Daseos lay on the arena floor, his body twisted in an awkward position like a rag doll tossed aside by a careless child.
He felt the hard ground pressing against his bruised spine.
The air had been knocked out of him, and he gasped, struggling to fill his lungs.
Krakus's grip around his waist was like an iron clamp, unyielding and suffocating. His arms, wrapped around Daseos's midsection, felt like boa constrictors tightening with every moment.
'How do I get out of this?'
Daseos's thoughts raced, even as he hammered his fists onto Krakus's arms.
'The more I hit, the tighter he grips. It's like hitting a wall of steel!'
He felt a sharp twinge, a lancing pain that screamed from his waist all the way to his fingertips and toes.
His punches had lost their initial vigor, turning into weak thuds.
His strength was dwindling, fast.
'No... I can't let it end like this,'
He thought, desperation clouding his mind.
Just then, his internal system flickered into view:
==========
[ Daseos Demon — T0 ]
Wealth: 40,637
P: 72/199
M: 168
==========
'72/199? Could it be?'
Daseos thought.
His mind raced back to yesterday.
Ah, Yes, the day before where Daseos had skipped school and the day the L.U.S.T Inn's walls echoed with his "ARGHHH!!" and "AHHHH~"s, Daseos spent all his time raising his PhysRat from 185 all the way to 199.
Each PhysRat point cost 10,000 wealth points and the higher his PhysRat got, the more pain he felt every time his PhysRat increased.
Daseos was so absorbed in training, or perhaps the pain of increasing his PhysRat pushed him so far close to the precipice of unconsciousness that before he had realized it, his PhysRat had increased to 199.
'Why did it stop at 199? Why wouldn't the system let me go any further?'
He remembered the sinking feeling, staring at his plummeting wealth points.
It wasn't because he didn't want to continue increasing his PhysRat but after hitting 199 there seemed to be some sort of reluctance from the system to continue helping him upgrade.
The heartbreak he felt when he realized that his wealth points had decreased so much almost caused him to faint.
He immediately checked his bank balance out of panic.
Luckily, his bank balance remained untouched!
But we digress.
As Daseos lay on his back, his head bleeding, he had been trying to use what he had learnt in his Demon's Codex to contract his muscles to wriggle out of Krakus's vice grip, but he had already gotten too weak.
'Damned System! HELP YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT'
Daseos screamed in his mind.
Just then he saw his Wealth Points quickly dwindling and his PhysRat points increasing quickly.
==========
[ Daseos Demon — T0 ]
Wealth: 637
P: 122/199
M: 168
==========
His Wealth had dropped to a measly 637 points, but his physical rating had skyrocketed.
At 122, he was no Hercules, but maybe, just maybe, he had enough in him to break free.
In that high-stakes moment, locked in Krakus's iron grip, Daseos felt his practiced control over his own body returning, almost as if each muscle and sinew started responding to his innermost thoughts.
In that split second, when the grip around his waist loosened, Daseos felt like time had slowed down.
He focused on the muscles around his waist, contracting them with surgical precision.
'Control! Do it now. Contract, contract, contract! '
He whispered in his mind, picturing the fibers of his muscles winding tight like a rope.
Daseos ordered his abdominal muscles in his mind, focusing on the area where Krakus's vice-like fingers gripped him.
With the precision of a master puppeteer, Daseos tightened his muscles so sharply that Krakus's hand slipped just a hair's breadth off its mark.
In that millisecond of slack, Daseos lunged into action.
His legs snapped up like a sprung trap, snaring Krakus's neck in a merciless leg lock.
With a swift, targeted jab of his fingers, he struck a series of barely visible acupoints along Krakus's arm.
They weren't lethal, but they were disorienting enough to loosen his enemy's grip further.
"Ugh!"
Krakus grunted, his grip loosening.
Daseos sat up abruptly, his legs still wrapped around Krakus's neck, tightening like a noose.
His fingers found their next target—Krakus's eyes.
He jabbed, ruthless and quick.
"AARGHHH!" Krakus howled, blood oozing from his closed eyes.
Krakus let out an ear-piercing scream.
Blood seeped from his clenched eyelids as he flailed about in agony, thrashing his arms in a futile attempt to dislodge Daseos.
Daseos's legs squeezed even tighter, choking the life out of Krakus.
The crowd erupted into chaotic roars and screams, their bloodlust ignited by the savage turn of events.
"GOOOO!!! [5]!!!"
"KILLLLLL!!!"
"[5]!! [5]!!! [5]!!!!"
Here, in this arena, the fiercer the battle, the louder the crowd, and right now, they were deafening.
Gritting his teeth, Daseos felt every muscle fiber in his arms tense.
With a furious cry, he drew on every last reserve of strength, hammering down on Krakus's skull.
"RAHHHH!!!"
*THUDDD!!* *THUDDD!!!* *THHUUDDD!!!*
Krakus's villainous skin, however, was a marvel, displaying an uncanny resilience. It absorbed each blow, protecting him from instant defeat.
But it couldn't protect him from the pain, from the humiliation, from the blood that dripped from his eyes and nose.
Daseos felt his strength waning, his muscles screaming in protest, but he kept his lethal leg lock in place, squeezing with every last ounce of energy.
If this was his chance to turn the tables, he would not—could not—let it slip away.
With a new burst of clarity, Daseos modified his attack.
With a surge of force, Daseos thrust his open palms violently against both of Krakus's ears.
*BOOOOOOOMMMM!!!*
The air popped.
The impact sent a violent wave of vibration coursing through the bones of Krakus's skull, ricocheting in every cavern and corner of his brain.
His eyes rolled back, his consciousness wavered; Daseos's assault was hitting home
Seizing the moment, Daseos focused all his strength into the index and middle fingers of both hands, hardening them like steel.
With a swift, piercing movement, he drove them into Krakus's ears.
*PIEEERRRCCCCEEEE!!!*
Krakus erupted in raw, visceral agony, his body convulsing with a newfound surge of desperate energy.
"AHHHHHH!!!!"
The scream that ripped from Krakus's throat was unlike any sound Daseos had ever heard—a guttural howl of primal agony that echoed in the arena, drowning out even the frenzied cries of the crowd.