With the fox bleeding all over from the rampage of energy happening inside its body, I had one less enemy to pay attention to during battle. Ying Yue gritted her teeth in anger and rushed toward me once more.
I smiled at her actions, as they were just as I had predicted in my head countless times. Just as I thought, she still used herself as a distraction as the two others tried to catch me. Without the fox, only Ying Yue could launch an attack from the other team.
"And with only one attacker, it's easy to dodge attacks!"
Ying Yue was visibly nervous. Not a single one of her strikes landed, even though she was fiercely launching one attack after another. Her expression turned dark as she sent more and more attacks at an even faster pace, trying to corner me.
However, as long as there's a pre-movement involved with her attack, no matter how little, I could predict it and avoid it before it was even launched.
After one more attack, Ying Yue looked surprised. Then, as if she realized something, she grinned madly.
"So that's your weakness!"
As she shouted, the snake sent a wave of black clouds toward my face. It wasn't something that I should be wary of, but I noticed that I got too careless.
The cloud sealed my vision. Even though it was an illusion, it could still limit what I could see. Beyond the black clouds, I could see a lump of energy rushing toward me again. I know that it was Ying Yue, but now that her body wasn't visible to me, I can't predict what attack was coming.
I tried backing away, but the cloud covering my eyes was moving along with me. It didn't budge from my sight, no matter what I did. It was my first time fighting against an illusionist, so I didn't expect that it could also be used in this way. I'm in a great pinch right now. If I don't do something, then sooner or later, Ying Yue will land a blow on me with her fiery fist and potentially end my life.
As a last resort, I tried [Shadow Movement]. I dove into my own shadow and moved around. However, as expected, the cloud blocking my view was still there. This was probably not physical, but something on a mental level. The snake tampered with my brain, literally.
I sighed.
With no sight, I can't carry out my original plan of engaging Ying Yue in a short-range battle. I could try to do it, but the risk of touching the flaming fist was too high to ignore.
"There's no other choice... I'll need to use that."
I quickly gathered my wits and calmed myself down. Then, after a few seconds, I popped out of the unicorn's shadow, surprising it.
"...!"
Right behind me, as if reading my plan ahead of time, Ying Yue was already halfway through swinging her fist. The fiery blaze was searing my back, almost sending me into a panic.
I tapped my feet once, using [Shadow Skip] together with a skill I thought I couldn't use before. I appeared a few meters away, while in my place, another me stood and crossed his arms to block.
"[Shadow Skip] plus [Cloning], [Shadow Clone] technique!"
I shouted as I boasted about the name of the skill I discovered.
[Cloning] needs a core component before the user can create a clone. I lacked this before, so I thought that it was something that I couldn't use forever... But Fang's [Shadow Skip] leaves a bulk of Shadow and Dark energies behind for an instant.
Using the discarded energy as the core for a clone was possible, and I succeeded in combining the two skills. For some reason, though, I can't control my clones. They all move with their own thoughts, making it hard to control.
Still, with numbers, nothing is impossible.
I spammed the [Shadow Clone] skill as I jumped around. Each clone takes around 5% of my total energy, making it quite a taxing skill to use. After making ten clones, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and smiled.
Just as the first clone, the one that got hit by Ying Yue's burning fist, got turned to ashes and melted into black goo, I and the nine remaining clones were rushing towards the main body of the Illusory Serpent Phantom.
The snake didn't think that I could see it and panicked as it tried to shuffle away, but it was too late. A clone of mine kicked another clone to boost it forward. That clone used its index and middle fingers together and tapped the forehead of the snake.
A moment of stillness.
Then, the snake started bleeding from the eyes as it flailed around in pain. The clone got hit by the tail and was turned into a black goo similar to the first one.
I was left with eight clones, but with the snake unable to maintain its control, the cloud in my vision completely disappeared.
Now, with this, the battle should return to its original track.
The eight clones did something completely outside my expectations, though. They all simultaneously used Lifeblood!
All of them were covered in black sigils all over their bodies. Their eyes released a golden glow as sparks flew all around them. Each of them posed as if they were about to draw an imaginary sword, making me panic even further. They were even planning to use the other Forbidden skill, Echoing Thunderclaps!
'At this rate, my clones would end up killing Ying Yue!'
Honestly, I don't care whether she dies or not... But I fear retaliation from the Luo family in that case. Although it was a fair duel, there's no rule forbidding one from launching an attack on the other after the fact.
I peeked at Vermeil flying about.
If we went to war with the Luo, then she's the only one that I fear. Even if the entirety of the Seimei ganged up on her, we would still get wiped out in an instant.
I could use my gun to injure her, but that was if she would allow me to even aim or hit her. Vermeil was known for two things: her speed and her wide-range damage-dealing skills. She was known by the second name "Destroyer," which was so far off from her usual idol-like atmosphere.
So killing Ying Yue is the worst choice right now.
I moved forward, kicking the ground. I activated Lifeblood at a lower rate, limiting the backlash to something that could be healed with a good enough potion.
I then slashed at the necks of all the clones, eliminating them in a single, swift motion.
Once again, Ying Yue couldn't believe her eyes. I just killed my own backups, after all.
With the clones turning into black goo and wasting half of my total energy, the fight became a 2-on-1. And with Lifeblood activated, an imaginary countdown started for me.
I need to end the battle fast before Lifeblood eats up too much of my lifespan.
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