Chapter 157: The Man - 14
Chapter 157: The Man - 14
The two men stood close enough to strike each other, neither moving right away.
They were indoors, the table where they had just been drinking standing between them.
Lungtao's escort guards and Mayan stepped back to give them space.
Fist clenched, eyes still on Lungtao, Jiha slowly reached out with his other hand and picked up his cup.
There was still some drink left.
"......."
Admiration flickered across the guards' faces.
It was a bold move before Lungtao.
These guards were men who worshipped the strong.
Even an enemy could earn their grudging respect if he was strong and manly.
Though Jiha draining his cup offered a perfect opening for a surprise attack, Lungtao picked up his own and slowly finished it as well.
Jiha, too, held still until Lungtao set his cup down.
Beating Lungtao wasn't the end goal. He needed the other guards to follow him as well.
The human and the tiger, their cups now empty, stared each other down.
"Let's start."
"Yeah."
An exchange of plain words, and the moment the onlookers tensed—both men moved at once.
Whoosh!
Jiha ducked inside Lungtao's punch, avoiding it, and drove his knee into the table before him.
The table they had just shared slammed into Lungtao's lower body.
He had pushed it deliberately lightly, so the table didn't break, and the full plate armor absorbed the impact.
But the natural reaction was to glance downward for a split second.
The moment Lungtao glanced down—a split-second window Jiha had anticipated—Jiha vaulted over the table with one hand and launched a side kick.
It was a strike made possible because he had calculated that Lungtao would look at his feet.
A clever attack using the surroundings, but Lungtao raised an arm and blocked Jiha's kick.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out as Lungtao was pushed back.
Even with the armor, Jiha's kick was imbued with Mana.
It could have blown away a Tiger Beastman weighing 180 kilograms, even in full armor.
'Of course a kick hits harder than a punch...'
The guards let out murmurs of admiration at the swift exchange.
Though Lungtao was pushed back a little, he sustained no real damage.
But they could also tell that Jiha had precisely calculated and executed a successful attack.
"...He's something else."
"Him barging in alone and beating everyone down... makes sense now."
The guards' admiration and shifting gazes were exactly what Jiha had planned.
".......Mm."
Others might not have noticed, but a few strands of Jiha's hair had been cut.
He had clearly ducked under Lungtao's fist, but the air pressure had sliced his hair.
If he'd taken it head-on, the blood would have burst out, Mana defense or not.
'His sheer physical strength is monstrous...'
Jiha marveled again as he looked at Lungtao.
He had once judged that the tiger might have conquered a region if Mana didn't exist in Warsland. He was wrong.
This guy was a titan fit to vie for supremacy over an entire era.
"Seems like fists won't settle things between us."
"Yeah. I think so too."
Jiha drew the 3rd-grade shortsword he had tucked at his lower back.
His 1st-grade Gladius hung on his belt, but he deliberately didn't draw it.
'Make him conscious of it.'
Lungtao had done his research on Jiha, so he would know about his armaments.
He wouldn't miss the sword that had clearly not been there at their first meeting but was now openly displayed on his hip.
He'll be wary, not knowing when it might be drawn against him.
'Keep him conscious of it and exploit the openings it creates.'
Leaving it sheathed made him hyper-aware of it.
It was Jiha's stratagem.
Lungtao also slowly drew his thick scimitar.
"Hmph!"
This time, Lungtao charged in first.
High stance. He raised his scimitar overhead with both hands and boldly leaped, slamming it downward.
A movement that dared Jiha to stab him if he could, but the full plate armor left no openings.
'If I get pressured, it's over!'
A tiger boldly pouncing on him. Normally, avoiding a head-on clash was the best course, but Jiha's instincts screamed that he must not dodge.
This was Lungtao's primary tactic. If he was overwhelmed by the pressure and went on the defensive, he would never beat Lungtao.
Clang!
Jiha aimed his shortsword at Lungtao's neck while readying Shadow Hand.
"Hraaagh!!"
But Lungtao ignored him and brought his sword vertically down on Jiha's head.
"!"
He lacked the strength to block it and the time to dodge.
With the Shadow Hand he had intended to seize Lungtao, Jiha instead wrapped his own foot and threw himself aside.
Like a puppet on invisible strings, that bizarre evasive action allowed Jiha to dodge the downward strike and swing his own blade.
Boom!
The floor heaved and stone pavement shattered for several meters as Lungtao struck where Jiha had been standing. Jiha had succeeded in evading.
Crack!
Jiha's swinging sword only left a scratch on the armor encasing Lungtao's arm. Lungtao had succeeded in defending.
"Hup!"
But Jiha didn't retreat and poured on a fierce assault.
He couldn't give Lungtao the distance or time to leap at him.
That downward strike a moment ago had been immensely powerful.
Most opponents would die trying to block or dodge that blow.
Using Shadow Hand to bind his own foot and swing himself around, Jiha acrobatically thrust his sword.
Lungtao focused solely on the sword aiming for his exposed head. Gripping his scimitar with a longer hold, he swung it wide.
It was a strike designed not to hit Jiha, but to cleave through Shadow Hand.
The Mana infused in the Grade 2 Dirga weapon instantly dispersed Shadow Hand.
But Jiha immediately sprouted his Wings, hovered, and resumed his fierce attack.
"Ha ha!"
Lungtao laughed heartily and boldly swung his sword again.
Jiha quickly retracted his Wings to evade and sprang back.
The gap between them was once again perfect for another leaping strike, but Lungtao didn't charge a second time and instead spoke.
"It's been a long time since I've fought like this."
"Same for me."
Jiha was also inwardly impressed.
He's strong.
Lungtao's attacks were laden with such overwhelming power that they couldn't be blocked head-on.
His defense and evasion were lacking in exchange, but he compensated with the full plate armor tailored for him by a Dirga.
'If I use Wind Blade, I can pierce it.'
The ability he gained by Bloodsucking Leticia. Wind Blade could cleanly pierce and shatter the opponent's defense.
Initially, using it once drained his Mana, but thanks to continuously accumulating Mana, he could now fire it twice in succession.
But Lungtao was strong and seasoned.
'That guy's holding back plenty of trump cards too...'
Right now, Lungtao wasn't even using Mana or the scimitar's Special Ability.
Of course, Jiha was also conserving his Gladius and his other Special Abilities.
They were still in the probing phase. It wasn't time for a decisive showdown yet.
"Sure enough, you're too good to kill, Jiha."
"I feel the same..."
He wanted Lungtao as a subordinate.
Honestly, he coveted him.
If he could command this guy, he would become a solid pillar when planning something great.
Lungtao, resting his scimitar on his shoulder, grinned.
They shared the same thought.
"Here I come."
But both had the dispositions of bosses.
Men who would accept no one above them. Even if they desired each other, one had to be crushed.
Even if it meant dying in the process, there was no helping it.
No... I believe this guy won't die even if I go this far!
As Jiha charged first, Lungtao abandoned his leaping tactic, gripped his sword lower on the hilt, and swung it wide.
But Jiha wrapped Shadow Hand around his own body and flung himself forward a beat faster.
His body literally shot forward like a bullet. As the timing shifted, confusion finally dawned on Lungtao's face.
Thwack! Smack!
The sounds of fists sinking into flesh rang out, and both men staggered.
Jiha's fist pierced between Lungtao's brows, and Lungtao's fist slammed into Jiha's abdomen.
Jiha was outmatched in raw power, but he reinforced his defense with Mana and blocked with his left forearm.
"......."
Staggering, Jiha internally assessed his condition.
A dull ache in his left arm turned to a cold sensation, then quickly heated up.
A signal that something was wrong with his body: the bone was broken.
Even after reinforcing with Mana and properly blocking the blow from reaching his body, his arm couldn't withstand it.
"......."
Lungtao's condition was worse.
Lungtao backed away, staggering, his brow deeply furrowed. He couldn't move.
Jiha's blow had cracked his skull.
"Lord Lungtao!"
The guards, reading Lungtao's sickly pallor, rushed toward him.
Lungtao bellowed loudly.
"Don't come any closer! You idiots!"
Jiha, too, stretched his uninjured right arm back to stop Mayan from approaching.
They had finally exchanged solid hits, and neither was in good shape.
Lungtao's injury was worse, but he was a Tiger Beastman, far sturdier than Jiha, who was a pure Human.
It was an injury that would fell an ordinary human, but he was enduring it through the power of his race.
'I'm not at an advantage either. I'm down one arm.'
An arm that can't move properly is a huge hindrance in close-quarters combat.
But Jiha grinned.
"How's it feel, jumping around after so long, Lungtao? Getting a little winded?"
"After a proper workout, I'm seeing stars. I like it."
Lungtao grinned back at him.
The smiles of men who had come to acknowledge each other's skill.
"Shall we continue?"
"We must."
They were both injured, but their blood was boiling for the first time in a while.
He wanted to beat this man.
He wanted to prove he was stronger.
The heart of a man makes him clench his fists.
Thus far, it had been a preliminary bout. A silent gaze passed between them, agreeing to now fight a life-or-death battle.
Jiha prepared to use Wind Blade, and Lungtao reset his grip on his sword.
They knew the opponent was a formidable foe, and that they'd have to reveal their true assets to win.
Tap.
"Stop."
At the woman's voice, everyone else's gazes turned.
But Jiha and Lungtao only watched each other.
There was nothing more important right now than the opponent before their eyes.
"Stop, Lungtao."
At the call, Lungtao furrowed his brow deeply and turned his head.
Jiha also felt displeasure and looked back.
Who was interfering when men were settling scores?
The owner of the voice was a woman who had entered the banquet hall.
She was short, around 140 centimeters at best, with a small head that gave her striking proportions.
Her ripe, full breasts, narrow waist, and shapely rear were enough to capture a man's gaze.
Her small stature gave a cute impression, yet her ripe figure created an unbalanced charm radiating seductiveness.
Amid her long, pale pink hair, she wore a strange metal ornament—a wing-shaped headset.
She had a beauty that was girlishly young yet tinged with a woman's allure, but her eyes on Lungtao were full of irritation.
"Who told you to brawl as you pleased? I know it's sickening—you men are idiots who, given a sword, just have to swing it around and get antsy. You're a bunch who take pride in killing others... But if you draw it, kill immediately. You're sullying my name too."
"I'm sorry."
The woman wasn't satisfied with Lungtao's reply.
"Don't prove it with words. Prove it with actions. At this rate, the sword I spent so much effort making feels like a waste..."
"Who the hell is that bitch?"
A silence fell at Jiha's irritable voice.
The other guards' faces went white, and even Lungtao's face stiffened into silence.
Jiha spat and shouted fiercely.
"Who the hell are you to interfere?"
"I am..."
"Ah, shut up. Narsha Russellarms."
Jiha snapped at the Unique.
"Men are fighting, and a little thing like you is throwing a fit?"