Chapter 295 - 289 : Beheaded 1

Feeling the imposing momentum from the copy rising steadily, Sato looked sullen as he faced the individual before him.

In just one move, the difference between them had been revealed and Sato was on the losing side of the battle. He never expected the copy to be this strong. While it wasn't as powerful as Atrit, it managed to suppress him despite the two of them having the exact same number of attribute points.

"What's wrong? Are you scared? Don't tell me you want to give up so soon?" The copy said with a somewhat disappointed tone. However, anyone with a brain would realise that it was mocking Sato.

The very next second, the clone dashed towards Sato while brandishing its sword at him.

"Come on. Give me a better show than this. Fight! Fight! Fight! Hahaha!"

Sato was at the edge of the arena and if he were to clash once more with the doppelganger, he would be forced out of the arena. Also, if he remained defending, he would just be constantly forced back due to the difference in strength between the two. So he made a quick decision. Sato sprinted towards the clone to intercept it however, he still didn't plan on fully going on assault mode. He still needed to ascertain a few more fighting skills and tactics from the double before he could make his move.

*Clang*

Once again, the two experts clashed with one another and as usual, Sato was on the lower end. But since he was prepared for it this time around, Sato was able to shave off a part of the force and only took a step backward.

"Impressive." The duplicate praised as it attacked once more.

*Clang* *Clang*

The two exchanged blows with Sato being forced back constantly. From the looks of things, he was the weaker of the two and he seemed to have no advantage over the copy. However, Sato was still an Expert player at the least and a Master rank martial artist. He was able to retaliate once in a while and managed to make the copy retreat, lest it gets injured. Apart from that, he was also able to hold his ground and despite being suppressed, he was still uninjured even as the fight went on.

"Die."

The double saw an opening in Sato's defence and thrust its sword forward.

Seeing this though, Sato didn't seem concerned or troubled by it; on the contrary, a smile crept upon his lips.

Just as the duplicate's sword closed in, Sato swayed his body to the side while also slashing his sword towards its head. He had laid a trap for it and as the target had caught the bait, Sato intended to deal a severe amount of damage to it and maybe even a [Critical Hit].

Strangely though, even as its sword missed, the duplicate didn't seem worried even with the sword approaching its neck. Instead, it just smiled at this.

"Too slow." 

At that instant, its body seemed to wobble like a drunkard's under the effect of alcohol and it had managed to dodge Sato's attack.

Sato widened his eyes as he never expected the clone to dodge his attack in such a strange fashion but he didn't let his guard down even after that.

The two immediately separated from each other before glancing at the other with different emotions in their eyes. Sato looked at the duplicate with surprise and astonishment in his eyes whereas the duplicate simply stared at Sato with the same condescending eyes and smile it had since the beginning.

'This will be tougher than I thought.' 

Sato originally wanted to fight the duplicate and force it to reveal more of its fighting techniques and abilities without using a majority of his cards but the duplicate also fought Sato without using any skill either. It was because of this that the battle was currently in a dead-lock otherwise if Sato used his in-game skills and faced the duplicate as it was now, he would easily restrain it and maybe defeat it. The same could be said if the duplicate used its skills whereas Sato didn't.

'24 hours huh…I might as well use them now.' Sato's eyes became serious as he made his decision.

The duplicate glanced at Sato in the eye and it smiled with a knowing look on its face as if it had guessed what Sato's plan was.

The next moment, Sato charged towards the duplicate with renewed vigor and intent.

"Good!"

The duplicate yelled before raising its sword against Sato.

[Hack]

Sato started off with one of the weakest skills in his arsenal to test out the strength difference between him and the duplicate. However, the doppelganger's next action stunned him.

"[Hack]"

*Clang*

The two swords collided and set off sparks in the air. While Sato had already guessed that the clone would have about the same skill set as he did, he never expected it to perform the same move right after he did so.

Frowning, Sato took back his sword and attacked again. 

[Chop]

The duplicate smirked and struck out once more with its sword too.

[Chop]

*Clang*

Once again, the two swords clashed and Sato, being the weaker of the two, was forced back by 2 steps.

At this point, Sato realised that it wasn't a mere coincidence or an accident; the duplicate was purposely messing with him and retaliating with the exact same skill that he used.

"What? Are you angry? If you are, why don't you do something about it." The duplicate grinned.

Sato charged back once more and this time around, he unleashed a flurry of attacks at it. While part of the reason he did so was that he was enraged another reason had to do with the fact that he hadn't put much pressure on the clone so it was able to still make comments in the middle of their fight. Without enough pressure on it, not much of the duplicate's skills will be revealed.

*Clang* * Clang*

After blocking two strikes from the duplicate and being forced back, Sato kicked forward with his right foot, sending the charging figure back. He then pounced forward at it and slashed out with his full strength.

[Horizontal Slash]

"Hehe."

With a complacent expression, the duplicate brandished its sword at Sato using the same skill as he did.

*Clang*

Right after the two attacks connected, Sato borrowed the momentum from the repelling force to twist his body in mid-air and move to the side. He then launched another assault but this time, from the left side of the duplicate.

The duplicate dodged just in time and then countered with an attack of its own, but Sato had hurriedly retreated at this time.

'Its reactions, motions, and response time are all high. This will be difficult.' Sato frowned.

The duplicate not only possessed the same attributes and skills as he did but also, its battle sense and experience were no less than his; in fact, Sato felt that it was much more experienced than he was. If the duplicate were to be pit against the Blood king, Sato felt that it would be able to take it down without much of an effort. Even now, Sato felt that it was still holding back by a lot.

"If you're out of tricks you better let me now right now.." The duplicate smiled at him.