Chapter 166: Chapter 166 Battling a Copy Part 02.
Seeing Hina and Xiao Lian, who stood in front of Soma. The copy body stiffened into stone as he stilled, watching them.
"You guys?".
Soma, who watched the two tiny backs he could envelop in his embrace alone, stood tall in front of him, blocking the advance of the copy. His stirred heart and erratic breath ceased to exist.
The hard wall around his heart shattered as he began to ridicule himself for going back on his words. He already spilled everything to Hina and felt so light when she offered him help. However, now and again, Soma tried to shoulder everything alone and almost ended with his defeat.
Seeing the determination from the girl's back, Soma exhaled the distress he felt since the fight and stood up between the two girls. He spreads his lips as he grips his palms before softly whispering. "Guess I am a fool, eh".
"...Hina, Xiao Lian, help me to defeat the copy".
Hina, who heard Soma's words, almost loosened the grips on her katana as her heart burst in joy. Soma finally relied on her strength even though she knew that she still couldn't match up to him. But the small favor that came from Soma's mouth that reverberated through her ears made the flame that lit that day in her heart burn bright, filling her heart and eyes with determination.
Xiao Lian, whose entire life was hailed as a prodigy, was not her first time being asked for help, so she clenched the spear shaft and faced the copy eyes straight on.
The copy who saw his enemy gain additional help knitted his brows as he felt an indescribable feeling. However, no matter what method he would use, he must eliminate the boy as per the order of his creators.
Soma calmly regulated his breathing while maintaining his vigilance toward the copy. He could see a slight disturbance when the copy saw the girls enter the battle. This could be an excellent choice to let the girls help him in the battle.
Soma, who regained his calm, opened his mouth.
"Let's go!".
The time that felt like it stretched began to move as Xiao Lian started her first attack, dashing forward, followed by Hina and Soma behind. The copy planted his feet firmly on the ground, fixing his stance to meet the three attacks that came to his side.
Xiao Lian began with the first attack as she accelerated and arrived at the copy range faster than the other and launched a thrust aimed at the copy throat. The copy, with swift parry, deflected the spear before stepping to the side, positioning himself to keep the other opponent within his sight.
Hina, with the second attack, drew the blade from its sheath and swung her katana diagonally from her bellow left. The copy, using his footwork, swiftly evaded the trajectory of the blade and approached Soma's position.
Soma, who seemed to understand the copy's feelings, lifted the corner of his mouth as he faced the copy head-on.
"...I see, so it was like that".
Simultaneously, both of them changed their tactics and used one of their legs as an axis to launch a roundhouse kick. Both feet that raised diagonally met each other in the shin while letting a dry thud as their bones clashed.
Both of their faces were calmed, unperturbed. Soma began his first move as he tried to pry open the copy defense by bringing his raised feet down, but the same also happened with the copy.
A blue gleam that thrust toward the copy made him release their locked leg and distance himself from Soma. Hina, who already awaited the copy's arrival, swung her sword horizontally, making the copy jump into mid-air.
Soma, who saw the copy, reached a high altitude dash, approaching him and observing the copy until he reached his highest point. As he saw the copy being pulled by gravity, he immediately kicked the ground and soon reached the copy slightly above him.
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"Got you!".
Using the jump's momentum, Soma spun twice in mid-air as he tensed his right leg before he brought it down toward the copy, who saw the incoming attack by crossing his hands. The ax kicks that clive downward clashed with the copy's crossed hands. With a resounding boom, it sent the copy toward the ground where Xiao Lian and Hina approached his side, and the tide of the battle seemed to shift.
The three of them realized that somehow, the copy didn't want to do anything to the girls, and it made him vulnerable in many aspects. So, the girls began to coordinate their attack and let the copy bring down his defense before Soma would deliver his powerful blows.
However, the copy was not to be underestimated. While facing an onslaught of three-way attack, the copy moved with precision, dodging, blocking, and countering Soma's attack, making the three parties of Soma marvel at his slight determination, especially Soma.
Even though the copy shows a remarkable feat by defending, the relentless attack from the three, the copy finally reached its limit. Soma, who noticed it, slightly tensed the muscle in his body to deliver his final attack.
"Xiao Lian locked him up".
Xiao Lian, who understood what Soma meant, began to generate a tremendous amount of water above her head. The moisture surrounding the place was being sucked into her place, and it created a considerable body of water ball before she threw it at the copy. Hina, who was also in the range, knitted her brows but managed to get away in time.
The water began to drown, and the copy drenched him along the way with the surrounding land.
"Be careful next time, silver-head!".
"...Sorry about that".
Hina protested, but Xiao Lian was focused on the copy as she began to stab her spear blade toward the puddles, and then she chanted her magic.
"Freeze".
The temperature began to drop to zero as the transparent puddles that drenched the area turned silver. The spreading was so fast that it turned the flat land into an ice place.
Soma, who saw the copy trapped in the sculpture of Ice, spread his lips as he accelerated further and focused his entire strength on this one blow. Xiao Lian and Hina also didn't want to miss the last attack as they approached the copy from each side. The three of them were so close to achieving their goal when.
"""?!""".
Soma, Hina, and Xiao Lian notice a slight twitch in the frozen body of the copy. A heavy pressure began to oppress the surrounding atmosphere, and they halted in their tracks. A crackling of a tiny black bolt began to travel along the surface of the frozen land, stunned the three parties.
Then, a crack began to appear in the sculpture before it shattered into dust as he let out a thundering roar that shook the atmosphere, stiffening the three bodies.
"Aaaah!".
Soma grits his teeth as he manages to lift his gaze slightly and sees what happened to the copy. His body was shrouded in black aura that was so dark it devoured the light itself. From his back emerged a black bat's wings stretched outward, revealing its majesty. A pair of goat horns that protruded from his side skull pointed forward, and a black tail that wrapped itself toward his waist.
His current appearance reminds Soma of the memories he had within his consciousness, where the same being residing in the depth of his heart threatened to take away his body, and now the same monster also appeared before him in the outside world. Unconsciously, Soma clenched his chest, for his heart started to throb uncontrollably.
"...Impossible?!".