Nesting Dolls

One punch, only one punch.

Bucciarati broke free of his Steel Chain Fingers and withstood two attacks with his body, but in the end, he only managed to throw one punch at Anthony.

But unfortunately

If you don't attack the back of the neck, a vital area with concentrated nerves, it's very difficult to knock a living person unconscious from the front using only human strength.

Anthony was confident he could withstand the punch, so he boldly chose to fight Bucciarati head-on.

As he expected, after losing the help of the Steel Chain Fingers, Bucciarati was unable to knock him unconscious with a single blow on his own.

Bucciarati has already thrown the punch, but Anthony remains calm.

The intense pain in his face didn't make him faint; instead, it made him even more agitated by the stimulation of the pain.

"King of Rivers!"

Anthony stared intently at Bucciarati's face, which was so close to his.

He knew that in the next instant, this troublesome man in front of him would disappear from this world completely.

Bucciarati had no way to deal with this.

He didn't even have time to throw a second punch; he could only watch helplessly as the phantom-like, swift giant tongue once again streaked through the air and attacked.

Bucciarati had no chance to dodge.

The black-skinned toad seemed to be deliberately showing off; this time, it didn't even use much force, simply flicking its tongue towards Bucciarati's face and gently licking it.

"Third layer of markings, complete!"

The third fish-shaped mark was instantly imprinted on Bucciarati's face.

Bucciarati seemed to have no time to show fear or panic; his expression remained calm and stern, as if victory was still assured.

But his steady momentum couldn't change the dire situation; Bucciarati, bearing the three markings, was clearly in a desperate predicament.

The next moment.

The black toad opened its blood-red maw, and the power of space surged wildly in silence.

"I won!"

Anthony roared inwardly with excitement.

However, at that very moment, in that almost frozen moment of time, just before Bucciarati was swallowed up.

Bucciarati laughed instead:

"I'm sorry, I lied again."

"'Frontline combat' and such were never even a concept from the beginning."

Upon hearing this, Anthony's expression froze instantly.

At that moment, Bucciarati's body was already being pulled away by the spatial force.

He vanished from Anthony's sight in an instant, just like the Moody Blues of before, and the Steel Chain Fingers of the moment ago.

However.

Anthony didn't even have time to be happy.

He was horrified to discover that after Bucciarati disappeared, a man with loose, silver-white hair suddenly appeared right in front of him.

His eyes were cold and sharp, his gaze like ice. He appeared there suddenly, as if using some kind of teleportation magic, right where Bucciarati had just disappeared.

"A- Abbacchio?"

Anthony's face was filled with astonishment:

"Didn't you leave? How... how did you end up here?"

"How did you suddenly appear here?!"

"Ha," Abbacchio replied, his face as cold as ice, "Do you really think I would abandon my companions and run away alone?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the muscles in his steel-like arms tensed and bulged rapidly.

Before Anthony could even react to the magic trick of appearing out of nowhere, Abbacchio's powerful, muscular arms had already firmly gripped his throat.

Abbacchio's close-combat skills are extremely powerful, at least at the level of a fighting champion in the human world.

His grip firmly locked onto Anthony's throat, his fingers digging deep into the skin like iron clamps, clamping down on the vital trachea.

"In a sense, this black toad and the Steel Chain Fingers are similar types of stand-ins."

"At the very least, the Steel Chain Fingers can create a different dimension inside the stomach and hide another living person inside."

"So, it's like Russian nesting dolls or Australian kangaroos."

Under Anthony's shocked and horrified gaze, Abbacchio coldly stated:

"I have always been hiding in the alternate dimension inside Bucciarati's body."

"Bucciarati is my 'shield.' He used his body to block the attacks and brought me all the way to you."

"Your Stand ability can only make one object disappear at a time, but it can't involve another object hidden inside."

"So, at the moment Bucciarati disappeared."

"It's my turn to go on stage!"

Anthony was completely shocked.

After swallowing the wooden stick, the fake hand, and the Steel Chain Fingers, he thought Bucciarati had exhausted all his tricks.

But he never expected that a living person had been hiding inside Bucciarati's body all along!

Now, thanks to Bucciarati's efforts, Abbacchio appeared right next to him, his iron claws gripping his throat tightly.

"Release Bucciarati."

"And Steel Chain Fingers, and my Moody Blues."

Because he didn't know whether killing the person would allow the swallowed creature to safely reappear, Abbacchio chose to threaten Anthony while he was still alive.

"I don't have a single mark on my body right now."

"And that black catfish's attack power isn't enough to defeat me. How long would it take for it to stack three layers of marks on me?"

"Even though the tongue is fast, it still takes at least a second."

Unfortunately

"It only takes me 0.1 seconds to crush your throat."

Abbacchio stared intently into Anthony's terrified and lifeless eyes with a fierce gaze.

He instantly increased the force in his hand, his five fingers even digging deep into the other man's flesh, choking Anthony until he couldn't breathe.

Once a person can't breathe, their courage naturally disappears.

Anthony's face immediately turned deathly pale.

He looked at Abbacchio silently with fearful and helpless eyes, as if begging Abbacchio not to kill him.

But Abbacchio showed no mercy and continued to increase his strength:

"I'll give you one more second to think about it:"

"Should we release them, or not?"

"Put!"

Anthony couldn't speak at all; he could only manage to utter the silent syllable with his lips.

Just as Carne knew that his substitute would become an immortal Meat Chunk after his death, Anthony also knew that everything imprisoned in the alternate dimension would be released after his death.

Rather than waiting to be killed and have your equipment stolen, it's better to hand over your equipment voluntarily.

There's no way around it; people only realize how much they don't want to die when they're about to die.

"King of Rivers".

"Spit them all out."

Anthony had a sudden thought, and the black toad immediately opened its mouth wide.

Bucciarati and his Steel Chain Fingers, who had just been imprisoned in another dimension, reappear in the world, and Abbacchio's Moody Blues also returned to its owner.

"Very good."

Abbacchio loosened his grip slightly, giving Anthony a little space to speak.

But his hand remained firmly clenched around Anthony's throat like an eagle's claw, as if he were about to crush him completely at any moment.

"Please let me go!"

Anthony's expression completely changed.

The excitement and exhilaration of just a few seconds ago vanished, leaving only bewilderment and panic.

"I lost."

"I will never cause you any more trouble, and I will never appear in front of you again."

The young boy's face was filled with fear, as if the brief near-death experience had left him with a huge psychological shadow.

"Oh, you want me to let you go?"

Why would you have such a fantasy?

Abbacchio stared silently at Anthony, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at a dead man.

"You"

Anthony's face was as pale as paper.

"I've already released him, you promised to release me!"

"Yeah?"

"Think about it carefully. I just asked you to release the people. When did I say that releasing them would save your life?"

Abbacchio gave a sarcastic reply without batting an eye.

"You?!"

Horror filled Anthony's eyes.

Having been successful in his youth, he had never experienced failure, nor had he tasted death.

No, I don't want to.

Anthony turned his head, pale-faced, and looked pitifully at the good-natured man he had always looked down upon:

"Bucciarati, save me."

"The boss ordered me to do it. I'd die if I didn't."

"I'm still young, I don't understand anything, I'm still a child."

Bucciarati remained unmoved.

He looked at Anthony silently with the same cold gaze:

"People are responsible for what they do—whether they are adults or children."

"And"

A rare and intense killing intent suddenly surged in his azure eyes:

"Using other people's kindness to do bad things is always the most heinous thing in the world."

"Abbacchio— "

Bucciarati turned his head sharply and decisively, his voice showing no hesitation:

"Send him to where he needs to go."