Chapter 256 - Sooner

It was a weird feeling for Cohnal to see a younger and weaker warrior charging toward him. Usually, he would do that and make the enemies run away with his pressure. Losing a strength of contest was something that hadn't been experienced in fifteen years… and yet, the more diminutive warrior was slowly but surely forcing him to retreat.

It didn't take long for him to understand how. In the same way, he didn't want to give Zaos time to use magic. He was attacking fast enough and not letting Cohnal building momentum for his attacks. After all, he was big and fast, but he needed some preparation to do that.

When Zaos charged for the first time, Cohnal clenched his teeth and prepared himself to go all-out. Even if he has to kill Zaos, he couldn't let someone more minor win in a contest of brute strength. Using his bulging muscles, he swung his sword and stopped Zaos's attack, and didn't move an inch. At the same time, he sent him and his sword flying for dozens of meters… Zaos opened his eyes widely at that absurd physical strength. It wasn't normal… even before he could land, and he sensed his bones cracking.

Zaos landed on his feet again, but he quickly recovered since the big warrior was planning another total swing. This time, Zaos assumed the ox guard, and when Cohnal swung his sword, he jumped. With his physical strength alone, he jumped high enough to avoid the slash, and then he thrust his sword toward the opponent's head. Despite that, the big warrior moved his neck alongside his whole body to the side and dodged. His check and left side of his head got cut, though, but Zaos couldn't do much in that position. Once he returned to the ground, he jumped backward. Those were some fearsome reflexes… or did he dodge in the end because of his experience? It was hard to say…

Since Cohnal was hesitating for some reason, Zaos decided to charge again. That was his style, after all. Keep trusting and attacking until the enemy is overwhelmed. He kept the Ox guard, but he improved his stance using the same trick he used against his father a few months ago. He held the sword with both hands to gain speed and power.

Cohnal noticed that Zaos's posture changed and assumed a defensive stance. Thanks to that, he blocked Zaos's rain of attacks with the width of his sword, but once he did that, he didn't have any other option aside from defending. Zaos's attacks, although they were blocked, they made Cohnal's sword and arms vibrate all over, and he didn't give him a single moment to recover. Little by little, even his charge, Zaos managed to force him to take backward steps again.

Cohnal imagined that Zaos's arms would get tired eventually, but before that could happen, he had to stop moving when his back hit the walls of the arena. Zaos's stopped moving, but his attacks got heavier and faster since he didn't have to consider the target's moves. Cohnal managed to block all the attacks thanks to his big sword, but that was everything he could do.

The bones of his hands began to crack due to the powerful strikes, and his hands started to bleed at some point, but Cohnal didn't stop. He didn't wield until the very end, but then Zaos landed a charged attack at the handle of his sword, and it broke. After his weapon fell on the ground, Cohnal left a deep sigh. To think that someone who was fifteen years younger would overwhelm him like that… Zaos stepped backward and then sheathed his sword.

"That was a nice duel," Zaos smiled.

"Nice, huh…" Cohnal sighed again.

"… Sir Zaos is the winner!" The narrator said after he recovered from the shock.

Suddenly, some thunderous claps echoed through the area. It seemed that fight entertained quite a lot of people since it had been a plain contest of speed, strength, a bit of tactic. Zaos returned to the anteroom, ignoring that. Cohnal did the same, but he was wondering how he was going to fix his sword as well.

"Oh, man… this always hurts like a bitch," Zaos said while massaging his right shoulder.

There weren't many people in the anteroom anymore, so Zaos didn't have to keep a strong façade anymore. Still, to think that he would face someone aside from Zaos within the kingdom that would cause him so much trouble. That had been unexpected… Zaos didn't fix his bones during the fight, but he had to fix it now. There were only two more fights to go, and now that he had come this far, Zaos would try to win… without magic. Putting the king's plotting aside, Zaos wasn't the type who would use his sword half-heartedly. He might as well go and claim the king's sword just to piss him off.

"Well, I can't get carried away. There are two other fights, and Drannor is among the ones who want the sword," Zaos nodded to himself.

Aside from Zaos and Drannor, there were four other fighters. They would fight against and the winners of the next two fights, and then they would fight against each other if they win once again. While Zaos was thinking about that, the arena suddenly got silent.

When Zaos headed to the entrance, he saw two fighters in the middle of the arena covered in blood and on the ground. It seemed that they tried too hard and ended up hitting each other critically. Zaos tried to approach, but then he stopped. Their presence vanished… they died after piercing each other's hearts.

"Well, that happened a bit later than expected…" Zaos said.

The deaths threw a bucket of cold water on the spectators, but only for a short time. In the end, they were there to be entertained instead of worrying about the death of strangers. However, much to everyone's surprise… the next two fighters killed each other as well.

"What the hell…" Zaos frowned.

In the end, the finals were anticipated, and Zaos and Drannor will have to fight a bit sooner.