Clang!
"Kuh!"
Lin Zhan Long staggered back as I slashed at him again, raising his shield to defend himself from my Gemini twin swords. He countered with his sword, but I parried it with Pollux before counterattacking with Castor.
A black energy wave rippled from my black blade and slammed into his shield, causing him to retreat another few steps. Gritting his teeth, he hacked at me again, but I managed to parry his sword with Pollux. This time, a blast of white energy surged from the white blade and scorched his arm, causing him to yelp in pain and drop his sword.
"I'm actually losing in a sword fight?!" he growled angrily. I was a little surprised too, because Lin Zhan Long should have more experience and skills in swordsmanship than me. Perhaps the foundation in swordsmanship that my Dad built for me had helped tremendously and allowed me to fight on par with the vice-president of Holy Saints.
It didn't matter. Li Zhan Long was far from defeated. With a growl, he unleashed a blast of crimson energy that sent me hurtling backward, despite crossing my Gemini twin swords to parry the blow. Heaving, I skidded backward and glanced up as Li Zhan Long drew a new weapon.
No, he didn't retrieve his fallen sword. Instead, he was drawing a new Divine Device and activating it. Mana swirled around the gadget before it expanded and transformed into a wicked-looking weapon.
"Hmph. I can't believe you've forced me into using my Dragon Saber!"
Originally, the idiot thought he could win against me easily with just a sword, but now he realized that I was quite a handful to deal with. So he had drawn his personal Divine Device, his primary weapon that he used as part of Holy Saints' core lineup.
The Dragon Saber. I had done research on my opponents before the team match, so I was somewhat familiar with what kind of weapon it is. It relied on brute force – something Lin Zhan Long was famous for. Apparently forged after a legend that was said to be capable of slaying dragons, the Dragon Saber packed immense power and burst strength. If Lin Zhan Long…
"Hah!"
The wielder of the Dragon Saber descended upon me, slashing downward with his legendary weapon. I tried to dodge, barely stepping to the side as the blade smashed into the ground and pulverized concrete, but Lin Zhan Ling effortlessly swept his Dragon Saber up in my direction before he straightened himself up.
"!!"
I parried his strike with Gemini twin swords, and both of them shattered instantly. I was blasted backward, my hands stinging and numb from the impact. Blood dripped from my arms, but I managed to flip myself to land on my feet.
"Hah! I knew it! Your summoned weapons are no match for an actual Divine Device!"
Lin Zhan Long was roaring in triumph, raising his Dragon Saber and readying for another attack. I didn't bother to summon another pair of Gemini twin swords, and instead focused entirely on evading. Diving to the side, I felt debris splatter against my back as Lin Zhan Long destroyed the ground again. Rolling to my feet, I spotted him coming at me again.
This guy was relentless.
"Hu…"
Taking a deep breath, I gathered more magical energy into the core of my body, getting ready to complete my summoning spell. Lin Zhan Long was sharp enough to notice what I intended, and he lunged at me again, his Dragon Saber carving a path of destruction.
"!!!"
Bam!
The ground beneath my feet exploded, a small crater dented into the ground as Lin Zhan Long smashed it apart. I stumbled before rolling away, but blood continued to gush out of fresh wounds as the sharp blade pressure from his divine saber sliced through my shoulder and chest.
I wasn't going to last very long at this rate. This was also the reason why I lost most of the times in the past. Without given the chance to complete my summoning, combat mages who specialized in melee weapons or fighting techniques would completely destroy me before I could summon anything.
Worse, I wasn't even summoning a Celestial Guardian now, but a simple Constellation spirit. Too weak, and Lin Zhan Long would cleave him apart with his Dragon Saber (like my Canis Minor and Ursa Minor). Too strong, and my opponent would cut me to pieces long before I completed my summoning.
Fortunately, I had bought more than enough time.
Spinning to my feet, I brought my hands up to chest level and completed my summoning. Behind me, Canis Major materialized and lunged at Lin Zhan Long.
The stunned Heavy Knight slashed instinctively, but Canis Major recognized the danger of the extremely powerful Divine Device and bounded above it. Sailing over the serrated blade, he whirled around after landing and lashed out with a claw. Despite his arrogance, Lin Zhan Long proved that he was worthy of being a core lineup for his society, his astounding reflexes kicking in and allowing him to spin around with his shield up.
Canis Major's claws smashed against the shield, and Lin Zhan Long staggered back. However, he didn't waste any time and countered with a strike from his Dragon Saber. The heavy weapon almost cleaved Canis Major in half, but the gigantic hunting hound recoiled and retreated. Even so, the sharp blade pressure from the divine saber managed to nick his furry chest, and blood began dripping. The red droplets dissipated into spiritual energy before they could touch the ground.
"Hmph. So what if you completed your summoning spell?" Lin Zhan Long sneered. "I know what kind of soul beasts you have. These are the second-rate ones who can't compare to either your phoenix or tiger!"
The guy evidently didn't watch the mission report when I helped out the Black Roses against the Fiery Ape, or he would have seen my Black Tortoise as well. Not that I intended to summon him here, against an opponent like him.
"This sort of soul beast…I'll be able to kill it easily!"
With a delighted roar, Lin Zhan Long pounced on Canis Major. He swung his Dragon Saber in a vicious arc, hoping to decapitate my Constellation spirit in one strike. However, Canis Major quickly withdrew with a growl.
"Heh! Even this stupid soul beast recognizes the danger my Dragon Saber pose! If you can't summon another soul beast by the time I'm finished with this one, you're dead!"
"Nah, I don't need to summon any other Constellation spirits to deal with the likes of you," I replied. I would rather summon something else, but he didn't have to know that.
"Arrogant prick! I'll teach you the enormous gulf between our strengths…and our statuses!" Lin Zhan Long bellowed before he swung around to slash at my approaching Canis Major, forcing him to stay back.
"Statuses? We're both vice-presidents of our respective societies," I pointed out.
"Oh, shut up!"
Lin Zhan Long stopped attacking and instead drew his Dragon Saber back in an aggressive stance. Crimson mana began to flow along the green-red blade that he held, swirling into a volcanic vortex of flames.
That was one hell of a spell he was casting. Recognizing that this would be bad, I quickly sent a telepathic signal to my Canis Major.
"Canis Major, use Sirius attack!"
Canis Major howled in reply before gathering mana into his jaws. His maw yawned and he unleashed a catastrophic sonic attack that blasted across the arena, slamming into Lin Zhan Long. The Heavy Knight instantly comprehended how bad it would be if he took the attack without defending against it, so he paused the casting of his spell and instead raised his shield to block the enormous sonic wave. He dug his feet into the ground, and his shield vibrated violently as it struggled to endure the vicious sound blast.
"Ugh…!"
Lin Zhan Long staggered, his ears bleeding. It wasn't just him. Around us, a few of the Holy Saints had been affected, swaying on their feet as their ears bled. In contrast to them, the Ultimate Outcast and Black Roses alliance was fine, thanks to us already discussing possible strategies beforehand and taking the appropriate countermeasures.
Thanks to that, we were able to capitalize on our advantage.
"Don't fuck with me!"
However, Lin Zhan Long was far from down. While crouching, he completed his spell and swung his Dragon Saber. Crimson flames erupted from his huge blade and washed over Canis Major, incinerating the Constellation spirit. I winced and took a step back, even as the massive figure of the hunting hound disappeared from the physical dimension.
"Now you're doomed!" Lin Zhan Long gloated as he charged at me, his glowing Dragon Saber seeming ready to unleash another devastating wave of fire.
I smiled. Already I had a black bow in hand and was conjuring a fiery arrow of my own.
"Hah! You think you can defeat me with an arrow?!" Lin Zhan Long burst out laughing, but he didn't falter and continued charging. "Try it if you can!"
That proved to me beyond a doubt that Lin Zhan Long had only been watching the school matches I had taken part in, and not any of the mission reports. As I said before, most students eschewed missions and focused entirely on ranking matches. It wasn't practical, to be honest, but it was the system people were brought up in, and so they stubbornly stuck to it.
Well, that was to my advantage, so I didn't complain.
Before Lin Zhan Long could reach me, I let loose Alnasl. The blazing arrow streaked out like a fireball and collided with him. The Heavy Knight quickly brought up his shield, but Alnasl exploded upon impact.
The shield, already damaged by Canis Major's Sirius attack earlier, shattered. An inferno engulfed the screaming Lin Zhan Long, burning him into a crisp. His blackened figure staggered for a few seconds, and then toppled face first into the ground.
"First blood to Ultimate Outcast!" Teacher Fielding announced with a raise of his hand. Outside the arena, applause and cheers erupted from the spectators, especially all those who had suffered under Lin Zhan Long's condescending abuse.
As much as I would love to join them, the battle was far from over. Even as I was dismissing Sagittarius, Cody was charging straight at me. A dagger flashed out and Stan fell, blood spurting out of his neck.
"Second blood to Holy Saints!" Teacher Fielding shouted. There were a few cheers from the spectators, because Cody did have some fans among first and second year students aspiring to reach the peak of assassination magic.
With Stan down, there was no longer anyone to occupy Cody Crosby's attention. The assassin closed in on me, his dagger flashing down on my neck before I could summon any new Constellation weapons to defend myself with.