What followed was not a duel.
A duel implies two combatants of equal standing, two forces seeking victory through skill and strategy. This was something far more primal and lopsided.
This was a lesson a brutal, uncompromising demonstration of power delivered by a teacher who had finally stopped pretending to be gentle.
Rex moved with the terrifying economy of a predator that had no need for wasted motion. He closed the distance in a blur of crimson violet static.
His first blow struck Leonidas square in the solar plexus.
BOOM.
This time, the fist didn't just land; it detonated.
The Wrath flowing through Rex's arm acted like a hydraulic piston fueled by a collapsing star. Leonidas's defensive man, the barrier that had weathered Rex's previous assaults, didn't just fail; it shattered like a thin pane of glass under a sledgehammer.
SHATTER CRACK!
The impact sent a shockwave through Leonidas's torso that liquefied the air between them.
