Chapter 165: Chapter 165 Battling a Copy Part 01.

The gate that indicates the trial is over is gone, leaving only an indispensable silent and three dumbstruck faces while looking at the empty air where the gate was earlier. A message is floating in front of them with the same appearance as a status window.

[An irregular had been detected]

Hina and Xiao Lian, who were also getting left behind, stiffened their faces as a realization came upon them.

"What, why is the gate closing?!".

"...Irregular?".

Soma, who sees the translucent window that floats in front of them, starts to wonder what the meaning of that phrase is. There are no strange things, and He and his group seem to be doing just fine exploring the forest and the ruins.

Unconsciously, Soma raised his left palm and saw a black diamond imprint from the ruins, and soon he found the answer. But there is one thing that left him pondering. Why, though? Is the Gods so petty to not let a human take some belongings inside the trial gate they had built?

[Initiating the battle]

"Battle?!".

Soma saw the changing text with knitted brows as the air that permeated the land turned heavy, and the three of them felt something dangerous was about to come to their sides.

From where the text floated, a swirling of black smoke gathered in the middle of flat land, forming an eerie black vortex. Then, it condensed, forming the shape of a single entity that seems familiar to them.

Soma, Hina, and Xiao Lian's breath was taken away, seeing the guardian that should be gone now reappear again but with a slight change in his expression. Earlier, the guardian had only shown his calm and emotionless face, but the current him was a contrast different. He became more expressive as he showed his knitted brows while directing his sharp gaze at Soma.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the guardian's body started to morph and shrink in size until it reached only 175 cm. His current body looks rejuvenated with short black hair and sharp eyes with red pupils, wearing an academy uniform, making the three of them stupefied.

"...Soma?".

Hina, who saw the new look of the guardian, opened her eyes in shock as she regulated her gaze at Soma and the guardian multiple times, couldn't believe her eyes.

Xiao Lian, who kept her straight face, blanked for a moment as She saw another Soma standing before her with knitted brows and a hostile aura. She opened her mouth and tried to inform the real Soma who stood beside her.

"Soma, be careful?!".

However, at the same time, the copy began to disappear from everyone's sight and appeared in front of unprepared Soma and managed to land a hit throughout his face.

Soma's sight started to flicker as a jarring impact sent a shockwave through his brain, and a hot, stinging pain invaded his cheeks, making his jaw jolt in agony. His body was sent flying a couple of meters before he lay on his stomach.

"You!".

"?!".

Hina and Xiao Lian began to summon their weapons to intercept the copy. However, their attacks were ignored as The copy started to dash forward toward Soma, who was still gathering his scattered thoughts.

"Watch out!".

Soma, who heard the desperate call from Hina, forced his body to spring back up and meet with the copy eyes, approaching Soma's side with speed. The copy unleashed his straight punch toward Soma's face again, but Soma currently saw the fist perfectly as he tilted his head, dodging it by a paper margin.

He grabbed the copy's right wrist before unleashing his counter from below, but the copy also caught his fist, and they both were in a stalemate.

In those close distances, Soma's eyes directly met with the copy. All of a sudden, his vision was distorted, creating a perfect moment for the copy to leap back and plan his next attack.

While they were separated by distance, Soma's mind began to throb as unpleasant feelings started to creep inside his heart. However, he shook his head to get rid of all of the hesitation inside his heart, then took his middle stance while the copy simultaneously took the same.

"He is indeed my own copy".

"But why? Why does the guardian change its appearance to look like me? And the thing about irregular. Is that referring to the stolen loot or my own being…?". A couple of seconds passed as the two of them kept standing still, observing each other thoroughly. "What kind of trial is this in the first place?".

The staring contest that happened in thirty seconds broke out as they began to dash forward, facing each other head-on. Soma and the copy began to engage in close-quarter combat.

Soma throws his straight punch, which is dodged by the copy by tilting his head to the side. Before the copy could make a counter, Soma swept his hand to the copy's face, but his movement was agile, and the copy managed to dodge the pursuit.

However, Soma didn't give up; he kept relentlessly barraging the copy with his attack, but the copy also did not sit around dodging every Soma attempt. He also began to engage properly and managed to give Soma a hard time in the battle, but the battle itself was a stalemate.

The battle that unfolds before the girl's eyes feels so fierce that the two people in question have the same power speed, and the battle is in stalemate because no one has landed a hit on the other. They just keep dancing while dodging each other's attacks.

Hina and Xiao Lian could only see in silence as the fight began to enter the next stage. Both Soma and his copy bodies let out a crimson aura that covered their body, raising the tension on the field.

Both of them literally have the same appearance, power, skill, and also battle sense. Because Hina and Xiao Lian knew how strong Soma was, they couldn't approach the swirling storm recklessly where Soma and the copy were battling each other. It leaves a bitter feeling in their heart as they can only watch the fight and can do nothing.

Time passed, and Xiao Lian, who kept her gaze open watching the fight, felt a slight change that would gradually impact the battle's outcome.

"Soma is in danger!".

Xiao Lian, who had been raised in martial ways since she was a toddler, feels the battle tide that stale would start to change. It leans toward the copy and hurriedly informs the furious Hina of the outcome that will happen in the future, she predicts. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"What?!".

"...Let's go help him!".

Xiao Lian and Hina, who realized the atmosphere, began to prepare their heart along with weapons to intercept the copy in harming Soma.

The battle that seemed stagnant began to change its flow. Soma received a straight punch to his right ribs, stepping back for a while before he closed his distance and engaged in another fight.

After both of them unleashed their skill, Soma was gradually at a disadvantage because of his stamina, mental, and physique, which got exhausted as time passed. Meanwhile, The copy still retains its calmness as his breathing is normal while his stance seems firm, not showing any sign of fatigue.

Soma accidentally screws off his stance, and the copy hurriedly closes the distance between them and thrusts his right fist forward, intending to crush his face.

However, the copy distances himself upon the passing transparent ice arrow and a fire arrow that the girls have thrown.

Soma's eyes bloated as he saw the shadows of the two girls who were closing their distance toward Soma.

"...I'm saved!".

As much as he wanted to take a rest, the copy wouldn't let him sit still as he began his approach to Soma.

Even though they have the same spec, Soma is a human. He needed some time to catch his breath to recover his tired body. However, that principle does not seem to work the same with the copy.

No matter how long the copy used the same tricks as Soma did, he didn't feel tired. He was like a machine that had been programmed only to fight the enemy in front of it.

"...What should I do?". Soma's muttered, but soon his eyes opened wide, because of the unexpected situation.

""We'll help!"".