The entire field turned silent at the old man's declaration. Such a bizzare thing hadn't been heard of even once since the contest had started.

Afterall, who in their right mind would just surrender? And that too when both the contestants were only one victory away from being qualified.

David was the first to break the silence. In a voice that hid his shock, he asked. "But why would you do that?"

The man smiled, his yellowish teeth showing.

"Honestly speaking, I know I would win against you. My body has become frail and my powers are all but gone. But still, I have my decades of training flowing in my blood, so you wouldn't have won in any case.

But at the same time, you would have tired me out."

David frowned at the vague explanation. "How does that affect you though? You would have won and qualified."

The old man shook his head as with a sigh, he explained.

"Not really. Do you remember what did the Host say on the first day? That everyone shall get a maximum of ten matches...except a few unlucky ones. Well he was talking of cases such as this.

If you win now, you shall have one more match left. But if I win, I would have completed my ten matches...but does that make me qualified? No. Because there would still be one contestant left who has yet to participate in his tenth match.

And what would the organisers do? They would match me against him. In simple words, only one of us three is going to be qualified."

"So in case you win against me...you shall be the unlucky one who would have to fight eleven matches to secure qualification." David noted.

"Indeed." The old man confirmed.

"But still...why would you just surrender like that?"

"As I said, if we fight, one of us shall lose and the other - exhausted. And then they shall lose the next match against that scythe wielding guy. So, it's better if none of us fight here...and I have been a Sihapi already.

My life...it has already been drained of all ambitions. Go boy, I can see young, hot blooded powers swirling in your eyes. Make this count."

The man concluded with the smile of a sage, as David stood there dumbfounded.

"As contestant sixty seven surrenders, that makes contestant one thousand twenty four the winner of this round by default!"

David realised just how true the man's words were. He had willingly sacrificed his chance of once again becoming a Sihapi just so that a young man could do it in his place.

'But even then...I just don't feel the satisfaction.'

All he could do was shake his head and accept the outcome, which although lacking in luster was still in his favour.

The announcement for the last match of the contest happened soon enough as the man with the scythe stepped forward.

"Fight!"

David leaped into the fight, with the clear intention to get in close range of his opponent to not let him use his scythe properly.

"Not that easily, buddy." Instead of raising the scythe in the air and striking at him laterally, the man held the handle of the long weapon as a spear and jabbed it at David.

Quickly halting himself, David flicked his sword as the hilt collided against the tip of the handle or the scythe, causing both the contestants to take a step back.

David once again tried closing the proximity between them but the man kept on running backwards while slashing at him using the long range that the scythe provided.

'I need to corner this guy...but how?' Time wasn't on his side either. None of them had even scored a single point and the desperation showed as each passing second, they took little risks by getting inside each other's range.

"One more minute left! Hurry up!"

David glanced in surprise at the veteran. This was the first time he saw one of the invigilators giving a warning at the last minute.

'Ahh right, we might definitely get fucked up if even at the end, we have zero points.' He thought inwardly as his sword clashed with the curved blade of the scythe.

"Alright, enough playing now." He muttered a little loud, making his opponent tense for a moment. Then he dashed forward, intending to enter his opponent's close range.

And just as the many times before that, the man stabbed at David with the handle of his weapon.

However, this time David didn't stop running and ran straight into the handle of the scythe.

Seeing this, the man couldn't help but feel a mix of surprise and delight.

"Point!" The veteran shouted from just outside the ring, making the man slightly confident.

Meanwhile, David felt an excruciating pain tear at his abdomen. Biting his tongue lightly to distract himself from the pain, he kept one of his hands on the handle, holding it in place.

The man's eyes widened as he wasn't able to free his scythe.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked in a fumbling voice.

To which David smiled and replied, "You annoyed me a lot. Now it's your turn."

The next moment, he pushed the iron handle sideways as he closed the distance between them. Then without giving his opponent the time to react, David thrust the sword into the collar bone of the man.

The man in response grunted weakly and taking the moment of distraction, David rammed the hilt of his sword onto the man's weapon hand.

After that, for the next half minute, David rained down blows after blows on his opponent, kicking aside his scythe and making him crouch down on the ground.

'Had I been in that man's place, I am sure I would have felt a good sense of deja vü.' He thought, as the scene reminded him of his second match.

"Contestant 1024 wins the fight! And with his qualification, all matches for the three days long contest come to an end!"

A long round of applause and appreciation spilled forward from the crowd, all of whom had genuinely enjoyed watching the thousands of contestants fight it out in the ten different rings.

"Congratulations, big brother!" The nameless girl grinned with glee colouring her face.

"Thank you. Well, we both are now qualified for the Sihapi haha. Let's hope somewhere out there, Thorgar is also celebrating his own victory."

Her face turned slightly nostalgic, as she too nodded in agreement.

'I wonder what has become of our Shogun?'

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