Chapter 114 - Hand-to-Hand

Jason sat with his arms crossed in a dark room. The sound of his metal covered friend swinging furiously in the background fills the room. He watched the monitor closely before letting out a light chuckle.

Jason: He's challenging Masked to a fight of blows, huh? I thought his swordsmanship would be more than enough.

Lorisian: His arts wend far beyond just yond of the blade.

Jason: Sounds like you know a good amount about him, huh?

Lorisian: It would beest easier to sayeth yond he and I art connected. And pri'r to his swordsmanship, he is a true martial artist.

Between each word, Lorisian let out a hefty breath as he swung his sword. Jason crossed his legs and looked back up to the screen.

Jason's thoughts: Midori used to say something similar. Is Moll really that impressive without his sword? I'll have to wait and see.

Moll ran forward, throwing simple jabs that Masked quickly reacted to. Each blow missed their target as Masked's eyes remained dark.

Moll's thoughts: Nothing glowing yet, eh? Youngsters love making us elders work for things.

Masked noticed a shift in Moll's stance, strikes coming faster and faster. To anyone that hadn't known, they would've believed Moll to be an expert boxer himself. His stance, positioning, and strikes seemed nothing short of masterful. His expression was entirely calm despite not a single blow connecting, but then a grin grew wide as he threw a quick jab to Masked's face, one that was noticeably faster than all his others. Masked's eyes glew red as his right hand reached up and grabbed the fist before it connected. Moll pulled back his fist, dodging Masked's first hook. Blood trailed off the hook, small drops falling onto Moll's torso as he shuffled back.

Moll's thoughts: He's able to react pretty damn fast. Something about those glowing eyes has to do with it. This old dog is still able to learn all about your new tricks.

Moll kicked off the ground, throwing a fast right straight punch aimed at Masked's head. He dodged the strike and ran towards Moll. Moll tried to follow up with an uppercut, yet Masked parried it with a flowing forearm, pushing the punch away. Masked wrapped his arm around Moll's waist, pushing the old man back. Moll raised his elbow high before bringing it down on Masked's back, his eyes opened wide, noticing how tense Masked's back had become. Suddenly, Moll got sent flying back, Masked's right arm fully extended. His upper body twitched, leaving him entirely still as he watched Moll come to a halt. Spit came out of Moll's mouth, shocked by the sudden power behind the blow.

Zachary: After a quick exchange, it seems Masked is the one to take the lead!

Zenzo: Has Moll gone in over his head with this approach?

Moll's thoughts: I never would, but this kid sure ain't gonna make it easy on me.

Moll rubbed his stomach, noticing the obvious bruise that stung a bright red. He could feel pain spread across his body from the area of impact, yet he smiled.

Moll's thought: No point crying over spilled milk.

Moll's legs shot off the ground, charging directly at Masked's seemingly immobile body. His head shot up, his arms moving quickly as he parried Moll's barrage of quick punches. Masked's legs staggered, his attention shifting to the swift low kick Moll had just delivered before landing a swift right hook, forcing Masked to face the ground. Masked's eyes glew red as Moll kept up with the following hook, but Masked grabbed it with his right hand, his grip was strong, Moll struggled to pull his arm back. Masked's upper body tensed up as a quick punch landed on Moll's chest. Moll let out a gasp as Masked unleashed a quick barrage of punches.

These punches followed the same principle of Masked's Compression but in a much smaller way. By compressing his muscles in smaller intervals, he was able to increase their burst speed and power without forcing his biological cooldown.

Moll raised his guard, taking the full brunt of Masked's onslaught. Masked's eyes glew red, watching as Moll attempted to switch to the offensive. His punches quickly shut down Moll's attempt, forcing the old man to back down. Moll gritted his teeth, but he endured the barrage until the right moment showed itself. Moll shrugged off one of Masked's punches, shooting off a right uppercut which Masked, again, quickly shut down. Masked grabbed onto Moll's shoulder, trying to force him onto the ground, but Moll shot out a left uppercut, forcing Masked to block and throw him with one hand. Moll didn't fall down, instead simply sliding with the throw and grinning at his opponent.

Midori: He was able to shut down Masked's grapple.

Hamadeen: What do you mean?

Midori: In the previous round, Masked used his Vale Tudo to restrict his opponent's movement and beat on them from above. Moll, however, read ahead of his opponent. He expected Masked to go for the grapple and responded in a way to prevent that from happening.

Kuro: This old fucker got some moves! I thought his hand-to-hand would suck ass, but it ain't half bad!

Hamadeen: Yeah, he's better in more than just the boxing Joseph and I showed him.

Midori: It should be no surprise. He was looked at to be a potential Dragon's Candidate.

Kuro: What the fuck is that?

Hamadeen: I've never heard of it either.

Midori: I can't expect you too, The Four Guardians are a group that can be either well known or equally as mysterious. You can view these guardians as overseers of the whole world at large. The one that watches over both North and South America is known as The Dragon, someone with immense power, both physically and politically. They are beings that are neutral, unable to ally themselves with any one nation, any one group. With this neutrality, they are allowed unlimited access to any location in the continents they protect. Of course, they are still human, and cannot live forever. That is where candidates come into play. Moll was sought out, he was going to be appointed by the previous Dragon, however, he refused the offer. Not enjoying the idea of political neutrality and needing to distance himself from all to do his position properly. In a sense of rebellion, he allowed himself to grow weaker, but do not be foolish and believe he lost all his strength, as he is still stronger than anyone could imagine him to be.

Hamadeen: These Guardians must be amazing people…

Kuro: I wanna fuck one up!

Midori: They're far beyond what anyone here is capable of. Despite one Candidate being amongst the audience, I have yet to see one in the combatants that would suit such a role.

Hamadeen's thoughts: And Moll used to be strong enough to be part of a group like that… That's crazy. Then… Moll can't lose!

Moll picked himself back up, his arms a bright red all over. Masked's upper body heaved, the strain finally reaching up to him.

Masked's thoughts: I pushed myself a bit too far, dammit… While his arms are no better right now, I burnt myself out. I need to prevent myself from-

Masked's head shot back, narrowly avoiding Moll's right hook. His eyes glew red, his muscles feeling too drained to bring his hands up. Blood dripped from Moll's elbows, his boxing stance being absolutely solid.

Moll: Let's turn this up a notch.

Moll ran at Masked, throwing quick hook after quick hook. Jab after jab. Masked relied on nothing but his legs to avoid each of Moll's attacks, gritting his teeth beneath his mask, realizing just how quickly he had lost the high ground.

Masked's thoughts: This old guy is relentless!

Masked forced every part of his arms to move, anything to protect himself. His right hand quickly shot up, missing Moll entirely as it limply moved into the air. The quick movement of the hand had blood spray out from the cut, landing on Moll's face. This unexpected and unplanned moment blinded the old man, his fists unclenching as he moved them up to his face. Masked clenched his own left fist, punching Moll across the face. Moll staggered for a moment, Masked grabbing onto his shoulders and pulled him down into a knee. Moll lost his grin, now letting out a grunt of pain as Masked unleashed several heavy knees onto his stomach. Moll moved both arms in front of the knee, blocking several of the blows through his blurry vision.

Zachary: Despite Moll taking the slight lead, Masked has completely turned it around!

Zenzo: He turned his blood into an effective weapon! Talk about effort taking sweat and blood!

Moll pushed Masked away, but Masked refused to let this opportunity pass him back. Feeling his strength enter his arms once again, he quickly grabbed onto Moll's right arm and pulled on it as his legs jumped into the air and wrapped around Moll's upper body, placing him in a triangle hold. Both fighters fell to the ground, Masked making sure to put all the strength he could to prevent Moll from getting away unscathed.

Masked's thoughts: You ain't half bad at striking, I'll give you that. But I'm above you in grappling. So good luck trying to get out of this!

The match's pace slowed down drastically as Moll struggled to get out of the hold. His face turned a bright red as Masked increased the strength on the hold more, forcing Moll to frantically swing around. Masked's eyes shined a bright red, watching each of Moll's moves.

Masked's thoughts: A mighty man like you falling here like this. A true fall from grace, but be honored to be a stepping stone in a world better than the one we know.

Masked perked his head up in shock, noticing Moll's arm increased in strength. Despite the beatdown it had taken moments ago, Moll's arm tensed up with all the strength he had in it. Moll gritted his teeth, swaying Masked back and forth until his arm finally slipped free of Masked's grasp. Blood spurted out of Masked's cut, Masked finally noticing his flaw.

Masked's thoughts: I forgot!

Joseph looked at the match with a grim expression, Violet and Tristan's own expressions becoming more worried.

Joseph's thoughts: That cut earlier in the match cost him the arm grab, and Compression wouldn't help a grapple here. You better make that leg hold strong or else you're losing your advantage, Masked!

Masked tensed up his legs, tensing his legs as much as he could without Compression. Moll's worried face began to grow a smile as his free arm grabbed onto Masked's inner thigh. He stood up from his kneeling position, putting pressure onto the top of Masked's hold before slowly pulling himself back out. Moll pushed his way out of Masked's leg hold, crouching back before standing back up on his feet. Masked crawled back, looking worried as Moll put down his fists.

Moll: This really what you came down to? The scary masked fighter is now crawling away like a bug? What's all that about?

Moll began to walk to Masked before coming to a stop, hearing the sound of something heavy being lifted. Moll jumped back as Masked came back to his feet, holding his huge broadsword in both hands.

Moll's thoughts: I let him get back to it. But this proves one thing…

Midori: He hasn't lost it. Moll is still as dangerous as ever.

Masked charged at Moll and jumped into the air, swinging his sword down and slamming it on the ground. Moll evaded the attack, sliding low to the ground where he quickly picked up his sword.

Moll's thoughts: Good thing I kept track of where I threw you. Or else I'd be in trouble.

Moll quickly unsheathed his sword, aiming the tip at Masked. Both fighters charged at the other, clashing their swords against one another. Sparks flew as they pivoted on their heels, turning only to clash swords once more.

Zenzo: We've returned to the sword fight!

Zachary: It looks like that hand-to-hand combat was nothing more than a taste for what these swordsmen are capable of!

Using the light weight of his sword, Moll swung his sword quicker and quicker before gritting his teeth. Midori closed his eyes, crossing his arms as Hamadeen and Kuro turned to face him.

Midori: Moll might be reaching his limit soon. He used his arms for that opening earlier, but it took the brunt of Masked's onslaught, and after that grapple, his old bones might be wearing down. He doesn't have that much longer left in this match.

Kuro: You're telling me that old fuck is gonna lose?!

Hamadeen: He isn't. I've been with Moll as long as I could remember, so he's going to win. He never let me down for as long as I knew him.

Midori and Kuro stared at Hamadeen before both meeting him with a smile. Moll's drive for victory had just begun.