"Urrrrghhh!"
On the restaurant floor, Mwana was groaning in pain. His lungs felt compressed to the point he almost couldn't breathe.
However, Mwana's opponent was not faring much better either. Code A was also reeling from the tackle through the building. After all, while Mwana's back was the one that hit the rock-wall first, Code A's own body including his arms and head still took on a lot of the impact.
Nevertheless, as the initiator of the attack, Code A was still in a much better state compared to Mwana.
At this point, both fighters were groaning in pain while struggling to get up. It was a race to see who would get up first. Whoever was first on their feet would probably take the advantage in this battle.
"Kid, why not just give up?" Code A said with a slightly pained voice but it was all to buy time and shake Mwana's resolve.
"Haha, not before YOU!"
While shouting the word "YOU", Mwana suddenly sprang to his feet with a burst of strength. In the same motion, he kicked a heavy metallic table sending it flying towards his opponents.
Code A was naturally prepared for this as he swung his sword vertically slicing the table in half from the bottom - up. The two halves of the table passed by his right and left side.
However, behind the flying table Mwana was there! After sending the table flying, he had quickly run towards his opponent using the table as a cover.
A palm came flying at Code A's face but his was quick to react. The silver sword that was still in an upward motion after cutting the table transformed into a horizontal swing.
'What a fast transition!' Although Mwana was shocked, he still managed to dodge the sword swing.
But things were not so positive for Mwana's opponent. After missing to hit his target, the excess momentum made it so that Code A's body was almost turned away from Mwana.
'An opening!' Mwana was quick to notice. This was an opening in his opponent's defense!
Naturally, Mwana would not let this opportunity go. He instantly unleashed a heavy punch aimed at Code A's abdomen; a liver shot!
'Not good!' Sensing the danger, Code A was even faster in his response. When his sword move failed to hit Mwana causing him to be disoriented, he instantly transformed the momentum into a spinning kick.
The kick was successful!
Bang!
This time Mwana was kicked through a wooden door in the restaurant.
Code A's quick gamble had succeeded, however, he was still slightly shaken.
He quietly remarked to himself, "If that body shot hit, I would probably have collapsed in a mess of pain and snot! Anyway, it is time to end this."
Before Mwana could collect himself from his opponent's attack, Code A once again launched vicious kick at Mwana. This kick sent Mwana flying into sharp metal hooks!
Since this building was most likely to be a restaurant, these hooks were probably for hanging meat. However, when Mwana's back hit the hooks, they just bent upon contact with his hardened skin.
At Mwana's current level, ordinary metals could not hope to pierce his skin. In fact, most of the damage he took was directly from Code A's attacks rather than the environment around him.
"Urgghhh!"
Mwana groaned in pain as he watched his opponent step over the wooden door.
'I really poked the hornet's nest this time!' He could not help but lament with the looming threat of defeat quietly approaching.
Swiiiiiish!
The sword came slashing towards Mwana's chest.
Craaaaaack!
However, what followed was not the sound of a blade tearing through flesh; instead, it was the sound of shattering metal!
With a single backhand, Mwana actually broke the blade! And not just an ordinary sword but a silver rank weapon!
Code A was left stupefied holding the broken blade. However, Mwana's actions and success were not too outrageous. In fact, in their continuous clash, the blade had already deteriorated.
Without energy infusion, not only could the blade not do much harm to Mwana, but it also accumulated a bunch of cracks and dents throughout the battle.
This was because a warrior could not infuse their own energy into weapons to reinforce them while under the effects of Milele town's normalization and magic cancelling formation.
Even then, with Mwana's current durability, ordinary silver rank weapons could not harm him. Not only had he completed the Skin Hardening realm and become a Bone Forging warrior, he also had a dragon bloodline. As the saying went, 'Even the youngest dragons have the toughest scales.'
Ka-ka!
While his opponent stood there stupefied watching the sword break, Mwana obviously took action to pay him back. He sprung from his position and unleashed a headbutt directly to Code A's head. However, Code A was wearing a golden mask of unknown material. This attack by Mwana was a gamble. After all, if the mask was made using some super-dense heavenly metal, it would be Mwana's skull that would shatter.
However, when his head connected with his opponent's golden mask, the mask creaked and cracked before shattering into many tiny pieces.
'This gamble; I win!'
Some of the metal shards from the golden mask even embedded themselves into Code A's face.
As one of the hardest bones on a person's body, the forehead was a formidable weapon. If used correctly, such an attack could do some serious damage. In Code A's case, he was almost seeing stars from the impact of his mask shattering.
It was only when the final pieces of the golden mask fell to the ground that Mwana finally saw this man's face.
"I knew you were not a human! Are you from the White Marsh populations?" Mwana asked with curiosity.
What entered Mwana's eyes was a man with extremely pale white skin. The man's eyes were pitch-black with barely any whites. He also had thick black lines on his skin around his eyes, cheeks, and neck. There was also a conspicuous black mark on the man's forehead. However, the black markings and lines did not look like paint on skin; they were all natural.
In response to Mwana's question, Code A just entirely ignored it and responded with a question of his own.
"Why are you not using your real sword?" Code A suddenly asked, "Is it just for show?"
Code A asked the question while pointing at Mwana's Sunshine Sword which was still in its sheath. In fact, in their exchange today, Mwana had only used his moon bracelet to block attacks either using the bracelet's armguard form or its blade form.
Sometimes Mwana even went as far as to disrespect opponents like Code S – the Skylark by blocking, parrying, and deflecting their knives and blades with his bare hands.
"You would have a much better chance with a real sword. Mine is coming out." Code A added, "Watch out for yourself. I cannot guarantee your safety when I use my full power."
Although this a fair warning, Mwana also felt very irritated, 'This guy is talking to me like a child!'
Well he was a child after all. Perhaps that was the reason he felt even more annoyed when his opponent took on a softer tone with him.
However, Mwana's mind was still clear enough to recognize that he was outmatched. If he did not go all out even at this point, he might as well kneel down, surrender, and beg for mercy like a coward.
Mwana proceeded to pull the golden sword from its sheath; he then proceeded to introduce the sword.
"This sword is called the Sunshine Sword."
With the same courtesy, Code A also pulled the blade on his back and unsheathed it. This was his real weapon unlike the low grade silver rank weapon he had used to clash with Mwana before.
Mwana was not shocked to see this. He could already guess from the skill gap that Code A was probably not just a Senior Warrior like some of the other gang members that Mwana had beaten up.
'It is highly probable that this guy is at the Apex. Maybe even beyond that!' Mwana's thoughts were indeed accurate. Code A was not a run-of-the-mill body forging warrior. He had long surpassed that! For someone of his level, a silver rank weapon was basically trash.
In the same manner as Mwana, this man also introduced his own weapon when he unleashed it to the outside world.
"This is the Dark Emersion Blade."
Clink!
The two fighters then walked towards each other and proceeded to clink swords. The sword cry released when the two blades met was if they were saying, 'Nice to meet you.'
When the swords separated, the two fighters also leaped away from each other creating distance between them.
"I will win!" Mwana was filled with conviction.
Momentarily, it was as if everything froze. The wind, the rain, the sound, even the fighter's heartbeats, everything was still.
Bang!
Then both opponents rushed towards each other with the ground exploding below their feet. A clash of swordsmen!