After Zeshion and I finished our sparring, it was now the girls' turn to exhibit their powers. With the entire space reinforced greatly by Goddess Zeta, there should be no problem even if they all fought at their top strength.
"Alright! Before that, let's set some rules!"
Goddess Zeta shouted before moving back with Ember.
"First, Blue will not move from the spot. If he does, then it's considered his loss."
Hearing this, Zeshion seemed to want to raise his voice in objection, but he quieted down in the end. He's a god tamer; after all, he should be able to handle the girls under the 7th stage without problems.
"Second, Blue can only defend and not attack. But if there's nobody left that's able to attack, it's considered his win."
She turned to look at each of their faces. Seeing that there were no objections, she continued.
"Lastly, Blue will be wearing these shackles."
"What?! No!"
Zeshion quickly raised his voice in objection, seeing the pair of handcuffs that Goddess Zeta took out of nowhere. It looked pretty well used, making me wonder if it was used as intended or in some sort of "play" with Zeshion.
Well, I've got nothing to say about others' businesses. Whatever its true usage was, I can only say I'm cool with it. For some reason, though, Igni was looking at the handcuffs with fierce emotions.
Don't tell me... She wants one like that too? Thinking of the two ends it could have, I'm scared of being the one getting cuffed. Imagining her getting restrained and unable to fight back makes me excited, though.
While I was lost in thought, Zeshion was convinced by Zeta in the end. Not only were his hands cuffed, but even his legs were cuffed. I'll just stay quiet about the fact that I saw flames burning behind Goddess Zeta's eyes.
"Alright, with this, you can all start the practice match."
"All?"
Fang tilted her head after hearing Goddess Zeta's words. She probably thought that they'd fight Zeshion one after another, but that way, they wouldn't even have a chance of winning. Even if they do gang up against him, their chances of winning are basically zero.
'Well, experience is experience, no matter how they earned it.'
A defeat should still give them the baseline to gauge the power of demigods. Igni, who knew just how powerful a demigod-level attack was, could only feel relieved that Zeshion was forbidden from attacking.
Even if Zeshion could only defend, just one of his basic barriers would be essentially indestructible for the girls. This means Zeshion could essentially drag the match to the end by just standing still and doing nothing.
But based on his attitude, he'll definitely add restraints to himself, just like during his spar with me.
"Alright, come to me anytime you're ready!"
Zeshion sneered while he sat down cross-legged. There's no difference if he's standing or sitting after all, since he's forbidden to move from his spot. Since he saw that nobody was moving, he even taunted them by wiggling his finger, as if calling to them, "Come on."
"Grr!"
Fang was the first to move.
In an instant, she was already behind Zeshion, her afterimage left behind in her previous spot. Zeshion didn't even need to turn back, as Fang's incoming claw attack simply bounced off an invisible barrier that was set between them.
"Good decision, launching a surprise attack. But diving directly behind your enemy is too foolish to even call a proper surprise."
As he declared, Fang noticed belatedly that her foot was stuck on the ground. Looking closer, a layer of rocks seemed to have come alive and grabbed her legs, preventing her from moving away.
"Then what about this!"
Fina, Yorm, and Judy simultaneously released a purplish-black fog. It rapidly spread, covering everyone's view. Zeshion's eyebrows twitched slightly before he clapped his hands. As he did, a bright light fell over the entire field, purifying the poisonous fog that they released.
"Hey, that'll lead to friendly fire. Your ally is still stuck here, after all."
Zeshion sighed, looking at Fina with slight disappointment. However, Fina just smiled and replied.
"I know. We were just distracting you."
"...!"
Before he noticed it, Fang was gone from behind him. Rather, she was now to his right side, claws covered in a dark and sharp-looking amalgamation of darkness. Furthermore, on the other side, Igni was already halfway through swinging her sword.
"Wonderful combination!"
He laughed maniacally. Since he was limiting his barrier's surface area to only cover one side to at least give the girls some chance, he needed to catch their attacks with his hands.
Fang's sharp claws and even Igni's burning sword were stopped in place, held by his hands in a firm grip. It was to the point that the two couldn't pull their hands away.
"What now? Come and show me more!"
With his hands busy holding off the two and his barrier set up behind him, he was wide open to attacks from the front. Realizing this, Judy and Yorm quickly rushed forward.
Judy's body started blurring before becoming hundreds of smaller spiders skittering across the ground. Yorm, on the other hand, rushed onward with her forehead shining in a bright white light.
Judy's illusions distracted Zeshion's view, making it harder for him to lock onto Yorm, who was heading in for the actual attack. The snake vanished from sight, hidden behind an invisibility skill.
"...!"
Zeshion squinted his eyes, trying to locate the true position of the invisible snake. Then, as if finally realizing it, he looked up.
"So you're going from there?!"
Zeshion showed a fierce smile, excited to see how their teamwork seemed to mesh well. It was so good that he almost felt envious of them.
"But still too weak!"
He literally just blew air from his lungs, sending Yorm flying away like a leaf caught in a small dust devil. Judy, who was almost included in the range of his blow, clung to the ground quickly, avoiding being sent flying far away.
"Is that it?"
Zeshion pushed the two away from him and sneered at them in fake ridicule.
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