"DRACO! DRACO! DRACO!"
The arena thundered with chants as Draco made the first move.
He charged toward Kael like a living bulldozer, his massive frame tearing across the sand with terrifying momentum.
Kael remained where he stood, a relaxed smile resting on his face as he watched the giant rush toward him. Outwardly calm.
Inside, however, his thoughts were anything but calm.
The man charging at him was no ordinary opponent. Draco was not some reckless fool swinging blindly. He was a real fighter—someone who knew how to throw punches and crush an enemy with raw force. Brute in both mind and body.
If Kael had the choice, he would rather not fight someone like this.
Unfortunately, he did not have that choice.
In this arena, something like withdrawal did not exist for gladiators.
You either fought and won—
Or fought and died.
Taking a slow breath, Kael waited until the last possible moment. Just as Draco's massive arms lunged forward to grab him, Kael suddenly sidestepped.
But Draco was not simply charging mindlessly.
Despite his huge frame and impossible speed, his leg whipped out in a brutal side kick aimed straight for Kael's waist, as if he had already predicted the dodge.
Yet Kael did not panic.
This might not be his original body, but the muscle memory within it was now his. And beyond that, he was not a man unfamiliar with fighting. In fact, because of the work he had done in his previous life, he was quite skilled at it.
As the kick came toward him, Kael loosened his balance slightly to the side. His hands moved quickly toward the incoming strike, brushing against it.
The instant they made contact, his fingers tightened.
He grabbed Draco's calf with force.
Using the powerful leg as support, Kael pushed off the ground, jumping upward and climbing directly onto it.
"What?!"
Draco stood flabbergasted.
Before he could even process what had happened, Kael had already closed the distance with a sharp leap. His fist drove forward, a powerful punch slamming directly into Draco's jaw.
BOOM!
The impact exploded with force. A violent shockwave burst outward as dust surged up around them, billowing through the arena like a sudden detonation.
Draco's massive body was hurled out of the cloud, crashing onto the sand and skidding across the ground.
As the dust slowly settled, Kael's figure emerged from the haze.
He stood there, seemingly unharmed.
No one could see that his fist trembled faintly at his side, a dull pain running through it from striking Draco's jaw—hard as steel.
But he showed none of it.
At that moment, the anchor's voice burst across the stadium.
"This—what was that?! Did the Dark Prince just knock out Draco using his own attack?! What an amazing move!"
The audience seemed to snap out of their stunned silence all at once.
Cheers erupted through the coliseum.
"PRINCE! YEAH! BEAT THAT BRUTE!"
"MY PRINCE IS THE BEST!"
"GIVE ME YOUR CHILD!"
The arena roared with renewed excitement, wave after wave of voices chanting for Kael.
But he heard none of it.
Because the man in front of him… was already moving.
Draco slowly pushed himself up from the ground, rising like a giant awakening from the earth. His eyes fixed on Kael with the fury of an enraged beast.
"Good," Draco said, his voice low but filled with heat. "You are really good."
He stood fully upright and spat to the side, the blood that had gathered in his mouth splattering onto the sand.
Then he looked at Kael again.
"Hmm… that hurts."
He lifted a hand and rubbed his jaw, which had already turned red and swollen.
Seeing this, Kael could only let out a quiet sigh.
Well, the humans here are really built different.
The thought crossed his mind as he stared at the towering brute.
The punch he had just thrown—if it had landed on someone from his past life—would have guaranteed that person would never stand again.
Yet Draco was already back on his feet.
Kael had planned to end this quickly with a surprise attack, knocking the beast out before the fight truly began.
But now it was clear.
That's not going to work.
Kael did not know the knockout points of humans in this world—at least, not yet. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that fighters in this world rarely thought about such things at all.
This was a death arena.
Gladiators focused on killing their opponents, or injuring them so badly they could no longer fight. Knocking someone unconscious was rarely part of the plan.
He drew in a slow breath and settled into his stance.
Well… no time dwelling on it.
Across from him, Draco had already reset himself as well. The massive brute stared at Kael with the hungry grin of a beast that had finally found something worth tearing apart.
"Okay," Draco rumbled, that same savage smile stretching across his face. "Entertain me before I crush you, Seventy-Eight."
The moment the words left his mouth, he charged again.
This time with even more force than before.
His enormous frame tore across the arena like something unleashed, as if someone had poured raw blood into his veins and set him loose.
Kael ran forward too.
From the stands, it looked as if the two of them were about to collide head-on with devastating force.
But at the very last moment, Kael ducked low and rolled sharply to the side.
Draco thundered past him.
The giant skidded across the sand before forcing himself to a stop and turning around—
Just in time to see Kael already closing in.
The instant Draco faced him, Kael's fist shot forward.
BOOM!
Another explosive impact rippled through the arena, the shockwave stirring the sand beneath their feet.
This time Draco did not fall.
He slid backward four heavy steps but kept his footing. Almost immediately he retaliated, launching a storm of brutal punches toward Kael.
But Kael slipped past them with fluid precision.
Rather than striking Draco's body again, he shifted his target. His fists darted toward the hollow of Draco's elbow each time the giant's arm swung forward, landing sharp, precise hits as the punches passed him.
Draco's face twisted with anger.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! DON'T PLAY DIRTY!"
Kael only chuckled lightly.
"Well, everything is fair in love and… war."
His fist snapped forward again, striking hard into the hollow of Draco's arm.
This time the impact forced the brute to take a step back.
Draco stared at him differently now.
The fury was still there—but beneath it was something new.
Wariness.
The look of someone who had stopped seeing prey… and had started recognizing another predator standing before him.
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