84 Chapter 84: Against Alicia

The coliseum was unsurprisingly packed full with spectators. I had already expected there would be a lot of people turning up to watch the match, given how many fans of the school's goddess there were in the academy, but to think their numbers exceeded the coliseum's capacity.

Furthermore, this was one of the main arenas, the main hall where we hosted the representatives from Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy all those months ago. It was a testament to Alicia Violet's popularity that so many people showed up. Not only the hundred or so members from Black Roses, but almost a thousand students had arrived to grab seats early.

I could hear them murmuring amongst themselves. There were many guys who were shooting me scornful or jealous looks, and many girls glaring at me in disgust, as if wondering how I could ever believe myself worthy of being on the same stage as her. I was reminded of that time with Lavender and the others, who hated me so much for associating with Alicia to the point where they actually planned to murder me by abandoning me to a bunch of monsters during a mission.

Fortunately, I was not without fans of my own. I could see my own society, Ultimate Outcast, holding up banners that spelled my name out. They were not alone. As I said, I had somehow garnered a small following after my lucky display against the representatives of Crowley's Academy, and then again against the Iron Fist Society. Pulling off two team-kills in succession would get you some fans, no matter who you previously were.

"Get off stage!"

"Surrender!"

"Stay away from our goddess!"

"You're not worthy of her!"

Already I could hear the jeers and sneers from the majority of the crowd. It did make some sense. Alicia was among the top hundred, top twenty even. I was barely at…five hundred, or at least that was the last time I remembered. The gap between our ranks and statuses was enormous.

Then there were those who were just jealous, because they had a crush on Alicia and wanted her for themselves. And I was getting in their way.

No matter. They had nothing to do with me. If they wanted to challenge me, then I would gladly accept their challenge. Furthermore, whoever Alicia chooses to socialize with was none of their business. She had the right to decide her own friends.

"Richard!"

I looked up as Alicia ascended the stage. A deafening roar rose from the crowd when they caught sight of their goddess, the guys going wild and the girls squealing in admiration. Once again I appreciated the enormity of Alicia's popularity among the student body.

"Hey, Alicia." I waved toward her. "It's good to see you."

Alicia giggled as she approached me. "It's good to see you too, but I hope you haven't forgotten that we are here for a duel."

"How could I forget when everyone's reminding me constantly?" I gestured to the yelling and shouting spectators. Some were shouting encouragement, some were professing their love for Alicia, and others were jeering at me. There were a few cheering for me, telling me to do my best and win, and I waved toward them. Then I turned back to my opponent and bowed. "I am honored to be able to have a match with you, Goddess."

"Hey!" Alicia protested hotly, flushing from embarrassment. "Don't call me that!"

"That's what they're calling you," I pointed out, cocking my head toward the braying crowd who surrounded us on all sides.

Alicia sulked. "Stop teasing me."

"Sorry, sorry."

"Are you two ready?"

Teacher Fielding stepped forward with a smile, nodding toward the both of us. He had taken good care of me, so he was a teacher I was in friendly relations with, while Alicia was a role model student who was the pride and joy of the teachers in Jing Tian Academy. There was no teacher who wasn't friendly with her.

"Yes. How about you, Richard?"

"I can start any time," I replied with a respectful bow of my head. Teacher Fielding nodded in satisfaction and gestured for us to take our positions.

"Fighters, get ready!"

Alicia produced a pair of guns as she stood on her side of the stage, confident and beautiful as ever. The cheers from the crowd intensified.

"OOOOH! The goddess Alicia is on the stage!"

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"Go, Goddess Alicia!"

"Our goddess!"

"We love you!"

"Beat that punk!"

While I listened to the jeers and scorn from my side of the stage, I could also hear a few cheers and encouraging words.

"Surprise everybody again, Richard!"

"You can win!"

"You're the Ultimate Outcast!"

…I really regretted choosing that name for my society now…then again, admittedly it had a cool ring to it. The Ultimate Outcast. Yeah, that sounded so cool!

"Alicia, you can do it!" Miranda shouted from her seat. The rest of the Black Roses also added to their cheers. Tracye wasn't present, or he would have been my opponent. One of these days I had to challenge him.

But first, I needed to overcome Alicia. Steeling myself for the match ahead, I narrowed my eyes behind my glasses in determination.

Alicia turned back toward Miranda, raising a pistol confidently. She also didn't intend to lose. I remember her voicing that out prior to this match. That was good. I would appreciate it if she went all out against me. It would mean that she thought highly of me and treated me as a worthy opponent. Knowing Alicia, she would respect her opponent and treat them well regardless of their rank or status. Even so, she continued to brim with majestic confidence befitting of a goddess.

"Yeah! Just watch!"

"Alicia, good luck!" the other Black Roses shouted.

"Fight!" Teacher Fielding shouted once he saw that Alicia and I were in position, and stepped away. The two of us faced each other, with Alicia raising her guns and aiming at me. She hesitated for a second – being the polite and honorable girl that she was, she wasn't going to attack me before I summoned a weapon.

I nodded and summoned Gemini. Swinging Castor down, I gestured for her to begin. Being a gentleman, I wasn't going to strike a lady before she made a move.

"Go ahead, Alicia."

"There's no need for mercy, Richard!" Alicia replied, and her magical aura intensified. I could see a dense field of blue qi surround her and coalesce around both of her guns.

"Understood."

I kicked off the ground and charged forward. If Alicia wasn't going to attack first, then I might as well make the first move, or the match would never begin.

As I expected, Alicia didn't just stand there and wait for me to reach her. She immediately raised both her pistols and unleashed a hail of magical bullets in my direction. The lenses on my glasses glowed and I could track the trajectories of the bullets through the shimmering holographic overlay built into my glasses.

The only question was whether I had the speed and reflexes to act on what I could see.

Winding through the barrage of bullets, I tried to dodge them as best as I could, altering my own trajectory and moving out of the paths of the bullets. It was a task easier said than done, though, given the hypersonic speed the bullets were flying at. If I hadn't taken Teacher Fielding's combat magic classes and learned how to magically buff my physical speed and reflexes, I would have lost within the first ten seconds, my body riddled with holes from Alicia's bullets.

Despite seeing me evade her shots almost effortlessly, Alicia continued to relentlessly pour a rain of fire upon my position, and it almost seemed like she was speeding up her shooting. As I drew closer and reduced the distance between us, it began to become much harder to dodge her bullets. Not only was my buffed speed no longer increasing, the bullets only needed to cover a shorter distance before they reached me.

Bang! Bang!

"!!"

Thanks to my glasses helping me see the trajectory of the shots, I could slice through the bullets. Twirling my Gemini twin swords, I cut through the magical bullets. My twin swords whirled about rapidly, becoming an impenetrable barrier that sliced through Alicia's projectiles milliseconds before they could reach me. I was playing a dangerous game, of course. A single mistake and I would end up with a bullet in my head or chest.

Even though the boundary field would protect me from sustaining a fatal injury, it would be enough to put me out of commission and end the match. I couldn't afford to lose here, or Ultimate Outcast would lose their quota in Hai Feng's training camp.

Then I reached Alicia's position.

However, the goddess was impressive as ever. She didn't even panic, and instead weaved through my desperate attempts to slash her, even counterattacking with several shots at pointblank range and forcing me to retreat.

"?!"

I quickly dodged backward as several magical projectiles flew through the place where my head had been a millisecond ago. Stepping backward, I found myself pushed further back as another web of bullets smashed through my previous position. I managed to slice a few bullets apart before they embedded themselves inside my body, but I found it impossible to advance. Right now, I was slowly being forced back, and my glasses displayed a holographic interpretation of Alicia's shots.

She was creating an energy barrier with her bullets to halt my movements and keep my advance in check. With that incessant barrage, there was no way I could get through to her. In fact, I was forced to summon Scutum Sobiescianum to block several of the shots. Dropping to my feet, I sought refuge behind my constellation shield and waited out the relentless onslaught.

I wanted to charge forward, with Scutum Sobiescianum covering my advance, but the powerful shots from Alicia, which were striking my constellation shield with the force of a meteor, were actually almost shoving me backward. It was only thanks to Scutum Sobiescianum that the distance between us hadn't widened significantly.

"Alicia isn't holding back at all!" Miranda marveled as she watched from her seat. "She's creating a perfect barrier that is making it hard for Richard to advance!"

"I love you, my goddess!" a guy hollered, tears streaking from his eyes.

The girl beside him shrieked in delight. "You're the true champion of Jing Tian!!

A bunch of amateurs. Were they seriously thinking that? True, Alicia's technique was perfect, but her attacks weren't enough to finish me off quickly.

And the longer the duel went on, the more advantageous it was for me.

Trying not to smirk, because I was sure a competent opponent like Alicia would be prepared for my next move, I began to choose my next Constellation spirit and started the process of summoning him for the next stage of the duel.