281 Chapter 281: A Challenger Arrives!

Theodore was flung several meters back from the blow and he landed on the ground, unmoving, even as several girls shrieked in shock and a few guys jumped up in reflex. I quickly ran over to help him, and he groaned as he slowly sat up.

"What happened?" I demanded, glaring at Paul, the captain of Sexton Academy. "Why are you attacking him?"

"Huh? I didn't attack anybody!"

"Wrong guy," Theodore muttered and shook his head.

"Ho ho!" a huge guy with blond hair and a macho appearance strode up, his heavily muscles bulging under his yellow and black uniform. "You thought it was Paul, but it was me, Diego!"

Seriously? Now we were ripping off Jojo of all things?

"We were talking about the match…" Theodore grunted in pain as he raised his uninjured hand to gesture at the big holographic screen. "I said the Garrulous King would win, even though Diego claimed that he would lose. When the Garrulous King won, he felt humiliated and decided to take revenge by attacking me."

"…the what king?"

Seriously? Are we still doing that stupid Battle Frenzy thing? At least I wasn't pretending to be the Garrulous King by diving into some virtual OP system and fighting some prodigy and winning against all odds (in the middle of an exchange session, no less) or some bullshit.

"He's lying!" Diego snapped. "There's no such person as the Garrulous King or All Mouthy King! We were just watching the Rock and the Hard Place fighting against each other! I bet on the Hard Place, he bet on the Rock, and I lost. Then he demanded money even though we didn't bet any money! Of course I'll hit him!"

Theodore looked sheepish. "I thought betting meant placing money on whoever you bet on."

"Even so, you went too far," I told the guy named Diego with a frown. "Just tell Theodore you won't pay up. Why is there a need to hit him?"

Pearl was hurrying over and casting healing magic on Theodore. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the extent of his injuries.

"It's a simple fracture, nothing serious. I can heal it in no time."

"That's good, because we'll need him tomorrow." Harrison had also hurried over and was relieved to see that it wasn't serious. He then glared at Diego. "However, Richard is right. You went too far."

"Oh ho? What do you intend to do about it?"

"Don't do it!" Theodore warned us, gritting his teeth in pain. "That guy's ability is insane! I still don't quite understand how he did it, but his World amplifies the strength and power of his Soul Spirit! Soul Spirit is another type of Soul Beast, but instead of taking the form of a beast, it takes a more humanoid form! I don't think it has any sentience, so it's still somewhat connected to him spiritually and mentally."

"Yeah, that's pretty much how Soul Beasts work," I confirmed, since I was the master of so many Constellation spirits.

Diego grinned slyly when he heard that and he slowly raised his hand to point a finger at me.

"You're next, Richard!"

"…wait, what?" I gaped at him. "You're still ripping off Jojo?"

Another moan from Theodore caused me to clench my fists furiously, and I decided to roll with it for now.

"You bastard…" I growled, and then I began walking toward him, my mana rippling through my relatively short and skinny figure. My eyes narrowed in fury. "Diego!"

"Ho…" Diego raised both his hands dramatically. "You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming straight at me?"

He certainly had a penchant for stating the obvious.

"Even though your friend, Theodore, told you the secret of The World," Diego continued in an exaggerated manner. "Like a web novel author scrambling to finish writing a chapter right before his readers come online to check his story for any new chapters so that he can maintain his daily updates and therefore receive their votes and power stones?"

"I can't beat the crap out of you if I don't approach you," I pointed out dryly as I continued to calmly close the distance between us.

"Ho ho!" Diego chuckled evilly. "Then come as close as you like."

He then began moving, and the two of us approached each other right in the middle of the restaurant, while the other students cowered from the sheer fury or aggression that seemed to emanate from us.

I didn't even summon anything or yell anything, but Diego's ghostly specter suddenly materialized in front of me and kicked out. Fortunately, I managed to raise my leg to block the kick in time.

"!!"

The blow was so powerful that I actually withdrew a single step. The trousers leg of my uniform was ripped right open.

"You're too slow, too slow!" Diego crowed as he folded his arms. "The World is the ultimate Soul Spirit! Even if he doesn't stop time, his speed and power are infinitely more powerful than those of your Constellation spirits!"

"So it's the same kind of Soul Spirit as my Constellation spirits, huh?" I mused to myself. "Well, almost. Unlike my guys, your ghost doesn't have a lot of range, but he has tremendous power and is capable of precise movements."

Diego scoffed at me. "I wanted to test out a little to see how much more powerful the World is, compared to your Constellation spirits." He raised a hand as he stifled a chuckle. "Though…it seems that a test was hardly necessary."

"Test?" I snorted. "Is that what you call just poking me with a move that couldn't even injure me? Well, I guess you tore my uniform trousers, though."

"Why are you Jing Tian Academy students so stubborn about admitting defeat?" Diego growled with a scowl.

Then he scoffed and gestured candidly, a silly grin spreading across his macho face.

"Hmph. I suppose I should rise to your immature provocation and test you a bit more."

His ghost appeared and rushed toward me, getting ready to punch me. Unfortunately, I didn't have a ghost of mine to summon, so I just conjured a bunch of Corvus crows that flew at him. When the specter jumped back, a pack of Canis Minor pounced on it. While the ghost was distracted, one of the Canis Minor leaped up and bit at Diego, who knocked him away with a sweep of his arm. However, a fang grazed his cheek and drew blood, causing him to snarl.

Our spirits began hammering at each other, causing devastation in the restaurant. The ghost shielded himself from the countless crows that pecked mercilessly at his face, while several of my Canis Minor collided with him, knocking him over and sending them sprawled across a counter. The specter tried to throw them off, punching and rolling, and sending plates and glasses crashing onto the ground and shattering.

Tables were flipped and broken, and the customers in the restaurant – both students and adults – shrieked, screamed or yelped in surprise or dismay as they scattered, trying to get to safety as the spirits continued to wrestle and attack each other.

"Heh." Diego smirked as he placed a hand on his bleeding cheek. "Shall we compare the speed of our attacks?"

"Useless! Useless! Useless!" Diego's specter howled as he threw a barrage of punches at my pack of Canis Minor and flock of Corvus.

"Are you seriously ripping off Jojo here?!" I yelled as I ducked under one of the powerful fist from Diego's ghost. Diego himself wasn't even doing anything. He was just standing there with a cool-looking pose, but he didn't even lift a finger except to defend himself from whatever stray Canis Minor who leaped at him. Was he really a combat mage, or did he rely entirely on his The World to fight for him?

More glasses and tables broke under the conflict, sending fragments across the room. Getting irritated with how the duel was dragging on, I recalled all of my Constellation spirits. Corvus and Canis Minor all disappeared.

"Ho?" Diego chuckled triumphantly. "So you've finally given up? Are you finally admitting defeat? How admirable."

"Who says I'm admitting defeat? I was testing you, and I realized that your little ghost isn't worthy of fighting my Constellation spirits."

"Ho ho!" Diego shook his head in disbelief. "You're just saying that now because you want to save face and avoid a humiliating defeat at my hands, aren't you? I say, aren't you Jing Tian Academy students too stubborn? You should understand when you're beaten."

I actually laughed at that. "Would you like to try it out?"

"Hmph." Diego wore a sneer. "I suppose it's best to let our fists do the talking instead. Go, The World!"

"Uh, you're letting your ghost do the talking, not your fists…"

Unfortunately, even as I commented dryly, my voice was drowned out by Diego's ghost's mocking shouts.

"Useless! Useless! Useless! Useless!"

"Can someone shut that idiot up?" I grumbled. Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I placed a hand on Bai Ri. The moment Diego's phantom rushed toward me, his fists flying in a flurry at blinding speed. I almost couldn't follow his movements.

Then again, I didn't need to follow his movements at all.

Focusing entirely on my technique, I dropped to a crouch, my hand still on the pristine white hilt of Bai Ri. Taking a deep breath, I then drew and sheathed the white sword in a single breath. A crescent-shaped blast of destructive mana arced toward the flying ghost and cleaved him into two.

"Useless! Use…!"

With that single attack, the specter disintegrated and dissipated into nothingness.

"What?! How…?!" Diego's jaw dropped. I shrugged.

"Because…like your The World said, it's useless."

"Don't fuck with me!" Mana erupted from Diego's burly figure before coalescing into a terrifying aura that shrouded his body. He began striding toward me slowly but confidently, each of his steps burning a scorching crater into the restaurant floor. Cue that famous Jojo shot where Jotarou and Dio walked toward each other for a showdown.

"This is…Ba Qi! Armament Ba Qi!" I realized. Reflexively, I tightened my grip on Bai Ri while considering drawing Hei Yue as well. To defeat this guy, I might need to use all of the sword skills I had learned from Dad.

"Okay, that's enough!" Harrison shouted as he firmly interposed himself between us. Throwing out a hand on each side, he shoved Diego back by the chest, but he didn't have to touch me because I didn't move a single step. "This is neither the time nor the place! I mean, I enjoyed watching the two of you rip off and parody Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, but it's getting old now! If you really want to continue fighting, I suggest the two of you spar in a practice match tomorrow!"

"That's a good idea." I straightened up and removed my hands from my swords. "I'll be happy to fight anytime. I'll challenge you to a Pokémon…I mean, a practice match."

"NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"Are you seriously still trying to rip off Jojo?!" Harrison groaned. Diego grinned, but before he could answer, I cut in with a sigh.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh my God."

I finished my sentence by burying my face in my palm. I can't believe we were still trying to parody Jojo's Bizarre Adventures.

"Can you both be serious?!" Harrison snapped, his patience fraying. He turned on Diego. "What's the matter with you?! You're happy to fight in a restaurant, but you refuse to accept a challenge to a practice match?!"

"Hmph. Why should I?" Diego shrugged flippantly. "My goal was to test Richard out just a little. I have already achieved that goal. Therefore, there is no longer any need for us to fight. Not unless you still want to seek revenge for your poor friend over there."

"I did say I will beat the crap out of you," I reminded him evenly. He burst out laughing.

"Yes, you certainly did. But why should I go along with what you say? I'm not an idiot who would agree to getting beaten up by you."

"My, my." I shook my head disapprovingly. "I thought you strongly believed that you were much more powerful and stronger than me? What happened to all that confidence?"

Diego merely flicked his hand dismissively. "Does it matter? I don't need to actually beat you to be confident of beating you. I just don't want to waste my time on meaningless fights. I have a lot of more important things to deal with."

He then stalked off with a guffaw. "Besides, don't you have a practice match against the Hell Beasts team of Vermillion Academy tomorrow? Where are you going to find the time to battle against me?"

Crap. He was right. Seething, I could only watch as he stalked out of the restaurant with that annoying, snide laughter of his.