(25 minutes later, Helmuth's POV)
For twenty-five more minutes, Soron somehow managed to keep up what looked like peak performance, his movements still crisp enough, his timing still tight enough, that nothing about him outwardly betrayed the strain building beneath the surface, and for that entire stretch Helmuth continued to trade blows with him as though the balance between them had not shifted at all.
Yet around the two-hour mark since their fight had begun, the truth finally surfaced as Helmuth began to notice the evident loss in Soron's performance, as the Cult God struggled more and more to produce the same output.
'He's slowing down… even though I haven't done anything significant, he's slowing down.'
The realization slid into Helmuth's mind with quiet certainty, and the moment it did, something predatory sharpened behind his eyes, his killing intent thickening like heat trapped beneath a closing lid as his focus narrowed completely onto the man in front of him.
