Leone could feel he did not have much left in him. He had to hold out for another two minutes, he guessed, but was not sure he would make it that long.
The “Incredible Amphione”, on the other hand, was feeling entirely different. He was in his element, in the zone, and felt there was nothing that could take him out of it. Filio always reveled in the last few minutes of the fight. Despite always having been stronger than his opponents, the amphione would always let the fight drag out as long as possible. Even when vastly more powerful than the poor loser in front of him, Filio did not enjoy beating them quickly. In his eyes, to stomp an opponent out quickly was to do it mercifully. He knew how strong he was, and so did his audience. He never needed to win quickly to prove that. His enemies, on the other hand... he liked making them aware.
It was all a part of the hulking amphione’s ideology. He wanted to give his opponents the false hope that they could turn the fight around. That if the amphione wasn’t able to beat them quickly, he might be running out of steam. And if he was running out of steam, they could make a comeback. This is what Filio always let his enemies believe. By playing with them, going easy on them, the losers gained a sense of hope towards victory; one that Filio always enjoyed crushing. In the final seconds of a match, when his enemies thought they were going to make it out, he came in swinging, letting them know he was in control the whole time. And that he… was the strongest one there. He couldn’t wait to do the same to the loser in front of him.
Riva could not help but be frustrated with Leone. The young man had said he could handle this; that she did not have to worry. Well, she was worrying. She was very much worried. Not only did it seem like Leone was getting his ass kicked, but there was also the matter of if he lost. They would be out all of the gold that the mayor of Welstom had given them. Sure, it wasn’t as bad as having to go with that sexist meathead, but the gold was to be spent on Azim’s repairs. If they didn’t have anything to give the blacksmith, how could she hope to get Azim the help he needed? No, Leone had to win. He just had to.
The woman slowly lifted a hand, being careful not to let others in the crowd see her. She clutched her other hand to her chest and began a soft-spoken incantation. She looked around, still no one noticed her. Why would they? This crowd only lived for one thing… the fight. There was no way any of them were going to waste even a second looking anywhere else. She pointed her extended hand at the ring toward Leone and prepared her spell. She had used a similar one on Azim when he fought the young man, earlier when he was disguised as “Gil”, and now she was giving it to him. The previous spell had been an Individual Attack Nullifier, which lasted as long as it needed to until negating an attack. This variation, however, would be a Timed Nullifier. It would protect against damage regardless of hit count, but only for a given duration. This spell, Riva thought, would hopefully keep Leone alive for a few valuable seconds. The woman figured, having only level 3 enchantment magic, she could probably keep the nullifier active for a total of 6 seconds. 6 seconds, she thought, that Leone could make great use of.
Catching her gaze, Leone shook his head. Riva was astonished. On his hands and knees, the young man had noticed her before she had cast the nullifier spell, and shook his head, turning down the assistance. She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t want her help, but she put her hand down. Then he looked at her directly. His eyes told her all she needed to know. This wasn’t just something he wanted to prove to her. This was something her needed to prove… to himself. He didn’t want her to help because he wanted to be able to say he had done this on his own. Something Riva both respected and admired.
Then he hit the fence. Filio kicked Leone in the stomach, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying across the ring. He was really aching now. He could feel his ribs breaking and his sides swelling. There was a minute and a half left in the match, but Leone knew that he could hold out until the end. He had to act soon.
His punch from earlier in the match had been intentional. He knew it wasn’t enough to shake the amphione, but it was enough to set his expectations. For the rest of the fight, Filio would think that the young man’s strength was already known. He would think that there was nothing Leone could do to take him out.
Leone had waited this long so that he could take advantage of the amphione’s low expectations. He had also been careful not to land another hit too soon, for it would ruin the element of surprise that he held onto. If he landed another, stronger hit, and it wasn’t enough to take him out entirely, Filio would change his approach. He would start taking things more seriously, acting more cautious of Leone’s moves. No, Leone thought, he had to wait until the last possible moment. The only issue was, said moment was starting to seem earlier and earlier than he would have initially preferred.
The “Incredible Amphione” walked slowly toward Leone, readying himself to toss the loser around a little more. 1 minute 18 seconds. He was going to enjoy this last minute. He squatted down in front of Leone. His calf muscles bulged as he did so. “Hey buddy,” the amphione mocked. “How you holding up? You still think you can handle this? Big strong boy wants to stick up for the old lady. How’s that working out for you?”
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59 seconds. The man got serious. “What I think you should do,” he began. “Is yield.”
Leone looked up at the amphione. “I’m going to be honest, I’m being nice here,” he continued. “I don’t usually let losers off easy. The last minute is when I really let loose. I get so in the zone that my opponents can’t tell me they yield even if they want to, because they’re too busted up to say the words. And as long as I don't let up until the final bell, the match won't end earlier than I want it to, just 'cuz they're unconscious... because I'm tossing them around too much for people to see they aren't in the fight anymore!”
23 seconds. Leone stayed silent. Filio was rambling, and the young man was going to let him. He was going to stock up every second he could. He just had to be careful he didn’t bust on his wager. “So I say again,” the amphione wrapped up. “Before I start really having fun. Yield.”
Leone slowly got up and looked down at Filio, who was still squatting. “Have your fun. Viyona’s watching… I’ll have mine.”
Something in Filio changed. He was angry now. Really angry. He didn’t know if the loser in front of him thought he was some fort of divine soldier or blessing from the heavens, but there was no way in hell that this guy was going to have fun with him. 9 seconds. Without even getting up from his squat, the amphione lunged forward with both arms, grabbing Leone and throwing him behind himself. The young man prepared his body to hit the opposite fence from where he’d been standing, tensing his muscles in anticipation. The impact never came. Instead, Filio caught him in midair just before he made contact, wrapping his tongue around Leone’s waist once more, and slammed him against the side fence. The misdirect and jerking of different directions threw Leone out of it, but he quickly resolved himself. 6 seconds. Filio was barreling toward him. Leone did not have enough stamina to duck out of the way, but it didn't matter. There was no more time left in the match to wait. He had built up as much as he was going to this fight. There was only right now. He had to do it now.
Filio clenched a webbed hand and reeled back his fist. Normally he would take longer, but this loser was really starting to piss him off. The “Incredible Amphione” had been the king of the ring for the past week nonstop, and that wasn’t about to change now. If some guy had the nerve to talk down to him the way his opponent had, he would be met with swift force. Force that proved within the blow why he was in charge here.
5 seconds. Filio swung his fist, following through with such pressure that, if there hadn't been a cage containing them, likely would have sent someone into the wall of the building. However, this would not be Leone.
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It was fast. Really fast. Most of the crowd still wasn’t exactly sure what had happened. They had seen the first part, but everything after was a blur. Admittedly, most of the crowd was just in shock. If they had seen what happened, they didn’t want to believe it.
The first punch broke Filio’s hand. At first, the crowd thought it had just been a perfectly matched blow, but that was quickly made evidently untrue. A mere moment before Filio’s punch came crashing down, Leone got up onto one knee, stabilizing himself just enough to punch back. Everyone watching, including Riva, thought when the two fighter’s fists made contact, Filio would blow Leone’s arm clean off. Everyone was wrong. Somehow, from somewhere, Leone had compiled enough power behind his punch to not only match that of the hulking amphione’s, but break his hand in the process. The blow knocked Filio’s hand back, leaving him stunned for a moment and unavailable to entirely process what had just happened. 4 seconds. This was what everyone did see.
The rest was a blur. Before either the crowd or Filio himself could react to what had just occurred, Leone continued his return fire. He stood up and drop-kicked the tall amphione directly in the crotch, hitting him so hard the man lifted 2 meters off the ground. Not wasting a moment, Leone grabbed the man by his legs while he was still in the air and threw him back onto the ground, leaving him in a spread-legged sit. As if the embarrassment of sitting like a toddler wasn’t bad enough, Leone then quickly threw an uppercut with the hand opposite the leg he had kicked with, smashing Filio’s jaw with enough force to lift him up once more. Before letting the amphione get too high, Leone reeled back, tucking his other hand close and guarding it with his first, before launching it forward in a straight jab. The last hit was the strongest. Filio felt a cannonball barreling through his core as Leone’s hit sent him soaring. The rattling of the cage as Filio hit the fence came not even a second after Leone’s fist made contact with his stomach.
2 and a half seconds. That’s how long the entire sequence took. The four consecutive moves issued by the young man against the reigning champ occurred over 2 and a half seconds. Four moves which a majority of the crowd was unsure they had seen correctly. Because what could be seen now was something they had never expected. Filio, the week-long “Incredible Amphione”… laid out against the fence of the ring, knocked so hard that the chainlink was deformed around him.
The audience was silent. Even Riva was at a loss for words. She looked up to the floating panel that was magically illuminated with the time left in the match. 1 second. The match had been 5 minutes. Leone had withstood his beating for about the first 4, and stalled the amphione for the last 50 seconds, just to turn things around and come out on top… in 5 seconds.
Leone just stood there, panting and unmoving. He held the stance he had punched with, still taking in what he had just done. Then the tiredness overtook him. He collapsed to the ground, struggling to maintain consciousness. The pain in his ribs was starting to flood his brain, and his adrenaline was slowly washing away. But none of that mattered. He had done it. He had done it. He wondered if Riva was proud. He wondered if Azim would be, too. He wondered what his family would think.