"Bold," was the only word Ozymandias spoke, but he enunciated each syllable very deliberately and he filled the world with power. "Mmph!" He cast one of his chakrams like a frisbee, throwing it at Mane with great force.
But Mane trusted his sword more than he even trusted himself. Using it as a shield, he blocked the blow.
"Guh!" He gasped, when the full weight of the strike hit him, coughing up blood as his organs collided against his ribcage. Even that was not enough to completely stop the chakram. It drove him back in the earth several metres, before it spun in the air and returned to the hand of its master.
"Despair," Ozymandias breathed, treating his weapons ever so casually.
Mane's whole body was wracked with pain and his vision blurred. Those thin discs of metal couldn't be gold as he had first assumed. They must have weighed as much as a boulder – as much as even Mane's sword, if not even more. And yet they were such a manageable size and Ozymandias handled them so easily… It was truly the weapon of a king. It must have been forged of the most dense metal on the planet.
"Your weeds grow behind you," Ozymandias taunted. "A favour, I'll do you – for you're the first I will kill after my rebirth – and I'll promise to only kill them after you. Your thoughts?"
"Looks like they'll be living a long life," Mane grinned, his teeth bloodied.
"Kohkohkoh!" Ozymandias chuckled. "Even after feeling my strength, you do not yet despair. Worry not, we will soon change that."
"You've invited my own strength upon you, by swearing yourself to a duel," Mane said back, "don't get cocky." He jumped down from his rock, making his way boldly towards the river that separated them, daring to trust what Ozymandias had said – if he didn't, then he would stand even less of a chance than he already did.
He glanced back at those young swordsmen. Fear was written all over their faces, worry was there too, for him, and for their vanished friends. He put his trust in them more than he did Ozymandias, praying that they would keep themselves safe, no matter what would happen.
A chakram came his way, but this time, he was a little more prepared for it. He did not merely allow it bash against his sword, but he swung down at it, timing the blow perfectly, attempting to embed it in the ground.
A chip of steel jumped from his sword as a result of the collision, but as he had hoped, the weighty chakram was forced downwards, only, not as much as was needed. It soon spun around and returned to the hand of its master.
Mane was breathing heavy, but this time, he hadn't been so rattled by the blow.
"You have the gaze of a warrior," Ozymandias said, seeming to respect him a little more now. "I will entertain you."
It was as though a switch had been flicked on as a result of those words, for Ozymandias leapt into the air, unveiling a greater portion of his power. This time, it was two chakrams Mane was forced to deal with, one after the other.
With them being thrown down at him, from up in the air, he could no longer bash them to the ground. He felt that if he tried to hit them as he would a ball, then his sword would shatter to pieces. Instead, he showed that - despite his size - he could be agile. He rolled out of the way, allowing the weapons to blast into the stone where he had just stood moments before.
They caused two craters where they smashed into the ground, but still, somehow, that wasn't enough to slow them and they spun back in the air, returning to Ozymandias' hands as though enchanted.
Again, Ozymandias tried it, even faster this time, nailing him with his weapons from a distance. He sent them curving through the air, drawing a circle between them, aiming to cut Mane in half from two different directions.
This time, Mane was forced to duck. They just barely made it past him, flying straight over his head, taking a length of hair with them.
Ozymandias quickly tired of cat and mouse games. He jumped over that fast-flowing river with ease, landing near Mane, a snarl on his face. "This will be finished," Ozymandias promised, grasping hold of his chakrams tight in his fists, holding them like knuckle dusters and raising his hands high like a boxer.
Mane didn't have time to marvel as to why his hands were not bleeding from the sharp metal that he clutched so tightly, for the bulky warrior was coming at him, dancing on his toes, throwing fists towards his head.
A lightning-fast jab he led with. His arms were as long as a gorilla's and even more well-muscled. Mane barely managed to get his sword in the way before the sharp ring of metal tried to sever his head.
Another shot came at his body and again it was down to his sword to block. But even with the sword raised, he could not take any force from the strike and he felt it in all its might, doubling over, coughing up another mouthful of blood.
"You take a beating well," Ozymandias said, pairing his words with an uppercut that went for Mane's chin. Every strike that Mane blocked was slowing him more and more as the life was forced out of him. He struggled to bring his head back out of the way to dodge the strike, but even then, he was too slow, and metal met the very tip of his nose, drawing blood.
"DON'T GIVE UP, SIR MANE!" Fer shouted as Mane was forced to a knee, barely holding onto his life. "HE'S JUST A BIG GORILLA! HE'S A MONSTER, LIKE THE REST OF THEM! CHEVALAR DON'T LOSE TO MONSTERS!"
Mane gritted his teeth, holding on with all he had. The words of Fer did not fill him with fire as the child had intended. His whole body was instead wracked entirely with pain. Even kneeling was taking its toll on him now. Death would be easier.