"We're just starting!"
Fang roared as she dashed forward. This time, instead of directly attacking, she used her own body-strengthening skill. However, it has the small side effect of lessening her rationality. It was a skill called [Berserk] that she learned at an earlier age but almost never used.
"Grrrrr!"
But thankfully, after mastering the skill, she could finally maintain rational thoughts even with it activated.
After she used [Berserk], she also used [Shadow Clone] and made two dozen copies of herself. Zeshion whistled, surprised at the number of clones she used.
"But numbers are just numbers; it doesn't even matter if they're too weak."
Zeshion snapped his finger, sending a powerful sound wave around him. As the sound passed through the clones, they quickly dissipated like smoke and vanished.
"What...?!"
Fang was surprised after seeing the skill she worked hard to grasp get neutralized just like that. However, she still continued forward with unchanged intensity, wielding two darkness-clad claws and aiming for Zeshion's neck.
"..."
Zeshion pondered for a bit before dividing his barrier into four smaller pieces. Then, he used two to guard his left side, where Fang was approaching, while the other was on his right side, where Igni was trying to sneak attack.
Igni, similar to Fang, activated her body-strengthening skills. All of it gave her enough boost to claim that her strength more than doubled. Each step she took melted the ground, making Zeshion sweat profusely from the intense heat she was releasing.
"It's good for intimidation and stuff, but you should learn to retract your energy when trying to surprise an attacker!"
Before Igni could even approach, the two parts of Zeshion's barrier, semi-invisible, rushed forward and pushed her back. The barrier was so powerful that Igni couldn't even stop herself from moving backward, leaving two steak marks across the ground.
"Haaargh!"
Fang, taking advantage of Zeshion's focus on Igni, quickly sent two swipes at his neck. However, the presence of the other half of his barrier made it so Fang's attack couldn't even connect.
"Hahaha, try harder... Oh?"
Suddenly, while laughing, Zeshion felt his vision falter. It was like he was dizzy, and his body felt a little hot.
"No way..."
Realizing what it was, Zeshion quickly waved his hand, sending a powerful wave of pressure to push back the air around him. As he did, the pushed-back air, which got condensed, turned a little pinkish in color.
Fina actually mixed her [Bewitching Fog] with [Poison Fog] at the start. However, instead of moving it rapidly toward him, she chose stealth over speed. In the end, she managed to subvert his attention and make the fog take effect on him.
"But too bad, I can detoxify myself."
Zeshion sneered before trying to place his hand on his chest. At that instant, Fina shouted "STOP!" at the top of her lungs. At that instant, for almost a few milliseconds, Zeshion was forced to halt his movements.
"Die!"
Taking advantage of this opening, Fang quickly slashed four times and even sent two kicks toward Zeshion. All of the attacks hit him squarely! However, an instant later, Fang was sent flying backward by the revived barriers.
"..."
Zeshion looked at his body. The chest part of his clothes had two claw marks at the front and two at the sides. He touched the back of his head, hit by Fang's kicks, dusting it off.
"Good one."
He praised everyone with a smile.
"However, I have yet to move from my position, so I still haven't lost."
Damn... He and his unwillingness to admit defeat...
However, the girls seemed not to be perturbed by this. Even though that may have been the first and last chance they had at winning, they just looked ahead with serious expressions.
"Igni!"
Fina shouted. Igni quickly nodded her head, as if knowing what to do before she even spoke. Igni blew fire around Zeshion, creating a blazing hell in his surroundings.
Fang also moved, covering him in a barrier made of darkness and limiting all of his senses.
Yorm did the same, overlaying another barrier to create illusory attacks every now and then. And finally, Judy created a large cocoon out of spider silk to encase the entire space around Zeshion.
Fina rushed to the cocoon's side, placing her hand over it. Then, with all her strength, she used [Bewitching Fog] and made it pass through the gaps of the cocoon.
"..."
After that, silence ensued. One second, two, five. Time ticked down without any movements from the cocoon.
"...!"
However, to me, who can see the energy inside the cocoon, I realized that Zeshion was using their attacks to his advantage.
"Everyone, dod-!"
Before my voice could reach the girls, the cocoon exploded. It sent a powerful shockwave that passed all over the place. It shouldn't have been harmful, but with Zeshion's handiwork, the explosion made everyone keel over and faint.
"... Damn... Too late."
In just an instant, everyone became incapacitated.
Zeshion smiled and, with a victorious cheer, muttered, "I win."
---
In the end, Zeshion was still scolded by Goddess Zeta for "overdoing" the sparring match. However, since his last action wasn't really an attack but just the aftermath of trying to defend himself, he got pardoned.
The girls only woke up a few hours later, just in time for lunch. After everyone ate their fill, with God Zeshion and Goddess Zeta eating together with us, the afternoon sparring started and ended.
This time, since Zeshion wasn't tied up like before and was allowed a limited number of offensive skills, it didn't even take him a minute to incapacitate everyone. Of course, it was also he who healed their injuries after the match.
The first day ended with two losses, but the girls seemed fired up for the next day. Instead of sleeping early, they even stayed up late, formulating a plan to defeat Zeshion.
Zeshion and Goddess Zeta stayed in the same room. Of course, I have no idea what they were doing there. They could either be sleeping peacefully or working up some sweat for the night.
Honestly, only when I see them tomorrow morning will I know the answer.
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