caught on and followed suit in singing the hymn with Josias, ""Dang mabiar au disi! Tuhan Jesus donganki! Sai ihutononku Jesus, oloanku na ma i! (Then my soul shall fear no ill! Let Him lead me where He will! I shall go without a murmur, and His footsteps follow still!)""

The field reverberated with the hymn as all the christians there – the protestant ones at least – sang it with reverence and cheer. Josias had seen the looks on the faces of clansmen from the other realms. Some looked like they enjoyed the tune. Some were confused by it. Others more – especially the King of Saorma – had a look of disdain on their faces.

Regardless, Goria was the winner of the match and they could celebrate their victory however they pleased.

***

The afternoon came by very quickly. Because it was a semifinal match, most everyone was gathered at the fields to watch the match. It was to be a reckoning match between Silua – whom people had taken up to calling 'the clever' – and the more cunning Saorma team.

Josias was looking forward to what sort of strategy Silua would be employing. He wasn't, however, looking forward to finding out what other dirty tricks the Saorma were going to use. At this point of the tournament, it was to be expected from them. All their victories thus far have been ruled in their favour by technicality and deceit. They were no warriors worthy of their mettle.

But at the same time, that also made the Saorma equally if not more unpredictable than Silua. This next match would be as much a fight of minds, strategies, and tricks as it was a duel of arms and might.

Josias had to hand it over to the Saorma. Whatever healing method they had employed for their warriors, it was effective. As it had seemed just yesterday that those Saorma boys were half dead after the match, they now looked healthier than a spry dog. Though granted, their complexion did look slightly worse for wear. Who knows, perhaps they might actually just lose to Silua in this match.

Before the start of the match, a blessing was done by the shamans and elders of Matanitao. Whoever would win between them and continue on to the finals won't just be representing their realm. Far from it. Whoever faced Goria in the finals would be the Old Way's answer towards the new religious force of christianity. A true battle of the spiritual fate of many.

And so after the blessings, the match had started in earnest. Silua had coordinated the Nabolga warriors into a defensive but mobile formation. Silua had opted out of using direct force straight up despite the Saorma having only second star warriors. Be that as it may, one could not underestimate Saorma. Anything could happen with those lot.

Either another unknown herb. A blessing from a dead ancestor. Or just about any other underhanded yet not technically illegal method was on the table. Maybe they might even start shooting fire out of their asses. Or turn into wild boars. The thought of boars quickly made Josias' stomach rumble despite already having eaten.

Josias had to give credit where it was due. Treacherous as they may be, the Saorma were not at all stupid. They had concentrated the majority of their efforts to thwarting Silua personally. It was a bold attempt to try and cut off the head of a snake so as to kill it.

Silua had caught on to this and so adjusted his own position within the formation of his team. However, having to constantly be aware that he wasn't caught by a Saorma attack, Silua could do little in terms of coordinating properly. The moment he even tried to lead an attack, the Saorma were already there to harass him. It was quite a predicament.

As Josias saw it, the Saorma hadn't used any of the same remedies they did yesterday. Their mana and aura fluctuations seemed completely normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps Silua could use this to try and draw out the fight and force the Saorma into a knockout match after the time limit. It was the most surefire way of victory all things considered.

But just as Silua looked like he was going to employ a more evasive tactic, the Saorma of course pulled something out of their asses. Three Saorma warriors immediately raised their hands and started launching magical attacks at the Nabolga. They were spellswords and competent ones at that. That might explain their more lackluster skill in swordplay.

The spellswords had started casting large gusts of wind to disrupt the Nabolga formation. Sure enough, an opening appeared as a couple of Nabolga warriors were swept aside by the strong winds. The Saorma captain immediately rushed in with the help of his wind powers augmenting his speed.

The Saorma didn't even let the fact that they were using magic outright sink in before engaging the Nabolga. To the side, Josias could see some of the Nabolga elders disputing something with the Matanitao council. Truly the Siparmalim were quite horrible at making rules for the tournament despite months of preparation.

When the Saorma captain reached Silua, he had been caught a few times by the Nabolga warriors. Suffice to say, he was already bleeding in several places. But instead of stopping and leaving the match, he continued his charge. Silua was surprised by this blatant disregard of the rules and he reacted too late.

The sabre of the Saorma captain was already plunged deep into Silua's chest, around his heart area. Seeing this blatant infarction, many of the Nabolga warriors and clansmen who were watching from the sides and tribunes had flooded the field to try and apprehend the Saorma warriors. Seeing this, the Saorma had in turn also rushed to the field though on a whole their warriors weren't quite as powerful as the Nabolga.

A full-blown brawl had started on the field involving dozens of warriors. Everyone was shouting, swinging their weapons in the air. Josias could hardly make out anything that was happening on the field. Everything was happening so fast. It was dreaded pandemonium.

Eventually, the five star warriors of the other realms had intervened within the battlefield to disperse the fight and to calm the situation. Josias tried looking for Silua and he spotted him to the side of the field, badly injured and holding onto the large wound. Josias wanted to get up and help Silua but there were already too many people around the young Nabolga prince.

Spectacularly, Ludwig along with some other priests had arrived at the scene. Josias saw them talking to one of the Nabolga elders and without further trouble, they allowed him to take a look at the ailing Silua.

Ludwig made a quick assessment of the situation before he pulled up his sleeves to try and stop the Prince's bleeding. However, it seemed like he noticed something as his eyes widened. Eventually he looked over to Serena who was sitting next to Josias and called her over along with some other people to act as his assistant.

Josias also stood up to accompany her. He had grown to like the Nabolga warrior and it would be a shame for Goria to win the tournament by default like that. However, there was one thing Josias was assured of. Saorma had made too many enemies within this tournament and they were going to have a lot to answer for in the end.

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