Chapter 123 Second Round— Inter-High IV

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Cyborg responded, biting his lips. It was obvious that Primal was powerless against Satoshi so they had to take action, one way or another. Even though Primal told them not to move from their place, they had to disobey his orders if that meant avoiding a loss in the second round. After all, at this rate, they were going to lose since Primal couldn't even land a hit on Satoshi.

"Killjoy, what do you think?" Viper asked. Since Killjoy was the one who can see through strategies and was pretty much the mind of the team, Viper just had to ask him.

Killjoy closed his eyes for a few seconds before nodding. "One hundred percent. I don't know why but it will work. Let's take this chance to get rid of Satoshi. Once that's over with, we can pick them off one by one. This is the least we can do for our leader."

"How about us?" Contrail asked. Just like the others, they still haven't moved from their spot. Although Primal was already having a hard time, they still couldn't dare disobey his orders.

"Stay here for now. Leader would be more furious if all of us steps in. His pride won't allow it." Cyborg responded. "You ready, Viper?"

Viper didn't need any telling twice. She immediately grabbed Cyborg from behind before he flew. His jet propulsion worked twice as fast as normal for some reason and Viper thought at first that there was something wrong with Cyborg. At first, she assumed that Cyborg was panicking deep within but after seeing his expression, she realized that such wasn't the case. His face was as red as a tomato. Needless to say, he was flustered since Viper was technically hugging him from behind.

"We won't have a lot of chances and I can't maintain this speed for so long. Once we get close to Satoshi, he's sure to send us away flying by means of his rotor-like familiar or some other form of attack. I'm guessing he has warping abilities as well and that's why he can easily redirect anyone's attack just like that." Cyborg explained.

"That's why we're going to fly low, avoiding his line of sigh and only showing ourselves at the last second. I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable, Viper, but this is the only way. Hang tight." Biting his lips and trying hard to suppress his emotions, Cyborg continued his flight. He flew too low that it was hard to detect him. Even Kurogami who had been monitoring everyone's shadows could only slightly detect him. He didn't mind them though because he was sure that Satoshi will notice them soon enough. After all, they were hurtling themselves at such high speeds, and besides, they're not that inconspicuous. Even if it were the last second, Kurogami and the others were absolutely certain that Satoshi will notice them.

And yet... somehow... their seeable movements couldn't be perceived by Satoshi at all. Since Primal was doing some big moves every time he attacks, Satoshi's focus was directed at him. And because he assumed that no one on Primal's side would disobey his orders, he didn't pay attention to the surroundings. Right now, the only one he could see was Primal, no one else.

Little did he know that Killjoy has a big part to play during that entire exchange. Somehow, he trapped Satoshi in an illusion that Primal is the only enemy coming at him. That's why even though Cyborg couldn't be any more obvious, Satoshi didn't detect him at all. Had Satoshi glanced away from Primal a split second, the illusion would've reset and he would've noticed what was amiss. Unfortunately for him, he was too keen on defeating Primal that he got caught in the trap, hook line, and sinker.

"Satoshi! Look out!" Kurogami screamed... but by then it was too late.

When Satoshi turned around due to Kurogami's scream, he realized that another figure was coming at him. Of course, he still managed to react, opening a portal right in front of Cyborg and sending him back to where he was standing a couple of seconds ago. However, he totally overlooked the fact that Cyborg had a passenger.

Before Cyborg could completely pass through the portal that Ghast opened as per Satoshi's orders, He had enough time to grab Viper and throw her right at Satoshi. A split second later, Satoshi fell down with Viper on top of him. He was flustered, of course, but he couldn't do anything since Viper completely transformed her lower body into her snake form and wrapped Satoshi as if she were a boa constrictor. She hissed and gazed right into Satoshi's eyes. A gasp came out of Satoshi's mouth and a split second later, he turned into a stone.

"Hah... hahahahaha~~~" Primal screamed while laughing raucously as if to tell the audience that that was exactly his plan— that he had Satoshi completely fooled from the start which is exactly not the case. Either way, Cyborg and the others were glad that they were able to stop Satoshi for good. Viper's status effect can last for as long as three hours so it was obvious that Satoshi was already out of commission. Even though Midori has the power to bring him back from that state, Killjoy already thought about that and decided to target him first if he so ever moved a single step.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE GREAT WHITE SHARK ACADEMY WILL WIN! WHAT A DANGEROUS EXCHANGE!" The commentator screamed right at his mic, causing everyone to scream in excitement once again. No one expected such a twist in a match and having witnessed such an epic clash of superpowers hyped them up.

"Che~~~ look at him riding his high horse only to lose," Hiroshi muttered but deep inside, he was already panicking. Without their leader, they knew they didn't stand a fighting chance against such a powerful group. Besides, they're just first years and almost everyone on the opposite team was experienced third-years.

"I guess that's it. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Good job Viper." Primal said. "Now, onto the next phase."

Primal nodded his head towards everyone, gesturing for them to go nearer so he could give them instructions. This time, he wouldn't let his feelings get the better of him. Even though his pride was greatly hit after receiving help from Cyborg and Viper, he didn't bring up the subject. In the end, they managed to put a stop to their number one threat... and that's all that matters— victory is all that matters. Pride comes close second though.

"What do we do now, Hiroshi," Midori asked.

"What do you mean? We can't defeat them." Hiroshi whispered. "But we can't give up either. If we give up now without doing everything we can, not only will we get a bad reputation, we'll also give our school a bad name."

"Yeah, we'll totally be rejects as soon as we return. Confound it, and here I was having full confidence that Satoshi would win against all odds." Siril clicked his tongue in frustration. He didn't want to blame Satoshi for what just happened but he couldn't help it. Of course, everybody had the same sentiment as him since it was Satoshi's idea to take on everyone without his team's help. And now that he lost, they couldn't do anything to change that outcome.

Either way, they will lose. The only problem was how would they show everyone that they did their best? How could they show everyone that their actions shouldn't warrant such hatred towards them when the outcome is decided?

"We just have to win, right?" Sassu licked her lips, stepping forward. "Don't think about anything else right now you bunch of monkeys. Honestly, I'm disappointed in all of you. We lost our key member, so what? Does that change our objective? No."

"We were chosen as candidates for our school because we have the highest chance of winning compared to the others. Even if we lose here, they won't have a say on why we lost. But right now, if we lose our will before the fight even started, then that makes us worse than we already were."

"Midori, find an opening while you're on berserk form. Kurogami, monitor everyone while trying to limit their movements. You don't have to limit their movements too much, just freeze their shadow for a split second so you could provide support to the attackers. Hiroshi, focus on dealing wide-area damage with your earth and fire superpower. Siril will tank all the hits, he will be our dragon shield. Shidou, take care of the ladies, all right? As for me, I'll be your main attacker and the temporary leader of this team. Satoshi will be pleased, I wonder if he'll pat me on the head once this is over? Hahahahha~~~"

Honestly, Sassu's erratic actions and speech was the push they needed to get them back to their senses. She was right with everything she said. Right now, their objective hasn't changed. Even if there's only one candidate standing against the enemy, they'd still try to snatch a victory right under their noses.

"Well, looks like everyone's getting fired up without me." Someone spoke from behind Primals group. "But just like what I said, I got all these under control. You don't have to do anything."