Chapter 305: Battle For Dignity

"Sir, don't you think that's going too far!?" Lisvern suddenly blurted, which only led to a slight chuckle from the professor's end. 

"Going too far? Isn't this what you wanted? You wanted to prove him as a fraud and get him expelled, I thought I was doing you a favour since you seemed so confident. And, if you failed, that only makes you worse than a hypocrite and a fraud meaning you should get expelled. Isn't that only fair?"

*tch* 

The sweat on Lisvern's forehead became visible as he looked at the ground, a smile suddenly appearing as he lifted his face.

"Fine! You are absolutely right professor! I agree to these terms! If I can't beat someone like him, then I deserve expulsion!" 

The crowd was rather stunned, yet a part of them had a look of approval as they cheered him on. 

'Wa-wa-wa-what!?' Moby's mind was malfunctioning taking all of this in. Instinctively, he glanced over at the professor to voice his disapproval, but he was only met with a smile staring directly into his eyes.

'H-huh…' His confusion began to slightly settle, he took it as a message, and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. 

"Fine, let's do this!" Moby finally spoke, the mockery in the crowd more than evident. 

*Clap*

"Good to hear! Seems like both combatants are ready! To make this as fair as possible, you will be using the standard weapons and armour given by the school! No killing is allowed, the match ends when I say so! Understood!"

"Yes sir!" They adamantly replied. 

"Excellent! The rest of the class and I will be watching you both from the stands above! Take your positions and only start when I count down,"

"Yes sir!" Their voice rang once more. 

That was when Zave once again smiled in Moby's direction before turning around, the entire class following in his footsteps. Neatly and quietly, they sat next to each other in rows, most keeping their distance as they stared down at the two ready combatants below, Hikari's hands on her heart, her gaze firm yet shaky at the same time. 

The only man standing was the professor, his hands up, one leg place on the edges of the stands. 

Or, at least he was at first. 

"KANEE!! DON'T YOU DARE LOSE BEFORE I GET THE CHANCE TO BEAT YOUR ASS! YOU GOT THATTTT!?" He scream was heard from the stands, and when Moby looked over it was of course exactly who he expected. 

"Don't worry about it! Just sit down and enjoy the show!" He waved off his cheers like they were nothing, making him sit back down with his arms crossed as he mumbled in an inaudiblevoice. 

"Show me what you and the blissful demon style are capable of… Kane…"

"Are you two ready!?"

"YES SIR!" They both hovered their hands over the hilts of their weapons, standing on completely opposite sides of the Arena. 

"Okay!"

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

"START!"

At once, they unsheathed their blades, an explosion erupting from both sides as they did not hesitate to enter into their spirit mode. 

Moby's was a scaly black knight, there seemed to be no beast or spirit attached to it while the same could not be said for his pink-haired opponent. 

An aura of pink mana enshrouded Lisvern's entire body like spiked body armour, animalistic claws on his hands. But, what stood out the most was his hair that had the highest concentration of mana, spiked from every edge, now nearly hitting the floor as he stared at his opponent with his glowing eyes. 

To anyone looking, it was clear what spirit he possessed, it was that of a porcupine or possibly a hedgehog.

Everyone's attention was fixated on Lisvern's speech and display of power and turned a sort of a blind eye towards Moby, but not Artorias, whose gaze had not shifted once from Moby's side. 

There, he saw him with one hand behind his back, waving one of his hands at near unseeable speeds like he was fidgeting with air or practicing gang signs for some reason.

"Intresting…" His eyes grew keener as he placed his right hand on his chin.

"YOU SEE THIS BOY!? This is what a true spirit mode looks like! And now I'll show you what it feels like!" Lisvern roared, placing his 2 hands on the ground like a quadruped ready to pounce. But, instead of moving, the spikes on his hair extended, forming tiny mana needles, as he shouted with a smile. 

"TAKE THIS!" There, a barrage of what seemed like tiny mana needles shot up high in the air and fell down like compact rain all aimed directly above. Yet, the man who was ready to be drenched in the downpour did not react aggressively, but simply lifted his hands and with one simple swipe of dark purple energy, wiped out every single one of the incoming attacks.

"Impressive! Very impressive indeed! But how will you fare against this!" He shot out another barrage, and just like before, Moby swiped his hands up to destroy them. However, unlike last time, the rain did not stop… It only intensified, more and more needles fell and Moby had to suffer the consequences, as he got hit and suffered injuries, albite minor cuts as he continued to dodge the assault. 

"Dance! Yeah! That's it! I'll make you into my pin cushion! I'm not running out anytime soon so enjoy yourself while you still can!" Lisvern continued to mock, yet Moby remained silent in his face and the cheering crowd, simply looking up with glowing dark purple eyes. 

Now, he was able to much better dodge the needles that he at times destroyed with his ability and other times deflected with his blade. It was clear to anyone that he was on the losing end, there was only so much room to dodge with so many needles after all. 

To anyone, it was clear if Moby had to win, he needed to close the distance, which was much easier said than done considering the size of the arena.

Things looked dire, yet Moby could not stop smiling, like it was all just fun and games. 

Soon after, out of his body emerged black and purple energy-like smoke, formed in the figures of his appearance, touching each one of them in the back as he continued to dodge the oncoming assaults.

There were a dozen clones, no, possibly even more as it was hard to tell from some of them getting destroyed from the source. 

The clones were rather quick and agile, quite hard to hit just like the original, yet lacking all of the firepower so they did eventually fall, but that did not at all discourage Moby.

"HAHAHAHA! What are you smiling at!? Have you gone mad? Have you already accepted your inevitable defeat or what?"

It was clear that they were some sort of gimmick or illusion to spread the firing of arrows and posed no actual threat.

Like before, Moby stayed silent, his smile, more like the smiles on all the clones growing wider as they continued dodging, inching ever so closer to Lisvern in the far distance. 

In an attempt to confuse his opponent, he and his clones began switching spots repeatedly, almost like blurs or flashes through the rain. Indeed, it did confuse various people in the crowd yet his opponent seemed completely unphased, still focusing solely on one of the Mobys.

"Are you serious!? Do you think this will confuse me? Who the hell do you think I am!?" The barrage on that one Moby grew crueller and harsher, and much less so on all the clones that were almost ignored, and allowed to continue inching ever closer towards Lisvern. 

And, eventually, one of the clones managed to reach him and went for a strike to the chest with his deadly katana. Yet, even still, Lisvern did not react at all as he did not stop the barrage of never-ending needle rain focused on the one Moby lacking in the far back.

And, just like he expected, the Moby's sword that attacked him simply went through him like it was nothing. And, it could not help but make him laugh.

Soon after, four more Moby's joined the assault on his body, and just like before, nothing happened, which even further increased his amusement. 

Indeed, it was a hilarious site to see, five clones endlessly attacking one man, their swords going through him as he had no care in the world.

"PPFFFF! Please! Just wipe that smile off your face already, you yawning and smiling at a time like this!? It seems like you both have no brain, no power, and have gone mad! How are you so delusional!? It's clear that you're the real one! You're the only one taking actual wounds! All your clones would get one-shotted by one needle!" He took a moment to glance at the final remaining clone ready to join the others as it thrust its blade towards his chest, and with a smile, he decided to shoot it with a single needle to prove a point. "SEE-e…-e … W-what… How did you…" 

"So... You were saying?"