The arena clock ticked down the
final seconds of the round. Five. Four.
Three. The referee, seeing Leo's hand go
limp and his eyes roll back, lunged
forward. He frantically waved his arms,
diving in to break the fighters apart.
Simultaneously, the loud, clanging
ring of the bell echoed through the
smoke-filled room, signaling the end of
the round. The fight was over. Leo had
survived, technically, by the skin of his
teeth.
"That's it! Break!" the referee yelled,
grabbing Marcus's shoulder and pulling.
But Marcus did not move. His eyes,
completely dilated with adrenaline and
a dark, uncontrollable rage, stared
blankly into the crowd. His grip on Leo's
throat did not loosen; in fact, he
squeezed tighter.
The security guards were
desperately trying to pry Marcus’s
hands apart. The referee was screaming
for a doctor. And then, Elias was there.
He stood directly above the tangled
bodies, looking down at the massive,
raging champion with an expression of
profound disappointment.
Chapter 5
The Master Steps In
Elias reached down. He didn't grab
Marcus’s thick forearms. He didn't try to
pull him off with brute strength.
Instead, his gnarled, weathered hand
gently found a spot on the side of
Marcus’s neck, just below the jawline.
It looked like a caress, a delicate
touch amidst the frantic struggling of
the security guards.
What happened next occurred in a
fraction of a second, yet to those
watching closely, it seemed to unfold in
slow motion. Elias’s thumb pressed
inward with precise, terrifying
accuracy. He didn't use force; he used
geometry and an ancient, intimate
understanding of the human anatomy.
He pressed a specific cluster of
nerves, a pressure point known only in
the most esoteric circles of martial arts.
The effect was instantaneous and
absolute. Marcus’s eyes went wide, the
feral rage instantly replaced by utter
shock. A jolt, like high-voltage electricity,
shot through his massive frame.