Igris felt the second wave of Bloodlust wash over him as Yugi's eyes flared crimson once more. The oppressive fear aura pressed against his will like a cold wind against stone—intense, insistent, meant to break lesser minds. For the first time in the fight, the knight's single remaining eye flickered. The crimson glow dimmed noticeably, the runes on his armor pulsing erratically as though struggling under the weight of the skill. His movements slowed. The gauntleted fist descending toward Miko's head lost a fraction of its momentum, the strike still heavy but no longer the crushing hammer it had been. The blow landed on her shoulder instead of her skull as she released her grip and rolled away, the impact driving her downward with bruising force but not shattering bone. The floor cracked beneath her, dust rising in a small cloud. Igris straightened slowly. The greatsword remained embedded in the floor where he had left it. He lowered his raised hand, gauntlet unclenching. The crimson mane hung limp, ichor still dripping from the ruined eye slit. His breathing grew heavier, the cracked breastplate rising and falling unevenly, the once-steady rhythm faltering under the stat reduction. He took one step back, stance widening to steady himself. The remaining eye shifted from Miko's guarded position to Yugi rising from the rubble. No attack followed. No lunge, no swing. He simply stood, armored form swaying slightly, the weight of centuries pressing down on shoulders that had carried far heavier burdens. The Blood-Red Commander waited, silent, the chamber's silence broken only by the faint drip of ichor and the distant hum of Miko's lingering mana.

He had taken the hit.
His strength had waned.
But he had not fallen.
Not yet.

So then... it was time to force his fall. Yugi wasn't fully healed yet, but he had little choice but to mount an offense. Bloodlust obviously took effect this time; Yugi even had a visible notice from the System alerting him to that fact. "Sure would be nice to get an alert when it fails!" he complained to the System and its administrator ─ wherever that entity was. A full sprint carried Yugi past Miko, his steps light and agile as opposed to the mighty, crushing footfall of their opponent. When he passed the brown-haired girl by, he gave a very simple response to her question about dancing. "This one isn't gonna be a dance. Bloodlust worked, so Big Red over here's looking bankrupt! You know what that means!" he shouted. Nimble feet had Yugi appearing behind Igris soon after that, and Sharingan had him knowing exactly where to strike. Yugi's right fist clenched until nails drew blood from his own palm. That same fist would be driving into Igris's back with all the force Yugi could muster, hitting the point right behind that original abdominal wound. "GET'CHO PAPER UP!" he exclaimed, once more falling into that inside joke that was quickly becoming commonplace for the activation of Black Flash. Yugi's strike was true, powerful enough to knock the commander forward ─ directly toward Miko.