The sound swells unevenly around the ring, questions and gasps colliding as the crowd struggles to catch up to what just happened. A restless murmur spreads outward, sharp and unsettled.
Ryoma backs off immediately, already turning toward the neutral corner. Jade straightens a beat later, eyes locked on Ryoma's back, jaw set tight. His gaze hardens with irritation, not pain.
Jade draws a slow breath as he reins himself in. He's been outplayed too many times in too short a span. The sting is in his pride. But this time, he refuses to let it drag him into recklessness.
The knockdown didn't really hurt him that badly. He's taken far worse. That was balance, timing, nothing more.
Still, the referee counts.
Two!
Three!
Meanwhile, the replay rolls on the big screen. Three seconds. One jab from Jade. And then the answer.
"He slipped outside the jab," a commentator says, eyes fixed upward.
