Martial Arts System
chapter-74

"And who the hell are you?" Ichiro narrowed his eyes, his heart started beating rapidly, he felt that the black figure was an opponent he can't defeat.

The black figure put his knife in front of him and prepared to attack.

Ichiro put his hands in front of him in Orthodox MMA Stance.

Tiny sweatdrops started forming on Ichiro's forehead; it has been a long time since he actually felt a death approaching, when fighting against an opponent.

'Peak Martial Captain… right?' Ichiro asked from System.

[…Affirmative]

It wasn't an answer Ichiro wanted to hear.

The black figure moved his hands towards Ichiro, and a small knife left his hand.

[Ironic Edge – Catching Sweep]

Ichiro moved his hand in perfect motion and caught the small knife.

The black figure was slightly startled, but his face turned neutral once again.

Ichiro examined the small knife on his hand.

Looking at the knife, he knows who is attacking him. "Why is Assassin from Underworld targeting me?"

The Assassin was startled, but his face turned neutral instantly.

Ichiro saw his reaction; he knew that his attacker was Assassin but didn't know who he worked for.

But now he knows.

'Underworld… Did they find out that I was the one who killed Kuro?! Lucas might be in danger!' Ichiro started slightly panicking, his calm composure crumbling apart.

[Host! No one is aware of you killing Kuro. This is something else.]

Ichiro heard System's voice and gained his composure.

He almost lost the match before it even started.

Ichiro isn't stronger than most because of his techniques or his way of analyzing his opponents.

It is his calmness.

He has learned to stay calm during the fights, and that's why he managed to defeat Irkum, even though he was slightly stronger than him.

If he lost his composure now, he would die instantly at the hands of the black figure in front of him.

The Assassin unsheathed two small swords from his waist.

Ichiro calmly holds the knife in his hand, he rarely uses any weapons, but when he is using it, he plans to kill his opponent.

The Assassin was the first to make his move; he swung his swords, aiming at Ichiro's neck.

Ichiro crouched, dodging the first sword, but then the second sword was approaching his head.

Ichiro started rolling on the ground, barely dodging the second sword.

He quickly stood up from the floor and carefully looked towards Assassin.

His breathing was already getting heavy, he was trying to use his analyze, but his opponent is simply too strong for him to use it accurately.

*Ding* *Ding*

Ichiro heard a loud dinging noise in his head.

'System, horrible timing!' He roared in his mind and again dodged a sword, which was only an inch away from slashing his neck.

[New Quest Appeared!]

[Survive!]

[Escape from the Assassin!]

[Rewards: 30 Stat Points, 500 Coins, 1 Lottery Spin]

[Bonus Rewards: ???]

[Failure: You and your family will die]

[Penalty: Death]

[Time Limit: 1 Hour]

Ichiro couldn't care less about the rewards, but seeing that his family will die as well if he fails to escape made him angry.

But that slight distraction caused almost his death.

The Assassin slashed with his sword, and the tip of the blade scratched Ichiro's neck, but it was enough to cause a dangerous wound.

"ARGH!" He cried out and stumbled backward; he put his hand on the wound and felt the blood gushing out.

The Assassin didn't stop there; he aimed his next slash at Ichiro's leg, trying to take out his mobility.

Ichiro raised his leg, barely dodging the slash; he grabbed the knife in his hand tightly and threw it towards Assassin.

*Clank*

The Assassin easily deflected the throwing knife with his sword.

Now Ichiro didn't have any weapons left, and the dangerous sharp-looking swords were approaching him.

The Assassin started slashing, making Ichiro retreat more and more until his back crashed to the wall.

The Assassin saw his change and slashed with his sword.

Ichiro crouched and started rolling on the ground; he quickly stood up, grabbed his lamp from his desk, and threw it towards The Assassin.

The Assassin slashed with his sword and destroyed the lamp, but then he widened his eyes because Ichiro was already attacking him!

[Iron Lance – Stainless-Steel!]

His spear-like attack approached his opponent.

With a quick motion, the Assassin managed to put his sword as a block, but Ichiro's attack still made him stumble backward.

He was stunned.

Ichiro's attack was definitely at Martial Captain level!

Ichiro coughed a mouthful of blood, and blood started gushing even faster from his neck.

The Iron Lance Stainless Steel is still too much to handle with his current body.

The Assassin was startled but got hold of his composure; he knows that he is stronger, and it is only a matter of time before he kills his target.

He started slowly moving towards bleeding Ichiro, his steps being completely silent.

Ichiro went into his favorite Cat Stance and waited for his opponent to strike.

The Assassin lowered his body slightly; his eyes underneath the black mask shone brightly.

*SWOSH*

Then he slashed! His sword slashed towards Ichiro's stomach area.

Ichiro took a step backward and dodged the attack.

But the Assassin wasn't done; he took a step forwards and slashed with his other sword.

Ichiro crouched and dodged the sword strike, but a kick came from the Assassin, which sent him flying to the wall.

*BAM*

"UGH." He groaned in pain and fell down on the floor.

*SWISH*

Another slash came, aiming at Ichiro's unguarded head.

Ichiro gritted his teeth and started rolling on the ground, but the Assassin didn't stop slashing.

Ichiro kept doing everything in his power to dodge the strikes, but it kept getting harder and harder.

"Argh!" A slash hit Ichiro's leg, making him unable to properly stand.

The second sword strike hit his shoulder.

Then third sword slash scratched his cheek.

The fourth attack was another kick, which sent Ichiro flying to the wall.

*BAM*

His back crashed on the wall, which caused a considerable dent to appear on the wall.

The Assassin started slowly approaching Ichiro's figure, his two swords in front of him.

He was expecting Ichiro to start to panic because his death is nearing.

But Ichiro was calm; he has been distracted because failure isn't an option during this Quest.

And it took some time for him to gain his composure back.

Now he has, and he knows what he needs to do to survive this ordeal.

It isn't to escape; otherwise, he and his family will never be safe.

He needs to kill the Assassin.

His strength isn't enough to do that, but with the help of System and it's cheat… He can.

Ichiro again put his hands forwards; he will go offensive for now and find a chance to unleash his attack.

The Assassin was slightly shocked but was still calm.

A person in front of him isn't a threat, only a insect, waiting to be exterminated.

But he is still surprised after seeing Ichiro's fighting intent, it was like he isn't even thinking about dying, like it was impossibility for him.

He narrowed his eyes and started swinging his swords around him.

Ichiro waited calmly.

Then… The Assassin swung his swords with incredible speed! The swords looked like it was an afterimage!

Ichiro's eyes turned bloody red, he concentrated with all his might and used his analyze.

[Ironic Edge!]

He put his hand forwards and striked the Assassin's wrist!

Ichiro's hand touched The Assassin's wrist, which stopped the momentum of his sword.

The blade of the sword was in touch with Ichiro's neck, but his eyes were still calm.

The Assassin in other hand was shocked, he felt immense pain in his wrist, which almost made him drop his sword, but managed to hold it barely.

But…

Ichiro's left hand, which he used to deflect the wrist was broken!

Blocking an attack from a person who is over a rank higher than you is almost impossible to do.

Ichiro pushed his Ironic Edge to the limit and managed to block the sword strike, but broke his left hand in process.

The Assassin gritted his teeth and used his other sword to stab Ichiro instead!

*Stab*

"Ugh!" Ichiro groaned in pain, while the sword was stabbing deeper and deeper into his stomach.

[HP 41/90]

[HP 32/90…]

[HP 19/90…]

"RAAA!" Ichiro roared and grabbed The Assassin from his throat, but there wasn't any strength behind!

The Assassin smirked and pushed the sword even deeper!

"UGH!" Ichiro spat out mouthful of blood, his vision started getting blurry.

With his hazy vision he saw The Assassins' smirk.

"Heh…" Ichiro chuckled.

'Has he gone mad?' The Assassin thought after hearing Ichiro chuckling.

"Die…" Ichiro muttered, his hand suddenly turned into red!

The Assassin widened his eyes and felt the hold on his throat tightening.

"AGHH" He couldn't breathe anymore! He dropped his swords and put his hand on Ichiro's arm and tried to push him away, but nothing working.

[Killing Blow]

[Killing Blow (Rare): This allows you to kill anyone with one strike, but you need to be in contact with your target's body – You can't kill Martial King or above with (Rare) Killing Blow – Only Martial General and below.]