"TWO!"
The crowd shouted the second countdown loudly and cheerfully.
The enormous voices rolled through the Arena, filling every section as hundreds of thousands of spectators leaned forward in anticipation of the next exchange.
Cyrus kept looking at Maxwell.
The boy standing across from him was practically brimming with excitement. His eyes were fixed on Cyrus with an eagerness that was difficult to miss, and the longer Cyrus looked at him, the more he felt that this fight was going to become unbelievably troublesome.
Maxwell wasn't excited simply because he had finally reached another opponent.
He was excited because that opponent was Cyrus.
Especially because Cyrus was a Flame Alchemist, and ever since they had first interacted, Cyrus had always given Maxwell the feeling that there was something he was hiding.
Something about him never felt completely straightforward.
This excitement I'm seeing from Maxwell's eyes…
Cyrus stared at him for another moment.
