Tyranny of Steel

The day after Ghazi's wedding, Berengar and the majority of his family flew back to the Reich. The only members who had not done so would have been both Ghazi and Alexandros, who were preparing to return to their respective realms.

With the annexation of Morocco and Tlemcen. The Iberian Empire had taken its first real step into a becoming a true Empire. They now had a solid hold over the western half of North Africa, and though there was much that needed to be done in terms of rebuilding Tlemcen into a proper Iberian province. Ghazi now held a sizeable Empire of his own.

If there was one major concern that Ghazi now had to deal with as a result of his recent annexations. It was the fact that practically overnight, the Muslim minority in the Iberian Empire had now become the majority, and this majority would only increase with each further conquest of an Arab state.

However, these were not any of Berengar's concerns, and thus, he returned to Germany in a relatively good mood. And while Berengar continued to maintain the development of the Reich as its Kaiser, as well as take an interest in his family. His sons and daughters, specifically those who were now entering adulthood, were beginning to journey out from the nest and become a contributing part of society.

Zara had long since graduated from university with a PhD in Astrophysics and Astronautical Engineering. Though she was lightly younger than a college freshman, she was, in fact, brilliant beyond her years. When the girl wasn't lounging about the Palace, she was at the headquarters of the German Space Program, working on designing the rockets which carried satellites into space. As well as any other major projects that the government needed her expertise on.

Once a week, Zara would go to the Grand Kufstein Arena and watch a fight in person. Whether that was boxing, kickboxing, submission grappling, or Kampf. She never failed to be entertained. Naturally, as the Kaiser's daughter, she made use of the VIP tickets, which were reserved for him and his family as the stadium owner.

Today, however, was a night that Zara had been waiting for, for a very long time. One she would not have been able to attend, if not for her brother Ghazi taking responsibility for her mischievous actions. Tonight, the Kickboxing Middleweight World Title was on the line, and it was a fight between two undefeated kickboxers.

Currently, the announcer was speaking into the microphone as he introduced the first fighter for the audience, and those who would be watching the event on television, whether that was in the comfort of their homes or at a bar.

"In the red corner, standing at 187cm and weighing in at 83 kgs, is the reigning champion! Fighting out of Marienburg, Prussia is Reiner "The Predator" Kuhn!"

Reiner was a relatively tall man, who frame was stacked with muscle. He had a scar over his face that looked like he had lost a fight with a bear and was not particularly good looking.

The crowd roared with excitement when the man was introduced. Until the next moment, when the announcer began to introduce the reigning champion's opponent.

"In the blue corner, standing at 193cm, and weighing in at 83 kgs, is the challenger. Fighting out Kufstein, Austria, by way of Neu Wien, Lindeheim, is Brandt "the Ripper" Zehntner!"

Unlike his opponent was a grizzled and rough man. Brandt was exceptionally more handsome. It was not common knowledge, but Zara knew that the man had received several offers to act as a model, but had refused to do so. Though Brandt was slightly taller than his opponent, he looked exceptionally bigger.

As an avid fan of the man Zara was all too aware of why this was the case. She suspected the man walked around at over 100 kgs when he was not in fight camp. If that were true, then it meant that he would cut close to 18 kgs for his fights. Giving him an enormous size advantage over his opponents. Weight cutting was a part of the fight game, but few men went to the lengths Brandt did.

If the crowd roared with thunderous applause for Reiner, then they went absolutely wild for the underdog of the event. While Brandt shadow boxed for the crowd, Zara went nuts screaming out from the top of the VIP booth in a voice so loud she thought that perhaps the fighter had actually heard her.

"I love you Brandt!"

However, nobody seemed to have noticed her scream of excitement, and instead the two fighters met up in the center of the ring, where the referee summarized the rules. After the ref had finished with his standard procedures, the two fighters touched their knuckles together, which were only protected by a combination of gauze and tape, before walking back to their respective corners.

The fight had begun, and Brandt, in his usual hyper aggressive style, took no time to seize the center of the ring, where Reiner stood toe to toe with the man. Without even bothering to feel out his opponent, Brandt threw a jab and a cross, followed by a roundhouse kick to the body.

Neither of the punches landed on the opponent, who quickly parried them, however, just when the leg kick was about to be checked by the defending champion, Brandt adeptly swung his foot up into the air and changed the roundhouse into a question mark kick, which smacked Reiner right in the face. Brandt did not allow the man to recover, as he immediately closed the distance with his hands and began to throw a jab, followed by an uppercut, before finally landing a knee straight in his opponent's gut.

Reiner knew going into this fight, that Brandt would not feel his opponent out, and would instead charge like a wild bull, throwing with everything he had from the get go, and even after all the preparations he had made, the champ was still pushed up against the ropes where a heavy overhand left connected with his jaw, sending him to down to the canvas within the first thirty seconds of the fight.

The crowd roared in excitement at the aggressive onslaught of the man they called the ripper, and with good reason. Every single one of Brandt's opponents had been left in a bloody mess by the end of their fights, and the crowd was beginning to believe that Reiner would be no exception.

Reiner was given a standing ten count, as Brandt went back to his corner to wait for the man to rise from his stupor. Which took no longer than five seconds. Once back in action, Reiner attempted to make a comeback with a heavy cross.

Perhaps in an act of intimidation, Brandt voluntarily lowered his hands and took the strike to the chin, where he proceeded to punch his own jaw with his fists, and shake his head as if it did not bother him in the sightest. Before Reiner even had a time to react he was kicked in the gut with a powerful rear teep kick, which caused him to fall back against the ropes.

Immediately Brandt grabbed hold of his opponent's head and clinched while sending a series of jumping knees straight into the man's gut, followed be a downward elbow, and a head butt. The elbow split open the top of Reiner's left eye, spilling blood onto himself and the canvas, while the headbutt knocked the man to the ground for the second time in the first round.

The crowd screamed out in joy, as they witnessed the most dominant champion in kickboxing history get knocked down for a second time within the first three minutes of the first round. If there was one more knockdown, then the fight was over, and Brandt would be awarded the title by a technical knockout.

However, Reiner had the heart of a warrior, and rose from the ground once more, this time after eight seconds. The blood which dripped into his eye prevented him from seeing clearly, and yet he was still determined to fight until he was no longer conscious.

Despite throwing everything he had into his strikes, Brandt did not even appear the least bit tired, and simply smirked at his opponent with a sadistic grin, while taunting him from his corner, with an elbow strike into the palm of his hand.

This further enraged Reiner, who once the ref had started the fight again, came charging out like a wild bull. The two men went at it, throwing punches, elbows, and knees, while standing toe to toe, and landing a number of their shots on one another. Both men refused to back up an inch, as they went at it like savages.

Just when Brandt landed a spinning elbow that staggered his opponent, the bell rang, and the first round was over. Despite the war the two men had just endured in the center of the ring, only Reiner looked like he had seen combat. There was barely a mark on the ripper, other than the blood of his opponent. With a sadistic grin Brandt walked back to his corner, who force fed him beer, while applying ice to his chiseled body.

As for Zara, she watched from the VIP booth with her amber eyes glittering with excitement. She did not believe that Reiner would spend the last thirty seconds having an all-out brawl with Brandt in the center of the ring. After all, such a thing would be considered foolhardy by anyone who knew the ripper's strengths.

But then again, Reiner only had two options, and that was either to stand in the center and brawl it out like a man, or be hounded across the ring like a little bitch until he was saved by the bell. Thus, her respect for the reigning champion grew marginally. Now all that was left was Round Two.