Another World Mall

"This is it. Both fighters have finally stood in the arena. This will be the battle of two vice captains, Jay and Yasen.

"Jay is a swordsman while Yasen is a martial artist. This will be the battle of concept and the pride of the team. Who will win? Let's watch the battle together!" Utaha announced out loud.

Jay and Yasen examined each other.

Jay had rather casual clothes and didn't have the big build of someone who was overwhelming in strength. It was weird, considering Jay had muscle affinity, which boasted about its strength.

Meanwhile, Yasen was a martial artist. He was wearing a pair of big gauntlets made of light blue-colored metal.

He wore a sleeveless shirt, exposing his big muscles. He was also taller and bigger than Jay, making him look menacing.

With the same affinity as Jay, this battle would be determined by their strength.

Jay and Yasen took a deep breath as they heard Utaha counting down.

Jay pulled out his sword while Yasen raised both hands forward and started making a small jump to lighten his stance.

The moment the count reached zero, both Jay and Yasen leaped forward.

Because of his footwork, Yasen moved faster than Jay and punched him with that huge gauntlet.

Jay struck the gauntlet with all his might. Unfortunately, the difference between their momentum was a bit too far.

As a result, Yasen actually pushed Jay several meters away.

"…" Jay's expression turned serious. This first clash reflected their strength and control over their strength.

Jay realized that while both of them focused on power, their foundation was different. Yasen focused on momentum and strength, which was similar to Clovis. Meanwhile, Jay drew all that strength from his muscles.

Even though he had a ranged attack that took advantage of the momentum, unlike Clovis, Jay had been doing it mostly due to his superhuman strength. That was why, instead of training the technique, Jay just kept swinging his blade on the pool hundreds, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of times.

He just unleashed his power again and again until his muscle remembered it and became stronger.

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough against Yasen.

Yasen knew he had the advantage this time. Without hesitation, he took that opportunity to close in, punching Jay head-on.

Jay stomped the ground with his right foot and struck Yasen's gauntlet one more time.

Clang!

Their clash was so hard that it produced a deafening tone in the arena as a shock wave shook the stage.

However, this time, Jay actually stopped Yasen completely.

'This is…' Yasen squinted his eyes. It looked like they were equal, but they were not.

Jay might have stopped him, but unlike Jay, who had unleashed all his strength, Yasen hit him with the power of momentum. As a result, he still had enough strength to move his other hand and punched Jay's side.

"!!!" Jay's eyes flashed as he took a step in the opposite direction before waving his blade at that fist, trying to stop him.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough strength to stop it, resulting in him getting pushed back again.

Still, Jay wasn't injured yet. Even if Yasen could outpower him, it didn't mean Jay would go down without a fight.

Yasen, of course, understood that fact very well. They might have underestimated Kanaria, but after that first round, they had stopped underestimating them.

Yet, even with their best strength, they failed to defeat them. In other words, the Libation Fiesta was indeed stronger than them no matter how hard they tried to deny it.

Now that they have recognized this fact, what should they do?

As the vice captain, Yasen understood his role. He charged toward Jay, not letting him get even a second to catch his breath.

"Haaaa!" Yasen punched Jay in rapid succession.

Jay, while maintaining his calm, parried each attack skillfully. However, Yasen kept pushing him back, forcing Jay to keep taking a few small steps to keep his balance. The moment his body was off balance, Yasen would definitely deliver a powerful blow.

Still, despite all the suppression, Jay's expression remained unchanged. He kept looking at the attacks and blocking them. It didn't seem he was frustrated either.

In fact, Jay was actually receiving his blow willingly.

'Coming from the right, stop the one on the left, then he moves up…' Jay muttered inwardly, observing the movement. All of a sudden, Jay's eyes flashed.

He struck the gauntlet on the right, deflecting it and pulling Yasen in.

"!!!" Yasen was startled, but he accepted the challenge. 'You might be stronger than your typical Tier 4 human, but I'm already close to Tier 6. You won't be able to best my strength!'

He punched Jay with his other hand.

Jay inhaled deeply and shifted his blade slightly, putting the tip on the trajectory of the gauntlet.

Clang!

The clash felt weak, but Yasen couldn't help but widen his eyes because the gauntlet was actually deflected to the side.

Yasen gritted his teeth and forcefully returned it to the correct trajectory, albeit he barely managed to do it and hit Jay's arm instead of his face.

Bang!

Jay was launched several meters away as his body bounced two times before coming to a complete stop.

Utaha gasped. "Is this the end? Yasen is actually overpowering Jay right now. Is this the time for the Melesviet Team to turn around the situ—!"

Before she could complete her sentences, Utaha was dumbstruck. There was suddenly a wound on Yasen's arm as if it was freshly cut. The blood spurted due to the pressure he put on his arm.

"W-Wha—What happened? When did Jay strike his arm?" Utaha gasped.

Even the principal couldn't believe what he was seeing. "This is…"

"Principal Vhalor?" Utaha turned to him, wondering if the principal could provide some explanations.

The principal's body shuddered. "Soft Sword. A high-level sword technique that allows you to deflect a blade with less strength. It's the same as martial arts that are using their opponent's weight to defeat them. However, this kind of technique is impossible to grasp due to the complexity of the control over one's strength. If the user exerts less strength than necessary, the opponent's attack will overwhelm them.

"If the user uses too much strength, he will be stuck in that stance and won't be able to launch another strike. With the muscle affinity, he has to control the strength he puts in his muscle, which is normally possible once you reach Tier 6 or Tier 7. He is actually able to use such a high-level technique?"