"You heal quickly."
"So do you?"
"You haven’t injured me yet."
Rhydan answered without a change in his expression.
Lucian laughed at his words. Then, he wiped the blood coming from his mouth and—
"Give me a moment."
Once his leg recovered, he attacked again.
This time, he targeted his chest, then his throat, solar plexus, jaw, ribs, he continued attacking again and again. Rhydan blocked every single one of his attacks with ease.
Throughout the attack, not once did he step back. He didn’t have to, none of Lucian’s attacks were enough to make him move.
Whenever Lucian attacked, his hand was already waiting to block him.
Lucian tried to increase his speed, Rhydan simply moved faster. Lucian changed his rhythm, the Wolf adjusted almost immediately. None of Lucian’s feints worked, Rhydan saw through them from miles away.
For the next few minutes, Rhydan didn’t even attack him, he just let Lucian attack all he desired while he dodged or blocked, then—
When Lucian tried to punch his face again, Rhydan caught his wrist for the second time today, then the Wolf finally used his other arm and he—
He punched him in the stomach.
"Khaarrrkkkkk!!"
Lucian’s body folded around the blow, the impact lifted him from the ground and he instantly coughed out blood.
Rhydan didn’t care, he caught Lucian’s shoulder before he could fall, then threw him down the corridor, this time towards Lucian’s companions.
Lucian’s body rolled over the stone floor several times before he finally stopped.
"Lucian!"
Naomi screamed, wanting to rush towards him, but Lucian raised his hand and spoke in a hoarse voice.
"I’m fine."
He was not fine.
Something inside his abdomen was torn, several of his ribs were cracked, he didn’t even know where the pain was coming from.
"You can surrender."
Rhydan spoke in a calm tone. Lucian, however—
"Already?"
He grinned as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
"I haven’t even started enjoying myself."
He was already standing.
Rhydan’s eyes narrowed at that.
Lucian attacked again.
This time, Rhydan actually moved first. Lucian saw his fist coming, he tried to block it, but Rhydan’s strike broke through his guard and hit his chest. More of his ribs cracked. His body would have been sent flying as well, but before that could happen, Rhydan caught his arm, twisted it behind his back, and forced him down.
"Khrrkkk!!"
Lucian groaned in pain.
However, he didn’t stop resisting. Even with Rhydan holding him down, he tried to push him away through sheer physical strength alone but...
He couldn’t do it.
It felt like pushing against a mountain.
Rhydan wasn’t just stronger than him.
The difference in their strength was overwhelming.
All this while, Lucian was always the stronger one. Even when his opponents had superior abilities, artifacts, or energy, his body was always one of his greatest advantages.
Silas used Vaelrith’s nearly endless demonic energy, Alaric defeated him using all those fancy artifacts, the Choir of Kneeling Flesh used a combined Authority targeting him specifically to force him down, but not a single one of them was physically superior to him in every possible way.
Rhydan was.
He was stronger, faster, his balance was better, his reaction speed was greater, even his senses were sharper than Lucian’s own.
He outclassed him in every single way.
Even as Lucian shifted his shoulder, trying to escape the hold, Rhydan adjusted in an instant, blocking his escape routes. It was almost as if he could tell what Lucian intended to do from the smallest change in his muscles.
Lucian moved his free elbow backwards, trying to attack him. Rhydan avoided it and tightened his grip, dislocating his shoulder.
"Gaahh!"
Lucian’s body shuddered in pain.
Then, when Rhydan made it very clear that Lucian wouldn’t be able to move, he stepped back again, letting Lucian move once more.
Lucian immediately turned and threw another punch. Rhydan caught it again with a bored look on his face.
"You continue attacking from positions where you cannot generate proper force."
Lucian tried to pull his hand free. Rhydan did not allow it.
"You rely too much on your strength. It has allowed you to ignore your mistakes."
He twisted Lucian’s wrist and—
CRACK
Lucian’s bones cracked.
"Gaahhhhh!!!"
Lucian screamed in pain. Rhydan kicked his chest and sent him backwards. Lucian was now barely standing, there were injuries all over his body.
His regeneration was working tirelessly, his breathing had gotten uneven and as he stared at the man standing in front of him with a calm look on his face—
’So this is the Werewolf Prodigy, huh...’
He thought inwardly.
At first, Lucian thought the Wolf was only physically superior to him, but it wasn’t just the strength, even in terms of pure combat technique, he was completely outmatched.
Sure, Lucian had learned a lot from Vivienne, and at a scary pace too, but even then, it had only been a few months since he started training.
Rhydan, however, was a Werewolf, a race known for its fierce Warriors. Not to mention, Rhydan was the best of the best Werewolves with decades of experience.
Lucian was simply no match for him.
"You are holding back."
Lucian commented as he snapped his wrist back into proper shape. The bone began joining together and Rhydan waited.
"Yes."
The Wolf nodded.
"How much?"
Lucian asked curiously.
"Significantly."
"Why?"
Rhydan thought about it for a moment, then he gave an honest answer.
"Because I want to give you a fair shot."
"A fair shot...?"
"I do not want you to blame yourself when I eliminate you. I do not want you to think you would have won if you had used a different approach, or if you had been more careful, or anything else.
Once you are eliminated, I want you to know that you were eliminated because there was nothing you could do."
"That’s strangely honourable... and insulting."
"This is not an insult, Demon."
Rhydan spoke with clear eyes.
"I do not wish to win because my enemy was careless or made a mistake, I will win because I was better. That is my honour as a Greyfang."