MTLNOVEL Chapter 397: Breaking the Hunger
Damon and James entered the ring, immediately grabbing everyone's attention.
Cameras were all around them, broadcasting the fight live, but there was no commentary.
This made the moment feel strangely close and personal, just two fighters and the silence between them.
Damon and James stared at each other from across the way.
In James's eyes, he saw pure drive.
It wasn't overconfidence or showiness, it was a strong desire.
A strong urge to show he can succeed.
Hunger.
Damon hadn't even used his simulation system for this fight.
He didn't feel the need.
He had observed James's fight the day before, and Victor had already warned him about James's striking power.
But Damon wasn't concerned.
He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his power was superior, not just physically, but mentally and strategically.
Yet, staring into James's eyes, Damon felt something unfamiliar stir within him.
That hunger, so strong it seemed to radiate off James, ignited something primal in Damon.
It wasn't pity.
It wasn't respect.
It was something darker.
He wanted to crush that hunger. Your journey continues at empire
To extinguish the fire in James's eyes.
Damon didn't know where the feeling came from, but it surged through him like an unrelenting wave.
He didn't just want to win.
He wanted to break James. to take that raw determination and shatter it.
To strip away the confidence, the belief, the hope, and leave James standing in the wreckage of his own ambition.
The referee stepped between them, signaling for the fight to begin.
Damon took a deep breath, his calm exterior masking the storm building inside him.
Damon and James stepped forward, their postures sharp and ready, each measuring the other with precise movements.
Damon started with a faint jab, testing James's reaction.
James didn't flinch, he stayed composed, his guard high.
Damon smirked.
He appreciated the composure but knew it wouldn't last.
Damon advanced, cutting angles with his footwork, and fired a clean leg kick.
The thud echoed in the silent venue, and James winced but didn't back down.
Damon followed up with a jab-cross combination, the strikes snapping James's head back as he absorbed them.
James retaliated with a powerful overhand right, but Damon saw it coming.
He weaved under the punch and countered with a vicious hook to the body.
James grunted, his ribs clearly taking the damage, but he didn't falter.
Instead, he pushed forward, throwing a sharp combination of hooks and uppercuts, trying to turn the tide.
Damon blocked and slipped most of the strikes, but a stiff jab managed to land on his cheek.
It wasn't damaging, but it reminded him that he shouldn't underestimate anyone.
Damon's smirk returned as he reset his stance.
He stepped forward again, feinting a jab before landing a crushing low kick to James's lead leg.
James staggered slightly, his balance shaken, but he didn't stop.
James fired a series of jabs, keeping Damon at bay for a moment before stepping in with a wild hook.
Damon sidestepped effortlessly and punished James with a sharp elbow to the side of the head.
The blow opened a small cut near James's temple, blood trickling down his face.
The crowd watching through the cameras would have seen the shift, Damon was systematically breaking James down.
Yet, James kept coming forward, his resolve unshaken.
Damon began to up the pressure, landing combinations with precision.
A jab-cross-hook to the body, followed by a clinch where he delivered knees to James's midsection.
Each strike was calculated, designed to sap James's energy.
Damon didn't release the clinch after delivering the brutal knees.
Instead, with flawless precision, he transitioned into a judo throw, using James's momentum against him.
In a swift motion, Damon flipped James over his hip and sent him crashing to the canvas.
The impact echoed in the silent venue, and James grunted as he hit the mat.
Damon immediately followed him down, his control suffocating, treating James like a child struggling against an experienced grappler.
Damon moved methodically, locking James's arm in a tight kimura.
The submission was brutal, the kind designed to force a tap almost immediately.
He tightened his grip and began cranking the arm, but James didn't give in.
James's face twisted in pain, veins bulging in his neck as he refused to tap.
His breathing was labored, his body trembling under the pressure, but he held on.
The hunger Damon had seen earlier was still there, refusing to die, no matter the pain.
With precision and focus, Damon transitioned from the kimura to a mounted triangle choke.
His legs locked around James's neck and arm, and he squeezed with everything he had.
James clawed at Damon's legs, his movements frantic, but his refusal to tap remained firm.
The crowd watching the stream would see the shift in Damon's face, no smirk, no calm.
It was pure focus, driven by a need to end this decisively.
Damon adjusted the choke, tightening it further, his muscles flexing as he poured on the pressure.
James's movements slowed, his body growing weaker under the relentless submission.
Finally, with no escape and his body betraying him, James's hand hovered, shaking.
He tapped, the fight finally ending.
The referee stepped in, tapping Damon on the shoulder to signal the victory.
Damon released the choke and stood up, towering over his defeated opponent.
James lay on the mat, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.
Damon glanced down at him.
The referee raised Damon's hand, and the cameras captured the moment.
The Cross Era had taken another step forward, leaving another opponent in its wake.
As the fight ended, the comments flooded social media, streaming platforms, and MMA forums, lighting up with reactions.
@Filextaker24:
"Damon Cross is inevitable. That wasn't just a win, it was a dismantling. #GOAT #CrossEra"
@MMAInsider:
"Flawless. Damon treated James like an amateur in there. The control, the transitions, the submission, pure class. #CrossEra #MMA"
@CasualFighter:
"GOAT in the making. He's not even a champion yet, but Damon fights like one. Who's stopping this guy? #CrossEra"