"As long as I take out the summoner, his Soul Beasts will go down with him!"

The wings materialized on his shoes once more and he flew into the air. I didn't eeven bother to defend myself – before Lute could reach within ten meters of me, he was discouraged by a ferocious jet of flame that had him hopping backward.

"d.a.m.n it!"

Cursing, Lute slammed the blunt end of his spear against the ground and rea.s.sessed his options. Realizing that his flight spell wouldn't work much, not when my Vermillion Phoenix could also fly, he retreated from the next embroiling storm of inferno.

"I was saving him as a trump card for the next match…but I can't believe I'm forced to use him against my first opponent!"

Backing off, Lute grumbled inaudibly to himself. I narrowed my eyes when I heard him, and quickly mentally commanded Vermillion Phoenix to retreat.

Just as well, because the entire s.p.a.ce btween Vermillion Phoenix and Lute exploded into a colossal conflagration of destructive mana. If I hadn't held my Celestial Guardian back, he would have flown right into that maelstrom and gotten severely hurt.

"Light Dragon!"

A golden dragon materialized in the colossal conflagration, sucking up all the mana into its gleaming body. It turned to rest its arrogant eyes upon me, its nostrils flaring in disdain.

"Whoa…amazing."

"Hmph. It's only natural. I'm the main character of a harem story, it's a given that I can summon dragons. That even the most powerful dragons are at my beck and call."

Lute was sneering proudly at me. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. One moment he was trying to act like the perfect Mary Sue protagonist, and the next moment flashes of his creator came s.h.i.+ning through the holes he inadvertently left in his obvious self-insert avatar. Best not to think too deeply about this.

The dragon and the phoenix clashed in midair, holy light and superheated flames clas.h.i.+ng violently to send shockwaves throughout the arena. Only the barrier and boundary field protected the stunned spectators from the scale of destruction taking place within its parameters. Below the two dueling behemoths, Lute and I had a battle of our own, the former thrusting his spear at me and forcing several desperate blows and parries.

Like I said, swordsmans.h.i.+p was not my specialty. Yeah, Dad trained me in the sword, but I had some way to go before I could measure up to a proper swordsman. I knew enough to take out monsters, but against a skilled swordsman, my skills were lacking. A lot.

And I was up against a Mary Sue harem main character who had mastered almost every weapon in existence, and enslaved a dragon. I really had my work cut out for me.

"Huff…"

Parrying another spear strike, I skidded a few steps back and almost lost my balance. I brought Bai Ri up to deflect Lute's spear, and then ducked under his reverse sweep. Slas.h.i.+ng at his midriff with Hei Yue, I hoped to eviscerate him, but he deftly moved out of range.

The wings on his shoes fluttered and he took off into the air, making use of his heightened mobility to outmaneuver me. His spear lanced toward what he thought were my blind spots and openings, and I had to depend entirely on instinct and reflexes to guard against them.

"Ugh…!"

Another powerful blow sent me staggering backward, but I righted myself and crossed my swords to withstand a downward swing from Lute's heavy spear. My knees buckled and the ground underneath my feet cracked, but somehow I endured with nothing more than quivering arms.

Kicking off the ground, Lute feinted to the right, then swung his spear from the left. I just barely blocked his strike with Hei Yue, but the sheer weight and bulk of the weapon knocked me off my feet. Stumbling, I swept about with a clumsy riposte from Bai Ri, but Lute effortlessly deflected it before slamming the shaft of his spear against the side of my head.

Thankfully I had pulled my head out of the way just in time and the blow left nothing more than a graze. Blood trickled down my face, but I ignored it and slashed with Hei Yue. Chortling, Lute jumped up high into the air, the wings on his shoes flapping to ferry him away.

Then Pegasus slammed into him above, catching him off guard. As he tumbled helplessly in midair, Pegasus stopped and kicked him in the gut, sending him flying across the ring. He crashed into the edge, the spear clattering from his grasp.

"What the…!?"

I ddin't waste the chance and bounded forward to finish him off.

"What unfair and despicable tactics!" Lute howled as he scrambled to s.n.a.t.c.h up his spear to defend against my attack. My swords clanged harmlessly against the shaft of his spear and he shoved me back. "Launching a sneak attack like that, and ganging up on me two against one!"

I frowned. "I don't want to hear that from you, who summoned your wyvern first and started the whole two versus one in the first place. And I know you've done that against other opponents, so you're in no position to complain about that."

"So what? It's all right if I use such tactics, but other people should not be allowed to employ them against me!"

"Why? What sort of logic is that!?" I demanded, resisting the urge to hold my head in despair. "That's the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard!"

"Because I'm the main character and the entire universe revolves around me! Now, just go down already!"

Lute's spear almost sent me cras.h.i.+ng onto the ground. Above, his dragon blasted my Vermillion Phoenix out of the sky with a well-aimed holy beam. Pegasus kicked off the ground to a.s.sist my plummeting Celestial Guardian, but Lute's dragon disintegrated the poor winged horse with a single spell. The monster didn't even bother to spare my Constellation spirit a glance as he did so.

This was not looking good at all.

Lute's dragon then spun toward my Vermillion Phoenix, who had finally managed to swerve upward and flapped his wings to prevent himself from hitting the ground. He raised his head and unleashed a torrent of flames at the dragon, who effortlessly dodged. Before my Celestial Guardian could recover his balance and soar up high again, the golden dragon unleashed another colossal holy beam in his direction.

Still off balance, Vermillion Phoenix wouldn't be able to dodge.

At the same time, Lute thrust his spear forward, intent on spearing my heart. I stumbled backward, parrying his strike, but the momentum behind his attack sent me hurtling backward. Exhilarated, Lute pressed on and delivered what he thought would be the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

Before either attack hit me and or my Vermillion Phoenix, several walls of ice appeared. The golden beam struck the glacial wall and dissipated harmlessly, while the frost screen in front of me melted into water and fuidly swirled around the stunned Lute. Black Tortoise had finally materialized. Seizing the opportunity while he was still floundering about in shock and disbelief, I swung both of my swords and disarmed him. His spear flew out of his hand and clattered several meters away.

Cursing, Lute wisely retreated to escape the trajectory of my swords. Instead of going for his spear, he reached for empty s.p.a.ce and pulled a sword out of nowhere.

"Huh? Where did you….?"

"Hah!" Lute snorted arrogantly. "I'm the main characer, remember? Of course I'll have a spatial storage device! A rare, unique device exclusive only to me! Now be jealous! Start screaming about how unfair it is that you don't have it, and demand that I give it to you, or you'll threaten to beat me up! That will justify me crus.h.i.+ng and stomping you onto the ground!"

"Huh? Why would I do that? I've not sunk to the level where I threaten other people and try to steal their stuff."

"Because you're just a mob character! You're supposed to behave like every arrogant young master out there and behave in the most unrealistic and contrived fas.h.i.+on ever, just so I have an excuse to beat you up and slap your face!"

What the b.l.o.o.d.y f.u.c.k was wrong with this blithering idiot? I could hardly understand a single word he was saying now. Even for someone like me, who constantly broke the fourth wall, this guy had far surpa.s.sed any sense of humorous lunacy or stupidity.

Nonetheless, he remained a threat. Above, his dragon lanched another barrage of holy beams, but my Black Tortoise conjured another wave of ice barriers to s.h.i.+eld both himself and Vermillion Phoenix from the wave. Below, Lute twirled his newly appeared sword about before lunging at me with a vicious strike.

"Kuh!"

I was barely able to block his attack with both of my swords. Even though I managed to exchange a few blows with him, I was left with several grazes and scratches.

This guy…he had gotten a lot faster! No…it was because the spear was heavy and bulky. With the lighter and less unwieldy sword, he was able to move without much physical inhibitions. Unburdened, his movements were now a lot swifter!

"Ugh…!"

"Didn't expect this, did you?" Lute sneered arrogantly. "My real weapon is a sword, not a spear! I'm primarily a swordsman, and my sword techniques are the strongest out of all my techniques!"

"Why…?"

"Because I'm the main character, fool! What main character doesn't use a sword?"

"No, that's not what I was asking…" I tried not to bury my face in my palm while I was still in the middle of an intense duel. "I meant, if your sword was your real weapon, why were you using a spear from the start?"

"B…because…it's more dramatic to reveal my true powers at the end of a match, and take my opponent by surprise?"

Why was he answering in the form of a question? Probably because he didn't know the real reason either.

"Obviously it's because it makes more practical sense for a dragoon – a mounted warrior – to fight with a spear while on horseback than with a sword!" Kureha shouted from the technical area. She was burying her pretty face in her palm for the both of us. "The sword doesn't have the same reach and length as a spear, and it's a disadvantage for cavalry to use swords because it would be more difficult for them to hit their foes with it!"

"That makes more sense," I agreed. Then I stared at Lute, baffled. "Your team captain knows more about your skills than you do about yourself."

"That's because she's the captain!" Lute hesitated and scowled. "No, I should be the captain, but for some reason she's resistant to my charms. Don't worry, she'll join my harem soon…"

"Don't worry, you'll never appear in this story again."

"?!"

A gigantic earth spike erupted underneath him and impaled him. Lute buckled against the ma.s.sive projectile, blood spurting from his mouth. He dropped his sword as he clutched at the huge earth spike with both bloodied hands, flailing about helplessly.

"Thanks, Golden Kirin."

Behind me, Golden Kirin materialized and clattered his hooves against the ground. He nodded with a grunt, as if acknowledging my grat.i.tude.

Catching sight of my newest Celestial Guardian, Lute flared up in rage and threw his head back to yell at his dragon, who was soaring above us and still dueling against my Vermillion Phoenix in a ferocious aerial battle.

"f.u.c.k! Dragon, bomb our positions! It's fine if you hit me too! Take this b.a.s.t.a.r.d out along with me!"

Realizing that he had lost, Lute was attempting to salvage whatever he cold of the situation. I understood that he was trying to take one for the team – as long as he took me out here, I wouldn't be able to partic.i.p.ate in the other individual matches or even the team match. He had guessed that I might be the team's ace, and it was of utmost priority to eliminate me as soon as possible.

That doing so would earn him a draw was a nice bonus.

The dragon shrugged off a h.e.l.lish bombardment from Vermillion Phoenix and swerved to glower at me and Golden Kirin. Holy light gathered in its jaws and it directed it into a tremendous beam of destructive energy that seared in my direction.

Boom!

The entire arena went up in flames, smoke billowing outward to cloud the spectators' vision. Excited and worried murmurs swept across the crowd as they tried to peer through the thick smoke, wondering if Lute's last gamble had worked.

"No way…I'm fine?"

Lute realized that he hadn't been hit by the holy beam of his dragon, despite the huge explosion.

"Ugh…"

However, his hands were still slick with blood, and he was still impaled by the earth spike, so regardless of his survival he wouldn't be in any shape to continue partic.i.p.ating further in today's matches. Still, he had secured a victory for his team…of course he did! He was the main character of a harem story so there was no way he would lose…

"…eh?"

As smoke slowly cleared, he caught sight of a glimmering barrier. The slowly diminis.h.i.+ng fumes dissipated, revealing me and Golden Kirin still standing intact inside a water sphere, accompanied by a third ma.s.sive figure.

"Did you forget about him?" I asked, gesturing at Black Tortoise.

"No way?!" Lute growled, but I was paying no attention to him. Instead, I nodded at Golden Kirin, who worked in concert with Vermillion Phoenix. Combining their spells, they unleashed Scorched Earth on both the hapless Lute and the worn out dragon. The both of them vanished under boiling magma, with the dragon returning to wherever he inhabited before its owner called him forth into this dimension.

As for Lute…let's just say there wasn't much left of him in the aftermath. Only the boundary field kept him alive, but even with the most expensive and advanced healing magic available to mages, he would be scarred for life.

After all, healing magic only dealt with physical injuries, but had absolutely no effect on psychological damage. As a side note, Lute suffered from erectile dysfunction after this particular match, and his harem left him shortly after, but that was…another story (and too much information, if you ask me). For now, the most important thing was that…

"The match is over!" the commentator yelled, delighted. "Winner…Richard Huang of Jing Tian Academy!"