Death Frost | Deathsworn #2

Chapter 24 ❆ Silent Dragon vs. Stone Guardian

I decided to upload this one early, so please enjoy! Thank you so much for waiting!

I looked over to Erenol and found her still stuck in a world of her own—too worried about her upcoming fight to pay attention to Maun's. It was nearly impossible to gauge the reactions of our fellow competitors as well, especially Black Flame, considering the masks they had on.

That didn't mean I was any less worried, though. I tried to loosen the stiffness I felt on my shoulders, taking a deep breath.

Was this what Maun meant by hate?

"And this match will start in three, two, one!"

Stone Guardian did not let Maun have the privilege of the first move. He seized it and stomped in with aggression, throwing a combination assault Maun's way. The succession of one attack to another was ceaseless—at a speed that I didn't think this particular guy would be capable of. Having observed him in the previous round against Arrowhead, he seemed more focused on the defensive side of things.

Well, that was something else to note down. But I was not in the mood for taking down notes, I felt this fight was a little more subjective to me this time around—I would not be able to observe it objectively like I had done with the others.

Maun, I noticed, was textbook precision. Everything he had learned from under Mistress Veronika alongside Eren and myself were applied impeccably in the current exchange. There were some moves I did not recognize. It must be the technique that he had been provided with a while back. Something which he was taught before he came to Oblivion.

Nonetheless, there was a roughness to his movements that I could not quite put my finger on. I wasn't sure if I'd seen it before. He was always quite keen with following instructions down to the very last word. Though I was limited in my knowledge, I knew for sure this wasn't something he could've learned from the mistress's tutelage—this was something way before that.

"Even if it's like that, I can't help but see how good he is in actual practice," I whispered. Training and actual combat—there was massive difference between those two things.

Stone Guardian cut in with a full punch. Maun weaved to the side, then blocked the leg that came zooming in from below. There was a small gap in his opponent's attacks. Maun used this gap to throw in response to his assaults, sending an uppercut down the abdomen.

I heard a fist make contact with muscle. It was so palpable that I could somehow taste the pain, even though I was sitting meters away from the stage. Nonetheless, Stone Guardian was unfazed despite having received it square where he would have been breathless...which led me feeling somewhat frazzled. I pushed myself to the edge of my seat, trying to get a closer look.

How the heck did he not feel pain? Or did he, but he just was good at keeping it down?

I was not the only one taken aback. Maun's opponent took advantage of the slight confusion that inched between his movements and grabbed him by the shoulders.

Maun took a hold of the arms that seized him as well, stabilizing himself as Stone Guardian tossed him overhead. With the opponent having strict control over his center of gravity, Maun was unable to pull himself upright before landing—which led him to crash on the stone pavement on his back.

Had it been me who had landed, I was pretty sure I would have broken a few good bones on my hips. Somehow, though, Maun had guarded himself against the fall and managed to make it so that he landed on a less crucial part of his body. He'd redirected the injury, just in the nick of time, where he would be harmed the least.

Not minding being in the bottom, Maun seized Stone Guardian's neck and wrapped his arm around his throat. The suffocating tightness paralyzed Stone Guardian in place and he loosened his hold on Maun to attempt to break himself free.