His fist caught my temple and the world exploded into light. I stumbled, and his elbow drove into my spine.
I went down to one knee.
The crowd was screaming now. Screaming for him to finish it.
He grabbed my hair. Yanked my head back. His other fist drew back, claws aimed at my exposed throat.
I caught his wrist. The one holding my hair.
Twisted hard.
He grunted, surprised, and I used his momentum against him. Pulled him forward and down, drove my elbow up into his face.
His nose crunched. Blood sprayed.
He stumbled back and I was already moving. Not thinking. Just acting on pure instinct.
I couldn't win this fight conventionally. Couldn't match his skill or his strength or his experience. Not in this condition.
But I was willing to sacrifice more than he was.
I charged. Not at him. At the arena wall.
He saw it coming. Tried to sidestep. But I caught him around the waist and kept driving forward, using every ounce of momentum I had left.
We hit the wall together. Hard.
The impact jarred every bone in my body. My broken ribs screamed. But I felt him take the worst of it—felt his spine slam into the metal mesh, felt the air drive from his lungs.
I didn't give him time to recover.
Drove my knee into his midsection. Once. Twice. Three times.
He doubled over and I caught him in a headlock, my arm wrapping around his throat from the side, my other hand locking it in place.
A guillotine choke. One of the most brutal submissions in existence.
He thrashed. Clawed at my arms. His nails tore through my pelt, drawing fresh blood, but I held on.
Squeezed.
He drove his elbow back into my ribs. The broken ones. The pain was so intense I nearly passed out.
But I thought of her. Thought of what would happen if I failed.
Squeezed harder.
His struggles grew weaker. More desperate. His movements became uncoordinated, frantic.
I felt his pulse against my forearm—hammering fast, then slowing, then fluttering.
Just a little longer. Just a little—
His body went slack.
I held the choke for ten more seconds. Making sure. Making absolutely certain.
Then I let him drop.
