Chapter 1444 (2/2)

At least in terms of size, his image is monstrous...

Isabella Cortez moved with just as much explosiveness, not to be outdone by her opponent. Her image was one of immense weight, a prowling beast that launched itself forward with deadly intent. They met in the middle of the arena and Isabella whipped her shield horizontally toward Li’s temple. The man practically vanished, ducking and slashing at Isabella’s legs.

Dragon and beast brushed past each other, just out of reach. The two images sizzled as both of their users tried to dominate the surrounding area with their own influence.

Isabella caught the slash with her shield, but the slightly large piece of metal blocked her sight so she missed Li’s powerful leg that smashed into her shield and send her stumbling backward. That caught Mrs. Hamilton’s attention; he had enough raw force to overpower the prodigiously strong Isabella.

And then, with trails of wind swirling about him, Li twisted and shot toward Pan.

Pan’s hands blurred into several strange seals and then he split into seven clones of himself, each raising their daggers and rushing toward Li with significant bloodlust. The wind dragon’s influence waned as it so quickly faced off against another image.

At least that was true for the area by the stage. The breeze teasing Mrs. Hamilton’s hair intensified.

Li planted his foot and shot to the left so that he was no longer facing several of the clones at once; they got in each other’s way after he repositioned himself. Then he continued his charge, utilizing his longer sword to bisect the clones with only a single deadly slash each.

Donny shook his head at the rapid death of the clones. “Pan still doesn’t have enough Control to fight effectively with that many bodes.” Mrs. Hamilton nodded in agreement.

However, after Li had dispersed five of the clones into puffs of smoke that were quickly whisked away by his aura of wind, Pan was able to manage two clones quite efficiently. They worked with the implicit understanding that came from being controlled by a single mind. The split Pan avoided Huang Li’s attacks and inflicted a shallow cut on his shoulder.

With Isabella recovering and rushing toward his back, Huang Li’s expression turned dark. “Dragon’s… Dance!”

The wind in the surrounding area intensified. Even the clouds above the arena trembled. Huang Li’s sword began to glow. He feinted forward and Pan bit hard, both clones raising their daggers and lowering their stances to defend. But Huang Li’s steps were suddenly so light he seemed to be a man-made of folded paper. He was less a human being than a leaf drifting on the wind. With a single step, he changed direction and rushed to Isabella Cortez. Without missing a beat, he unleashed a powerful downward slash.

But with her feet on the ground, Isabella rapidly drew strength from the stones beneath her feet. The beast bristled with indignation. Her shields whipped out with enough force to shatter Huang Li’s image and sword in the same strike.

Yet Li’s Agility while under the influence of this most recent Skill left Mrs. Hamilton incredulous. His slash seemed to slide sideways through the air and turned into a thrust. This was also dealt with by the decisive action of Isabella, but Li spun away and attacked from another angle. They were only a small distance apart, but they didn’t touch at all. It looked like they were dancing together.

After hesitating for a second, Pan split up his two clones. One carefully approaching Huang Li from his blind spot, while the other rushed toward Huang Shou with his daggers raised.

Mrs. Hamilton sighed at the action below. “Pan gets too hotheaded while fighting still.”

“Better to finish off the one foe in front of them before dragging a second into the mix,” Donny agreed.

Huang Shou slowly raised his head as Pan rushed toward him. Isabella raised her shields and brought them crashing down, making the stage shudder. Huang Li floated backward, skimming across the stage like a dragonfly over a pond. His quick moves kept Pan’s clone from getting in a good spot for an ambush. But from Huang Li’s deep breathing, it was clear that he was reaching the end of his Stamina.

But he did not hesitate, despite his dwindling resources; Huang Li lowered his shoulders and charged back toward Isabella. Swimming amongst the clouds above, the dragon roared. She smiled and raised her shields, her eyes blazing with fighting spirit. As the two once more resumed their lightning-fast attacks and dodges, Pan Cortez arrived before Huang Shou.

“I apologize for this, sir,” Pan said quickly, before unleashing a cross slash at the sitting old man.

Huang Shou shook his head. “This old man certainly isn’t as young as he used to be… but it is too much to ask me to stay still in this case. Boy, Sleep.”

“Wha-” Pan’s attack faltered as his eyelids flickered for a half-second. But he quickly shook off the foreign influence just in time for his eyes to widen as Huang Shou smashed his temple with the cane in his hand. Pan fell to the ground, boneless.

“Pan!” Isabella bellowed. Her attacks became even more furious toward Huang Li. But without the assistance of Pan’s bloodlust, the beast was quickly losing ground to the image of the true dragon floating in the sky.

“He probably wouldn’t have interfered at all if he hadn’t been attacked, no matter how much he wanted to. His pride wouldn’t let him.” Mrs. Hamilton took another sip of her tea. “Pan played right into their hands.

Huang Shou sat back down, not even bothering to look at the unconscious body sprawled only a meter away from him. “I trust you can handle the rest?”

Huang Li’s shoulder rose and fell. He wiped his hand across his lips as he considered the growling Isabella. “...yes grandfather.”