Second Step [4]

The fight had already begun as the two men in front of us glared at each other, trying their hardest to exude as much pressure as they possibly could. Both of the men had already readied their weapons, with Cerus holding his sword in an iron grip and Evan's spear more than ready to surge forward at a moment's notice.

*Thump, thump!*

My heart was already beating a bit faster as I saw the two men getting ready to find out who was the strongest. This was it, this was the kind of fight that I had been waiting for! The champion and the challenger, both fighting for the title of the strongest as well as the privilege of getting to carry the belt. Or at least that was how I imagined things to be.

"Are you ready?"

Our teacher finally raised his hand to the sky as he asked the question that we had all come to know as the calm before the storm to the two participants, a question that sucked all of the oxygen out of the air for the spectators. 

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, sir!"

I didn't even notice my hands balling up into fists as I watched them, my heavy breaths filled with exhilaration. Time seemed to stand still as I waited for our teacher to lower his arm, reality moving even slower than what I had gotten used to. 

Then, it began. 

"Fight!"

*Bam!*

*Bom!*

The two of them stepped off the ground at the same time, both of them flying forward as they prepared themselves to completely destroy their enemy. However, as one of them had a very clear range advantage, it was natural that the black-haired Evan was the first to strike, pushing his spear forward like a missile. 

*Tang!*

Cerus, however, was unphased, casually deflecting the spear with his sword as he took yet another step forward. Evan, however, wasn't about to let him get into his comfortable range that easily. 

"Hup!"

Even with time slowed down, the spear began to blur a bit as its strikes began falling like rain onto the red-haired champion. But once again there was no sight of surprise nor stress on his face. 

*Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!*

Amid the endless stream of attacks, Cerus remained calm as he dismantled them all, switching between dodging them and parrying them. During this time, however, it was clear that he wasn't getting to step forward as Evan didn't show any openings. In fact, it was surprising that Cerus didn't step back for a breather. 

*Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!*

'Crazy...'

It was dazzling, even if it looked slow at times to me, the way the two of them didn't budge an inch, both of them knowing that a single slip-up would spell the end of the fight. Right now, it didn't matter how slow they appeared to me, I was completely entranced seeing the insane fight between two extremely strong men. 

My hands had already begun to hurt from how hard I clenched them and I had no way of stopping my blood from heating up in excitement. This was what I had waited for, but I had no idea that it would be this stimulating! 

"Ah!"

Then, it happened. A slight slip-up came from Evan, whose spear had now gone a bit too far astray after getting parried, giving more than enough space for Cerus to step in. And Cerus didn't hesitate even for a millisecond to use this opening as he took a step forward. His sword created a lethal arch of death as he swung it horizontally, ready to split his opponent in two. 

'It's not over...'

Although it seemed like Evan was about to lose his life, there was one fact that proved to me that the fight wasn't over. Our teacher hadn't made a move yet, still standing on the sidelines waiting for the time when he would have to intervene. 

"Not yet!"

With a shout, Evan's spear began to glow as he injected mana into it. And then, the spear moved like a snake, bending in the middle and at the same time moving to puncture Cerus' head. An action that finally forced Cerus to take a step back, stopping his attack completely as he wasn't too keen on getting a hole in his cranium.

"..."

A moment of silence enveloped the fields, with Cerus taking a second to inspect his enemy more closely.

For me, despite having seen all kinds of magical phenomena today, this had still been the most surprising. Even now, Evan's spear looked like it had a life of its own as it slithered around in the air, making it completely unpredictable.

And that was likely the reason as to why Cerus decided to take a second to think.

The keyword being 'a second'. Because it truly didn't take long before Cerus dashed forward again, his eyes completely locked in on the steel snake that Evan held in his hands.

With that, the lethal dance was once again on track. Only this time, Cerus didn't look as calm as before as the strikes now didn't just rain down from the front but instead, they came from all kinds of different angles.

*Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!*

Though he was still able to fend off and dodge Evan's attacks for the most part, Cerus couldn't defend himself completely.

"Gu!"

Small wounds began to appear on Cerus' body, tearing his shirt and pants as the attacks just barely snagged him.

'It's like an infighter trying to get close to an outboxer who sends out a barrage of jabs.'

Like so many spars before, reach was very much the focal point of the fight but due to them both fighting in melee range, it was not as clear-cut as a close-quarter fighter against an archer or a mage.

Because Evan was still fighting with the risk of getting his neck cut at any moment.

*Tang! Tang! Tang! Tang!*

Despite that, he wasn't going to allow himself to make another mistake, as he had seen what happened last time. So he kept on piling on the attacks, but they were all shallow as Cerus made sure that he wouldn't get seriously wounded. 

'He must be feeling some insane pressure... but he still has the upper hand. For now at least.'

I could only imagine how it must feel for Evan to fight like this against Cerus. It was almost to the point where Evan's advantage didn't even matter simply due to the pressure that Cerus exerted by not backing down. It was Cerus who bled, but it was Evan who was scared for his life. Not only that, but the spearman also had another big issue arising, and the pressure only exaggerated the speed at which this dilemma emerged.

"Huff... huff..."

Evan had begun to run out of steam and as a result, his attacks had not only lost some power but what was much worse was that they had begun to slow down. So now Cerus had no problems completely negating any and all strikes that Evan threw at him, and it also didn't take long before...

*TANG!*

A strong parry pushed the spear into the air again but with exhaustion clearly visible on his face, it didn't look like he was going to be able to get away scot-free once more. Without hesitation, Cerus stepped forward, his sword shining beneath the sun as he prepared himself to end the fight. 

'The lion has finally cornered the gazelle and now... it has nowhere to run.'

A shining arch of death was sent toward Evan's chest, an almost exact replica of what had happened the first time Cerus had found an opening, but this time the attack was too fast for the worn spearman to react in time. 

*TANG!*

Another metallic echo sounded across the fields but this time it wasn't due to the sword and spear hitting against each other. This time it was created from the impact of sword against sword, with Mr. Folm having made his way in between the two fighters.

"The match is over. The winner is Cerus."

"Haaaa..."

With huge beads of sweat running down his face, Evan fell to his knees, all too aware that our teacher had saved him from a world of hurt. 

Cerus, on the other hand, simply stepped forward as our teacher let him through and lent a hand to the fallen warrior, smiling brightly. 

"Good match."

"...thanks."

It was truly a sign of a champion, full of respect for his opponent. But it was also clear that this respectful gesture was painful to the man who had no choice but to grab his hand, allowing himself to be helped up to his feet by the one who defeated him. 

'It must hurt...'

If it had just been for the fact that he lost, he might've not felt so bad about it, but the fact was that despite his desperate struggle, he hadn't truly stood a chance against Cerus. 

How did I know that?

Simple. 

Cerus hadn't used a single skill during this whole match and had been able to defeat Evan only using his raw physical prowess.