I replayed it again and got to the cathedral of escalation! Hooray!
I repeat what I said, adding as an alternative a clear window on what the cooldown after attacking/defending is, in any way you want to show it (a flash, a stamina bar, anything at all). It's a very polished combat system, and not knowing when you can't attack/defend for a bit that sense of "unfairness" that this game doesn't need and that (probably) makes many players alt-f4 out of the game to complain the game didn't pick up the controls in time xD
Still, the fact I came back to it means it was good to play, so congrats on the submission once again. I saved in in a collection so I can find it in the future, and I'll definitely play an updated version as well if you'll ever release it :)