Magic Trick

[Trick's PoV]

"AAAAAARGH!"�

Every groan made by Janardan pierces my ear. Karo seemed to be enjoying this psychological torture she's doing to the poor Indian. It's totally terrifying, and I couldn't even tell how much it would be to Janardan.

The soul continued to speak. "So, yeah, you raped your sister… and it started when she was twelve… She didn't even have her first period yet, but you made her bleed… and told her it's normal… Luckily for you, you learned how to delete memories at a very young age, so you deleted the memory of piercing your penis to her vagina, so not even your parents would notice… And you did it several times when you're bored… When you're horny… When you're stressed… And no one would even notice…"�

"Stop!" Janardan hit his head on the ring and her forehead bled.�

"I'll make it easy for you," Karo said as she pointed her wand to Janardan's body. "Aegrumicta!"

In just a blink of an eye, Janardan's entire body bled as wounds automatically appeared in his skin, like it was cut with a thousand knives. Janardan shrieked and his entire body dropped like a piece of a pebble on the ring.�

Then, after a while…

"Vulnoperio," Karo uttered, as the wounds surprisingly healed in just seconds. What is she trying to do? Is Karo done torturing his mind? She's already starting with the physical torture.�

She nodded to the soul form of Janardan and it spoke once more, "Oh, let's talk about your unborn brother, from your mother's womb! It's a miracle that at the age of 45, your mother finally conceived a real son. A real Anthony! But… you orchestrated a way to kill that unborn child. You made her drink a special concoction that breaks the skull of the fetus before it fully develops. That is why your mother thought it was just an abnormal phenomenon, considering that the pregnancy was way too late for her age. Unfortunately, the baby died inside her womb… and it's your fault."

"No… No! Stop it! Stop it now! Please! I beg you! Stop revealing all my secrets!" Janardan cried as he could barely stand because of the emotional pain he's suffering right now.�

Ruthless as she is, Karo shouted again, "Aegrumicta!"�

Janardan had those cuts once more all over his body. His groans were next to lifelessness. It's as if he already lost hope.

"Kill… Me… Now…" Janardan whispered.�

"Your wish is my command," Karo then pointed her wand towards Janardan's head and shouted, "Bestia Vocare!"�

From the tip of her wand, a large beast which is similar to a gorilla appeared, then it went towards Janardan and ripped off his limbs… then, it gulped his body like it was just eating roast chicken.�

Mixed reactions enveloped the entire dome. That was really a cruel move by Karo. She was really good at it.�

Most of the audience couldn't look at what the gorilla was doing. Fei, on the other hand, had both of his eyes locked, like he wasn't disgusted at all, but he wasn't enjoying it. He kept on reacting, of course, with a disappointed sigh. I can only peek at his face as I lay on his chest. I really couldn't watch Janardan die like that.�

"Evanesca!" Karo yelled towards the two entities, the blood and the shadow, fighting. All of a sudden, the shadow diminished and the blood evaporated. The gorilla also disappeared after it fed on Janardan's body.�

Jang-mi approached the microphone and announced the winner, "Due to the absence of our other fighter, the winner of this match is… Karo Donnelly of the Edinburgh team. This means that the Edinburgh team qualifies for the next part of the competition. Now, for the next bout, a decision has been made by the council and I would like to invite right now, the appointed chairman of the Board of Council of WOCOSO, Mr. Jager Borg, to bring more details to this change."

It only took seconds before Jager Borg arrived at the microphone. "Dear virtual audience, participants, and the rest of the people who are involved in The Krieg, I thank you all for having the first few fights more interesting than what we expected. Therefore, the council decided to speed up the process. We would like to change the schedule of the fights. Starting tomorrow, we will be having a cluster battle… daily! Yes, we are not following the every two days schedule anymore. Tomorrow, we will witness the cluster battle between…"

The teams' pictures appeared on the screen and it stopped with…

"The Manila Team!" Jager Borg shouted.

Taki, Taka, and Uncle Bo approached the ring and waved to all of us in the audience.�

"And they are against… Berlin Team!" Jager Borg yelled.

Three women went down the ring and they looked austere. They didn't even greet the Marasigans.

"That's for tomorrow, Tuesday. Now, on Wednesday, we have…" The teams' pictures shuffled once more and it appeared… "We have the Kingdom of Merizem versus the Lagos Team!"�

Both Tiberion's team and the Nigerian team went to the ring and shook hands. At least, they're somehow friendly, unlike the German ladies.�

"For Thursday, we have... the Milan team!" Jager Borg announced.

"Yeah!" Salvatore stood up excitedly and walked with Benedetta and Belaflore towards the ring.�

Jager Borg cheered them too. "Milan team, get ready. Your opponent on Thursday would be… the Kathmandu team!"

� The team from Nepal looked meek. It's not that they're not friendly, but they just nodded at Salvatore and the rest of the Milan team.�

"And on Friday… Surprise! The announcement of the next battle will be on the same day! Friday!" Jager Borg said. "Ain't it fun?"�

All of the audience cheered at the new announcements. Somehow, I feel okay as Ellis and I weren't called yet. However… The remaining teams include… The Swedes… The Russians… The K/oreans… These are the people that Fei warned us about.�

"Thank you and see you all tomorrow, same time, here at the dome!" Jager Borg said, and he left the microphone stand.�

"There you go, folks. We got the new directive from the council. I'm thrilled! What about you, partner?" Shamil asked Furkan.

Furkan replied, "I'm super thrilled as well, although today's match was terrifying. Can we expect the same bloody battle in the next few days to come? This is Furkan Stylianos…"

"And this is Shamil Mariyam, signing off for now… See you tomorrow, everyone!" Shamil said.

"What a turn of events, yeah?" I heard Fei say. Maybe he was trying to calm me down. Somehow, the announcements took away the trauma that I had with Karo and Janardan's match.�

"Yes, but I and Ellis haven't been called yet," I told him.

"You'll be fine. I promise. Whoever you're against, I know you'll do well. Both you and Ellis," Fei encouraged.�

"Thanks, sweetie," I murmured.�

After the battle, all of our good friends, we went to the forest to discuss the game plans in the succeeding days to come. I wanted to observe too so that I can get some techniques for the matches.�

"Uncle Bo, it's like you'll be against the mother, Rosamund Jung," Fei said.�

"I'd rather take either one of the girls," Uncle Bo said.�

"Dad!" Taki shouted.

"Why? You know I like younger-looking girls, that's why I liked your mother. Have you seen the mother's face? I would think she's the grandmother of the two girls with that serious look," Uncle Bo joked.�

All of us laughed, but kidding aside, Auntie Belaflore looked worried.�

"Hey, Zia Belaflore, what's bothering you?" Haru asked.�

"Well… The three Nepalese kids… It's like they're mysterious. I couldn't tell if they're as cruel as the Donnellys or as calm and collected like Fei, Jia, and Haru," Belaflore confessed.�

"Mamma, come on, you always worry about everything," Benedetta scoffed.�

Tiberion spoke and tried to lift up the spirits of Belaflore. "Yeah, no need to worry about them. I ain't even worried about the Nigerians' big black c--"

"Cosh?" Jia spoke right away, which made everyone giggled.�

"I was about to say clubs, but cosh should be fine," Tiberion snickered.

"But the big question is… who's it gonna be on Friday?" Salvatore uttered.�

Taka opened up an idea, "Hey, Trick, Ellis, in case you guys were called to fight on Friday, are you ready?"

"I say they should be ready," Ellis clicked her fingers. "I'd be slaying all of the fighters like I slayed all of my competitors on the runway."

Everyone cheered, then they all turned to me. "To be honest, after all I've witnessed so far, I don't know. Ellis might be confident, but I am actually feeling half-hearted. I'm like a glass with water, which could be half-empty or half-full. However, one thing's for sure. I'm not killing anyone. I can't kill a person's life, no matter how brutal they may be to me. I'll find a way to win without putting someone into their dreadful death."

"We don't intend to do that, Trick, but when worse comes to worst, by hook or by crook, come hell or high water, we'll do whatever it takes to win, even if it means burying them six feet under," Uncle Bo seriously spoke.

"Ooh, Dad, spoken like a true macho," Taka praised his father.

Yet Taki added, "But when you hear Mom shout like a rapid machine gun, you turn into a tame little hamster."

Uncle Bo brought out his whip, similar to Taki's which is made of stingray's tail. "What did you say?"

Then, Taki ran as fast as he could, while Uncle Bo chased him. That was a lovely father-and-son moment, but the other twin's question remains…

Are Ellis and I ready if we're called on Friday?