I don't want to watch this

I stood up and walked away.

There was no reason to watch this disgusting farce of a match any longer.

Some of the girls split up as well, clearly sharing my disgust. Sylphid, of course, remained.

Personally, I went upstairs to my bedroom. There was a large window here as well. The storm has settled by now, making way for a dull overcast sky with only the occasional droplets of rain.

The thought of what is currently happening so close to me made me sick. I pushed a button and the window closed it’s blinders.

Aiju and Sanakia joined me a little while later.

“My Lord...” began Sanakia while Aiju simply started to snuggle with me.

“Is the fight over?”, I asked.

“N-not yet”, Sanakia replied, clearly shaken herself. “It appears the Dark Lord wants to make Valkyrie surrender.”

I gently patted Aiju’s head.

It shouldn't upset me that much.

This is what the **** Tournament is all about after all. Valkyrie knew the risk. But Valkyrie does not deserve to be enslaved. She risked her life for us. If it wasn’t for her Aiju, Fisti, even Sylphid they would have all ended up becoming Ojou-sama’s slaves or worse.

I made it into the finals. The very pinnacle.

And yet, never once in this tournament felt I this powerless.

Perhaps there was still hope.

Valkyrie doesn't strike me as the type of person who would give in to any kind of ****. And she was bleeding heavily. She might die before Minerva could...

“Mari! Please!¨

Fisti rushed into the bedroom. Her face was white and panicked. “Lady Sylphid! She's...”

I didn’t need any more words. I dashed downstairs immediately.

I was just fast enough to see the elevator closing.

Shit!

“Sylphid, don’t move!”, I shouted as I ran towards the elevator, hoping that she was still close enough to hear the order.

“Valkyrie...she...she lost”, Fisti explained as I repeatedly pushed the elevator button. Of course it did nothing. The elevator was already steadily moving down. “The moment it happened Lady Sylphid just up and ran off!”

“W-where to?”, I asked.

What a stupid question!

I watched the indicator that showed that the elevator had reached the bottom and immediately called it back up.

Come on, get moving!

“My Lord, I am ready”, Sanakia stated brandishing her sword. “Just give the order and I...”

“You stay here, all of you”, I sharply told the three girls. “That goes for anyone else too.”

Aiju looked at me and meowed. “But...”

“No buts.”, I said firmly as the doors opened. Of course there was no Sylphid inside, so I moved into the cabin and called it down to below ground level. The descent felt like an eternity, even though it couldn’t have been more then ten seconds. But this is Sylphid we are talking about, with that much of a head start...

Once the elevator finally arrived underground, I ran into the vast tunnel network that snaked its way around the arena.

I need to get to Minerva’s tower. Sylphid shouldn’t have any access to it. Maybe I can still catch her in time.

Actually...was this the right way? Which one of these towers even belongs to Minerva? Don’t tell me she was already inside? But just as I was contemplating this Sylphid came running in my direction at full speed.

“S-Sylphid, wait!”

Thankfully, that did the trick. Sylphid came to a halt with a frustrating groan. “Don't get into my way, Handsome.” She growled, barely containing her bloodlust.

“First of all calm down.”

Sylphid did not like that, taking a disgusted shudder as the obedience spell forcefully altered her emotions. I tried to avoid doing something like this as much as possible but we certainly won’t get anywhere with her in this agitated state. I took a deep breath as well.“Look I get it but…”

Hold on.

Sylphid was running in my direction. That doesn’t really make any sense unless...

...

“Did you just run around blindly down here?”, I asked.

“I thought I might catch them”, came the somewhat sheepish response.

Has she forgotten that you get teleported directly to the tower? But this was good. It allowed me to at least stop her from doing anything insane. “And what do you intend to do once you caught them?”

“Saving Valk, obviously.”

Obviously.

“We are dealing with a Dark Lord.”, I reminded her. “You can't get in there guns blazing.”

“I know that.” But the impression on her face spoke another language. She was fully prepared to punch a Dark Lord in the face, consequences be damned.

“Listen I…” I tried to find the right words. “I know how you feel but…”

“No, you don’t”, Sylphid replied immediately. “You didn’t see what happened.”

“L-lets at least try to talk things out, right?”, I proposed. “They should be back in their tower by now.”

Of course, we had to find that first.

“Perhaps I might be of assistance, Master Beta?” Our maid Maria had casually caught up with us and looked at me with her usual polite smile.

“I thought I said to stay back”, I complained grumbling. “This is dangerous.”

Maria bowed politely. “I apologize for my impertinence. However, you will not be able to venture into Lady Margaret’s tower without a tournament success agent accompanying you.”

“Let’s go then.” Looks like Sylphid was adamant. And I owe Valkyrie at least that much.

Confronting a Dark Lord wasn’t exactly on my plans today but it should be fine as long as I keep a short leash on Sylphid. Dark Lord or not, I doubt Minerva will outright do something that causes her disqualification.

At least that was my hope.