Of course, at this point, it didn't matter if they eliminated me or not. I had already shown my hand, and gotten rid of Lin Zhan Long. It was clear that I wouldn't be summoning any new soul beasts any time soon.
Even so, I was still a threat, as evidenced by my subjugation of their leader. Now that his own opponent had been defeated, it was natural that Cody would move to assassinate me before I could help any of my allies.
But let us take a few steps backward to review what was going on before my seemingly inevitable demise.
A few minutes earlier, Cody had been dueling with Stan, who kept him at bay with his dual pistols. The latter had been keeping up a relentless barrage, but Cody was far more experienced and faster. Dodging his bullets, he streaked past Stan and lashed oout with his daggers.
"Kuh!"
Stan dropped to a knee as blood gushed out from wounds on his arm and leg. However, he refused to relinquish his grip on his pistols and continued to raise them, firing off a second barrage. One of the bullets grazed Cody's cheek, leaving a thin line of blood dripping through his skin.
"…"
Cody spun around, trying his best to avoid yet another storm of bullets. Raising his daggers, he narrowed his eyes when he realized that he couldn't afford to take the first year student lightly.
"I'll have to finish this quickly. I wanted to save this for the seniors, but…"
He could sense the fiery heat as Dong Fang Yue Chu used his flames to roast Lily Liam. The White Valkyrie was still guarding against his flames with her shield, but both of them could sense something different about his flames.
It wasn't just normal fire. It seemed to possess a purifying effect. Cody was aware that if he didn't wrap this up fast enough, then…
…and then the sonic attack hit.
Canis Major chose that moment to unleash his Sirius attack, and the Holy Saints all fell over, clutching their ears. Stan had no intention of letting his chance slip by and took aim, firing into Cody's vitals. Despite being disorientated by the sudden sonic blast, Cody gritted his teeth and deflected the bullets with his daggers.
"Ugh…"
Shaking his head, he swiftly returned to his feet, and charged straight at the shooting Stan. Stan narrowed his eyes and intensified his barrage, but Cody did not wish to plough straight through the volley of mana projectiles.
He didn't have the defensive capability or durability for that kind of punishment. Especially given the high amount of bullets coming his way.
"Hu…"
Taking a deep breath, Cody cast the spell that he had been saving up this entire time.
"Shadow Clones!"
His body suddenly split into five, all five figures dashing toward a stunned Stan. To his credit, Stan didn't panic and instead shifted his aim, shooting the one in the center. The bullets passed through the clone, which disappeared after taking damage.
"Not the real one, huh?" he muttered, clicking his tongue. He then shifted his aim to the one at the far right. Letting loose a volley of shots, he tried to shoot Cody down, but he never knew if he had chosen the right target or not.
Cody was intelligent enough to not waste his clones. All four remaining figures immediately moved and dodged, relying on their high speed to evade the trajectory of Stan's bullets. Stan cursed as he struggled to keep up, but with four targets flying toward him at incredible speed, there was no way he could hit all of them.
He had to retreat.
At the same time, Teacher Fielding's voice echoed throughout the arena.
"First Blood to Ultimate Outcast!"
"?!"
Both Stan and Cody couldn't help but turn at the announcement, only to see Lin Zhan Long's charred body lying spread-eagled on the floor.
"Lin Zhan Long has…!"
"Vice-President did it!"
Stan immediately grew giddy. If I could do it, then he could, too! Resolute determination welling up inside him, he spun around and emptied his guns into the four shadow clones that had stopped. Cody, however, had not made it to the top by being careless, and they immediately sprang into action.
"I'm sorry, but if Zhan Long is down, then I can't afford to waste any more time on you."
"??"
Before Stan could retort, Cody flashed past him, his dagger slicing through his jugular vein. Normally that would have been a fatal injury, but the boundary field ensured that we would all remain alive no matter what kind of injuries we sustained.
However, it was enough to take out Stan. The poor first year clutched at his throat, trying in vain to stem the spurting blood. Collapsing, he let out a wet gargle and went still.
"Second Blood to Holy Saints!"
Skidding to a stop, Cody dismissed his shadow clones, which dissipated after a few seconds. He instead focused his mana into his daggers and lunged at me. Seeing that my back was toward him, he quickly seized the chance to bury his weapons in my neck.
"?!"
Before he could reach me, however, a spinning axe cut through the space where he would have been if he had continued plunging toward my neck. Forcing himself to a stop on reflex, he then cartwheeled back and glanced in the direction of Elliot, who had thrown his axe at him.
"You…!" Adam Freeman growled. "Throwing away your weapon to save your leader, do you think so lowly of me?"
"No," Elliot replied. "It's just that my role is done."
"Huh?!"
"Have you forgotten? This is a team battle, not a one-on-one."
"Shut up!"
Bellowing, Adam lumbered toward Elliot. He struck a terrifying posture, what with him being clad in full body armor and all. Raising his broadsword high in the air, he got ready to cleave the axe-user in half.
Then a torrent of flames washed over him. Adam shrieked in agony as his armor glowed white-hot, smoldering as the purifying fire scorched him. The defensive runes and protective enchantments that adorned the once pristine surface of his silver armor sizzled and burned out, and the poor guy found himself being boiled alive within his own armor, his body trapped within the superheated shell.
"T…this isn't a normal fire spell! What the hell is this?!"
"Pure Yang Flames," Dong Fang Yue Chu replied with a grin. "Passed down to me from my mother, and the ultimate fire spell in the Dong Fang Clan for generations. I could never unleash its full potential, but thanks to Richard's Dad…"
"Are you ignoring me?" Lily growled as she tried to run him through with her spear, but Dong Fang Yue Chu merely thrust his other hand forward. More flames gushed forward, surging toward her. The White Valkyrie shielded herself, but just like with the now unconscious and singed Adam, the defensive runes on her shield began to burn out. "This…?!"
"Sorry for the interruption, my dear. Let's resume our dance, shall we?"
Smiling, Dong Fang Yue Chu turned back toward a pale Lily.
"…"
Further back, Cody was preparing another surgical strike. He frowned when he noted that his team were down two people. Teacher Fielding didn't need to announce that, but the holographic scoreboard above displayed how many members were down, and how many were still fighting. The odds were currently in Ultimate Outcast's favor, four to three.
He had to even out the odds somehow.
His eyes darted from me to Elliot. By now Elliot had retrieved his axe and was preparing to help Nicholas against Terence, who was still weathering the Wing Chun martial artist's blows. Neither of them were down yet, and they still had plenty left in their tanks. As for me…
I was unarmed.
Cody then made his choice and dove at me. I turned around with a smirk.
"!!!"
Cody immediately sensed danger, but he didn't pull back. He was committed.
"Black Shadow Clone!"
Uttering the incantation, Cody split into five clones again, all of them splitting out in different directions. He had seen me take out Lin Zhan Long with a single arrow, he had watched my previous matches (through video recordings) and was aware of the Constellation weapons or Constellation spirits I could summon.
So he reckoned that if he split up, I would be forced to divide my attention among all five clones. And just like with Stan, he would be able to close in and take me out.
What Stan and I didn't know, however, was that Cody didn't just merely create clones of himself. He could freely swap himself from one of his bodies to another, thus allowing himself to escape even in the twenty percent chance of his opponent guessing correctly and attacking the right "clone." Therefore it was his ace in the hole, an offensive and evasive technique combined into one.
What Cody didn't realize, unfortunately, was that it was useless against me.
"Lyra."
A golden harp materialized in my hand. Hundreds of wires sprang out and stretched across the small space around me. All five clones of Cody were ensnared.
"…what? T…this…!"
Cody froze for a moment. He tried to slice at the wires with his daggers, but he found all four of his limbs bound tightly by the razor-sharp garrote wires. All five copies of himself. Even if he swapped himself out, he would still find himself trapped.
I smiled, but didn't waste any time in tightening my wires and slicing Cody into pieces. The boundary field protected him, and Cody was not cut apart into bloody chunks. Blood did flow from countless wounds on his body, however, and he collapsed, completely unconscious.
Above, the scoreboard changed to reflect the remaining members to 4 for Ultimate Outcasts and 2 for Holy Saints.
We now outnumbered our opponents two against one.