Chapter 197: Third Level Mark
It was not until then that Anthony discovered with horror that the continuous groans of pain beside him had disappeared.
Because at the moment when most of Bucciarati's arm disappeared out of thin air, the real owner of the arm, the seriously injured drug addict, was swallowed up along with his arm into the strange space in the belly of the black toad.
“I was totally deceived…”
Anthony pursed his lips tightly, his heart was filled with great emotions:
He thought he had stacked three layers of marks on Bucciarati, but in fact, all three attack opportunities were wasted on the useless drug addict.
As for Bucciarati himself, there is not a single fish-shaped mark on his body.
The Steel Chain Finger, which was the main output force, only had a layer of fish-shaped mark on its body that had been left behind but had not yet disappeared.
Bucciarati's eyes were full of determination.
He believed he could win.
Because the little trick of replacing one thing with another helped him buy extremely precious time for the breakthrough, allowing them to break through this line of defense that should have been fatal without any damage.
At this moment, the two of them had approached Anthony to within one meter of him.
The next moment, the steel chain fingers will launch a fatal attack on Anthony's body.
The black-skinned toad's attack speed was indeed extremely fast, but in this short moment, even its long tongue, which was as fast as a shadow, could only attack once at most.
So, here comes the question:
There is only time to brand one layer of mark at the moment, and Bucciarati has 0 layers of marks and Steel Chain Finger has 1 layer of mark. So who should Anthony brand to save himself?
In a split second, Anthony gave his correct answer:
"Of course it's me—"
"River King!"
Faced with the blue fist shadow so close, Anthony unexpectedly did not show any panic.
The wide, thick and long tongue suddenly tightened in mid-air, and immediately passed over the steel chain fingers and Bucciarati who were sprinting at full speed like a dark red lightning, and rushed straight towards Anthony who was farther away.
"What?"
Bucciarati's pupils shrank.
The calmness in his expression was quietly broken, and a hint of surprise could not be suppressed in his bright blue eyes:
"He actually let his stand-in use his tongue... to attack himself?"
In this almost static time, under Bucciarati's surprised gaze, Anthony slowly raised his arms to meet the dark red long tongue that was coming towards him.
On the wrists exposed by the cuffs, two dark red fish-shaped marks were glowing.
"Do you think I'm going to come out and fight without any preparation, Bucciarati?"
"Before the battle began, I had already branded myself with two marks!"
Just as he finished his words, before the blue fist shadow of the steel chain fingers could hit him with all its strength, the tough and soft long tongue very restrainedly licked Anthony's arm lightly.
The third fish-shaped mark was instantly branded.
The black-skinned toad opened its bloody mouth, and the invisible force of space was instantly activated.
Anthony disappeared silently from the spot, and there was only air left in front of Steel Chain Fingers and Bucciarati.
The fist hit nothing.
Bucciarati used all his wisdom and sacrificed his life to win this final blow, but it just missed.
"Miscalculated..."
Bucciarati's face darkened:
"I didn't expect that kind of spatial ability could be used on the Stand User himself."
"If he can control the disappearance of objects and make them reappear at will, that ability would be a perfect protection for him."
He turned around slowly and looked at the tall black-skinned toad warily.
After its owner disappeared, it seemed to have lost its purpose and just stood there stupidly.
But this situation only lasted for a short moment.
Anthony, who hid in the different space, really had no way to spy on the situation outside, let alone control the River King to fight, but he could at least control the black-skinned toad to spit himself out.
that's all…
Bucciarati had just turned around with a serious expression, and Anthony, who had almost died under the steel chain finger fist, appeared next to the black toad safely.
The distance between the two sides was once again widened to two meters.
Everything returned to the beginning, back to the time when Bucciarati decided to attack Anthony's body.
But this time, he no longer had a second "prosthetic hand" to use.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Anthony quietly hid behind the black toad, and laughed with a voice that became extremely excited during the life-and-death struggle:
"My boss taught me that the most important thing in a stand-in fight is to be one step ahead of others and have more tricks up your sleeve."
"It's a pity that you did have one more trick up your sleeve, but you didn't anticipate my situation."
He smiled so lightly, as if the victory of the battle was already his.
But it must be said that Anthony does have the capital to laugh out loud now:
With that fake hand, Bucciarati no longer has any "shield" on his body that can help block his tongue.
If the fight continued, he would really have to use his own body to fight the enemy.
And the sprint just now has already verified it firsthand...
In that short distance of two or three meters, the time it took to break through the defense and rush to Anthony was enough for the black-skinned toad to launch up to four attacks.
Four attacks means that four layers of marks can be stacked.
This means that before Bucciarati successfully breaks through the defense, the enemy can ensure that one of Bucciarati and Chain Finger disappears.
"That's enough!"
There was fire burning in Bucciarati's eyes.
He knew he had no way to retreat, but he could still fight for a glimmer of hope in this extremely dangerous situation:
"I literally have no shield left to stop my tongue."
"But you have just used up the mark that was branded on your body in advance. It is too late to replenish it now."
"You and I can no longer use the previous tricks, now..."
"It's time for a real head-on battle!"
Bucciarati tensed his muscles and suddenly rushed towards Anthony.
There was not a moment's hesitation, not a moment's pause, which would have given Anthony time to re-brand himself.
If he launches an attack now, the opponent must decide whether to prioritize self-preservation or attack.
Anthony's choices are:
“Kill them!”
He believed that he would win in this final fight.
The dark red giant tongue suddenly shot out and slashed towards Bucciarati and the steel chain finger.
"Steel Chain Fingers!"
Bucciarati pushed the steel chain finger forward without hesitation.
This is a multiple-choice question that requires no answer. If one of him and his substitute must be devoured, then the one to be sacrificed naturally cannot be him, the crucial original body.
If the original body is gone, there is no point in the existence of the substitute.
So, when the dark red tongue came at him rapidly, Steel Chain Fingers immediately waved his fist to meet it head-on.
It tried to catch the tongue with both hands.
But the long tongue was like a slippery loach. It only lightly touched the steel chain finger, leaving a fish-shaped mark for an instant, and then it retracted in a flash.
“The second floor.”
There was a gleam of brilliance in Anthony's eyes:
Including the marks , the marks on the steel chain fingers have been superimposed on two layers.
The next time he attacks, the steel chain finger will be devoured, and his enemy will be left with only a "broken-hand" Bucciarati.
"Come again!"
Everything was happening just as Anthony imagined.
The giant tongue shot out again, and a phantom appeared in the air.
From the perspective of an ordinary bystander, Bucciarati now seems to be fighting a shadow.
He had no way to avoid it and could only let his steel chain fingers, which already had two layers of marks on them, continue to block the attack for his body.
finally…
“The third floor!”
Bucciarati had just broken through the short distance of one meter when the giant tongue, as fast as a shadow, launched two consecutive attacks.
A full three marks were imprinted on various parts of the steel chain fingers at the same time, and the invisible spatial ability was instantly activated.
At this moment, the steel chain fingers disappeared.
Bucciarati was completely unaware of the existence of his stand, and he was the only one left on the battlefield.
Anthony was grinning smugly at him, and his nightmarish giant tongue attacked again without stopping.
But Bucciarati still did not give up:
"There's still a chance... there's still a chance!"
He clenched his teeth, raised his only remaining arm, clenched his fist with all his strength and hit Anthony.
At this moment, Bucciarati was indeed very close to Anthony.
But now he no longer had a stand or a "shield", and there was nothing that could help him stop the invasion of the swift giant tongue.
“The first floor!”
Anthony counted silently in his mind.
The dark red giant tongue hit Bucciarati mercilessly, causing him to stagger.
“Second floor!”
Still Bucciarati refused to give up.
He withstood the giant tongue that attacked again and used his own life to break through the last inch of distance:
Bang!
At the moment when the giant tongue chopped down for the second time, the punch hit Anthony's face heavily.
Bucciarati took advantage of the situation and pounced on Anthony, knocking him to the ground with one punch.
But Anthony smiled instead.
He ignored the blood that suddenly flowed from the corner of his mouth, and just stared at Bucciarati who was pinning him to the ground with his excited and bloodshot eyes:
"Your punch isn't strong enough, Bucciarati!"
"If you don't knock me out this time, you wo n't have another chance—"
"The third level of markings are complete!"
