Sabretooth stared at the dagger and submachine gun in Frank's hands, his expression growing heavier by the second.
"Your power… you can manifest weapons? Or are they stored inside your body?"
"The second one," Frank replied without hesitation. "My body can store weapons."
He didn't bother hiding his ability. To him, his true strength didn't come from the Fruit itself — and his power wasn't limited to just storing weapons.
"Stored weapons, huh? Then let's see which one of us comes out on top."
Sabretooth bent forward slightly, his posture dropping lower like that of a predator ready to pounce. Then, with a beastlike roar, he charged straight at Frank.
Frank squeezed the trigger.
"Ratatatatatatata—!"
Bullets sprayed wildly from the submachine gun, emptying the magazine in a torrent of lead.
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Rounds slammed into Sabretooth's body, tearing flesh and drawing blood — yet he didn't slow down in the slightest. With a powerful leap, he closed the distance in an instant.
Ten sharp claws extended from his fingers, gleaming coldly as he lunged forward with reckless ferocity.
At range, Frank's firepower could dominate almost anyone.
But up close? That was Sabretooth's domain.
His strength, his instincts — everything about him was built for close combat.
"Sabretooth! Don't kill him!" the Toad Man called out anxiously.
From his point of view, Frank wouldn't stand a chance once it got close.
He was more worried Sabretooth would lose control and actually tear Frank apart.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Sabretooth growled dismissively, but his claws didn't stop.
They merely retracted slightly — just enough not to be lethal.
"You're too confident," Frank sneered. "You really think I'd be afraid of close combat?"
His dagger danced in his hand.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
The sounds of claws and blades tearing through flesh echoed in rapid succession.
Neither man dodged. Neither flinched. They simply stabbed into each other, trading blow for blow like madmen.
"Rrraaagh!" Sabretooth roared, fury and confusion mixing in his eyes.
"Your body… what the hell is this?!"
Even the Toad Man, watching from the side, looked completely stunned.
Sabretooth's claw strike had landed — but instead of tearing through flesh, it had hit something that rippled like a liquid shield.
Waves shimmered across Frank's body, and Sabretooth's claws lost their force almost instantly, sinking in only a little before being caught.
Then, before he realized what was happening, Frank's Swamp Fruit ability began to pull at him — swallowing his hand with a strange suction force.
Sabretooth snarled, kicking Frank squarely in the chest and yanking his arm free.
He leapt back several paces, glaring warily at Frank.
"Looks like that's the extent of your mutant strength," Frank said coolly.
After just one exchange, he had already sized up his opponent — and he knew Sabretooth couldn't win.
He had suspected as much.
Physical attacks were nearly useless against him.
That alone placed him above most fighters.
Before, he hadn't been certain where he stood in a real fight.
Now, he knew.
"You—!"
Sabretooth's eyes went blood-red, killing intent flaring.
He launched himself at Frank again, claws fully extended this time, slashing with unrestrained force.
The air howled around them.
"Boom!"
"Slash!"
The claws struck with bone-crushing strength, smashing into Frank's body.
Frank didn't dodge — he took the blow head-on.
But this time, Sabretooth's raw power exceeded Frank's expectations.
The impact hurled him backward like a ragdoll.
Mutants like Sabretooth possessed strength far beyond human limits, and Frank had underestimated it.
"Good!" Frank said, grinning as he steadied himself. "Now that's more like it.
Otherwise, you mutants would've really disappointed me."
He could feel the battle-lust surging in his veins — that intoxicating rush only a real fight could bring.
"If it's a fight you want," Sabretooth snarled, "then let's have a real one!"
This time, both men were in full combat mode. One of them would fall before it ended.
Sabretooth lunged again, his claws slicing through the air like blades.
Frank's dagger intercepted the strike perfectly — the blade driving straight through Sabretooth's palm.
But the wound sealed almost instantly, the flesh knitting back together as if it had never happened.
That regenerative power — Frank couldn't ignore it.
Worse, Sabretooth's sheer strength left him completely overpowered.
Realizing brute force wouldn't win this, Frank instantly changed tactics.
He released the dagger, letting it drop to the ground — and his body began to liquefy, turning into dark, rippling mud.
Sabretooth's claws tore through the spot where Frank had been —
but they met nothing solid at all.