The Duke and Duchess of Physiy are in attendance today… Clearly the matters that occur here are of international importance but it is unusual to see the representatives of the secluded forest Kingdom here in the Archipelago. And what a match to join us for! The number 1 seed, Dark Lord, is coming out for the first time in this contest, and as it enters the stadium a low, dark, throat-based chant erupts spontaneously for the audience - some members of the Cult of the Dark One are in attendance, clearly. It’s up against Killing Joke, the sixth-seed, who it met once before back in Bout 16 - that one went Dark Lord’s way - will there be an upset now?

Dark Lord has reconfigured around a massive howitzer while Killing Joke remains unchanged.

And they’re off!

Dark Lord pulls out the stops using its nox tank to rip off a huge salvo from that howitzer before Killing Joke even has a chance to react - god, that gun is mighty! It rips into Killing Joke’s shell like it was nothing, leaving a chunk of chassis smoulering and bubbling on the arena floor! Killing Joke isn’t out of this though, it closes into position 7 - oh, but that’s not wise, that’s exactly within range of Dark Lord’s axe, which comes swinging out from the side of the chassis and takes another chunk out of Killing Joke’s armour, and, finding a vulnerability, seems to have rattled some damage into the engine as well.

Surely there’s no way back from this?

Well, no, there isn’t - because it seems like Killing Joke is disabled - it looks like the initial Howitzer blast rattled the chassis of Killing Joke Loose, meaning that the axe strike jolted the engine further out of alignment - and now here we are Killing Joke has lost power, and the judges are conferring - that’s it - Killing Joke has been ruled Defunct, and Dark Lord wins by TKO!

The other Operators in the Tournament will be terrified by that clinical disassembly, and with this win Brendan and Dark Lord progress to a guaranteed slot in the final. But let’s also take a moment for this Tournament’s six-place finalist, Darknight and the Killing Joke. Over four bouts he has won the hearts of millions, and his practice round win against Habanero is one of the most-streamed Bouts on the internet. As Darknight waves to the crowd and shakes the hand of the League President, we salute one of the contest’s true competitors, and look forward to seeing more form him in future years.