"How is this possible?" Vital Orange asked, a stunned expression on his face. His axe was caught! Mane was still kneeling, the smile on his face gone as he struggled to remain focused, and his fingers firmly gripping the large weapon. Mane didn't speak, but when Vital Orange looked into those blue eyes, all he could see was…
The desire to possess what belonged to him (Vital Orange)!
"Give it here!"
Mane slapped Vital Orange's arms with his free arm. The power contained in that slap was beyond anything Mane had gathered so far. And that was because the Sense Disorienting Gas was taking effect. Although Mane tried to seal off his senses, he wasn't familiar with such an action and had still inhaled a bit of the gas. Luckily, he didn't take too much, only a very small fraction and hence the disorienting feeling he was experiencing wasn't going to last for long. It would possibly last for a few seconds and that was it. But it did force him to raise the cap he had put on his strength, and the explosion of power that appeared as a result of that was beyond what Vital Orange could handle.
*Bang*
Vital Orange felt like his hand had been smacked by a large rock, and the pain forced him to loosen his grip on his axe. Mane didn't waste any more time. He summoned his strength and gave a mighty tug, and Vital Orange's axe was pried from his ironclad grasp. Axe in hand, Mane span and delivered a powerful kick to Vital Orange's temple. The power of the kick was not to be taken lightly, for the wind it gathered was so strong that the Sense Disorienting Gas was forcefully dispelled! The stunned Tiger had still not recovered from the loss of his axe and was struck cleanly. He was knocked out cold before he could gather himself.
*Bang*
The figure of the unconscious Vital Orange fell onto the ground with a mighty thud. Yet Mane was unsatisfied. He sprang into action once more. This time his target was Black Hand. He located Black Hand by focusing on his voice from earlier, and this time he found the real Black Hand.
Black Hand held two daggers in his hands. He thrust them masterfully at Mane, yet Mane easily blocked the strikes by holding the huge axe in front of him.
*Bang*
Daggers were never meant to face axes in direct confrontations, especially an axe as large as Vital Orange's. Mane's strength was insane. He mustered the power of Edict in his right arm, and held the huge axe with only that arm. He brought it crashing down with power that was beyond Vital Orange's. Feeling the sweeping wind that threatened to flatten him, Black Hand's expression grew grave. He pushed his concentration to its peak, and watched as the huge axe menacingly moved to claim his head. He lightly swiveled and managed to get his body out of the way, yet the wind that the axe brought forth knocked him back a few feet.
"Why doesn't he use both arms? He would definitely be faster and stronger by doing so?" Lily asked her brother, but her eyes were still glued to the figures of Mane and Black Hand as they darted past several points of the field.
"Because if he does that he wouldn't be able to pull out, and would likely hurt Black Hand," Lam wasn't a fighter, but his eyes and brain didn't fail him. If Mane was to use two arms, he would be several times faster and many times stronger, and that much was certain. If he had done that initially, there was no way Black Hand would have been able to avoid the blow. Yet Mane didn't. This was because although he would have been stronger and faster by doing so, he wouldn't have been able to pull back the attack if Black Hand couldn't evade it and would have easily split the Predator in half. But fighting with one arm didn't mean that Mane was slacking. The young boy had handicapped himself, but he was fighting with his utmost even with the handicap.
Mane wasn't bothered by his failed attempt. Without wasting any time, he sprang into action once more. He had the advantage, and the momentum he gathered was like a fuel pump that filled him with energy and drained the vitality of his foe. Mane swept the axe towards Black Hand once again; his billowing aura like a suffocating presence that sought to drown Black Hand. Once again, Black Hand was able to narrowly avoid the attack. But this time, when he retreated, he gathered power into his arms and flung both daggers at Mane. Although his arms looked frail, they were in no way so. They were like coiled vipers. Slim and flexible yet filled with so much power that one would be a fool to underestimate them. Piercing sounds filled the field as the daggers glided through the air and seemed to tear even space apart. Mane didn't panic at Black Hand's unexpected action of giving up his weapons. He twisted himself strangely and narrowly avoided the deadly daggers. Then he stamped his foot onto the ground and exploded with speed that would leave Cheetahs blushing in shame.
"Star Flicker!"
Activating the High Grade Technique turned Mane into a stream of light difficult to follow with the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, Mane was right in front of the dazzled Black Hand who had just retrieved a transparent string from a sheath in his clothes. Mane lifted the heavy axe and brought it crashing towards Black Hand with such ferocity that the ground Black Hand stood on was already cracking from the pressure. Black Hand held the ends of the thin string with both hands and extended it in an attempt to block the axe.
*Bang*
"How is that even possible?" Tucker asked, stunned by what he was seeing. Black Hand had used the tiny string in his hands to block the might of Vital Orange's mighty axe! Although the ground he stood on was reduced into just tiny fragments of earth, he had withstood blow.
"That is a metallic string. It is flexible and strong. And it is made by master blacksmiths using the strongest of metals yet their great skill keeps its flexibility intact. It is no surprise that is can do that. But he made a grave mistake." Ivor answered with an enthused expression. He was enjoying the fight. It was much more interesting than he thought it would be.
"What mistake Ivor?" Lam asked
"He should have never attempted to block the blow in any way. If the opponent was only slightly stronger or two times stronger than him, that decision would be the right one. But Mane's body strength is several times higher than Black Hand's. Making that decision leaves him on the passive end of a thrashing" Ivor replied.
"So what does that mean?" Lily wondered
"It means that Mane has everything within his control now. He has won." Lam replied this time.
Mane was surprised by the strength of the metallic string. His sharp eyes could see that the seemingly weak string had created a chip on Vital Orange's axe. Mane put more power into the arm holding the axe and pushed down on the string. His action forced the struggling Black Hand onto his knees. Black Hand knew he made a mistake when Mane increased his power. He thought he could block the attack and push Mane off, but he had grossly underestimated the strength of Mane's arm. He smiled bitterly for he realised that his chances of winning now were next to 0. Suddenly, Mane let go of the axe, a move that stunned Black Hand. Then before Black Hand could recover, Mane slapped towards Black Hand's mid-section.
*Bang*
Although Mane held back, Black Hand felt like he had been struck with the power of a hundred bulls. He was flung several meters away, and his broken figure fell haphazardly onto the ground.
"Last one," Mane was slightly out of breath. Even for him, doing this wasn't easy. His sharp eyes scanned the area, looking for any possible hiding spots. Then he remembered something he had read before.
"Snakes can dig holes and hide underground. And so can Foxes" That was how Black Hand had been able to get away. He was underground the entire time! He had only revealed himself because his underground hiding spot was invaded by the smoke from the smoke bomb.
"Which means Orange Ivy is underground as well." Knowing this, Mane grew a bit more relaxed. He slowly walked across the field, his sharp senses seeking for any anomalies.
"What is he doing?" Lily asked.
"Looking for Orange Ivy," Lam answered. He read a lot and he also knew about the nature of Snakes and Foxes, so he could tell what Mane was doing. He was very impressed by what he had witnessed so far, and he was more eager for strength after seeing Mane bulldoze his way through the Orange Team.
Soon Mane's eyes lit up, and he suddenly stood still. He filled his leg with Edict and struck it onto the ground softly. Yet nothing happened. He didn't give up. He moved a few meters away and repeated the it. He did this a few times until an anomaly was noticed. Small cracks appeared this time, and Mane quickly spread out his senses and smiled.
"Found you." He opened up his fists and reached into the ground. His fingers were like dragon claws, and they effortlessly tore through the weak soil and pulled out a figure. Although this person was covered in dust, her beautiful curves still couldn't be hidden. Looking into her charming eyes, Mane smiled and said, "Do you concede?"
"Against a freak like you we stood no chance. I concede."