Demon Lord's Reincarnation

Lara was looking at the bright blue sky and felt great relief. It was a beautiful sight to behold as her body was laid on the ground unmoving her mana supply was near empty and her stamina was at rock bottom.

It was obvious now that she had lost and her whole body was aching and was in great pain, yet the sensation within her was the best she felt in years. She was able to pour everything she had in this match and more. 

'I guess I'm not there yet, so many places I need to improve on. I already understood that Valdel was above me having that destiny of a hero. He was also the one chosen alongside Ren by that mythical weapon shop... Still, I might have lost now but that won't be the same in the future.' Lara felt elated this wasn't the end, she will grow stronger from here on out. As she was thinking about ways to improve, Lara found it strange that Valdel's victory was still unannounced. 

'Did something happen to Valdel?...' Without being able to move Lara had no way of knowing, she couldn't even use mana sensing in her current condition. All she could do now was to wait for Henrietta's announcement. 

...

While Lara was wondering what was happening, Valdel was on his knees panting heavily. In this fight, Valdel had exerted too much force and mana as he needed to change the direction of the sword energy he unleashed. If that sword energy were to hit the barrier that was protecting the audience, the barrier would've been obliterated. Once that was gone hundreds of people would have died. 

So as a last-ditch effort Valdel pushed the sword energy upward into the air. The barrier wasn't protecting the area above so the sword energy just kept on going higher beyond the clouds. 

After he had safely diverted his sword energy he felt all of his energy being drained and knelt onto the ground. While he was catching his breath Valdel noticed that Lara on the ground and that her breathing was even heavier than his. Valdel wanted to check on her but the moment he thought of moving he found out that he couldn't. 

Valdel tried to stand up but his legs weren't listening to him and remained unresponsive. Sweat trickled down his face as he continued to breathe heavily. He pushed himself more he felt his energy being drained quicker but it didn't matter, he was truly worried about Lara's condition. He made sure that the sword energy wouldn't hurt her, but what if he made a mistake, Ren would never forgive him if something was to happen to Lara. While Valdel was struggling to stand up the audience was silently watching. 

The whole fight was unbelievable, who knew that close-quarters combat could reach such a level. It was even more spectacular to watch than watching a multitude of spells being fired. 

Henrietta and the others who had increased the density of the barrier were also exhausted but not as exhausted as Lara and Valdel. They stared at the stage with wide eyes, those two attacks were not any weaker than legendary forbidden spells. 

...

Henrietta looked with excitement and yearning, she was truly amazed by how powerful the clash between the two opposing energies were. It was so pure and destructive that just being near it made her feel like death was upon them. 

Henrietta saw that Lara was laying on the ground her eyes were opened but she wasn't moving. Valdel, on the other hand, was kneeling his hands were touching the ground as he panted heavily. 

Both of them were down and a winner could only be decided if one of them stands up. As it was unclear if they still had the energy to even move, Henrietta decided that for now, she needed to wait. If they couldn't stand up after a few more minutes then she would declare this match to be a tie. 

...

Valdel struggled to push himself up, but each attempt he made resulted in him falling down again and again. Still, Valdel didn't give up as he gritted his teeth. After a few more times of falling Valdel was able to stand up, but was unable to move a single step forward. It took everything he had to simply stand up. 

"Valdel is now up! If Lara doesn't get up in the count of ten, Valdel will be the winner of this match. I'll begin the count now, ONE!" 

When Lara heard what Henrietta said she finally understood what had happened. Same as her Vadlel was exhausted and should have been on the ground like her, but unlike her, he didn't give up and stood up. 

When Lara thought of how Valdel struggled to stand up despite his exhausted state, it made her feel inadequate. She kept on nagging at Valdel telling him that he hadn't learned much from Ren, but the truth was now out in the open, his actions spoke louder than words. 

'He might do things differently, but deep down he understood better than I did...' Lara bit her lips and then yelled at her body to move. She flipped her body and now her belly was on the ground, she looked at Valdel who was standing while breathing heavily. Lara placed her hands onto the ground and tried to push her body upward. 

Valdel looked at how much his childhood friend was struggling and wanted to help her up but he could no longer move it was already a miracle that he was able to stand. 

Lara was now in a kneeling position when she suddenly heard the screams of the audience. She looked around confused, what happened? After a second the answer was given to her. 

"I repeat the winner of the amazing match IS VALDEL! Due to Lara being unable to stand within the count of ten, Valdel wins!" 

When Lara heard that announcement she looked at Valdel and said, "next time I'll be the winner." After saying those words Lara fell to the ground and slept. 

Valdel looked at his fallen childhood friend and smiled, a few seconds later he too fell to the ground and started sleeping.