Outside the highway, amidst wild grass and gravel, Black Noir stood in a standoff against Wade and his group of five.
Frenchie rubbed his hands together, eager to start. "Are we taking him down here?"
Butcher flexed his newly recovered arm and said through gritted teeth, "This damn shadow is a brutal fighter. Chameleon, don't underestimate him."
MM shouldered Kimiko, who was still slowly regenerating her severed limbs, and shook his head. "Chameleon, we've fallen to him twice already. We're simply no match for him."
Wade looked at Black Noir with a composed expression. 'A pure melee-type Supe... It would be a waste to pass up such a rare chance for a challenge!' He waved his hand behind him to signal the others.
Butcher and MM exchanged a glance, turned, and ran. Frenchie quickly followed suit.
Once they were far enough away, Wade paced around Black Noir with a relaxed air, teasing, "I heard from Crimson Countess that you guys sold Soldier Boy to the Soviet Union back then. You were the mastermind... What do you think if I go and let him out?"
He remembered that when Black Noir was still with Payback, he was frequently bullied by Soldier Boy, leading to violent conflicts.
Black Noir, outmatched in strength, had been brutally beaten by Soldier Boy. Not only was half his face burned by a shield, but he also lost half his brain. This resulted in his facial disfigurement, impaired speech, and frequent hallucinations of talking cartoon characters.
Soldier Boy had been betrayed by his own people and was a man who never let a grudge go. Black Noir, who had been traumatized by him, was absolutely terrified.
With this provocation, Black Noir would definitely fight him to the death.
Sure enough, hearing this, Black Noir's hand tightened on his blade, his hand trembling dozens of times before he charged straight forward.
Wade carefully sensed the blood flow within the other's body and quickly dodged backward, continuing, "Rip that tracker off your arm and come with me. Otherwise, I'll fly off immediately and spread the information about Homelander's biological father and his whereabouts—everything you've been hiding from him."
"Do you think Homelander, that tyrannical and narcissistic psychopath, will kill you for being lied to by his best friend?"
Black Noir's charge stopped abruptly. He stood frozen in place like a black statue.
His hands gripped his sword hilts tightly, his shoulders rising and falling slightly. Even through the tactical armor, one could feel the suppressed dread and fury beneath.
Silence followed, as if time itself were being stretched.
The wind blew through the wild grass, making a rustling sound that accentuated the heavy atmosphere of the area.
Black Noir retreated half a step and crushed a pebble under his foot.
Wade knew he was weighing his options and struggling. He said coldly, "Very well, your courage is commendable. Then just wait." With that, he prepared to fly off.
Black Noir quickly sheathed his blade, reached into the armor of his left forearm without hesitation, and after a few tugs, tossed a copper strip device the size of a pinky into the air.
Wade turned and caught it between his palms, crushing the tracker into fragments. He said solemnly, "Let's go, we're changing locations. Either I shut up, or you shut up... This is a fight to the death!"
...Ten minutes later, by the coast.
Under the sunlight, the waves surged as the two stood facing each other.
Black Noir crouched slightly, his hands resting on his sword hilts.
Wade's concentration was at its peak, capturing the signs of rushing blood and muscle contractions within his opponent. He waited empty-handed. "Come!"
The sand and stone beneath Black Noir's feet turned to dust as he cut into Wade's center like a bolt of black lightning.
Both blades were unsheathed at once—one stabbing for the throat, the other for the heart.
'Minimal blood flow to the left shoulder, delayed muscle activation in the right arm... It's a feint! The real killing blow is the right-hand blade!' Before the blade could touch him, Wade's body had already slid to the right, the tip of the blade grazing past his skin by a mere millimeter.
'What a fast transition, but you can't fool me.' Wade felt a chill in his heart and focused even more intensely on the blood flow within the other's body.
Having missed his strike, Black Noir's momentum didn't falter. He used the forward force to twist his body, his twin blades drawing two silver arcs as he changed from a thrust to a slash, aiming directly for his opponent's knees.
Wade had already predicted this move through the blood flow in the other's waist.
He kicked off the ground and jumped back. The blade tips tore through his pant legs as he spun in mid-air to gain momentum, delivering two heavy flying kicks toward Black Noir's face and chest.
Black Noir reacted extremely quickly, shifting his weight and raising his arms to block.
Bang!
With a dull thud, Black Noir's figure swayed slightly, and his left arm snapped.
Completely unaffected, he swung his right-hand blade upward in a reverse slash, aiming straight for his opponent's chest and abdomen.
Wade's abdominal muscles contracted as he twisted his body at a contorted angle, the blade edge scraping across his side in a perilously close call.
He quickly turned, pressed his fingers together, and stabbed them ruthlessly into Black Noir's right armpit.
Black Noir's movements stalled slightly. He gritted his teeth and forced Wade back with a horizontal sweep of his blade.
The two separated as soon as they touched, retreating to their respective sides.
The muscles at Black Noir's broken arm writhed frantically, bone and tissue healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. He tilted his head to look at his opponent.
Wade's breathing was slightly hurried. He curled his fingers in a 'come here' gesture and smiled. "Using those flashy abilities against you would be an insult to myself."
Black Noir stabbed his sword into the ground and swiped his hands across his waist, throwing dozens of darts in tricky trajectories.
Swish, swish, swish—!
Wade's eyes narrowed as his figure shifted and dodged rapidly within a small space.
By sensing the airflow stirred by the darts and the muscle tension in Black Noir's wrists as he threw them, he was always able to avoid fatal attacks with minimal movement or parry the darts with his hardened forearms.
Clang, clang—the sound of metal clashing rang out.
Several Smoke Pellets suddenly exploded, and a Kusarigama came whistling through the haze.
Wade closed his eyes in the thick smoke, relying on his perception to capture and construct an image of the battlefield.
He stepped aside to let the tip of the Kusarigama pass. As the chain swept by, he flipped his wrist and caught it, wrapping the chain twice around his arm and pulling it violently toward his rear flank.
Black Noir hadn't expected his opponent to counter so accurately within the smoke, and his footing wavered from the pull.
In that moment, Wade had already closed in, delivering a vicious elbow strike directly into his ribs.
Thud!
Black Noir let out a muffled groan, but an explosive dart from his other hand was already there.
Boom! Boom!
Wade used the shockwave of the explosion to flip backward. Though he gained some scorch marks, he successfully created distance and remained largely unharmed.
"Pah... out of gadgets?" He spat out a mouthful of saliva mixed with sand, but his eyes grew brighter. 'This guy's injuries heal so fast. I have to find a way to go head-to-head with him.'
Inside the smoke, Black Noir saw that his several attempts at a finishing blow had been dodged by mere millimeters. He realized it was no coincidence.
Even the tricky trajectories of his darts had been seen through... This guy can predict my movements.
Realizing this, Black Noir immediately changed his tactics. He swung his twin blades into a destructive metal storm, using pure speed, power, and wide slashes to suppress his opponent. His offensive was like a tsunami, one wave higher than the last.
He intended to use absolute strength and attack density to forcibly compress his opponent's reaction and evasion space.
Black Noir burst through the smoke, his twin blades acting as one, slashing down again with violent momentum.
Facing this frenzied barrage, Wade used the outer side of his shoulder and arm to take the blow head-on.
Rippp—
His clothes tore, and the blade edge cut deep grooves into his shoulder, yet it never broke the skin, becoming firmly wedged.
Taking advantage of Black Noir's inability to retract his blade in time, Wade threw a simple, heavy punch toward his face.
Just as Black Noir tried to block with his blade, Wade slammed into his chest, grabbing the wrist holding the sword and completely locking the arm joint.
Black Noir decisively snapped his arm to twist free and escape, but Wade's punch aimed straight for the injured half of his head.
Black Noir's body stalled slightly as those unbearable memories were triggered, causing his blade work to fall into chaos once more.
Wade seized this fleeting opportunity. His freed arm sank with the momentum, and a savage elbow strike smashed squarely into Black Noir's heart.
Thud!
Black Noir's body arched from the massive force, his internal organs vibrating.
He swung a backhand slash, but Wade had already retreated in advance based on his prediction of the force. Only a rapidly healing indentation was left on his neck.
He touched the wound, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. 'Those combat classes weren't for nothing. Black Noir is afraid of people hitting his injured head.'
Black Noir grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and flung it at Wade's face before charging with his blades raised.
Wade engaged in close-quarters combat again, combining grappling with his blood flow predictions to the extreme.
But Black Noir completely abandoned defense, allowing Wade's joint locks to land while countering with violent, brute-force slashes.
Several times, Wade only barely managed to dodge thanks to a prediction made fractions of a second in advance. The terrifying power transmitted through the blades caused him significant internal injuries.
'Damn, the absolute gap in strength and Agility is a bit large...'
The blade marks on his body increased, and his breathing grew heavier. Under Black Noir's reckless assault, every dodge felt like dancing on the edge of a knife.
By the coast, the reefs were constantly shattered by the aftershocks of their collisions.
Blade light and fist shadows clashed, grappling and counter-grappling met in a fierce struggle, accompanied by bursts of heavy impact sounds.
Bang, bang—Screech—
Wade's body was covered in a crisscross of blade marks. He panted heavily, his temples throbbing from over-clocking his blood flow perception. Black Noir's black armor was damaged in many places, his healing speed had slowed down, and his movements were no longer as fluid as at the start.
Black Noir suddenly changed his rhythm, beginning to circle and weave, his twin blades drawing countless shadows—some real, some feints—while throwing his remaining darts as interference.
Wade dodged while raising his arms to block.
But then Black Noir lunged forward, throwing his arms wide in a bear hug. He used his strength, which far exceeded Wade's, to lock him in, his arms beginning to apply continuous pressure to crush this slippery opponent in half.
A sharp light flashed in Wade's eyes. He sensed the blood flow in Black Noir's body surging toward his upper limbs like a raging tide, leaving an opening in his chest and abdomen.
Instead of dodging, he actively adjusted his posture as Black Noir was about to grab him, letting the arms wrap around his strongest ribs.
His hands shot out like snakes, digging into Black Noir's armpits, while his knees rose high, repeatedly slamming into Black Noir's sunken chest.
Black Noir squeezed tighter and tighter, his strength not diminishing at all. Wade swung his head violently, headbutting the half of the skull where the blood flow was sluggish over and over.
Thud! Thud, thud!!!
The skulls collided, making a dull sound like a watermelon being smashed.
"Ugh... Ah—!" Black Noir, who had been silent the whole time, let out a heart-wrenching, agonizing low howl.
One side of his helmet was deeply caved in. Terrifying memories and physiological agony almost drowned his consciousness, and the arms holding Wade instantly slackened.
Wade jerked his arms, breaking free of the restraint. His right hand, fingers pressed together, let out a whistle that tore through the air as it stabbed straight into Black Noir's sunken chest.
Pfft—Crack!!
Wade's arm pierced through Black Noir's chest, his hand tightly gripping that frantically beating heart. "The nightmare is over."
With that, his five fingers closed.
Bang!
With a dull explosion, Black Noir's body jolted violently, and all his movements came to a halt.
He looked down at the arm in his chest, his body going limp as he fell heavily to his knees.
Wade's body trembled slightly as he pulled his arm out from the depths.
A large amount of warm liquid sprayed out, bathing him in a rain of blood.
Splurt—Splash!
[Supergene analysis in progress... 50%... 100%]
[Abilities: Super Strength, Agility, Endurance, Super Senses, Accelerated Healing, Pain Immunity]
[Recorded into the genetic map, available for phenotypic expression]
Black Noir clutched his chest, forcing himself to struggle up and walk toward the sun-drenched beach... He felt an unprecedented sense of peace as the layers of fear that had haunted him for half his life completely vanished.
The dense blade marks and indentations on Wade's body were recovering. He watched the staggering figure's back and did not pursue.
He lightly pressed his aching sternum, feeling the trauma being rapidly repaired under the vigorous vitality in his body. "A second-tier level of comprehensive physical fitness is the foundation for challenging specialized Supes above my level... It seems the path of tempering the physical body through combat was the right one."
"I need to take more beatings. Only by not relying on those flashy, mechanism-based superpowers can I further explore the limits of the body."
Wade sat on a reef, pulled a few Almond Chocolate Bars from his coat pocket, and began to munch on them. "No longer needed." He then looked toward the distant beach.
The waves beat against the reef again and again. Black Noir knelt on the ground with his head hanging low, leaving behind a battlefield in ruins.
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