How in the world did this happen? Likely a question Bucket would be asking himself repeatedly as the crowd was cheering excitedly from the sideline. Among them was the Exceed Nyancelot, observing the ongoing event with a smirk on his lips.

"And for the Grand Finale of today's tournament...." The announcer raised a hand into the air as drums resounded in the background. "The man who bench pressed the giants, threw the warriors off his mountain! He's biiiig... He's strong.... HE IS BUCKET!"

The crowd wildly chanted the man's name, clearly looking forward to the upcoming debut of their to be champion, while at the same time the announcer went back to speak. "Meanwhile: His opponent is one of the tiniest challengers we had today! However, don't let size deceive you, with a dagger in hand she can bring the NEED FOR SPEED! Let's have a applause for our challenger: LILY!"

Once more the crowd began to chant, and as the two combatants entered the arena the announcer spoke once more. "Remember: The rules are simple! No magic, first one to hit the floor and gets lights out loses! Or you can surrender, but nobody likes doing that so we rarely mention it... Anyway, let's begin!"

The announced exclaimed enthusiastically while Lily looked at Bucket, her lips curving up into a sheepish smile. "I guess I'm your last obstacle to winning that bet~ But don't expect me to go easy on you Papa Bucket~"

And with these words she dropped into a combative stance, her feet shifting lightly so she could easily put pressure on one leg or the other to break out in a dash at any time.

Lily blinked in bewilderment as Bucket properly put himself into a combat stance and proceeded to warn her, after which Lily shook her head firmly. "u-huh, even if it hurts, it be all better again when you pat my head when this fight is over~"

The girl's words were soft and gentle as she tightened her grip around her dagger. She needed to consider her approach carefully. Bucket looked tall and strong, so a frontal attack would likely be a bad idea against someone like him. She also didn't want to actually hurt Bucket, which was why she had asked for a local smith to make her dagger less sharp, a feat made possible thanks to the coating around the blade. Certainly, getting slashed by the dagger would still hurt, but it wouldn't leave any lasting scars.

When the signal was given the girl finally started to move, dashing toward Bucket at her lunging speed, wanting to keep the man from building speed and then once she got near him? She lunged diagonally toward his waist, intending to slide underneath his arms and slice toward his legs, hoping to reduce his mobility while turning around a few steps behind him. Whether her first attack had landed or not she would continue by turning around to face his back and lunge a second time, this time attempting to climb onto his back, unintentionally pressing her soft body against his back while whispering softly.

"It's alright Bucket~ I'm used to pain~ After all, I would only hurt someone if I was prepared to be hurt in return."

WC: 250/1500

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Left Arm: Mero Dagger
Right Arm:
Head: Mask of Evileye
Body: Fafnirskin
Cape:
Ring: Zachaeus Ring
Relic: Explorer's Belt
Necklace: Origins' Pendant
Earrings: Pyaar earrings
Upgraded Race: Athlas Elf
Modification: Tanimoto's kamui eyeDhan Galhoul's white eye
Companions:Nyancelot

Unfortunately the little elf proved to be quite a challenge to properly catch, for the moment Bucket attempted to grapple a hold of her, his initial attempt seemingly succeeded, his hands getting a decent grip on her shoulders, the moment he lifted her over his shoulders the dagger in her hands swept again, cutting into the flesh of his arms and likely reducing the amount of strength he could employ for his throw and following grapple. The throw did succeed, but the motion allowed her to wriggle free of his grip and soon bounced upright again.

She truly was quick on her feet! "Phew~ That was close~ Way too close~" Lily chimed softly as she felt the impact of the throw having damaged her armor a fair bit. Still, she was still in fighting condition, something the girl would display moments later as she dashed seemingly to his left side, but the moment it looked like she was going to try to lunge underneath his arms, she instead lunged diagonally toward his right, her dagger swooping back toward the side of his body and attempting to slice into his body to inflict more damage and weakening the gentle giant.

"I can see now~ These arms of yours possess the potential to destroy~ And yet I also feel they possess the potential to hold and protect that which you hold dear~"

WC: 230
Total WC: 480/1500

Lily had to admit she didn't expect the sudden change in the man's way of fighting. The entire rhythm of his motions changed, and that had caught her off-guard. Indeed, even if raised her dagger once more to slash at his arm, the attack did little to slow down Bucket's flow as his stretched arm slammed into her face. The girl had barely enough time to block some of the damage by raising her free hand in front of her face, but she could feel the pain of that attack. Such a savage attack! Reeling from the attack she attempted to recover, but by the time she did he already wept a leg at her, another colliding blow that made her stagger off-balance but instead of falling onto the ground she planted her hands onto the ground and did a flip with her legs, both likely crashing against Bucket's chin or torso if he didn't move out in time, and as she regained her footing she had barely made enough distance for a potential retaliation of the man.

"People can still fight to protect things! Even beasts driven by their instincts like wolves could still fight to protect their pack!"

The girl's grip on her dagger intensified as she took a deep breath, it seemed that whatever was about to come next, Lily would make sure her attack would count! Dashing in a beeline toward Bucket she did something most would think impossible: She jumped! In fact, she jumped four meters into the air, her body making a diagonal twist as she came with her dagger sweeping down toward the man's head, ahem bucket! Now it was just a matter of seeing whether her attack actually landed, or if Bucket had somehow expected her to pull a move like this...

WC: 300
Total WC: 780/1500

As her dagger came swooping down from above, she felt it hit the man's bucket head, but even then, it seemed something was driving Bucket onwards, to overcome the trials set before him. Perhaps it was for that reason the girl had not expected for Bucket to actually try to do a backwards body slam. Against another opponent it would likely have been far less efficient, but considering her small and light frame, the body slam came with the force of a cannon-ball! A soft pained cry came from the girl as she was rocketed backwards through the air, tumbling onto the ground with a slam as her body rolled along till it nearly looked like she was on the brink of being pushed out of the ring! A sudden stab of her dagger into the ground was made with all her might, making the crowd go silent for a moment as her body had barely remained within bounds.

The tension and excitement in the crowd was really reaching an all-high. Her mask and armor broken from taking the brunt of the blows and with a trail of blood dripping from the corner of her mouth the girl muttered softly. "Not yet..."

She tried to climb back onto her feet. First rising one leg up as she looked defiantly at her opponent. "I... promised to give my all." Another leg followed as she staggered back onto her feet. "Because..." She reached for her dagger, gripping it tightly as she ignored the painful throbbing in her arms and legs. God, her entire body was screaming in pain right now. But even then she couldn't give up. "Because..." A sudden lunge came, one that truly went at her fastest since the start of the fight, to the point it might had looked like she had teleported right in front of bucket! Her body was angled low, seemingly intending to try to finish it with an uppercut from her dagger.

"I WANT TO MAKE PAPA BUCKET PROUD!" The dagger went swooping with all its strength, and if it landed against Bucket's body would glow a faint golden light as the power concealed within the weapon would activate! It was truly a last effort attack, for if he had somehow been able to avoid this surprise attack or endure it, he would find that she would be left wide open for a counter attack from her opponent!

Nyancelot was looking with fright in his eyes at the battle, the crowd had gone entirely silent as they all waited to see the outcome of the match. Whoever would win this battle, it was clear that both fighters had made quite a name for themselves at the island!

Still, amidst this all Lily couldn't help but feel a certain adrenaline rush, because for the first time ever she had found a purpose, a reason to fight. Even if it had been something as simple as wanting to get Bucket to pat her head... It was still a reason!

WC: 500
Total WC: 1280/1500

The member 'Lily' has done the following action : Spin

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'Dice 100' : 36

With her dagger hitting its target, she wasn't sure what to expect. Would Bucket brace through it and launch another attack? If he did, she would had fallen for sure! Yet the attack he launched was narrowly missing her, and when these words left his lips Lily's eyes widened as she snapped out of her combat-induced daze. "Bucket?! Bucket!!!" She cried out in a panic as the man collapsed, calling the end of their confrontation. For Bucket it must had felt like hours might had passed, but even after he would regain enough strength he would notice a few peculiar things: First and foremost, there seemed to be no sign of his injuries. What should had become scars was carefully bandaged up, and remnants of an ointment were visibly spread across his injuries. Meanwhile a light weight was weighting him down, a look down to his torso soon confirming that underneath the blanket Lily had been resting her head on his chest, dozing happily.

"She tended to your wounds after the match. Something about using the price money to get you treatment and more ice cream." The Exceed was seated next to Bucket's bed, looking at the man with his feline eyes gazing intensely at him. "You both did put up a crazy fight, was on the edge of my paws the entire fight! But for now let's have her rest a little longer, shall we?"

WC 230
Total WC: 1500/1500