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Chapter 56: Chapter 54: The Contest Between Knife and Leg
Narrow corridor.
A person wielding a club-like weapon rushes towards you.
How should you respond?
Fang Cheng quickly steps back, bending his arm to block.
After pulling away to create distance, he takes a hit from the swinging stick.
Then, taking advantage of the momentum where both parties are standing still, he delivers a front kick fiercely to the opponent’s abdomen.
Following that, he lifts his arm and uses his elbow, seizing the gap when the opponent tries to dodge to the side, and executes the grapple wrist lock technique.
The man in black tries to pull his hand back to strike but finds his wrist clamped as if in a vise, unable to break free at all.
Seeing that the opponent is much weaker, Fang Cheng immediately swings his arm, slamming the man in black against the wall.
In an instant, he formulates a battle strategy.
Exploit his own strength and constitution advantages, engaging in close-quarters combat to limit the opponent’s space to wield the weapon.
Bang!
The man in black grunts, his stick flies out of his hand, and, to his surprise, he is slammed against the wall.
But his figure is exceptionally agile.
In the instant his back touches the wall, he twists his body in an incredibly bizarre pose.
Fang Cheng only feels his five fingers, which were gripping the opponent’s wrist, suddenly gripping air.
With a slick motion.
The man in black breaks free from the hold and swiftly slides along the wall to a distance.
He rolls over, kneels on one knee, and assumes a crouching posture.
Through the eye holes of his mask shines a pair of eyes flickering with a keen light.
Then, he slowly pulls out a butterfly knife from the pouch on his leg.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
He flicks it open quickly with his forehand and then switches to a backhand grip, displaying the gleaming blade as he stares intently at Fang Cheng.
This butterfly knife flipping move shows that he must be quite skilled at handling agile and small weapons like a dagger in normal times.
Seeing the opponent draw a sharp weapon, Fang Cheng naturally would not choose to continue fighting unarmed.
Immediately, he flicks his toes, kicking up the stick from the ground and grasping it in mid-air.
Whizz!
The man in black pushes off the floor with his feet, instantly transitioning from a crouching position to a sprint start.
His figure blurs and he is already upon him, fast like a gust of wind.
Fang Cheng’s pupils contract as he can only see an afterimage in his field of vision.
Knowing that Shijima Gorou in his transformed state has developed thigh muscles and bursts of extreme speed but has not reached such an exaggerated level.
Fang Cheng widens his eyes to capture the trajectory of the blade within the afterimage.
Then he swings the stick horizontally in a fierce smash.
But it seems that the opponent’s thrust is only a feint.
After a false stab, he immediately follows with an overarm swing in a prone position, attacking Fang Cheng’s lower abdomen with an extreme posture.
Fang Cheng reacts extremely quickly, having already retreated a step, evading the ambush with only half a centimeter to spare.
However—
The opponent changes his move again!
The butterfly knife flicks at the fingertips, switching from reverse grip to forward grip, making a cross cut with the back edge, and quickly stabbing towards Fang Cheng’s right wrist holding the stick.
Three stabs in one second, with such speed and craftiness in the blade technique.
It’s dazzling to the eyes, and even several times more formidable than any martial arts megastar in the movies.
Seeing that it’s too late for a normal defense,
Fang Cheng’s fingers release, letting the stick slide down his palm and using his arm as a guard to help block the blade.
At the same time, he launches a side kick to force the opponent back, once again widening the distance.
Drip drop.
Although his wrist managed to evade the vital inner side, the back is still slashed.
Blood stains his clothes, trickling down drop by drop onto the floor.
Fang Cheng takes a deep breath, his eyes fixed intently on the extremely dangerous opponent before him.
Apparently, because of the brief burst of energy just now, the man in black seems slightly out of breath, also stopping to adjust.
If Shijima Gorou represents the non-human limit of strength.
Then—
This guy can be said to be another kind of agility-based "monster."
Fang Cheng’s expression remains unchanged, looking at the 9 free attributes points on the panel.
He still does not choose to add points.
Actual combat is the best way to hone one’s skills!
How could he easily give up such a rare opportunity of an equal match?
"Besides..."
Fang Cheng’s eyes seemed to ignite with orange flames.
"With my two attributes scored at 20 points each, how could I possibly be so weak as to not even catch you, a flea?"
After a series of exchanges, he had initially grasped the strength of his opponent.
He then simply discarded the stick that felt awkward to use and beckoned the man in black with hooked fingers, signaling him to continue the attack.
The man in black’s eyes flickered with slight surprise, appearing somewhat astonished.
Following a snort through the nose that appeared to be a sign of aggravation, he forcefully propelled himself forward and charged with his dagger without any courtesy.
The speed even looked faster than before!
With a "whoosh", a tempest seemed to sweep through the corridor, eager to devour any obstruction.
"Concentration Skill, activate!"
Fang Cheng’s gaze was calm as he stared at the precise form of his opponent, emerging from a blur of afterimages.
Just now, he had been caught off-guard encountering such a peculiar opponent for the first time and hadn’t kept up with the attacking rhythm.
Now, having adapted to the rhythm and using the Concentration Skill,
Fang Cheng could say he was able to see through the opponent’s every move completely.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The man in black’s blade technique was still cunning and vicious, with alternating right and reverse grips slashing horizontally at the abdomen, continuously interrupting with stabs.
Had it not been for Fang Cheng’s sufficiently high Spirit Attribute and quick neural responses,
an ordinary person would probably be turned into a blood gourd in one second.
Of course, this style of fighting was slightly despicable.
It made it hard for Fang Cheng to strike or to kick, forcing him to rely on agile footwork, constantly retreating.
The man in black was remorselessly fierce with every move.
Each forward thrust closed in step by step.
Before, Fang Cheng had wanted to engage in close combat; now, it was the man in black who wished to close the distance quickly.
In a duel between masters, it’s often about finding the right distance within offense and defense to deliver a fatal strike!
Seeing that Fang Cheng was retreating to the end of the corridor, about to be backed against the wall with nowhere to hide,
The man in black’s eyes shimmered, seemingly revealing a hint of a smile.
Just then,
Fang Cheng suddenly took a deep breath to gather strength, lowered his shoulders, and fiercely rammed into the closed door to his right in the corridor.
"Bang" went the sound.
Under the tremendous impact, the lock was smashed open, and the door flung off its hinges, collapsing.
Fang Cheng rolled over, taking the opportunity to dart into the pitch-black room.
The man in black paused for a brief moment, stopping in place for a second.
Then, with a hint of annoyance, he dashed after.
He couldn’t let his opponent take the chance to escape through the window.
However,
Just as he stepped over the threshold, with one foot inside and the other still outside,
Snap!
A sound reminiscent of firecrackers exploding, and a gush of strong wind barraged him.
The man in black’s pupils constricted slightly.
A leg shot through the darkness, drawing a crescent arc in the air, aiming a direct kick at his face.
In this situation, with his body blocked by the doorway and wall on either side,
he could either take the kick or quickly retreat to dodge.
There was simply no third option!
The man in black, bold in skill and courage, lifted his dagger for a counterattack.
As he made his attacking motion, he had already thought through every subsequent move.
How to jab into the calf, sever the tendons, and then pull upward, completely crippling the legs and feet of this foolish man.
In that split second,
As he focused his gaze upon the approaching target, with the glinting cold steel about to penetrate skin,
the leg twisted at an unimaginable angle.
Then—
The dagger merely brushed the leg, only cutting through the trouser fabric, and failed to hit its mark.
It was as if the leg was made of rubber!
Boom!
In the man’s incredulous stare, a Whip Kick heavily struck his face.
In slow motion, one could see his head tilting backward, his cheek deforming bit by bit under the pressure of the sole.
