Chapter 109: Heated Battle (2/2)

Both of them started to control their breath, knowing that they had met a worthy opponent, and this fight was likely to be longer than they had expected.

Apache had a taste of Wang Tong's attack and felt its lethal power. He conceded that the haphazard way in which Wang Tong's moves were executed was a façade, and hidden underneath was the strength that exceeded all of his younger classmates in Bernabeu.

Apache twirled the curved blades in his hands, planning his next move. After a while, he said, ”The audience has become impatient, let's show them a real fight.”

”I hope you talked less.” Wang Tong smirked at him.

A faint discomfort flashed across Apache's face; this was the first time an opponent had jested him in a public arena.

Without thinking any further, Apache dashed forward and passed through the 20 feet of distance in a blink of an eye. Wang Tong saw a knee bashing at him, and it was already too late to react. The impact sent Wang Tong flying, but one of his feet was quickly caught by Apache while he was still in the air. Apache threw Wang Tong's body down with a twist of the arm and then he flipped Wang Tong's body around so that Wang Tong's face was going to kiss the curved blade he had already place on the ground with sharp edge pointing up.

The crowd boiled over after seeing this deadly combo, shocked by Apache's brutal methods, and thought that Wang Tong's defeat was evident.

This brutal and merciless move was the results of years of bloodshed and killing in the special unit. This combo was capable of sending a sense of impending doom that would have paralyzed any ordinary fighter.

However...

In the fleeting moment right before the impact, Wang Tong dodged out of the way. Apache suddenly lost his balance, and being carried by the momentum, he crashed onto the floor. Apache supported himself with two hands; it was evident that he had taken the full impact of his own attack.

Apache rose to his feet and licked the blade, a streak a blood tainted the smooth and sharp surface of the edge.

The blade had carved a wound into the side of Wang Tong's neck; blood seeped out from the deep cut.

In that infinitesimally short movement, Wang Tong had avoided the lethal strike aimed at his artery by biting firmly onto the blade. With an almost impossible twirling of his body, Wang Tong even managed to break free from Apache's iron grip.

Wang Tong wiped away the blood on his neck; he didn't seem to be scared nor wavering after such a close escape.

Right then, Apache knew that his opponent was a rather exceptional fighter. He was aware that no ordinary fighter would be unaffected by the horror of such a life and death moment unless the fighter felt that he had no need to be afraid... or the fighter was utterly insane.

Wang Tong could smell his own blood in the air, and it engaged him. A crimson light flashed in Wang Tong's eyes, and he darted toward Apache.

Apache watched as his opponent unleashed his first attack. Wang Tong's movement was not as fast as Apache, but his footsteps were strange, almost otherworldly. The length of Wang Tong's stride seemed to disagree with the distance he had traveled, making one question his own judgment.

This was the visual trick that came with one of the top four footwork technique among the Confederation trope: the Inch Step. The other three were the Ivantian “Butterfly Dash”, the Martian “Assault Stride”, and the Kaedeian “Phantom Move”.

The Inch Step looked straight forward, but it was very complicated and impossible to be mastered by a first-year student such as Wang Tong.