The third exchange was where it changed.
Jax came in with a right-handed strike—reinforced fist, full commitment, driving toward Silas's chest. Silas had been waiting for a full commitment. He deflected the arm the same way he had deflected it before—upward and across—but this time instead of letting the motion close, he followed the arm as it went wide, staying connected to it, his left hand sliding from the forearm toward the wrist where the reinforcement density dropped off.
The wrist joint.
The one location on a reinforced limb where the hardening was always thinner—too much flex required in the joint for full density to be sustainable. Silas had known this before the fight began. He had been waiting for the angle that put the wrist accessible without Jax being able to pull it before contact was made.
He touched it.
Two fingers. Index and middle, pressed to the inside of Jax's wrist for less than a second.
The disruption fired.
