Rings of Honor

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Warlord Condextint "Dexter" Montoya faced Cristian de Oro for the Overlord crown barely two weeks after Cris himself had taken it. Though rarely seen of late in the Arena, Dex proved quickly and efficiently that his skill had not waned with his absence. In a best-of-three match, he took the first two duels 5-2 in ten rounds and 5-3 in seven.

Almost as quickly as his challenge had come to the last Overlord, a challenge faced him, from Baroness of the Third Jaycynda Ashleana. Her reasons were stated as the six-month aniversary of her original challenge for the Third, and because she felt Dex's absense from the rings prior to his challenge to Cris unbefitting. Disputes ranged widely about Jaycy's challenge, both because her own dueling record at the time was below the fifteen wins-over-losses that is the standard for a Warlord, and because of problems with the earlier challenge in which she won the Third ring. As debate and insult flew among the community, the Overlord and the Baroness kept themselves to the heart of the matter, dealing solely with the challenge before them and letting insinuation and accusation pass without notice.

The particulars of the match took longer than is typical to settle, and it was the end of the month before the two actually met in the ring. The Overlord chose to Test the Baroness with long-time champion of many Overlords past, Billy Ray Karnafexx, who had only recently returned to the Arena. The Baroness chose to champion her cause a younger but equally cocksure braggart, Jesse Troyan. Wagers had long been proposed of what would happen if these two should meet, and facing each other in this manner promised an unusual treat for those watching. The two "bad boys" did not disappoint the crowd as the duel stretched to eleven rounds. But in the end younger blood won out, Jesse defending Jaycy's right to challenge with a 5.5-3 victory.

The Overlord toyed with the idea of delaying his own match against the Baroness for the two weeks allowed by the rules after a Test of Worthiness, though it seemed with this he was more testing a knowledge of the rules. In the end he and the Baroness fought immediately. Their duel was a hard and agressive test of determination and skill, leaving both bruised and battered in the sudden-death tenth round. The round, and the title Overlord, were secured by Dex when he expertly slipped under Jaycy's cut to take the win.

Warlord Unagi Miyamoto did not wait long to take his turn at challenge. Ten days after defending his crown against Jaycynda, the Overlord took to the ring against this latest challenger. Obscurity was apparently a specialty of Dex's; he chose to fight the Warlord in a one-shot match, a method not used outside of Warlord Tourney winners since the best-of-three option had been instilled two and a half years before. It was a decision, possibly, the Overlord would come to regret. After traded cuts in the first round, the Warlord quickly took a commanding three-point lead. As quickly as it began, it was over, dual thrusts giving the Duel of Swords its 32nd Overlord, Unagi Miyamoto, winner by 5-2 in six rounds.