As Steel made an appearance in the arena, Cedric could immediately tell that the one-sided oppression Laura experienced at his hands had come to an end.
If he wanted to defeat the trio, he would have to exert more effort and that was something he wasn't keen to do.
He wanted to crush Laura with no chance of her fighting back, that would give Max the needed push to come down and regain her honor.
But if she were to fight him on equal grounds and only barely lose, then there would be no reason for Max to come down.
Her defeat would be applauded since she fought valiantly against someone stronger than her while Cedric would be seen as a bully that only knew to fight those weaker than him.
"Tch, you just had to make things difficult for me, huh." Cedric clicked his tongue as he tried to pull back Scorpion tail but no matter how much he pulled on it, it did not budge one bit.
Steel's size was somewhat reduced by a meter or so and his aura was slightly lesser than his previous battle with Queen Bee, but that did not at all diminish the fierce look he had.
He stared disdainfully at Cedric as he gripped his weapon tightly. Meanwhile, Laura stood in front of him, her heart still beating uncontrollably due to how tense she was.
With much difficulty, she struggled to calm her nerves.
Cedric struggled a bit more before finally reaching the end of his patience. "Let it go."
Steel snorted. "Let it go?... You dare to bully my contractor and think that I would let you off so easily?... You are looking down on me too much, no?"
"Tch, I warned you." Cedric channeled his magic into Scorpion tail.
Steel felt a slight sting in his palm causing him to narrow his eyes into slits.
Cedric smirked seeing the reaction from the silver-haired ape. "How long do you think you can hold on?"
Laura could sense what was happening. Scorpion tail, after getting infused with magic, was getting hotter by the second.
It wouldn't be long before the heat would be enough to scald someone with thick skin like Steel.
Steel was unresponsive for a few breaths before he let out a sigh. "You just had to force me… Well, that's on you."
Before Cedric could retort, a powerful pulling face caused him to fly toward Steel.
Looking closely, he realized that the crazy monkey was the cause as it tugged on Scorpion tail with just enough effort to send him coming his way.
"Shit!" Cedric cursed inwardly as he knew what would happen once he got within range, thus he prepared himself for impact.
The next second… wham
Cedric was sent flying back with even greater force. If not for the fact that Scorpion tail was attached to him, he would have surely let go of the troublesome artifact.
With a loud thud, he crashed into the earth causing a crater to form.
"Ugh." Cedric forcefully swallowed the blood that welled up in his throat. He couldn't afford to show weakness, he was supposed to be the dominant one in this match-up!
Sitting up, He saw the smug look on Laura's face and the annoying smirk on Steel's fierce visage.
Just one move and he almost lost the match. If he hadn't swallowed the blood back, he would have surely lost.
Taking a look in a certain direction, he could make out the disappointed look in the Jester's eyes.
He had been the one to set the rules for their engagement and now, if not for the Jester's adjustments, he would have already lost the match before he got a chance to achieve his initial goal.
Cedric sighed. "I was too conceited. What would be the use of hiding my trump cards if I end up losing as a result?... Hah, I can't believe I was almost tripped by my shortsightedness."
Slowly, Cedric got to his feet and stole a glance at Max in the audience. He seemed to be enjoying himself so far. "Not for long."
Meanwhile, Laura was wondering why she didn't argue for the jester to let Cedric's initial rules remain. If she had done so, the match would be done by now and that would have marked the end of the strongest competitor in the magic tournament.
"Tch, I should have spoken up," Laura muttered.
Alas, it was too late and now she could only make do with what was given to her.
Just then, Cedric began to weave hand seals in quick succession. He was moving just as fast as Max as he made to summon for the first time in the tournament.
"Damn, I need to stop him. I really don't want to see what such a scary person's summon would be." Laura quickly made her move.
Rubbing the golden bracelet on her wrist, the ten swords from her battle with Lisa were produced once again.
At this point, Steel had already begun to weave his webs around the arena but for some reason, he kept feeling like his actions would turn out to be in vain.
There was just something about Cedric that made Steel feel suppressed subconsciously.
It couldn't be Cedric himself since their cultivation ranks when compared man to beast would be roughly the same especially since Steel had just died.
So it had to be whatever Cedric was about to summon or some other Magic artifact on his body, in any case, he was hoping he wouldn't have to find out.
Laura wiggled her fingers and she felt that familiar sensation of thin metal threads from her fingers touching the swords that were stabbed in the ground.
Without further Ado, she attacked.
The swords moved in a frenzy as they launched from different angles to cut down Cedric.
The latter was unmoved by Laura's display. "Even if you acted before I started weaving seals the result would have still been the same. That is the unsurpassable difference between a mere Ruler rank summon and a Lord rank!"