54: Chapter 54 A Battle Between Knife and Leg

Chapter 54: The Clash of Blade and Leg

A narrow corridor.

A person brandishing a club-like weapon rushes toward you.

How should you respond?

Fang Cheng retreated quickly, bending his arms to block.

After pulling back to create some distance, he took a direct hit from the baton's swing.

Then, taking advantage of the brief moment where both of them stood firm, he delivered a powerful Front Kick straight to his opponent's abdomen.

Immediately after, he raised his arm and threw a side elbow, seizing the opening as his opponent dodged sideways to execute a wrist-locking joint lock.

The Man in Black tried to pull his hand back to strike, but found his wrist clamped as if by iron pincers, completely unable to break free.

Seeing that the other's strength was much weaker than his own, Fang Cheng immediately swung his arm, slamming the Man in Black hard against the wall.

In the blink of an eye, he had already formulated a battle strategy.

Leverage his advantages in strength and Physique to engage in close-quarters combat, restricting the opponent's space to use his weapon.

Bang!

The Man in Black let out a muffled groan, the baton slipping from his hand as he was unexpectedly slammed against the wall.

Yet his movements were exceptionally agile.

The moment his back hit the wall, his entire body twisted in an incredibly bizarre posture.

Fang Cheng felt as if his fingers, which were gripping the other's wrist, suddenly grasped empty air.

With a slick slide,

the Man in Black actually broke free from the restraint, then quickly slid along the wall to a distance.

He rolled, dropping to one knee in a crouching stance.

Through the holes of his mask, a pair of eyes gleamed with a faint, sharp light.

Then, he slowly drew a Butterfly Knife from his leg holster.

Swish, swish, swish!

With a quick forehand open, he flipped it twice.

Then, holding it in a reverse grip, he bared the coldly gleaming blade, his eyes locked onto Fang Cheng.

From this fancy knife-flipping, it was obvious he was highly skilled in using nimble, compact weapons like daggers.

Seeing his opponent draw a Sharp Weapon, Fang Cheng naturally wouldn't choose to face him empty-handed anymore.

With a flick of his toe, he kicked up the baton from the floor and caught it out of midair.

Whoosh!

The Man in Black kicked off the floor, instantly transitioning from a crouch to a full sprint.

His figure blurred, and he was already upon him, fast as a gust of wind.

Fang Cheng's pupils contracted slightly; he could only see an afterimage left in his field of vision.

One had to know that even though Majima Goro had highly developed thigh muscles and explosive speed after transforming, he had never reached such an exaggerated level.

Fang Cheng widened his eyes, catching the trajectory of the blade's light within the afterimage.

He immediately swung the baton in a horizontal sweep, smashing it forward.

But the opponent's Move seemed to be a mere feint.

After a feigned forward thrust, he immediately leaned low and swung his arm straight, stabbing toward Fang Cheng's lower abdomen in an extreme posture.

Fang Cheng's reaction was also extremely fast; he had already stepped back, dodging the surprise attack by a mere half-centimeter.

However—

At this moment, his opponent changed his Move once again!

The Butterfly Knife flipped around his fingertips, shifting from a reverse grip to a forehand grip. He slashed horizontally with the reverse edge, swiftly stabbing toward Fang Cheng's right wrist, which was holding the baton.

Three thrusts in a single second—the speed was incredibly fast, and the Blade Technique was exceptionally tricky.

It was dazzling to the eyes, several times sharper than any kung fu superstar in a movie.

Seeing that there was no time to make a normal defensive Move,

Fang Cheng loosened his grip, letting the baton slide down his palm to press against his arm as a makeshift shield to help block the blade.

At the same time, he forced his opponent back with a Side Kick, widening the distance once more.

Drip, drop.

Although his wrist had avoided a fatal cut on the inner side, the back of it was still slashed.

Blood dyed his clothes red, dripping down one drop at a time onto the floor.

Fang Cheng took a deep breath, his eyes locked onto the extremely dangerous opponent before him.

Seemingly due to the brief burst of energy earlier, the Man in Black appeared to be slightly out of breath and stopped to recover for a moment.

If Majima Goro represented the limit of inhuman strength,

then—

this guy could be said to be an agile "monster" on a completely different level.

Fang Cheng's expression remained unchanged as he glanced at the 9 unallocated attribute points on his status panel.

He still chose not to allocate them.

Actual combat was, after all, the best way to hone one's skills!

How could he easily give up such a rare, evenly matched opportunity?

"Besides..."

Orange flames seemed to ignite in Fang Cheng's eyes.

"With two attributes already at 20 points, how could I be so weak that I can't even catch a flea like you?"

After their brief exchange, he had already gained a preliminary understanding of his opponent's true strength.

He then simply tossed away the awkward baton and curled his middle finger at the Man in Black, gesturing for him to continue his attack.

The Man in Black's eyes froze slightly, looking somewhat stunned.

He then let out a soft snort through his nose. Seemingly provoked, he immediately exerted force through his feet and rushed forward with his knife, showing no mercy.

His speed seemed even faster than before!

With a sharp whoosh, a hurricane that seemed intent on swallowing any obstacle instantly whipped up in the corridor.

"Focus Skill, activate!"

Fang Cheng's gaze was calm as he stared at the opponent's clear figure emerging from the blur of afterimages.

He saw every single detail clearly without a single miss!

Earlier, it was only because he had encountered such a peculiar opponent for the first time that he had been caught off guard and failed to keep up with the offensive rhythm.

Now that he had adapted to the rhythm, coupled with the use of his Focus Skill,

Fang Cheng could be said to be able to completely see through his opponent's Moves and patterns.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The Man in Black's Blade Technique remained tricky and vicious—slashing horizontally at the abdomen with a forehand grip, then with a reverse grip, followed by a continuous barrage of mid-level thrusts.

If it weren't for Fang Cheng's sufficiently high Spirit Attribute and rapid neural reflexes,

any ordinary person would have been turned into a bloody sieve in a single second.

Of course, this fighting style was also somewhat cheap.

It made it very difficult for Fang Cheng to strike back or launch a kick, forcing him to rely on his agile footwork to retreat continuously.

The Man in Black, however, was ruthless with every Move, showing no mercy at all.

With every forward thrust, he pressed closer step by step.

Earlier, it was Fang Cheng who wanted to engage in close-quarters combat; now, it was the Man in Black who wanted to close the distance as quickly as possible.

When experts clash, they often find the right distance amidst offense and defense to deliver a final, fatal blow!

Seeing that Fang Cheng had already retreated to the end of the corridor and was about to have his back against the wall with nowhere to hide,

the Man in Black's eyes flickered, seemingly revealing a hint of a smile.

Right at this moment,

Fang Cheng suddenly inhaled to gather his strength, lowered his shoulder, and slammed violently against the closed door on the right side of the corridor.

With a loud crash,

the door lock was shattered under the massive impact, and the door itself was knocked completely off its hinges, collapsing inward.

Fang Cheng rolled with the momentum, slipping into the pitch-black room.

The Man in Black was slightly taken aback, his figure pausing for a second.

He then gave chase with a hint of annoyance.

He absolutely could not let his opponent seize the opportunity to escape through a window.

However,

just as his front foot stepped over the threshold while his back foot was still outside,

Crack!

As if a firecracker had exploded, a fierce gust of wind instantly rushed at his face.

The Man in Black's pupils contracted slightly.

He saw a leg cut through the darkness, carving a crescent-like arc as it kicked straight toward his face.

In this situation, both sides of his body were blocked by the doorframe and the wall.

He had to either take the kick head-on or retreat quickly to dodge it.

There was simply no third option!

Bold due to his superb skill, the Man in Black raised his dagger to counterattack directly.

As he swung his arm to attack, he had already planned out all his subsequent Moves.

How he would plunge the blade into the calf, sever the hamstring, and then pull upward to completely cripple this fool's leg.

Within this hundredth of a second,

under his gaze, as the coldly gleaming blade in his hand was about to contact the target and pierce the flesh,

that leg actually twisted suddenly at an impossible angle.

And then—

the blade barely grazed the leg, only cutting through the pant leg and ultimately missing its mark.

It was as if this leg were made of rubber!

Bang!

Under the Man in Black's disbelieving gaze, a heavy Whip Kick struck him squarely in the face.

In slow motion, his head was seen tilting backward, his cheek gradually deforming under the pressure of the sole of the foot.