But he endured.
As the only male in the entire team, Roland stood like an iron wall in front, creating a stage for the perfect bloom of the Flower Sea Elves.
The victory was theirs, but also his.
Roland raised his shield and scepter, spat out a mouthful of bloody froth, and teased with a feigned nonchalance:
"We are..."
"Champions!"
Sif picked up where Roland left off, her mind drifting to the stage play of the Elf Empress returning home, and further back to encounters from the beginning of the prose competition.
The battle on the outskirts continued, but that was the bronze division and had nothing to do with them.
Christine and others beckoned the Transcendents from their camp into the Flower Sea, waiting for the results to be tallied.
She didn't rush out to kill some lucky Transcendents to boost her ranking.
It's better to leave a line behind, rather than make enemies of the whole world.
