345: A Rival's Duel

A Rival's Duel

'WHAT!?!?' Moby's eyes shot up wide, breaking right through his poker face. He refused to believe his own ears.  1

'It must be a complete coincidence… Yeah… It must be someone else who chose the nickname of 'Fox,' it's a pretty common nickname! There's no way Regrit would throw away all the money I gained just for a chance to...— Fuck…' Moby inwardly cursed and came to a realization that he should have assumed a long time ago. 

And, his realization was later proved right as the left-hand gates opened and showed the very same man wearing the fox mask he gave him before they entered into this event, the crowd cheering louder for him than any other opponent he had faced prior. 

"Ha! I knew you would make it to the final round Joker! There was no doubt in my mind! Now, I finally have a chance to put you in your place!" Regrit's smile was clear as he pointed his fists toward's the still stunned Moby. 

He had never felt such anger in a very, very, very long time… How could someone be this selfish? He could not fathom how someone so stupid could even exist, he had to hold himself back from dropping everything to go up to him right now and knock some sense into him. But, more than everyone else, Moby knew that it was too late for that.

This even more put into perspective that man's determination to fight him. But, even now, Moby did not understand WHY!

Moby scoffed slightly before taking a deep breath to calm his mind, veering his gaze at his opponent. 

"I don't know who you are… But, from how the crowd spoke, you seem to be very powerful… You followed me a lot when I first came here, I didn't think much of you at the time. who knew you were someone I'd see here." It took a lot out of Moby to play along with Regrit's game, but, in the end, he knew it had to be done. 

"I see… Well, by the time I'm finished with you! This fake name of mine will be etched deep down in your subconscious!"

The trash talk between the fighters was really getting the crowd going, as they cheered even louder, Hikari cheering Moby's name since she of course wanted him to be the victor. 

The two combatants stared silently in each other's directions, one wearing a smirk while the other wore a face far more serious. 

The announcer interrupted once again and asked the usual questions to make sure no one was cheating, and after that… It was to the point of no return…

Then came the point where they were instructed to send duel requests to one another, and before he even knew it, Moby already had a notification on his watch that he promptly accepted without much thinking. 

"Alright! Both combatants are ready! This match will decide the winner of the grand prize! I am even more excited than you are for this! Believe me!  I will count you in on this grand, final match of the mammon's den combat tournament!"

"5!"

"4!"

As Moby heard the crowd cry on with the announcer counting down, many things Ran through Moby's mind… The first being his chances at victory. Moby was more than aware of how strong Regrit was in a general sense, but now, he would be fighting a super-charged Regrit due to the organizers' cheating. If it comes down to it, he might have to resort to some drastic measures. There was no way he was about to let Regrit beat him after all of his talk, and there was no way he was about to lose all of his points to something so stupid.

He vowed to knock some sense into him.

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"BEGIN!!"

The match started, but both opponents remained in their fighting stance. Joker simply kept his eyes on his opponent like he intended to react to what he did, but Fox, on the other hand, tried to move but immediately stopped himself like some sort of jolt ravaged his body. 

It was quite the odd display… He took a step back with his eyes wide open before his bewildered gaze inturned into that of absolute outrage as he looked up at the announcer's booth, pointing his index with pure malice on his face. 

"Why… Why you…" He whispered three simple words before he dropped his finger and inwardly scoffed shaking his head.

This all left the crowd truly perplexed on what exactly just happened, even Moby could not help but join in their silent confusion. But, after Regrit took a deep breath and readjusted his gaze towards his opponent, he was more than ready to finally begin.

He rushed from his previous position like a bolt of lightning, jumping with one leg forward using a flying kick towards Moby who simply sidestepped it as it came due to the aid of his eyes of sin. 

But, as he did that, Regrit then opened his legs and attempted to grab Moby in to crush his face. Moby could not help but become extremely surprised as he too naturally and instinctively lifted his forearms up stiffly to block the impact, and have an opening for him to retaliate by punishing his opponent's open body that was suspended in mid-air.

His fist managed to connect to Regrit's chest, but this moment also allowed Regrit to kick him in the face, sending both of them flying in opposite directions from each other like it was a perfect exchange. 

'W-what just happened…' What Moby felt in that exchange was something he had not felt in a very long time… An almost unexplainable feeling. 

What he just did with Regrit did not feel like anything like the wild fights he usually entertained, but instead like a running river… One calming and blissful in nature with a flow that was unparalleled. It… It felt like when he would practice the blissful demon style with his family… something nostalgic... It felt more like training if anything else. 

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