All throughout the Official Beast Tournament, Satoshi had always been placed in the first match, and somehow, he was getting really used to it. While Luke Skyrunner and the commentator insisted that the matchups were randomly generated by a computer, the audience assumed otherwise. After all, there was no way someone would get that many 'firsts' without someone rigging the matchups or something.
Of course, there was no way that the event organizers would rig the matchup, but they couldn't refute the accusations since that's what really happened. Somehow, Satoshi was always on the first match in all the previous rounds. That's why, for the first time during the Official BEast Tournament, the event organizers brought it upon themselves to rig the matchups.
As usual, Satoshi was in the first match, and he was matched against a certain someone named Yun Zhe. There was no doubt that the audience who had been waiting for the two of them to go head to head against each other would be so invested in their match.
The event organizers wanted to milk their rivalry as much as they could, and that's why they rigged the matchups. Instead of putting Satoshi in the first match of the semifinals as per the choice of the randomly generated matchups, they decided to put Satoshi in the second match.
Furthermore, they also changed the matchups by putting Satoshi against Kim Jin Seok and putting Yun Zhe against White Mist. If anyone were to find out that they rigged the matchups just so they could peak in viewerships, they'd be frowned upon by the country, or worse, they'd be frowned upon by the whole world. Regardless, they went with the plan. There was no turning back now since it had already happened.
With this, the final matchups ended with White Mist and Yun Zhe in the first match and Satoshi against Kim Jin Seok in the second match.
.....
With the cornucopia of questions in his head, coupled with a bunch of conclusions that he thought up while contemplating what just transpired in the men's restroom, Satoshi paced back and forth, trying to wrap his head around the recent events.
A part of him didn't want to believe that a man named Bucky Barnes just so happened to be a Manager, and he went out of his way to warn him of the grim future that Earth has. Then again, there's a big part of him that convinced his mind to every word that the suspicious Manager relayed to him. There was no way he'd just outright say something as a joke. If any, the destruction of the entire world, no, the entire dimension cannot be considered a joke.
In one way or another, what Bucky Barnes said will most likely happen, and the reason why he warned Satoshi out of all people was because of his potential.
"So I only have three months... at most... but why? Why do I need to do something about this?" He muttered to himself while he paced back and forth in the waiting room. "Ah, I knew it! I should probably tell the SAO about it, surely, they'll believe me, and they'll do something about it. There's no way I can fight against this supposed World Eater all by myself."
Heaving a sigh, Satoshi collapsed on the couch as he watched the live stream of the semifinals. Everyone was focusing on the match, everyone except him. He didn't want to think about the information that his Manager gave him... but his mind just defaulted into thinking about it; he couldn't help it.
"I'll just tell Yun Zhe about this. I won't tell him where I got the information, but I'm going to talk to him about it. Surely, he knows a thing or two about this World Eater." Satoshi muttered to himself.
...
Back at the grand stage in the middle of the American Dome.
Butterflies settled in White Mist's stomach as he lingered by the entrance to the grand stage. He breathed in and out, trying to calm his nerves as he stole a glance towards the audience who had been cheering their names. The pressure was finally catching up on him, and he felt a tad bit nauseated.
If it weren't for his luck, he wouldn't have gotten this far. There was something about that fact that made him feel guilty. Somehow, he managed to get to the semifinals even though he had great difficulty controlling his Dual Beast Integration. He knew that he didn't deserve to be in his current spot, but he had no choice but to accept it. He didn't really have that much of a choice, though.
"Get it together, White Mist. You're in the semifinals, for Pete's sake." He muttered to himself with bated breaths.
Luke Skyrunner and the commentator were having a blast describing both White Mist and Yun Zhe before they were given the cue to enter the grand stage. While all that was going on, White Mist was on the verge of shaking in his boots.
"Allies during the third round, and now they're back in the same grand stage as enemies. Let's give it up for Yun Zhe and White Mist!"
Three minutes had passed, and Yun Zhe and White Mist were finally called in. Putting up a false bravado, White Mist wore a smile on his face as he confidently walked in with a purposeful gait. He waved his hand towards the audience, trying his best not to stare too much at their expressions since it would just mentally affect him and his overall performance.
As for Yun Zhe, he, too, started waving toward the audience, but he had a calmer smile on his face. He was going to win this match; he was sure of it. The match is basically over at this point.
"Let's have a great match." White Mist was the first one to greet Yun Zhe.
"Sure, let's have a great match."
With the formalities out of the way, the referee once again assumed his position by the edge of the grand stage before he gave them the signal to start. He could feel the intensity of the two contestants even when he had already distanced himself from them. 'this is going to be a great match.' The referee muttered to himself.
"Start!"
"Death Metronome, Jurah, White Wolf, we're going to win this together, all right? I'm counting on you." White Mist didn't hesitate to summon three of his most formidable, tamed beasts. He wasn't going to stall for time. This was his only chance of winning, and he was willing to give it all he got in order to have a chance at getting to the finals.
"You're going to pull out all the stops, huh? Then don't mind if I do too."
"Primordial Excalibur, Golden Armored Bug, Steel Tapir, Steel Fairy. You know what to do, right?" Yun Zhe asked, summoning his Representative as well as his three other tamed beasts for his signature Quad Beast Integration.
"No, you won't!" White Mist immediately integrated with his Death Metronome, putting a curse on the nearest tamed beast. He managed to put a curse on the Primordial Excalibur.
A satisfactory smile formed on White Mist's face as he realized that he had lucked out. Not only did he successfully curse one of the four tamed beasts that Yun Zhe needed for his epic transformation, but he also got the strongest of them all, the Primordial Excalibur.
He wasn't the only one smiling, though. As it turned out, Yun Zhe was also smiling. In fact, he was even on the verge of bursting his lungs out from laughter.
"Bell curse cuts the hp of a tamed beast to one, but in return, they put a curse on their opponent, which would disable them from attacking your Death Metronome. Also, there's a time constraint on the curse, so my Primordial Excalibur would faint either way." Yun Zhe explained as he pulled out another tamed beast from his possession.
"But the thing is... your Death Metronome can only use the Bell Curse once a day, right? And I hate to break it up to you, but... the Primordial Excalibur is immune to curses." Yun Zhe continued. "Let's go, Ghoulst; help me out here."
Before White Mist could recover from what Yun Zhe had just said, Yun Zhe summoned the final piece for his epic transformation. Apparently, the Quad Beast Integration is child's play for Yun Zhe, and the fifth tamed beast of the Exodia: The Forbidden One had finally surfaced.
"This is the fifth tamed beast that would complete my transformation." Yun Zhe announced, putting forth his hands toward five of his tamed beasts.
"Behold! Penta Beast Integration!!!"
Bright light once again enveloped the grand stage, but it was even brighter than ever before. The striking blind light filled the entire dome, causing the people to turn away or cover their eyes because it stung.
By the time the light dissipated, Yun Zhe could be seen floating in mid-air with his usual mecha transformation. As usual, he had the mecha wings, the gigantic mecha steel ring behind him, and the sword and shield paired with his armor.
This time around, though, a ghastly shadow appeared behind him, its shadowy smoky hands outstretched as if hugging him from behind.
"What on... Penta Beast Integration? Is such a thing even possible?" White Mist's eyes widened as he despaired, looking at Yun Zhe, who overpowered him in all the right places.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢