Harland's body violently twitched—throwing a left hook whilst attempting to sidestep to the left in response, hoping to avoid the deadly retaliation.

Crash!

Despite reacting relatively quickly, he was not ready for the speed of the lunge. Atkarsh's arms crashed against Harland's chest. The impact rattled his body and crushed the air out of his lungs.

Thud

Harland's left hook landed lightly afterward. His body flew backwards a few unstable steps—barely managing to remain standing.

Strangled inhale!

The vertex side of the crowd exploded into frenzied, giddy awe and an undeniable sense of dark elation.

Harland looked partially dazed, his stance worryingly feeble, as he took sharp breaths with great difficulty, trying to restore air to his bruised burning lungs.

"HA! HA! HA!" Meanwhile Atkarsh's body released visible bursts of misty air in mirth. His many hands clutched the back of his head in glee as his body shook and his lips formed a euphoric sneer.

The human commentator braced himself against the white table in front him.

"INCREDIBLE!! Atkarsh jumped, crashing into Harland from such an unprecedented distance. And Harland, stepping to the side, threw a check left hook in response, but Atkarsh was just flying through the air too fast and with too much force. He couldn't land it properly and the force threw him back, nearly sweeping him off his feet! This is just unbelievable!" he gushed. The bald man turned to the vertex commentator.

"What do you think, Samir?" barely containing his giddy delight.

A small contemptuous smirk spread across the vertex commentator's face in response, before replying with undisguised gloating, "Well Joe. The human champion should have—as they say on your planet—just let the sleeping dragon lie... His ignorance was his downfall. He should have understood his worth and place sooner."

"W—…" Joe prevented himself from responding.

Harland readied himself, adopting his karate-like stance once more, though his expression seemed slightly shaken. 

Suddenly, yelling erupted from ringside.

The voice, unmistakably male, belonged to his coach. The words themselves were lost in the arena's cacophony, but their effect was immediate.

Harland's expression hardened with ferocious determination. Clenching his fists with renewed purpose, he once again shuffled toward Atkarsh with deadly intent.

"Even after that powerful blow, Atkarsh is still not assuming a proper stance... he's just standing there," Joe stated, incredulity dripping from every word.

Samir released a contemptuous puff of air from his exoskeleton pores.

"Why would he? The human merely got lucky earlier since Atkarsh was being merciful. Now Atkarsh will take things more seriously—one must swat an annoying fly buzzing too close to one's face, after all."

Still smiling, Atkarsh raised his upper right fist, palm up, beckoning with his index finger in a universal gesture of contempt.

"Bring it," he commanded, voice laced with disdain.

His words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Harland approached with methodical purpose—his focus unwavering, his movements calculated.

"Another free attack?… Or is he trying to bait a counter?" Joe pondered aloud.

Theodore's eyebrows furrowed, his deadpan expression briefly cracking.

'No. The air feels... heavy... This time won't be free.'

Just like before, as Harland closed to within striking distance, his feet executed a deft shuffle—but then paused. Atkarsh didn't react, instead the crack of his smile deepened. His beckoning gesture quickened with false encouragement and sweetness, as though dealing with a fearful child. Nonetheless, Harland pounced, his back leg launching him forward like a missile. This time, his left shoulder and arm loaded then whipped out with blinding speed.

*Whoosh*

His left fist became a blur—already inches from the exposed exoskeleton above Atkarsh's mouth.

*Thud*

Harland's fist connected with devastating precision, jolting the vertex's head before he could process what had happened. Feeling the impact, Atkarsh unleashed two vicious left hooks—one targeting Harland's body, the other his head.

*Voom*

Reacting with preternatural awareness, Harland took a swift back-step—the air cleaved around Atkarsh's fists as they fell short. The momentum carried Atkarsh's body to Harland's right side.

'I barely even saw that jab and it was only bait?' Theodore marveled.

Seizing the opening, Harland twisted his hips clockwise and tensed his left arm—unleashing a powerful lead hook.

*Whack!*

Harland winced, though less severely than before. Atkarsh's face was still in motion as small shards of exoskeleton cascaded down the right side of his face, scarlet blood filling the fractures. Atkarsh launched another volley of wind-cleaving punches from his right side, directly at Harland—but the human champion was pulling back, already airborne.

*Woosh*

Atkarsh's fists reached just shy of Harland's retreating form.

*Pat*

Harland landed several steps away, light on his feet despite the exchange.

"Another check right hook!" Joe exclaimed, his commentary lagging behind the lightning-fast action.

Without hesitation, Atkarsh's double-jointed back legs coiled while his front legs stretched forward. Harland's muscles tensed in recognition of the impending assault.

*Woosh*

But this time, Atkarsh's lunge was entirely different—his back legs exploded with force, aimed directly at Harland, while his front legs guided and amplified the launch. Harland's face flashed with shock. Atkarsh threw two left straight punches with devastating power. Knowing instinctively he couldn't dodge in time, Harland's lead foot shot out—planting firmly on Atkarsh's approaching abdomen. As the vertex's fists neared dangerously close, Harland's leg flexed with all his might, using Atkarsh as a springboard to try to propel himself backward while simultaneously pushing his opponent away.

*Voom*

Atkarsh's fists barely grazed the Phantom Sniper, who was falling horizontally, his body instinctively curling to prepare for a back roll.

*Bang*

*Pat*

Both fighters hit the canvas, Harland recovering gracefully from his roll.

"Woaaah!!" The human spectators erupted with surprise and admiration.

Joe sprang from his seat, overcome with excitement.

"Unbelievable!! We're witnessing a firefight between two master tacticians. Harland used Atkarsh's own body to create space and evade those lethal strikes... simply phenomenal!"

"This coward!—He keeps retreating! He's only delaying the inevitable," Samir spat venomously.

"KrrKrrKrr," Atkarsh's back hunched slightly—an ugly expression distorting his hard features as a guttural growl rumbled from deep within his chest, his exoskeleton vibrating with unbridled rage.

"Harland seems to have made Atkarsh thoroughly lose his cool," Joe observed, his tone deliberately neutral.

"…" For once, Samir was rendered speechless.

Atkarsh bent his legs, muscles tensing visibly beneath his carapace.

"AAHH!" The champion of Verticia roared intensely as he once again launched himself at Harland.

Harland bounced off his back leg, sidestepping left while simultaneously crouching horizontally, bending the right side of his torso inward.

*Whoosh*

Atkarsh's body barreled past Harland's right shoulder, missing by millimeters.

*Thud!*

Atkarsh landed awkwardly, his four arms slammed against the ground to break his fall, his jointed legs sprawled across the canvas. The enduring ancient fighter's compound eyes momentarily wide with shock.

"Oooh!" The arena erupted with passionate exclamations.

"Oh! He braced the landing but that still must have been brutal with that heavy exoskeleton," Joe noted

"…" Samir remained uncharacteristically silent, his dull black carapace unable to hide his dismay.

Atkarsh attempted to lift himself with his four arms, but his spider-like legs needed space to bend—space that Harland refused to grant. The human champion launched himself onto Atkarsh's back with visible urgency, the impact driving the vertex forward.

'Yes! Keep him grounded!' Theodore silently cheered.

Despite Harland on his back, Atkarsh twisted sharply—driving two right elbows toward his opponent. Harland arched his hips to his left, avoiding the strikes with practiced ease. Their balance shifted violently. Harland gripped Atkarsh's shoulders with both hands and clamped onto his body with his knees, leaning his body extremely to the right to avoid falling. Atkarsh was forced to support Harland's shifted weight with his right arms. Stabilizing himself with his right arm—Harland unleashed a vicious left hook.

*Thud*

His knuckles connected squarely with Atkarsh's jaw. Enraged—Atkarsh braced on his arms, rolling rightward onto his back whilst swinging a wild back-fists with his left arms. As Atkarsh's back neared the canvas—Harland launched himself off, executing a smooth back-roll.

*Thump!*

Atkarsh's fist struck nothing but bare canvas.

Joe's eyes widened as he absorbed the skillful brilliance unfolding before him.

"Oh, what a scramble! Harland clung to Atkarsh's back like a vise before bailing at the perfect moment!"

"This irredeemable insect," Samir hissed, venom dripping from every syllable.

Joe raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Whoa whoa, calm down man."

The vertex commentator's cold, dull black eyes locked onto Joe's.

"I. Am. Calm. Joe."

"Er... okay."

Swiftly regaining his feet, Harland observed Atkarsh—who was alarmingly close to rising. In a flash of instinct, Harland dropped to his knees and then seized Atkarsh's foremost left arachnid leg. Standing tall, he violently dragged the vertex off-balance. Though Atkarsh quickly yanked his leg free, Harland capitalized instantly, executing a devastating leg kick with his back leg at Atkarsh's retracted knee—turning his hip to feed the kick more power.

*Whack*

Harland's shin crashed into the knee joint, his leg whipping back immediately after impact. Atkarsh flailed his left leg like an overturned insect, grimacing in pain. Harland pressed his advantage, launching a lightning-fast lead leg kick at the same vulnerable joint on the opposite side.

*Whack*

"Ugh!" Atkarsh grunted, his aura of invincibility shattered.

He struggled desperately to rise, but Harland again pulled a front leg, the right, preventing him from establishing balance.

Joe's eyes were glued.

"What a brilliant strategy. Since grappling with Atkarsh would be suicide, he's exploiting a vertex's limited mobility to keep him grounded while delivering targeted strikes to the most vulnerable parts of the exoskeleton. He's genuinely hurting Atkarsh,"

Samir stiffened, his carapace seeming to tighten around his frame.

"Don't spew rubbish. The vertex have no such weaknesses," he growled.

The silver-haired fighter continued his methodical assault, switching his targets fluidly between Atkarsh's front legs. The sheer exertion of their struggle carried them around the Octagon as Atkarsh fought desperately to regain his footing.

*Ding, Ding, Ding*

"That's the bell! What a dominant round for Harland," Joe declared with barely contained excitement.

"What nonsense! That was perhaps a close round, but it would obviously favor Atkarsh, who showed aggression while the human merely fled for his life," Samir countered shamelessly.

"What? Come on, you can't possibly call that close," Joe blurted, his professional detachment momentarily abandoned.

"I expect nothing more from your inferior human intelligence."

*Thump!*

A thunderous sound erupted from the Octagon, drowning out the crowd's murmurs. Theodore looked up to see a shorter vertex male wearing a bizarre, thin, inky-black garment, his fists resting on the ring pole beside Atkarsh.

'Someone's mad~,' Theodore thought with a hint of mocking amusement.

'Anyway...

Since two of the four judges are human, my bet on Harland not only surviving but competing against Atkarsh in the first round just paid off. That's 2 million dollars secured.

Now he just needs to be knocked out in the second round so I can collect the final 3,' Theodore recalled with a oddly conflicted but grim tone.

Joe glanced warily at Samir.

"Harland performed brilliantly this round… but if he wants to defeat Atkarsh, he'll need to chase a knockout—he can't risk leaving it to the judges."

"What are you implying?" Samir questioned, warning edging his voice.

"A-all I'm saying is that vertex possess virtually limitless stamina—"

"Not virtually—they do," Samir interjected smugly in condescending manner.

"Yes, so Atkarsh can maintain pressure throughout all five rounds—"

"Ha! You think this continues past round two?" Samir snickered.

"—and while Harland has extraordinary cardio, he's still human. He can only absorb so much damage, whereas vertex possess incredible regenerative abilities and can thus endure extreme punishment knowing it won't affect them long-term. Combined with their genetic advantages, particularly a specimen like Atkarsh, whose strength surpasses anything in the animal kingdom, Harland faces a monumental challenge. He must float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."

Theodore nodded in silent agreement.

'"The Untouchable Phantom Sniper" Harland Cornders... Today… you need to lose—so I can buy my way out of this doomed planet.'

The champions rose from their corners and approached center ring. Harland adopted his signature stance, confident yet hyper-focused. Atkarsh stubbornly refused to raise his hands into a proper guard, dark resentment swirling in his compound eyes. The referee checked both fighters' readiness, then signaled with his hand.

"FIGHT!"

They approached cautiously. Harland abruptly stepped forward with his lead foot and threw a vicious low kick with his back leg, his body weight driving the strike.

*Thud*

Atkarsh's body absorbed the impact. Harland retracted his leg and stepped back, but Atkarsh exploded forward, his back legs propelling him while his front legs lifted. Twisting his hips clockwise, he thrust his left shoulder forward, fists following in a deadly arc.

*Whoosh*

The displaced air rustled Harland's hair as he narrowly avoided the punches by twisting and stepping left.

*Thump*

Atkarsh's front legs slammed onto the canvas in the direction of Harland's evasion. His assault continuing without pause, the relentless annihilator pulled in with his front legs, materializing directly before Harland. Twisting powerfully in the opposite direction, Atkarsh unleashed two devastating right hooks.

*Voom*

Unable to evade, Harland raised his left arm to shield his head.

*Bang*

Atkarsh's fist crashed into Harland's guard—the impact visibly rattling his consciousness—while the other fist smashed into his ribs, doubling him over. The combined force sent Harland stumbling rightward.

"Ugh," he grimaced silently, pain etched across his features.

He staggered backward, desperately seeking distance.

"Haaa!!" the vertex side of the venue exploded into dissonant yet undeniably jubilant shrieks and deep vocalizations.