Chains Of Pride

The deafening cheers of the audience reverberated throughout the entire venue. The atmosphere was heated, and the crowd was ready to witness one of their favourite pastimes, Engage. But there appeared a blight towards this otherwise momentous occasion.

"Hey, doesn't it seem a bit weird that team Proelius is a bit late, shouldn't they be out by now?" A digium within the crowd leaned over to his friend.

"Now that you mention it yeah, Perbia Academy's team has been out for some time now, but I don't see Proelius anywhere in sight, I wonder if something's wrong?"

Within the grounds of the arena stood a group of fighters, the Armis they all wore were of a deep red colour, the one in front was red as well, but it also gave off a strange golden glow. The wearer inside released a sullen sigh.

"Don't disappoint me, Setamaru Lanzo."

"Captain Himiya they won't disqualify us or anything for being late will they?" A Proelius team member by the name of Gevernil Kyver asked nervously.

The Captain didn't even turn around when he heard the question before shaking his head saying. "Don't worry, even if the faculty members wanted to, which they don't. Perbia Academy's Team Reiger would never allow it."

Kyver only grew more curious and continued questioning, "Never allow it? What do you mean?"

It was only then that he found it weird that he was the only asking questions and the only one who seemed nervous about being late. Usually such a slight would end up with the team in question to be disqualified.

"Perbia is here for war, not a meaningless win, and it's the same with us. You're new here, so I get you being a bit confused, but as soon as the sequence starts, you'll know what I mean, so shut up and fight when the time comes."

The Captain displayed a rare grin when he said this, and the sound of knuckles cracking could be heard through the suit as he tightened his fists.

"Hmph funny, hey Captain Magenai they're asking us if we wish to have Proelius disqualified since they're late and all. Whaddya wanna do?" a red-clad member walked up beside the Captain staring at the other side with a smirk.

"Civik why are you here? You're stalling the engine." Captain Magenai replied.

Haleo Civik, this was the name of the man who came up to the Captain's side, he was also the ace of their team.

"C'mon Cap why so stern, you're hurting your ace's feelings y'kno? Besides, you know I already gave em an answer anyway."

The Captain didn't react much to this knowing there was only one answer that would be given, "Good, now assume your position, my engine needs to rev, and we're about to start."

"About time! Alright, guys get ready, you know the plan, just like always. Don't get in the Captain's way and you're golden." Civik passed down the order to the rest, not like it ever changes.

"There they are! It's Captain Himiya and Proelius, they're finally here!" The moment team Proelius exited the entrance that led to the arena's terrain, the cheers from before instantly intensified.

" …Finally, making us wait like this, now I can bash Genju's face in." Civik said with a raving expression.

Team Reiger had always been Cendo Academy's fiercest competitor and was of now their second to last fight before the season ends.

Though the cheers from the audience were intense, the group of fighters heard and saw nothing save for each other. Even Pelerion donned a stern demeanour, as he knew the importance of this match.

Cendo and Perbia Academy were long-time rivals in almost every field and Engage was no exception. In fact, Engage was one of, if not, the most intense of them all.

Though Cendo always came out on top, against Perbia Academy, it was ever by the skin of their teeth. Hence the turnout for this specific match.

"Magenai Tamashi, ready to lose? Or does that engine of yours need more time to rev?" Captain Himiya said as he and his team now stood opposite Team Reiger on the other side of the arena.

"Captain Himiya, don't act like you don't know how this dance goes, where's your ace? Mines ready and rearing to go! As for me, I can feel his presence, and my engine's already turned over and set to cause some chaos!" replied Captain Magenai.

As everyone awaited the fated moment, a floating platform slowly descended and suspended itself a few feet above the terrain. A female digium wearing tight-fitting clothing who looked to be in her mid-twenties could be seen.

"Oooh look! It's Faricee Cexi! Man, I would pay anything to be her clothes."

The platform began to glow, and through the platform, she began speaking in a voice that was heard throughout the stadium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, here we are yet again for another Engage Sequence! This will be against two of the greatest powerhouses of this generation! Team Proelius and Team Reiger! We will bear witness to a bout that I'm sure will become the gold standard that Engage could ever provide. So hold onto your seats and don't blink! We wouldn't want you to miss a thing!"

"And as a treat, instead of a match based sequence, it will be a battle-royale where they all clash head to head," Cexi stated with a wide smile. The two Engage teams could choose the format in which they chose to fight, in this case, both sides settled on a battle royale setting.

The noise from the audience rose to another level when they heard it was to be a battle royale Engage sequence. A face-punching, ass-kicking, no holds barred free for all! What could be better?!

She looked over the teams and saw that they had finished with their preparations and placements. With a big grin plastered on her face, she announced, "Sequence Lock! Fighters Engage!"

When those words dropped, the cheering heightened once more, and the fighters wasted no time to give them what they wanted.

The terrain chosen for this sequence was of a hilly variety. Many boulders and uneven footing extended all over the arena's grounds to make it even more difficult for the two teams and more exciting for the audience.

"Hahaha! Here I come Team Proelius, prepare yourself!" The one who shouted and started to sprint ahead of everyone else to meet the opposing team was Haleo Civik.

He began to evade and dodge all the incoming attacks from the members of Team Proelius heading to one specific person.

"Huh?! Wait, why is the ace of that team going for the Captain?! Shouldn't he be going for our ace instead?" A digium in the stands said to his friend.

His friend replied, saying, "Oh, this setup? That would be true for other Engage Sequences, but not against these two behemoths."

The digium hammered him again, asking, "What do you mean? I thought the ace of each team was supposed to be the best all-around fighter. Capable of defeating other regular engage fighters easily."

Without taking his eyes off the battle in front of him, the digium replied, "Well, the thing is, the Captain is said to be leagues above his fellow fighters; hence them being Captain. While the ace is capable of defeating his own Captain, so you can only imagine how powerful the aces are. But…damn that was close! That was close hahahaha!"

His friend looked at him, waiting for him to continue, "But? …But what?"

"Damn it! Next time I'm coming by myself, do I have to explain everything?! They got a longtime rivalry that turned that unspoken rule of ace vs ace inside out! Now please, just shut up and watch!"

"Sheesh can't blame a guy for wanting to know something, hmph." His friend, though feeling a bit indignant, stopped talking and began to take in the marvel in front of him.

Boom!!

A massive explosion spread out from where two fighters clashed only a little earlier.

"Everyone back off! He's mine, go and keep the rest of Team Reiger busy!" The one who spoke was Captain Himiya. He was wearing a serious expression as he squared off against the man in front of him.

"Hehe Captain Himiya what's this, have you gotten stronger since the last time?! That's good, it'd be boring if you weren't good enough for me to even warm up on." Haleo Civik stated as he stared back at the opposing Captain.

"Please, you know as well as I do that we're only keeping each other busy so those two can go wild against each with no interference. I don't want that crazy-ass Captain of yours against any of my other fighters, just like you don't want my ace touching any of yours."

When Civik heard who was being mentioned, his expression became solemn as he asked, "Where is he?"

The Captain nodded to the back. "He's over there, doing his thing."

Over in the distance, within Proleius's camp was a fighter who was jumping in place. After a while, he began to slow down while his gaze locked in the direction of Captain Magenai, who stared back.

Captain Magenai started walking towards him as Lanzo did the same, untouched by the war that surrounded them. "You done warming up, Setamaru Lanzo? If you are, then come at me!"

"Hehe, I feel light." After Lanzo said this, he suddenly disappeared.