Piers slowly removed his hand from his face.
His reddened eye twitched once.
Then he started laughing again.
Low at first.
Then louder.
"Kahahahaha!"
The sound echoed through the arena unnaturally.
Not amused.
Excited.
"You really tried it."
His grin stretched wider.
"Good."
"GOOD!"
The veins along his neck bulged as he stepped forward again.
This time—
faster.
Osric forced himself upright fully.
His breathing was rough now.
Uneven.
His left shoulder screamed every time he moved.
But his eyes remained steady.
Watching.
Calculating.
Composed.
'He's angry.'
Not blinded by rage.
Worse.
Enjoying this more now.
Piers lunged again.
A brutal straight grab toward Osric's throat.
Osric slipped sideways immediately—
Instinct forcing movement before conscious thought fully caught up.
Then he drove a fast strike into Piers' damaged eye.
Piers jerked his head away just enough for the punch to scrape past instead of landing cleanly.
But Osric had already moved again.
A sharp strike crashed into the same liver area as before.
"THUD!"
Then another.
Fast.
Compact.
Piers growled this time.
A real sound.
Not laughter.
Osric saw it instantly.
'There.'
His body reacted to repeated damage.
Not much.
But enough.
Osric pressed forward immediately for the first time since the fight began.
A rapid strike toward the throat—
Then a low attack toward the ribs—
Trying to stack damage faster than Piers could ignore it.
The crowd reacted loudly.
"He's pushing back!"
"Holy shit!"
But Garrick's expression darkened instead.
'No.'
'Too greedy.'
Piers suddenly stopped retreating.
Completely.
His damaged eye narrowed.
Then both massive arms swung outward violently.
Not controlled.
Not technical.
Pure force.
Osric's instincts screamed.
He ducked one arm—
But the second smashed into the side of his body before he could fully escape.
"BOOM!"
Pain exploded through his ribs.
His feet left the ground again.
A normal fighter would've blacked out instantly from a hit like that.
Osric barely remained conscious.
Only his absurd endurance and unnatural tolerance for pain kept his body functioning.
He crashed hard across the stone floor, sliding several meters before stopping.
A violent cough escaped him.
Blood splattered across the pit.
The arena roared.
Piers walked forward slowly again.
No rush.
No panic.
Just inevitability.
"…You almost had me excited there."
Osric forced himself onto one knee.
Pain tore through his side now too.
His breathing became sharper.
Shorter.
'Ribs.'
Not broken completely.
But damaged.
Bad enough.
His injured shoulder.
His ribs.
His slowing reactions.
Everything was piling up.
And Piers—
still kept coming.
Alice's expression tightened.
'At this rate…'
Adam stayed completely still.
But inwardly—
he finally understood something.
'Osric isn't stronger than him.'
'Not even close.'
This wasn't a battle between equals.
It was someone trying to survive against a monster stronger than himself.
Down in the pit—
Piers cracked his thick neck slowly.
Then pointed directly at Osric.
"You know what your problem is?"
Osric stayed silent.
Piers grinned.
"You keep thinking."
A step forward.
Heavy.
"You keep calculating."
Another step.
"But eventually…"
His grin widened again.
"…something stronger just crushes you anyway."
Then he charged again.
Faster than before.
Not because he had sped up—
Because Osric had slowed down.
His damaged body reacted a fraction later now.
A fatal difference against someone like this.
Osric forced himself sideways.
Barely.
Piers' hand brushed across his ribs as he passed—
And agony exploded through Osric's body instantly.
"Ghk—!"
His footing broke for a moment.
Piers saw it immediately.
"Kahahaha!"
"There!"
He pivoted violently and slammed another swing toward Osric's head.
Osric ducked underneath it—
Too slow again.
The fist scraped across the top of his skull hard enough to blur his vision instantly.
The entire arena tilted.
A direct hit would've crushed his skull open on the spot.
'Focus.'
Composure forced the panic back down before it could spread.
He forced himself forward instead of retreating.
Closer.
Inside.
A brutal strike crashed into Piers' throat again—
Then another into the liver.
Piers grunted.
But this time—
his hand immediately closed around the back of Osric's neck.
The crowd exploded.
"He caught him again!"
Osric's eyes widened.
The grip tightened like iron.
Piers yanked him downward violently—
Then drove his knee upward.
"BOOM!"
The impact slammed directly into Osric's stomach.
Everything inside him twisted violently.
Air exploded out of his lungs.
His body folded instantly.
A normal person would've collapsed completely.
Osric barely remained conscious through sheer endurance.
Piers didn't stop.
A massive hand grabbed part of Osric's hair and forced his head upward again.
Osric's vision blurred badly now.
Too close.
Too much force.
Piers grinned directly into his face.
"You're tough."
Then he slammed his forehead downward.
"CRACK!"
Pain detonated through Osric's skull.
Blood splattered across the stone floor.
The arena roared wildly.
Osric stumbled backward blindly.
His legs almost collapsed underneath him.
Blood ran down the side of his face now.
His hearing rang violently.
Across the pit—
even Garrick's expression changed slightly.
'…This is bad.'
Very bad.
Piers wasn't just overpowering him anymore.
He was starting to dismantle him.
And Osric knew it too.
His shoulder barely functioned.
His ribs burned every time he breathed.
His head was spinning now.
And yet—
Piers still looked fresh.
Still smiling.
Still advancing.
'…No.'
Osric's breathing roughened further.
'There's still something.'
Even now—
his instincts kept searching desperately for openings.
For patterns.
For anything.
His eyes narrowed despite the blood running down his face.
Piers noticed it instantly.
And laughed again.
"You still think you can win?"
Osric steadied his footing slowly.
Pain shot through his entire body.
But his gaze remained locked forward.
"…Yeah."
Piers' grin widened monstrously.
Then he charged again—
And this time—
Osric stepped toward him first.