110 Chapter 109: Shadow Dragon (2/2)
With such overwhelming strength, I can't win in a head-on duel. I've no choice but to rely on my superior speed and footwork!
Perspiration dripping down my face, I ducked under another slash from Li Chun Long before thrusting a riposte forward. Li Chun Long rammed his elbow down to deflect my blade and slammed my head with the pommel of his sword. Fortunately, I had sensed his intentions somewhat and I was able to yank my head away in time.
”…kuh!”
Despite my evasive maneuver, the pommel of Li Chun Long's Sacred Dragon Sword grazed my temple, causing blood to spray. I felt my head rock backward from the blow, my mind suddenly going blank from a haze of pain, and I staggered back.
”It's over!”
Crowing triumphantly, Li Chun Long slashed me with his sword. I crossed both of my swords and parried his blow, grinding my teeth as my knees buckled from the immense force. With a determined yell, I deflected Li Chun Long's strike and counterattacked with all of my might.
”Heh! You fell for it!”
Li Chun Long smirked as he struck me away. I staggered back, but managed to react just in time to block another of his strike.
”Did you think you can win a contest of strength with me? Hah! Naïve! You're mistaken if you think my power is only of this level!”
”!!!”
The aura of fiery qi surrounding Li Chun Long suddenly blazed more fiercely and brighter than before, and his strength increased several folds.
”Solar Celestial Shock Formula, level 3!”
Do you honestly think I care about all these stupid levels? I thought, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Thankfully, I was forced to pay more attention to Li Chun Long's current attacks, so I couldn't muster a retort.
The sudden surge in his fiery strength almost caught me off guard. Li Chun Long broke through my defenses, knocking both of my swords out of my grip. While I was reeling from the sudden strike, my opponent seized the advantage and struck with his palm.
”!”
”Dragon Palm!”
With his free hand, Li Chun Long slammed his palm into me. Red and green fire exploded, searing through my body and throwing me back. I was sent hurtling across the arena, blood spewing from my mouth.
”Ugh…!”
Crashing onto the ground and rolling helplessly to a stop, I could only raise my head and watch as Li Chun Long dashed toward me. With a triumphant yell, he swung his sword down to cleave me in half.
”It's over!”
BOOM!
His sword eviscerated a huge chunk of the coliseum, his fiery blade carving a crater into the reinforced concrete and scorching it black. However, his grin vanished when he saw no sign of his intended victim.
”!”
Glancing around, he let out a bellow.
”Where the hell are you?!”
I replied with a kick, my foot grazing the back of his head when his reflexes saved him again. Snarling, he spun around with a swing of his sword, but I had already ducked down under his vicious blade. Twisting my body in midair, I delivered another Shadow Kick, this time to his gut. Fortunately, my second kick landed true.
”Kuh?!”
This time, it was Li Chun Long who was sent hurtling across the coliseum before he slammed into the wall behind him, cracking the concrete. He swore as he slid down the crumbling wall, raising his sword vengefully.
”You're still able to move?!”
”A little,” I confessed as I swayed unsteadily and winced. Clutching my chest, I coughed out a wad of blood. Damn, but that blow did quite a significant amount of internal damage. My lungs and stomach still felt as if they were rattling against my bones. Not to mention the various other injuries that I had accumulated over the battle.
Even so, Li Chun Long was still able to stand despite taking my kick. Well, I didn't expect him to go down from just that.
”Surely even you can see the differences between our strengths,” Li Chun Long sneered as he pointed his sword at me. I shrugged.
”Yeah, but superior strength is not necessarily the decisive factor in winning a fight,” I replied as I bent down to retrieve my two swords.
Li Chun Long sneered. ”Spoken like a sore loser.”
”I haven't lost yet,” I reminded him. ”If you want to win, you're gonna have to earn it, not demand it. You're not entitled to a free win. Besides…” I grinned. ”I might surprise you and win.”
”Fucker!”
The green dragon reared up behind Li Chun Long again as he executed level 3 of his Solar Celestial Shock Formula. I watched him quietly, and then beckoned for him to attack. Even though Li Chun Long stayed still, the giant green dragon above him writhed and roared soundlessly, responding to its owner's will.
Li Chun Long's lip curled.
”I'll show you the difference between our strengths,” he declared before raising his Sacred Dragon Sword and getting ready to thrust it forward.
”I'm sure you've demonstrated that plenty of times throughout the match,” I assured him cynically. Then I smiled. ”And I'll be demonstrating to you and everyone how it's possible for someone weaker to win against a stronger opponent.”
Then I fell silent. Whatever came next, I was going to prove it with my actions, not words.
”Loser who doesn't know his place!”
Bellowing, Li Chun Long surged forward and stabbed me with his sword, his blazing blade smashing through both my swords bfore sinking deeply into my chest and unleashing a scorching wave of fiery yang qi that incinerated my body.
”Hah! So much for demonstrating that you can win! You deserved it! If only you've wisely chosen to surrender, you wouldn't have to die!”
I merely smiled at him, then my form rippled and disappeared right before his astonished eyes. Startled by the unexpected outcome, Li Chun Long stumbled back and pulled his sword out from the fading figure.
”What the hell is this?!”
I merely replied with a counterattack from behind. Li Chun Long, sensing it with his incredible battle sense, dodged on reflex and retaliated with a riposte that tore through me…only for my figure to shimmer and disappear again.
”What the fuck is this?!”
Howling, Li Chun Long allowed his fiery qi to surge and detonate, blowing up the area around him. Waving his sword around frantically, he slashed everywhere.
What a complete waste of qi and energy. Well, it was his qi and energy, so I wasn't going to complain. Especially since this was advantageous to me.
”Come out, you coward!”
”Naw,” I taunted. ”I'm weaker, remember? I can't beat you in a straight-up fight. Of course we who are weak have our own way of fighting…and winning.”
”Coward!”
”Hey,” I snapped. ”We're not obligated to fight your way. If everything can be resolved by brute force and superior strength, then there's no need for us to learn martial arts. We learn martial arts because combat is a lot more complex than the simple 'the stronger martial artist wins.' Isn't that right, successor of the Green Dragon Sect?”
”Shut up and come out and face me!”
Screaming, Li Chun Long swung his Sacred Dragon Sword and unleashed another destructive blast of yang qi that rippled across the coliseum and destroyed the ground. Several of my shadows jumped away, not stupid enough to stand still and get obliterated by his strikes. As if realizing it for the first time, Li Chun Long paused and stared at me.
No, at us.
”You…how…?!”
”What?” One of us asked. It wasn't as if I didn't understand his confusion, though. I might be stunned speechless if I saw that my opponent had multiplied himself.
As it was, there were about twelve of me standing around in different positions, adopting various stances or indulging in different postures. His mouth gaping open like a goldfish, Li Chun Long stared from one of me to another of me, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
”What is this demonic trickery?! This is definitely some sort of demonic martial arts! An illusion technique!”
”You're not wrong. It is an illusion technique. But it's an orthodox sect technique, unless you're suddenly the authority who can decide whether Shadow Steps is a demonic martial art.”
I shrugged nonchalantly. Or at least several of me did. Li Chu Long blanched and shook uncontrollably.
With a frustrated bellow, he swung his sword and unleashed another fiery wave of destruction. All my shadows moved quickly, using footwork techniques to evade. Unfortunately, one of us got caught in the blast and evaporated, the qi that made up his body returning to nothingness.
But there was still eleven of us left.
”What the hell is this?! Shadow Steps? I don't remember Shadow Steps having such a move?! No, it's…a footwork technique?!”
”Correct. It's Ying.” Several of us clapped our hands gleefully. ”But what do you think will happen if we combine Ying of Shadow Steps and Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship?”
A swarm of dragons appeared all around us. However, instead of being an azure dragon, all the dragons this time were black.
”T…this isn't Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship!” Li Chun Long spluttered, as even his green dragon shrank back at the multiple black dragons.
”Correct. Iike I said, this is the result of me combining Heavenly Draconic Meteor Swordsmanship with Shadow Steps. Hmm...I guess I'll call it Shadow Dragon Meteor Strike Formula or something like that?”
”Y…you…!”
Li Chun Long attacked recklessly, but again, he only succeeded in destroying one of the shadows, and accordingly one of the black dragons vanished along with the crumbling form of me.
But there were still ten of me left.
”Huff…huf…huff…”
Li Chun Long felt perspiration drip off his face. Even though he was clearly superior to me in strength, all of that greater power was of no use if he couldn't find the right target to hit. As it was, he was chasing…uh, shadows.
”Well, it's my turn to attack.”
Smiling, I took a step forward. All ten of me, anyway. And our corresponding black dragons followed, striking an intimidating pose as they challenged the flickering green dragon that shrouded the trembling Li Chun Long.
”I wonder, will you be able to tell which of us is real, and which of us are fake?”
Melding reality with illusion, all ten of my shadows rippled and vanished, attacking Li Chun Long from multiple directions. For an instant, it seemed that there were more than ten of us – no, there were almost a hundred of my shadows appearing, disappearing and reappearing, slashing and cutting Li Chun Long from many different directions with blows that packed the power of a meteor.
Even with his superhuman reflexes, Li Chun Long couldn't keep up with so many attacks from so many directions. Blood spurted as he spun about, his body reeling and jerking from countless meteoric strikes.
”Guh…”
Falling to his knees, Li Chun Long's eyes rolled up in his sockets and he dropped his Sacred Dragon Sword.
”So…”
I stood in front of him, my shadows all fading and merging with me until there was only one of me left. With a smile, I laid my right sword on his shoulder.
”In the end, were you able to tell which one was the real me?”