The chain of the whip rose high into the sky.
Since the Grand Coliseum had no roof, the weapon briefly blocked the sun from Mako's perspective.
With the same speed it ascended, the whip came crashing down toward Mako's face.
Mako's instincts kicked in, reacting by shielding his face with his left arm.
"AAAAAAAH!" Mako's scream of pain echoed through the Grand Coliseum.
Not only did he feel the crushing impact against his forearm, shattering more than one bone, but that wasn't all. The spiked chain, like a constricting snake, coiled around Mako's arm after the strike.
Catherine smirked triumphantly. Then, she yanked the whip.
Mako resisted.
"Ha, ha!" Catherine looked at him without a shred of pity. "You're nothing but a dog that refuses to die. How pathetic. You're only making this harder for yourself, Mako!"
Indeed, resisting only intensified the pain.
Not only did Mako feel the spikes digging into every muscle in his left arm, but he could also feel that sensation spreading to parts of his body that hadn't been struck yet.
After a few seconds, the pain worsened.
Mako no longer felt just surface-level pain—he could feel it radiating from his internal organs.
'I feel… like I'm… going to die,' Mako thought.
The agonizing pain made it nearly impossible for Mako to gather his thoughts.
His right hand was mangled. Now his left arm was trapped in the whip.
Catherine began pulling the whip even harder.
"Stop fighting! What a stubborn dog!" she shouted, furious.
Mako was on his knees, not budging an inch.
Blood from his arm kept dripping, staining the orange sand on the ground. Parts of his red robe were torn to shreds.
Mako began to sweat coldly from the pain.
'No… My ability hasn't activated,' Mako thought as Catherine approached to deliver the killing blow. 'That can only mean… this agonizing pain… won't kill me.'
'Right?' he thought, with little certainty.
Aside from his decapitation, he'd only faced Fox in combat. What assurance did he have that his ability was to rewind time? And if he did, would Catherine remember the events? The crowd?
Mako clenched his left fist in frustration. He began to rise from the ground, his red robe stained with orange sand. The bloodstains were hard to see against the red fabric.
Wasting no time, Catherine refused to give Mako a moment to breathe.
Without hesitation, the blonde woman delivered a powerful kick to Mako's side, sending him flying.
But before Mako could gain more air, Catherine yanked the whip, making him crash hard into the ground.
"This is no longer a duel, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer exclaimed, sweating with excitement. "This is an execution!"
The king, watching from his high seat, stood, disappointed.
"Where are you going, dear?" the queen asked, unsurprised by the fight.
"This is a waste of time. The outcome's already decided," the king replied.
Without further ado, the king left without announcement. It wasn't necessary. Everyone noticed the act, which only humiliated Mako further.
Even the announcer didn't dare comment on it. He simply averted his gaze from the departing king and focused on the fight.
"Kill him!"
A lone shout came from the stands.
Then, others joined in, chanting:
"Kill him! Kill him!"
'It's just like that time…' Mako thought, devoid of inner peace.
He saw the sun in the sky, the crowd's chants a blurry background noise. But Mako could only feel the raw, searing pain.
With great difficulty, he began to rise from the ground.
In that moment, he realized Catherine was charging at him to deliver another devastating blow.
"What kind of price did you pay for an ability like that?" Mako wondered aloud.
Catherine was surprised he spoke but ignored him. She didn't stop her charge. She was determined to win.
The world around Mako grew blurrier. He couldn't hear clearly. His words came out as mumbles. His vision faded.
"Is this really what your soul craves?" Mako seemed to be delirious.
It was a fraction of a second. Catherine closed the distance in no time with a leap.
Mako's dull eyes, in that moment, ignited with a celestial blue glow that burned like a thousand suns.
He tensed every muscle possible in his left arm, still ensnared by the whip.
Letting out a primal scream from the depths of his throat, Mako began running around the battle arena.
"What the?!" Catherine exclaimed as she landed, striking the ground with a powerful kick.
Mako's entire body screamed in agony, but he ran with every ounce of strength he had left.
Catherine, seeing his plan, yanked the whip again.
"You think you have the strength to drag me?!" she said, gripping the whip's handle with one hand.
Without much struggle, Catherine pulled the whip—and Mako with it.
Mako stopped his run abruptly at the yank, falling to the ground before being dragged toward Catherine.
But the blue glow in Mako's eyes never wavered.
When Catherine had dragged him close enough, she prepared to crush Mako's skull with a single kick. She raised her leg, and then…
Mako, with his mangled right hand, dragged that shattered hand through the sand.
The burning pain of the open wound mixed with sand was unbearable, amplified by Catherine's ability. He could lose consciousness at any moment.
Mako bet everything on one desperate move.
Catherine launched her kick.
But it missed.
A second before impact, Mako's ruined hand flung all the sand he could grab into Catherine's eyes.
"Bastard!" she exclaimed, kicking blindly, but Mako was no longer on the ground.
"Yes…" Mako said, still sweating coldly, his body wracked with agonizing pain. "…I've got strength to spare."