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"It's a beautiful night here in Kawalerielki, and tonight we are gathered here for the grand finals of the Kazimierz Major!"
Cheers erupt from the crowd, and a light turns on to shine and reveal the field.
"Tonight, our contestants will be fighting on even ground, as the flat field is made up of only the finest metal from our sponsor, KGHM Kazimierz Miedź! Even the famed steam knights of Victoria would be hard pressed to make a dent in this floor!"
The light goes dark.
The overhead screen comes to life. A caprinae appears on screen, behind her, a wall of the logos of sponsoring companies.
"Any words you'd like to say before stepping into the arena?"
"What is there to say? Whoever my opponent is, matters not no? I will overwhelm, I will outlast, and I will crush them no matter who appears. It was easy to win last time, it'll be easy to win this time no?" Her thick Lethanian accent underlining every word.
"And what about your opponent? Some people are saying that she has the potential to best you."
"Ahahaha, that old fashioned knight who charges forward with a lance and shield? Who does she think she is? Mortica the Last Knight? Just look at her with her second hand armour, it leaves little room for movement unlike mine."
"And what armour are you wearing today?"
The girl points towards herself, "well, this one is from my dear friends and sponsors at MARTHE. It's their new line of activewear, they were kind enough to send me some prototypes as well as some light armour, and for all those of you watching at home, be sure to use my code, TMK18 at checkout online if you wish to purchase with a 10% discount!" and accents it with a kiss towards the screen.
The overhead screen switches to a camera viewing one of the entrances to the stadium.
"Coming from the northern entrance, tonight's favourite, the charming, the confident, the victor of the last Kazimierz Major, it's The Mirror Knight, Dupli!"
A light shines upon the northern entrance as The Mirror Knight struts to the field. She flicks her hair to the side and blows kisses to the crowd. The light shining off her polished horns.
"Aha thank you my adoring fans! I love you all!" The Mirror Knight reaches towards the crowd. Raising her arms she basks in the applause and cheers.
And once again, the overhead screen changes.
This time, a blonde haired kuranta shows upon the screen.
"Any words you'd like to say to your opponent before stepping into the arena?"
"The words of a knight are to comfort the weak. For my opponent. All I need is my lance to strike true."
"But she is the returning champion are you really prepared?"
"With all the sponsors in the world, she could never be prepared. All I need is my lance and my buckler. Her arts I will see through." And with that, the overhead screen changes to two camera perspectives side by side, one focused on the southern entrance and one focused on the current champion.
"And coming from the southern entrance, she barely made it through the qualifiers. May her lance indeed strike true, it's Lancea Quixote!"
Lancea walks confidently towards the field. The light glimmers off the worn metal of her weapon. Her eyes remain focused on The Mirror Knight in front of her. Lancea sees nothing else. She focuses. The announcer a muted noise in the distance.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Quixote, I'm surprised you made it this far, what with that outdated piece of metal."
The only indication that Lancea heard this provocation was her swiping the lance to point towards The Mirror Knight.
"I've fought far stronger than you, and what. You think you can make it to the grand finals just by getting lucky with the bracketing? I'll end your dream right here and now and send you back to the countryside where you belong."
Lancea narrows her eyes. Long has Lancea ignored the words of her opponent. In the arena they speak with steel.
The announcer once again comes to life "I want a nice fair match, may the fight commence in 3, 2, 1!"
The sound of a bell ringing begins the match.
Lancea quickly charges forward scraping past The Mirror Knight as Dupli dodges to the side.
"Hey! Be careful with that!"
The Mirror Knight channels her arts, and one becomes two. As the two unarmed Mirror Knights circle around Lancea narrows her eyes and loses track. They split, and split, and without the knowledge of where The Mirror Knight is, Lancea does what she does best.
As 8 becomes 16, Lancea sees an opening and swipes her lance before charging forward, skewering 11 of the arts copies of The Mirror Knight. All swept in one charge.
Lancea flings off the copies who upon hitting the ground shatter like glass.
But the Mirror Knight does not stop. She splits again. Numbers build up as they surround Lancea. They all rush towards Lancea and begin to overwhelm her. They whale upon her. The heat of the light above shine upon Lancea like the sun during the desert day. The voices around her snide and snickering. "Better quit now, before I injure your pretty face too much dear Lancea."
Knocked back, Lancea steadies herself with her weapon stuck into the ground. She looks up at the insurmountable odds. At this moment, there's nothing else she can do but try. The cheering in the background disappears from her head. Only the battlefield remains. So, she gets back up. She steadies herself. She takes a deep breath. She is Lancea Quixote. And she gallops on forward.
That charge wipes out nearly all of Dupli's arts clones. And with that charge, Dupli finally falters. The many become three. And Lancea sees the hesitation in Dupli not shown in the other two arts clones as she grinds down to a halt. In a panic Dupli splits again. And again. But Lancea Quixote does not lose track. And she won't lose track for the rest of this battle.
"I don't need sponsors. I don't need fancy gear." The lancer pivots. "If there's 20 of you, I'll defeat 20 of you. If there's a hundred I'll defeat a hundred. But your arts and tricks. I see through them!" The lancer, bloody and beaten, charges forward against the legion of clones. But her eyes are on one of them in particular.
Dupli sees her chance, Lancea worn out. All she had to do was sacrifice a clone and land the final blow. So, Dupli prepares to tackle Lancea as she charges forward.
"Should've been a little less greedy!" Lancea yells out and as she skewers another clone, she lets go of her lance. Reaches out and grabs Dupli by the neck and slams her into the ground. Dupli's concentration breaks immediately. Pinned by Lancea, with a buckler pressing down on her sternum. No where left to hide. As the sound of glass shatters around, the spotlight glimmers through the shards of mirror, sparkling.
Dupli struggles, but cannot move. No clone to help, no strength to escape. Her eyes a blazing anger staring directly at the lancer. And in this moment, between the two of them, there is nothing. The audience, the announcers, the cheering, all irrelevant. The stadium's floodlights turn off, some cheeky technician seizing the moment to replace it with spotlights converging on their spot. This stare down, the last clash of the Kazimierz Major. And it is at this moment, after this eternity of locked eyes, that The Mirror Knight, Dupli, accepts it.
The pressure of the buckler makes it hard for Dupli to speak. "Tch. Fine you win this time." The caprinae averts her gaze.
The Mirror Knight speaks up. "I concede."
Immediately. Lancea gets off Dupli and rolls beside her. Exhausted. Bloody. Worn out. Her armour barely holding on.
Cheers erupt from the crowd as the Lancea and Dupli finally recognize reality again. The Flood lights turn back on showing the stadium. Shards of broken mirror and gashes from the lance litter the stage.
Once again, they can hear the announcer speak, "I cannot believe it! Lancea could see through The Mirror Knight's arts and managed to defeat her! What an unbelievable upset! Folks you had to be here to believe it. An independent knight with no backing tonight managed to beat the previous champion! If this wasn't the highlight of this Kazimierz Major then I don't know what is."
Dupli gets up. "Come back in three years. I promise I'll beat you then."
A stupid smile grows on Lancea's face. She covers her eyes with her arm. The lights shine too bright.
"Well get up already sir lancer." The Mirror Knight scoffs and offers a hand. "The one who beat me cannot be showing such disgrace."